Jared Sparks

From a wise old woman to her nephew Pete."The world cries or men who are strong: stronog in conviction, strong to lead, to stand, to suffer. I pray that you will be that kind of man, Pete, glad that god made ou a man, glad to shoulder the burden of manliness in a time when to do so will often bring contempt" pg 15 The Mark of a Man. The Mark ... Continue Reading

1 Thess 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I love this little verse. What is God's will for me? Here ya go. Notice how all three of these commands are commanded responses. All three of these imperatives are a produced by a proper response to the ... Continue Reading

From Christ Doctrine of the Atonement by George Smeaton "It must be further noticed that out Lord's great aim in this portion of the Sermon on the Mount is not so much to teach us Christian ethics, or to adduce a number of practical duties, to be followed out under the force of Christian motives, such as we find enumerated at the end of the ... Continue Reading

Titus 2:15-3:8Devoted to Good WorksIntro: To Christians, For a Purpose - Vs 1:1-2 Knowledge to Godliness - Vs 3:8 Insist on these things: soVs 2:15 Previous Things to Some New Things - Things to declare - Exhort and Rebuke with all authority - Don't let people disregard youVs 3:1-2 Commands to Insist On - Submissive, Obedient, Ready for every good ... Continue Reading

Well I am finally finishing up my post on spiritual disciplines. I will make this short and hopefully sweet.  Diligence in pursuit of Christ requires diligence with the disciplines. We pursue Jesus through prayer, studying our bibles, being a member of a local church, ect. This is good and right. In this we discover more of Him. "For in Christ ... Continue Reading

My father in law is a pretty handy guy. He can make just about anything. Jordan and I currently have several things in our possession that he has built for us. Jordan's cutting table: He made it. My desk: He made it. Our cool bed frame: He made it. It is quite often that we get complements about the pieces that he has made. When the complements ... Continue Reading

Sex, medication, alcohol, guns, and bible reading, have something in common. All of these things can be used in right and wrong ways. When these things are used the right way it is easy to forget they can be used in a wrong way. Likewise it is easy to forget that these things can be used rightly when we see them being used in a wrong way. In my ... Continue Reading

Over the last few years I have noticed and experienced a large amount of confusion about how Gospel-Centrality and Spiritual Disciplines can co-exist.  If the Gospel is how a Christian grows then where do disciplines like daily prayer and bible reading fit in? I want to highlight the misuse of the disciplines using bible reading as an ... Continue Reading

1 John 3:2-3Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. ESVLook at the words "because we shall see him as he is". This passage clearly shows us that seeing ... Continue Reading

I have been reading a book called The Apostles Doctrine of the Atonement by George Smeaton via the recommendation of Jerry Bridges in his book The Transforming Power of the Gospel. In Bridges book he makes the claim that Smeaton's book is the best he has every read on the gospel. So I bought it. I am 135 pages into 478 and so far from me it is ... Continue Reading