A La Carte (February 16)
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you on this fine day.
Westminster Books has discounted a new title that has gotten some especially noteworthy endorsements. There are also quite a number of titles on the church nicely discounted.
Kindle deal collectors have a few to look at today.
This issue is so important. “As society is presently ripped apart with divisions on every issue, the church is likewise bombarded with divisive people who are using the current cultural divide to mimic the culture and tear apart the body of Christ. Christians have to be acutely aware that Satan uses cultural moments like this in the church to separate the body of Christ. I can’t think of a more appropriate caution at the moment than to call Christians to awareness regarding both to whom they listen and how they handle themselves before those who seek the ruin of the church.”
Brett McCracken looks at a study that concludes we are witnessing a widening gender divide in which women are heading one way politically while men are heading another. He suggests that the church can be a force to bridge this divide.
This is good advice: never preach to one person. “I would be in the throes of my weekly sermon preparation and as my message would develop, I would begin to think, ‘Oh! This is a perfect message for so-and-so—they’ve been struggling with this particular problem, and this is precisely what he needs to hear.’ Without fail, if such a thought crossed my mind it seemed to be an inviolable rule of the universe that the person would not be in church on Sunday.”
A few days ago I shared an article by Samuel James in which he stated that Christians are not ready for the prospect of “adult AI.” In this helpful interaction, Phil Cotnoir challenges some of James’ conclusions.
Esther shares a handful of encouraging poems that nicely complement one another. Kudos for writing a poem whose effectiveness depends on rhyming with spacious nine times over!
The New Testament is full of metaphors used to describe the church. T. M. Suffield covers some of them here and reminds us that we benefit from considering each of them (rather than focusing all our attention on a favorite).
If it’s your conviction that observing these days is consistent with the Bible, then by all means do so. If it’s your conviction that observing them is inconsistent with the Bible, then by all means refrain. And as you celebrate or refrain, be careful not to judge or condemn those who choose the opposite.
We should strive to make church a place where being anonymous or nominal is difficult to pull off.
—Jeremy Pierre & Deepak Reju
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Free Stuff Fridays (Boyce College)
Parents of teens are always on the lookout for discipleship material. Today, you are invited to enter the Boyce College/D3 Giveaway to win those resources for free! That includes free tuition for a Boyce College dual credit course valued at over $1,200!
Whether you are a pastor or a parent of teens, you are always on the lookout for ways to grow your student’s faith. Enter to win resources to help accomplish your goals through the Boyce College/D3 Winter Conference Giveaway. Here are some of the items Boyce College and D3 are making available to our contest winners:
Student Discipleship Resource Bundle*
Boyce College dual credit course (3 credit hours) online or on-campus ($,1200 value) plus these books:God and the Transgender Debate, by Andrew Walker
Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations, by Jimmy Scroggins and Steve Wright
How Does Sanctification Work? by David Powlison
This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years, by Jaquelle Crowe
NASB Grace & Truth Study BiblePastor Resource Bundle*:
D3 swag includes a personalized ¼ zip pullover, plus these titles:God and the Transgender Debate, by Andrew Walker
Praying the Bible, by Donald Whitney
Deep Discipleship, by J.T. English
50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith, by Gregg Allison
NASB Grace & Truth Study Bible*Winners will be drawn randomly and notified by email from Boyce College
ENTER TO WIN -
God’s Goodness in a Cruel World
There is much to love and appreciate about our God, much for which we ought to give him praise and thanks. One of the attributes we may consider too seldom is his goodness, and as an aspect or component of his goodness, his kindness. And that is the subject of Nate Pickowicz’s new book The Kindness of God: Beholding His Goodness in a Cruel World.
The Kindness of God
The fact is that we live in an unkind world. We live in a broken world in which we sin and grieve and suffer. We live in a world in which evil comes to each of us and in which evil comes from each of us. We are accustomed to being unkind and being treated unkindly. And in such a world it may be hard to believe that there is a God who is kind. Yet this is exactly how God reveals himself to us.
“God is good; we are sinful,” says Pickowicz in the early pages. “Because of this, we are undeserving of his goodness. But because of God’s mercy, he demonstrates lovingkindness to us. Therefore, every kindness we experience is pure grace and ought to be received with gladness and thankfulness.” This “Grand Premise” stands behind the book and serves as a kind of backdrop to an exploration of the topic.
The bulk of the book explores God’s kindness as he displays it to us in various ways: In the salvation of the lost, in granting the gifts of repentance and faith, and in the blessing of sanctification. Then it turns to God’s kindness in relationships like marriage, children, friendship, and even with God himself. It turns to God’s kindness in giving us blessings like gifts and talents and provision for our needs. Of course, the book would be incomplete if it did not account for God’s kindness to us in our suffering. One particularly encouraging chapter shows how God’s kindness meets us in our trials and tribulations. While we may never understand why bad things happen to us in this world, we can most certainly be assured that God’s lovingkindness to us never ceases and never permits anything that is ultimately to our harm.
The book wraps up with a pair of chapters that show how God’s kindness is also reflected in Christians (since those who have been recipients of God’s kindness must display it to others) and in his grace to the nations (since without his kindness the world would be uninhabitably awful).
I have often been drawn to God’s kindness and pondered what a blessing it is. The Kindness of God has provoked me to do so once again and to praise and thank him for this most wonderful of attributes. And for that, I’m grateful. -
A La Carte (November 6)
Good morning from Oakville, Ontario! After many days of flight cancelations due to fog and volcanic ash, conditions in Unalaska finally cleared on Saturday and we were able to make our way back to Canada. We are glad to be home.
Today’s Kindle deals include a selection from Crossway (plus a few others).
(Yesterday on the blog: A Day’s Journey)
How the Customer Review Changed the World
“Of all the web’s achievements, one of its greatest is surely the sheer freedom of access to information it has given to billions of people around the world who would probably otherwise have never come near it.” That access to information has given us abilities we didn’t have before (at least in the same way)—abilities like reviewing anything and everything.
The Table of the Lord
I don’t necessarily agree with this argument for celebrating the Lord’s Supper at an actual table—something that was the practice of the churches I grew up in—but I enjoyed reading and considering it nonetheless.
The Unexpected Blessing of a Rural Church
“As I sat on a hard wooden pew in a tiny church listening to the preacher, my heart raced and beads of sweat covered my forehead. I blushed as I looked to and fro like a trapped rabbit before a hound dog, afraid to be seen if I moved, but filled with a panicked desire to flee. Even in my guilt and shame, my ears and eyes fixated on the pastor as every word he spoke resonated with and pierced my soul.”
Mercilessness in the Name of Mercy
Trevin Wax explains how the very notion of “mercy” can be misused and exploited. “Christianity—in holding people responsible for their actions—ennobles the sinner. Christianity affirms the value of human life and the reality of human freedom. Holding someone accountable is an aspect of showing mercy, of saying, You are a man and not a beast.”
The Common Grace of Conscience
This is a bit of a refresher on the common grace that is the human conscience.
Our Prayer-Answering God (when He says wait)
“As we send up our petitions in Jesus’ name, He at times delights to answer ‘yes’ to our prayers. At other times, He chooses to bring Himself glory by asking us to wait for our requests. His timing is perfect, and it’s possible to wait patiently in His strength.”
Flashback: Solemnity and Celebration, Exclusivity and Inclusivity
The Lord’s Supper is an occasion that is both grave and joyful. Part of the solemnity of the Lord’s Supper is related to its exclusivity—some are told to stay away. Part of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is related to its inclusivity—so many have been invited to join in.There cannot be a heaven without Christ. He is the sum total of bliss, the fountain from which heaven flows, the element of which heaven is composed. —Charles Spurgeon
