In light of Sunday’s message on money, here are some great reflection questions from Randy Alcorn about money and finances.

Has the degree of my giving suggested that I have recognized and embraced the full extent of Your grace in my life? Or does it suggest I need to recognize and respond to Your grace in deeper and more heartfelt ways?

Lord, am I honoring You as owner and CEO/CFO of the assets You’ve entrusted to my care? Or am I treating You as a mere financial consultant, to whom I pay a fee? (2 percent, 10 percent, or …). Have I been acting as if I own the store, and You work for me, rather than recognizing that You own it and I work for You?

Is my life revolving around You? Open my eyes, Father. What am I holding onto that’s robbing me of present joy and future reward? What am I guarding and keeping for myself that’s preventing me from having to depend wholeheartedly on You?

Read the rest here.  If you want to learn more about a biblical perspective on money, make sure to check out Alcorn’s book Money, Possessions, and Eternity. Also, we have a shorter book from Alcorn that you can pick up for free at the Resource Center titled, The Treasure Principle. Be sure to join us for Clarus ’10, where Randy Alcorn will be joining us for the weekend of April 30 – May 2.

We had a great time this weekend with Professor Jerram Barrs at our Prizing the Privilege of Prayer Weekend.  If you missed the conference, make sure to download or listen to the audio here.

If you are interested in further resources from Jerram, you can purchase these books at our Resource Center or online by clicking on the following links:

• Learning Evangelism From Jesus
• The Heart of Evangelism
• The Heart of Prayer
• Through His Eyes: God’s Perspective on Women in the Bible

Also, you can hear more messages from Jerram on such topics as Art and Literature, Ethics, Vocation, and much more at The European Leadership Forum or Monergism.com.

Last Sunday, Ryan preached on “Understanding the Kingdom of God” from Luke 13.  This is a really important theme to grasp in order to understand how the flow of the Bible relates to Jesus’ message.  Make sure to listen to it if you missed it.

Along the same lines, Graeme Goldsworthy has written a short article that maps out how the kingdom of God theme runs throughout the whole Old Testament.  If you’re like me and you sometimes struggle to understand how all the various events and writings in the Old Testament fit together, this is a very helpful article.

For a slightly more in-depth treatment of this theme, see God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible, by Vaughn Roberts.  This book examines the whole Bible and explains how Jesus’ promise of salvation and bringing the kingdom of God is one story with one purpose and not just a collection of unrelated narratives.

Kevin DeYoung gives a six-fold answer to the oft-asked question, why does membership matter?

1. In joining a church you make visible your commitment to Christ and his people.
2. Making a commitment makes a powerful statement in a low-commitment culture.
3. We can be overly independent.
4. Church membership keeps us accountable.
5. Joining the church will help your pastor and elders be more faithful shepherds.
6. Joining the church gives you an opportunity to make promises.

Go read the whole post to see how each of these are fleshed out.

Related to this is Kevin’s new book (co-authored with Ted Kluck), Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion. I’ve only had time to skim it, but what I’ve read so far I’ve heartily agreed with and enjoyed. I’m sure we’ll be carrying this in our church Resource Center soon.

In last Sunday’s message — “Worldly Worry vs. Kingdom Confidence” (Luke 12:1-34) — I mentioned a couple of very helpful books on fear and worry by Ed Welch:

• Running Scared: Fear, Worry & the God of Rest
• When People Are Big and God Is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man

Red Mountain Church has an excellent recording of this hymn, which can be downloaded here for free. I’d highly recommend any or all of the modern hymns on their six albums.