This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by The Master’s Academy International (TMAI). They are giving away ten free tickets to their 2024 international symposium.
The Master’s Academy International (TMAI) is a worldwide network of pastoral training centers that equip indigenous church leaders to preach the word and shepherd their people. They have 19 Training Centers around the world, with dozens currently in development. To strengthen the global church in proper missiology, TMAI hosts an annual missions conference with speakers from around the world. This year’s key speakers are Steven Lawson (President of OnePassion Ministries), Paul Washer (Founder of HeartCry Missionary Society), and Mark Tatlock (President of The Master’s Academy International). At this year’s international symposium, they want to help churches and individuals recognize the unlimited, sufficient resource the Bible is for missionaries, supporting missions, and all of life. To help you and your church become more Bible-focused and mission-minded, enter below to win ten free tickets.
Giveaway: Ten (10) Tickets to the TMAI 2024 International Symposium
To Enter:
Giveaway Rules: Entries are limited to 1 per person. By submitting your information, you agree to receive regular updates about the ministry of The Master’s Academy International. The winner will be notified by email. The giveaway closes at midnight on Friday, January 19th, 2023. Enter your information into the form below or HERE.

An election year is upon us and with it all the debate, suspicion, and rancor that is sure to accompany the culmination of another four-year cycle. Though the election is still months away, I’m already dreading the inevitable interpersonal struggles that will come with it and even the strains it may bring to the unity of my local church. What’s crazy is that we don’t even live in the country that will be holding the election. Yet because America is so close, so powerful, and so culturally dominant, its debates inevitably extend above the 49th parallel and across the world.

Love the Ones Who Drive You Crazy

My concern is less for the unity of my nation than the unity of my church. An election like this one, or an election like the one Canada will face in 2025, provide a context in which people can easily begin to distrust and antagonize one another. Of course, there are many other issues that can provoke trouble—pandemic regulations, educational decisions, not to mention age-old issues like the discipline of children or the consumption of alcohol. In so many ways Christians are challenged to maintain a strong unity despite deep differences.
But I wonder if we often think wrongly about the challenges to our unity, and especially our unity within the local church. In Love the Ones Who Drive You Crazy, Jamie Dunlop insists that our differences are not so much a bug within the local church, but a feature, and not so much a problem but an opportunity. “The differences and disagreements that threaten to tear your church apart are filled with potential to proclaim the glory of our good and gracious God.” That’s the burden of his book.
That’s the burden of his book and he defends his position well. Leaning heavily on the words of the Apostle Paul, he shows that God means for the unity we have in Christ despite our differences to be a primary means God uses to display his goodness and glory. This means that

the differences that threaten to tear your church apart are opportunities to demonstrate that being “in accord with Christ Jesus” is all we need to be in “harmony with one another.” That’s how “with one voice” we “glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” If your church is about Jesus and immigration reform, you rob him of glory. If your church is about Jesus and homeschooling, you rob him of glory. Just as God gets greater glory through redemption than through creation alone, the glory he receives in your church’s unity is greater in disagreement and difference than if everyone were in the same place to begin with.

This perspective changes so much about the way we relate to our fellow Christians. It means we must center our church on Christ alone so that instead of pursuing complete conformity, we learn to tolerate differences (in the classical definition of the word “tolerance”). While obviously there are boundaries to our unity—we would not tolerate differences in the core doctrines of the Christian faith—we are to see other differences as opportunities to display the glory of God by loving each other despite them, through them, and even because of them. “Too many of us have never really grappled with the implications of a church centered on Christ alone. We applaud diversity in our churches and pray for more diversity, never contemplating the cost and challenge that comes when God answers our prayer.”
Dunlop unfolds his perspective and his challenge across eight chapters, each of which provides a thematic examination of a different section of Romans. He shows that unity has a unique way of displaying the glory of God; that the kind of love we must extend toward others flows from the mercy God has shown to us; that disunity in the local church tells lies about Jesus; that divine justice empowers us to extend full forgiveness; that people we dislike often act in faith and our worthy of our love and friendship; and so on. “Jesus is creating a stunning picture of his glory in your church, and no matter your flaws and failings, he will succeed,” he insists. “Jesus is creating a stunning picture of his glory through the faith of those you struggle to love, and he will succeed. Jesus is creating a stunning picture of his glory through your faith-filled love, as imperfect as it may be. And he will succeed. This is the hope we have through faith in Christ.”
Whether we are facing a year of political turmoil, a year of pandemic regulations, a year of outright persecution, or even just a very normal year, this book provides crucial instruction and encouragement for every Christian. I would be hard-pressed to find a book that is more likely to benefit you and your church in the year ahead.

Good morning from Mexico City! I am here to film the final episode of Worship Round the World. I’ll also be speaking at an event for pastors on Saturday and preaching on Sunday, so it is shaping up to be a full weekend.
This week’s deal at Westminster Books is a devotional book that looks interesting. You will also still find last year’s bestselling kids books on sale.

As the son of Quebecers, I really appreciated Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra’s fascinating account of the recent history of the church in la belle provence. Amazingly, Quebec represents the largest unreached people group in North America.

This is a good an appropriate question. “Brothers, are we peaceable presbyters? If our church members read our Tweets, would they recognize us? Would they be shocked at the derision we lob at one another? Would they see Christ glorified in our hasty judgments of others motives? The ridicule and scorn we seem to revel in? Let’s be honest are we Tweeting to win a brother or slam him?”

Hopefully you still have one of your monthly free articles from CT so you can read this one about IVF and evangelicals. “As record numbers of Americans grow their families through in vitro fertilization (IVF), Christians who believe that life begins at conception—even if that’s in a petri dish—face new questions and challenges. In response to expanding reproductive technology, pro-life evangelicals are reexamining the theological and ethical concerns around creating and caring for life at its earliest stages.”

“We all want the treasure of friendship. Of course we do. It’s treasure! We just don’t all want the process that makes the treasure look like treasure. We want to discover a hoard somewhere that someone else worked and fought for, that someone else mined and minted, and we want it all for ourselves to spend and enjoy as we see fit. Maybe that’s why we’re so lonely.”

Don’t miss Vanessa Li’s sweet call for us to be like little children. “Let us become like little children, singing freely to the King of Kings. Faces lifted, voices ringing, unconcerned with notes and rhythm, twisting melodies in swirls of wonder, joy in every note they sing. There’s no embarrassed silence, self-conscious mumbling or comparing of their voice to others. The joy within is echoed in the voice without and warms the hearts of those who listen.”

Anne Kennedy asks and answers the question.

…it falls to us to tend to names carefully, to respect what others hold most dear. We might justify carelessness with another man’s trifles and trinkets, but most certainly not with his good name.

No man is a believer, no matter what else he may do, except he give his will, his life to the Master. No man is a believer who does not obey God.
—George MacDonald

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
You’ll find a number of one-day-only Kindle deals today.
(Yesterday on the blog: I Feel At Home in Your Church)

John Piper has written a powerful and comforting article for older Christians. “Dear older saint, I need to join you in the fight against the fears of aging, and to do so by faith in future grace. There are five fears that we will likely walk through together. God has given us antidotes for each in his word. These antidotes work through faith, and without faith they won’t work. But by faith they will work, and fear will be overcome, and we will go to be with Jesus in due time without walking in fear during our last season. That’s my confidence.”

Reagan Rose explains why he decided to permanently quit social media. And while none of us are obliged to follow his example, we’d all do well to at least consider his reasoning. “In this post, I will explain what led me to this decision, why I didn’t do it sooner, and specifically how I thought about the choice to leave social media as a Christian seeking to steward my life well for the glory of God.”

How holy are you? Stephen Kneale helps you evaluate yourself in light of Scripture.

I really enjoyed reading this sweet tribute to an ordinary/extraordinary man. It gets off to an interesting start: “When I was in 10th grade, the Power Team came to my church.  They were a group of powerlifting Christians who went around from mega-church to mega-church, lifting weights and smashing bricks in order to bring ‘glory to Jesus.’ I was excited to see them “perform/preach,” but I was mostly excited that my friends and I got to work out with the Power Team at Gold’s Gym one day between their nightly sessions.”

Mindy Belz has a moving article about life after the loss of her husband. “For months now finding solid ground has eluded me. The rules of the road feel broken. I wake in a house I’ve lived in for nearly 40 years with my husband and family, but I wake alone. The sun rises to greet me, and the dog waits for breakfast and a ball throw, but I float, suspended in this familiar but strange world—watching as though for the first time normal rhythms I once gave no thought to. They appear part of someone else’s life.”

Few of us have the expertise to be able to assess the significance of newly-discovered manuscripts. Ian N. Mills looks at one titled P.Oxy. 5575 to explain why it’s not as groundbreaking as some people are claiming. “My goal here is neither to minimize the importance of this new piece of early Christian literature nor to exaggerate the evidence for similar works but, rather, to help the reader understand P.Oxy. 5575 by setting it into a larger comparative context.”

Paraphrasing one of her favorite authors she said “It’s okay to be angry with God about this. It’s okay to tell him exactly how you feel about him right now. Let him have it. He doesn’t mind.”

The world will laugh with you when you laugh, and romp with you when you romp, but it will not weep with you when you die.
—De Witt Talmage

It is one of the realities of the Christian faith that skeptics love to criticize—the reality that there are a host of different denominations and a multitude of different expressions of Christian worship. But while believers have become accustomed to responding to this criticism with a sense of shame, I choose to see it in a different light. I choose to see each tradition as highlighting different aspects of God’s purpose for the local church. As a prism refracts the light and separates it into its component colors, the differing traditions refract the Bible’s varying commands and emphases. And this is why I feel at home in so many different churches.
I feel at home in a Brethren church. I feel at home because of its commitment to simplicity in worship and to the necessity of celebrating the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis. Such churches are meek and humble and committed to honoring the Lord in ways that may be unflashy but are faithful to the Scriptures. They look with longing and pleading for the return of Jesus Christ. I always count it a joy to break bread with the Brethren.
I feel at home in an Anglican church. It feels familiar because its worship is so thoroughly steeped in Word and prayer. While there is always a sermon (though probably one shorter than I am accustomed to) and while there is always song (though often fewer than I am accustomed to) the service is structured around reading the Word and both corporate and private prayers. I love to participate in those readings and prayers knowing that as I do so, I am engaged in a tradition that wraps the world and spans the centuries.
I feel at home in a Presbyterian church because of its commitment to sound doctrine and expositional preaching. Few traditions have raised up as many powerful preachers as the Presbyterians or created as many resources to assist them. Few traditions have thought as deeply about what they believe and described it as thoroughly as Presbyterians have done through their catechisms and confessions. Few documents in the history of the Christian church surpass the Shorter Catechism and the Westminster Confession for depth and beauty.
I feel at home also in those Presbyterian churches that hold to a strict interpretation of the regulative principle. Such churches will only worship in ways the Bible explicitly commands. I admire them for their commitment to principle even as it extends all the way to singing only the Psalms and singing them without instrumentation. Where so many other traditions neglect the psalms, this tradition sings them exclusively and joyfully. I feel at home among them.
I feel at home in a Dutch Reformed church because it values simple, formal worship followed by warm and charitable hospitality. I admire the way they give such care to catechizing their children and often to building and supporting schools to educate them. Plus, almost no church sings louder or stronger than a Dutch Reformed church. (If you want to find men who still sing with confidence and gusto, this is where you will find them.)
I love to learn from them, I love to observe what they do so well, and I love to see how God blesses their labors to build his kingdom and declare his glory.Share
I feel at home in many non-denominational churches as well, though most fit at least one of the descriptions above or below. Every church has its reasons to formally associate with other churches or to remain independent, and I respect those who choose to persist outside a denominational structure.
Of course, I feel at home in a Baptist church, for I myself am Baptist. As I search the Scriptures for its instructions on what a local church ought to be and how it ought to worship, I see it describing something very much like a church structured around the London Baptist Confession. I love the emphasis on evangelism. I love the emphasis on celebrating the baptism of one who has professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I love the balance of structure and freedom that permeates its worship services.
And while I am confidently and convictionally Baptist, I do love to experience other churches and consider it a blessing to worship among other traditions that teach the same Scriptures and preach the same gospel. I have worshipped in a host of churches spanning every continent and have found that I love to learn from them all, I love to observe what they do so well, and I love to see how God blesses their labors to build his kingdom and declare his glory.

In case you are looking for books for younger readers, Westminster Books has their bestselling kids books of 2023 marked down this week.
I continue to search for Kindle deals and to add them to the collection day by day.

Aaron Armstrong: “Before I was a Christian, I didn’t really know much about the Bible. Which makes sense, since I didn’t read it. But I had a lot of assumptions about it, the same assumptions many non-Christians have about it. I assumed it was endlessly contradictory, outdated, and irrelevant. That nothing it said really mattered to life in the modern world. Most importantly, because I saw the few people I knew whose parents made them go to some kind of class at their church were bored to tears, I assumed the Bible was boring.” But then he read it …

Melissa considers the wedding promises she would have made to her husband had she known then what she knows now. “I promise that I will love you imperfectly. This imperfect love will carry marks of my selfishness, and the way I tend to think of myself when I ought to be thinking of you. I promise that I will hurt you. I will say things too quickly that shouldn’t be said at all.” Yet there is still hope, as she explains so well.

“It’s here. Again. How can four years go by so quickly? Didn’t we just live through a contentious, rancorous, raucous presidential election cycle? Of course, we’ve been hearing about poll numbers for the 2024 election for about a year, but now that the calendar has turned to January, we must brace ourselves for the roller coaster of the next ten months.” Cindy provides a few prayers that may be helpful to you this year.

Ayman Ibrahim explains what Muslims believe about Muhammad, summarizes the historical record, and then suggests a few ways Christians can have productive conversations with their Muslim friends.

Trevin Wax ponders the first day of the week and insists, “the way we orient ourselves in time—how we think of our days—makes a difference in how we conceive of our life and purpose. Our choices in how we order time contain moral instruction.”

Tim of Red Pen Logic briefly addresses the very common argument that, because Jesus said nothing about homosexuality, he was not opposed to it.

There is some information on a book’s cover that many people don’t know how to decipher. Let me tell you how to make sense of the information about authors, co-authors, editors, and contributors.

Anything is good for us that puts us to praying earnestly.
—William Plumer

The God of peace be with you on this fine day.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Danger of Being a Sermon Critic)

With the U.S. entering into an election year, Jake Meador has some notes on staying sane through it all. “Participation in electoral politics in a system such as the United States’s is quite complicated and virtually always involves making compromises. If you find yourself conversing with a Christian brother or sister who has voted in a way that offends or perplexes you, the best thing to do is simply ask them about their decision and then listen to their response without becoming triggered or cutting them off mid-sentence so you can say something offensive and unnecessary.”

Daniel Darling reflects on some of the recent polemics meant to slam evangelicalism. “Some have had good but hard words we need to hear. But most suffer from the same problems which make their attempt at being prophetic fall on deaf ears…”

Lara considers the human tendency to look for God in all the wrong places. “I watched an Instagram Reel a few weeks ago that chronicled a Christian influencer’s journey to finding God, and it ended with a picture of her and the words, ‘And I found You in me.’”

Robert Jones writes about marriage as a covenant and what is bound up in that kind of relationship. “In a day when this kind of marital commitment dwindles, God has given us as Christians fresh opportunities to show the world a different kind of marriage, one formed by a covenant, one that can last forty years and even beyond.”

Andrea has a sweet reflection (and lament, I suppose) about Christmas.

As the holiday season gives way to normalcy, Stephen asks an important question. “For all ours posts about what we’re doing for Christmas and how we’re going to take the seasonal opportunity, now the festivities are over, it seems worth asking a new question: what are you going to do the rest of the year to take advantage of the evangelistic opportunities in your community?”

Sorrow does not always lead to advances in holiness, but it always can and always should, for the Spirit is present in our sorrows, ready and eager to sanctify them to his precious purposes.

Pastors are not appointed to a church primarily to lead in the instruction of skills and the dissemination of information; they are appointed to a church primarily to lead in Christ-following.
—Jared C. Wilson

This week’s post is sponsored by The Master’s Academy International (TMAI), a global network of pastoral training centers that specialize in expository preaching. They invite you to sign up for their 2024 International Symposium on March 5th in Los Angeles, California.
Our world today is obsessed with what is new, clever, and convenient. Headlines, podcasts, and books are full of new gadgets, “life hacks”, and promises of ease with unique methods. The passion for this has revealed our culture’s esteem for what is modern, what is convenient, and what is easy.
Christians are not immune to this preoccupation with production. New methods and contrary advice—all touted as “more effective”—have crowded nearly every topic, particularly in the realm of global missions.
In 2024—with more knowledge and resources available to us than any time in human history—many Christians find themselves at a loss when considering what is truly needed for missions work, which components are necessary, which programs most effective.
Churches desiring to obey Christ’s call to missions work (Matthew 28:18-20) are confronted by different voices and methodologies, and many do not know who to listen to or where to start.
Where do they begin? Where should Christians who desire for all the nations to hear and proclaim the name Jesus Christ go to find the most effective tool, program, or method for international missions?
The answer to this question is clear: the Bible is effective in and of itself for all missions work.
The Inextricable Link Between the Bible and Missions
God has given the perfect, inerrant, and sufficient tool for missions in the Bible.
No book, program, podcast, template, emphasis, or example will ever surpass the relevance, sufficiency, and authority of Scripture. And if you’re looking to shepherd your church towards greater maturity and missions-mindedness, we want to help you see Scripture as the only tool a missionary needs.
This is why you’re invited to join us at the 2024 International Symposium on March 5th, where we’ll enjoy keynote messages from Mark Tatlock, Steven Lawson, and more.
You cannot have God-honoring and truly effective missions work that isn’t directly derived from the Bible.Share
The truth of Scripture’s sufficiency is timeless and immutable, yet it is being set aside for what is more convenient under the guise of “innovation.” However, there will always be an inextricable link between the Bible and missions. You cannot have God-honoring and truly effective missions work that isn’t directly derived from the Bible.
Missionaries of the past have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to Scripture, and the effectiveness of this commitment is seen in their legacies today.
Long, Lasting Legacies
William Carey (1761–1834), Adoniram Judson (1788–1850), and Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) dedicated their lives to the translation of the Bible into the native languages of the people they served and evangelized to. They recognized that the Bible is central to all missions work. Other resources are only so helpful to the degree that they help someone better understand and love Scripture.
The effectiveness of their commitment is seen in the salvation of whole people groups and millions proclaiming Christ to this day.
Yet it is easy to slip into the thinking that one needs more to be an effective missionary, that outside resources will answer questions and provide help that the Bible cannot.
As Martin Luther wrote, “The authority of Scripture is greater than the comprehension of the whole of man’s reason.”
We want to help churches and individuals recognize the unlimited, sufficient resource the Bible is for missionaries, supporting missions, and all of life.
To help your church become more Bible-focused and missions-minded, join us Tuesday, March 5: https://bit.ly/48oJhNK

There are few habits that are easier to establish and few habits that are easier to foster than the habit of critiquing the Sunday sermon. There are also few habits that require less skill, that demand less character, and that bring less benefit.
But it’s so easy to do, isn’t it? It’s easy to do because we listen to a fallible man attempt to explain an infallible Word, a finite man explain the riches of an infinite God. We listen to a man attempt to apply Scripture to circumstances we have experienced while he has not. We listen to a man who may have substantially less knowledge of the Bible or of doctrine than we do. And perhaps all week long we listen to the preaching of men of exceptional talent before, on Sunday, listening to the preaching of a man of merely average talent. (After all, by definition the average one of us attends an average church led by an average pastor.)
Though critiquing the sermon is easy to do, it requires no great skill and no substantial Christian character. It requires dedicated effort to prepare a sermon, but no effort to criticize one. It takes substantial skill to preach a sermon, but no skill to critique one. There is a massive disparity between what it takes to prepare and deliver a sermon and what it takes to pick one apart. Three or four days of laboring over Scripture and commentaries and many hours of prayerful pleading can be dismissed with a single word.
It is better far to listen receptively than to listen critically, to search diligently for every strength while quickly overlooking every weakness. It is better far to listen as a broken person than one who is convinced he is already complete, as a hungry man than one who is convinced he is already full. It is better far to listen from a position of need than a position of self-satisfaction.
there is good to be had from any sermon when it has been preached by one of God’s servants.Share
You may find an apple tree in the back corner of an orchard that at first glance does not appear to bear a lot of fruit, especially when compared to the trees that are in much more prominent positions. But as you reach up into that tree’s high branches, you will find some ripe fruit and it will be every bit as sweet and every bit as nutritious as an apple from the most bountiful tree. And that apple is no worse for the extra effort it took to pick it.
In that way, there is good to be had from any sermon when it has been preached by one of God’s servants. God’s Word is too powerful to return void and too satisfying to leave you empty. There is blessing to be had and benefit to be gained if only you will search for it and find it—if only you will commit to being an eager listener rather than a harsh critic.

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Today’s Kindle deals include a collection of titles from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: How Little It Takes To Be Happy (And How Much To Be Wretched))

Casey McCall eschews that whole “if necessary use words” philosophy of evangelism but still wants people to consider the necessity of behaving like Christians in front of others.

Glenna Marshall: “There is much in the Christian life that demands us to be faithful with our frailty. Beyond admitting our weaknesses and inability to save ourselves comes the long charge to suffer with the glory of Jesus in view.”

William Boekestein writes about the importance of disciplining little children. “Proverbs 13:24 isn’t saying that physical discipline is the only way. And surely there will be a cut-off age for spanking your children, perhaps somewhere between age six and ten. As children grow the discipline they receive should become more nuanced, and better matched to their changing situations. If older children fail to do a chore, make them do it with added penalties.”

This is a sweet story about a boy at the front desk.

“How do we live with discouragement? When people look at you, they see courage, but you know it is nothing but a stiff upper lip. The last thing you want to do is burden your loved ones more than necessary, so you keep your disappointment as hidden as possible.”

Randy Alcorn reminds us that the best is still yet to be.

A new year presents an ideal opportunity to address some bad habits, to interrupt some apathy, to start something fresh. And with all that in mind, I wonder: Have you read a book yet this year?

Aged Christian people should be like trees in the autumn, their branches full of ripe fruit to feed the hunger of those who live about them.
—J.R. Miller