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Archive for November, 2011

5 Love Languages of Leviticus

Leviticus 19:9-18 commands that we love our neighbor as ourself. What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself?

In What is the Mission of the Church?, Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert explain what they call the five love languages of Leviticus:

This passage applies love to five different areas of life, marked off into five sections by the concluding phrase “I am the Lord” (vv. 9–10, 11–12, 13–14, 15–16, 17–18). You might think of these verses as giving five love languages that every Christian must speak. We must love with our possessions, by our words, in our actions, by our judgments, and with our attitudes.

  1. Loving Others with Our Possessions (vv. 9–10): The main lesson to be learned is that God’s people are to be generous. The principle for us is this: We must deliberately plan our financial lives so that we have extra left over to give to those in need.
  2. Loving Others with Our Words (vv. 11–12): God’s people love others by telling the truth in their transactions. No cheating scales, weights, or measurements (vv. 35–36).
  3. Loving Others by Our Actions (vv. 13–14): God’s people must not take advantage of the weak.
  4. Loving Others in Our Judgments (vv. 15–16): Justice means there should be one standard, one law, for anyone and everyone, not different rules for different kinds of people.
  5. Loving Others in Our Attitude (vv. 17–18): Love is concrete, but it is also affective. “You shall not hate your brother in your heart.” It’s not enough to be polite on the outside and full of rage on the inside. If we are angry with our brother we should “reason frankly” with him and try to work things out. The bottom line is that you are to love as you would want to be loved.

So in the end this great commandment to love your neighbor as yourself—this commandment quoted in the New Testament more than any other—boils down to five very elementary, everyday, ordinary commands: share, tell the truth, don’t take advantage of the weak, be fair, talk it out. Simpler than you might think. But still easier said than done.

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November 25, 2011 | Posted in: Justice,Loving Others | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 8:06 am | 1 Comment »

Posted in Justice, Loving Others | 1 Comment »

Grateful for Expiencing Grace

Timothy George has a great section in his book Amazing Grace: God’s Pursuit, Our Response where he speaks of the varied ways we experience grace. May his reflections lead your heart to gratitude and worship as you celebrate Thanksgiving today!

Grace is not an impersonal force or a divine quality to be studied only in the abstract. There is no hell on earth so deep but that God’s grace can go deeper still. Thus, the New Testament states that Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him” (Heb. 7:25). We experience grace on many different levels in our lives:

  • We experience grace as pardon. God’s forgiveness and justification remove our guilty standing before him—our real guilt, not just our guilty feelings. The psalmist claims that God’s pardoning grace removes our guilt of sin “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12).
  • We experience grace as acceptance. In Christ we who were distant from God, covered with shame, have been embraced, welcomed, and accepted—not because we are acceptable, but solely because we are loved.
  • We experience grace as joy. This delivers us from the frantic quest to be “happy” through stuffing our lives with fleeting pleasures and “joyrides” that only leave us sadder, more depressed. Real joy comes from knowing God and serving him.
  • We experience grace as peace. God’s shalom answers the anxieties and insecurities that threaten us from every side. The standard New Testament greeting is “grace and peace.” Grace and peace are twins; they belong together, related as cause and effect.
  • We experience grace as power. Most people do not so much lack the knowledge to live as they should as they do the ability to carry out what they already know is right. God’s grace acts as an antidote to our impotence. It transforms, energizes, enables.
  • We experience grace as hope. This is hope not in the loose sense of a vague general wish that may not come true, as in “hopefully it won’t rain tomorrow.” In Titus 2:11–13, Paul connects the grace of God with the “blessed hope” of Jesus’ return in glory, a great motivation for confident Christian living.
  • We experience grace as love. God’s grace and love are so close that, at times, we cannot distinguish them. The Bible says that “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18), and God’s gracious love counters the nagging fears and doubts all of us have.
  • We experience grace as gratitude. The most basic response we can make to grace remains a life of thank-yous to God. As Lewis Smedes points out, true gratitude involves “a sense of wonder and sometimes elation at the lavish generosity of God.”
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November 24, 2011 | Posted in: The Gospel,The Grace of God | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 8:00 am | 0 Comments »

Posted in The Gospel, The Grace of God | No Comments »

Who in the World is Using the ESV Study Bible?

As a Christian publisher, we believe it’s our primary task to get the right resources into the right hands, all for the glory of God. We don’t always hear about the books and Bibles that end up with those who need them around the world, but it’s deeply encouraging when those stories make their way back to us.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely surrounded by a wealth of content that can grow your faith: books, specialty Bibles, websites, blogs, sermons, podcasts, conferences, and classes. This is certainly not the case everywhere in the world. Pastors in many areas faithfully disciple their congregations and share the gospel in their communities, all without access to any formal training or much in the way of printed resources. Yet the work they’re doing is critically important, and occasionally we’re able to find specific ways to support them in their ministry.

One such example is The Global Leadership Institute, an organization that provides training for African pastors and promotes church-planting in North and West Africa. Pastors attend two-week training seminars in Bo, Sierra Leone, each year for three years. Since GLI’s inception, Crossway has had the privilege of providing each pastor with an ESV Study Bible. Long-time readers of the blog may remember our first post on GLI in 2009.

In a very real sense, you’re partnering to make these sorts of initiatives possible anytime you buy a Crossway book or ESV Bible, or through our missional rewards program, Crossway Impact.

And this week, we wanted to create a fun way for you to join us in giving thanks and sharing with our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.  We’re calling it simply “Give Thanks, Give Bibles.” This Thanksgiving week, for every “like” of Crossway’s Facebook page, we’ll put $1 towards distributing Bibles to Christians in the Global South.

Thanks for helping us spread the Word!

Below: pastors in Sierra Leone receive ESV Study Bibles at a Global Leadership Institute seminar.


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November 23, 2011 | Posted in: ESV,Leadership,Ministries | Author: Andrew Tebbe @ 1:00 pm | 0 Comments »

Posted in ESV, Leadership, Ministries | No Comments »

Give Thanks, Give Bibles (By Sharing on Facebook)

If you’re reading this, you have a wealth of theological resources at your fingertips, most importantly God’s Word. Unfortunately many Christians in the world don’t yet enjoy a similar abundance.

That’s why this Thanksgiving week, as a way to raise awareness for how important books are in passing truth on to the next generation, Crossway is inviting you to help send Study Bibles to leaders in the Global South (in partnership with our friends at Desiring God).

It’s super easy.

Through next Monday (11/28), for every new “Like” on our Facebook page, Crossway will give $1 worth of Study Bibles through Desiring God’s International Outreach initiative. Every Study Bible given will go directly to our brothers and sisters in the Global South, many of whom are hungry for tools to better understand, apply, and share God’s Word.

Already “Like” our Facebook page? Consider partnering with us in these ways:

  • Share this Facebook post with friends
  • Share this blog post on Google+ or Twitter with the hashtag #givebibles
  • Link to this blog post from your blog or preferred social network.

May God use these Bibles to encourage many Christians in the Global South!

Interested in doing even more? Consider joining Crossway Impact, our new rewards program that allows you to support similar initiatives with every book or Bible that you purchase from Crossway.org.

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November 21, 2011 | Posted in: Crossway Impact,Event,Ministries,The Bible | Author: Lindsay Tully @ 12:48 pm | (3) Comments »

Posted in Crossway Impact, Event, Ministries, The Bible | 3 Comments »

Paul Tripp: How Have You Changed Through Marriage?

In the video below, Paul Tripp describes the profound change that has taken place since he’s been married. “I had no idea how utterly self absorbed and self focused I was,” he explains. “In selfishness, I actually want someone to live with me who loves me as much as I do.” There’s a huge difference between initial attraction and love . . . and early on attraction isn’t a sturdy enough foundation for marriage.

Paul Tripp is author of What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage.

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November 18, 2011 | Posted in: Marriage | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 8:00 am | 0 Comments »

Posted in Marriage | No Comments »