It is a question I get asked with fair frequency: What book would you recommend for a new Christian? If someone has just made a profession of faith in Christ, what would you suggest they read? The answer changes with the times because the times continue to change, so while there are some issues that will face all new believers, there are others that will be specific to a context or culture.

A new book that I’d recommend for a modern Western context is Aaron Armstrong’s I’m a Christian—Now What?: A Guide To Your New Life with Christ. Here’s how it begins:

Imagine waking up one morning and being you, but not. You get out of bed and look in the mirror. What’s different? you wonder. You still look like you—you haven’t magically switched bodies with your best friend or your teenage self. No new gray hairs as far as you can tell. A six-pack didn’t appear overnight. You lean in as close as you can to the mirror, so close that you’re about to leave a mark. Still, there’s nothing different. You’re the same you as you were before you woke up this morning.

That is a pretty good description of what it’s like to begin your first full day as a Christian. And while some will have grown up in a Christian context and know roughly what to do with this new-found faith, many others will have grown up in a non-Christian context and will have no idea whatsoever. This is exactly the case for many I have seen and known here in the Toronto area. Such new believers need to be cared for and taught and mentored. And a book like this one could play and important part in that.
Armstrong begins where we might expect—with the importance of relating to God through Scripture and prayer and with relating to God’s people through the local church. Through several chapters he provides basic discipleship in the Christian disciplines and basic guidance in finding an appropriate local church.
And then the book takes an interesting turn. He dedicates a chapter to beauty and creativity, perhaps to battle the notion that Christians ought to completely separate themselves from the world around them. The next chapter looks at the Christian sexual ethic and leads with the not-entirely-unlikely assumption that this new Christian is currently involved in a cohabiting relationship (as, indeed, are so many people today). Here he tries to help readers understand God’s plan for sexuality and to gently untangle the bits of their lives that are opposed to it.
From here he encourages new Christians to spend a good bit of their time learning rather than being drawn too quickly into leading within the church and its ministries. He explains how to get along with other believers and encourages them to begin to evangelize others by telling their own story of how God saved them. A final chapter calls readers away from the two extremes of being culture-warring or capitulating Christians and toward a kind of convictional kindness—a person who lives a quiet life, who isn’t constantly obsessed with the controversy du jour, but who loves Jesus and his church.
All the while Armstrong provides illustrations from his own life, for he and his wife came to faith as adults—cohabiting adults with little Christian background and with little knowledge of how God calls his people to live in this world. It’s an effective writing technique and one that adds both interest and experience.
I’m a Christian—Now What? is an excellent book that accomplishes its purpose well. It is a good and trustworthy guide to a new believer’s new life in Christ and one that I trust will prove beneficial to many of God’s people.
Buy from Amazon

Good morning from Louisville, Kentucky where we are attending Boyce College’s Preview Day for the third time (this one for Michaela’s sake).

Strongmen vs. The Structures of a Healthy Church
“When modern dictators fall the societies they ruled tend to flounder and splinter. This is because they have previously been gutted. A dictator, in order to increase and maintain his power, needs to systematically weaken all other institutions of civil society that might serve as independent centers of power and organization.” This leads to an interesting reflection on churches.
Crisis in Canada: Assisted Suicide
Robert VanDoodewaard writes about a serious social problem in Canada. “Though our nation’s violence may primarily be carried out in the sterile rooms of hospitals, it is a grim reality. Behind closed doors, Canada is becoming a nation of state-sanctioned lawlessness and violence.”
The Peculiar Glory of Unexpected Discoveries
Chris Thomas: “But there is a peculiar glory found in unexpected discoveries. A cool fresh stream flowing down a heavily forested gully is enjoyable, but the same stream found in the barren wastelands of some distant desert is a wonder. Treasure, found in a clay jar, is all the more brilliant for the fact of where it was hidden. Again, there is a peculiar glory found in unexpected discoveries.”
Do Not Fear, Only Believe
“As you read this, you may at this moment be filled with hope and expectation … or you may be filled with dread and anxiety about the future. Either way, Jesus’ simple words to a suffering man speak volumes. Jesus invites us to rest in him, now and always.”
Decisions about faithfulness might be the key moments of your life
“Much of our lives might be a little mundane. We work, we spend time with family, and we get involved with many things. Yet there will be certain times, certain decisions, that change the direction of our lives and matter more.” Yes, indeed. And we don’t always know what these are until after the fact.
Four Biblical Categories for Theological Triage
Dwayne offers some new categories for doing the work of theological triage.
Flashback: The Character of the Christian: Mature and Humble
God calls all Christians to maturity and humility—and such growth best takes place in the context of mature, humble leadership.

At the cross, Jesus redeemed sinners. Reconciled rebels. Appeased God. Expiated sin. Purchased forgiveness. Won righteousness. Defeated Satan. —Steven Lawson

May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include Tom Schreiner’s excellent The Joy of Hearing.
Westminster Books has some Easter resources on sale this week.
(Yesterday on the blog: How To Ruin a Perfectly Good Friendship)
Preaching from a Place of Fullness
“I have preached from a place of emptiness and from a place of fullness, and the experience of the one makes me long for the other.” Take the time to have Andrew explain what he means.
New Missionaries, From Your Older Brother
Dave was asked to speak at a missionary training school and tells about some of the wisdom he passed along.
Rick Warren Has Done the SBC a Great Service
Denny Burk listened to a recent interview with Rick Warren and explains the tactics Warren will use to lobby for women to be allowed in all positions of leadership within the SBC.
How are Old Testament land promises fulfilled? (Video)
Dr. John Currid tells how all those promises of land relate to us today.
How “You Too” Can Heal
Zach Barnhart: “Think about the people in the church with whom you practice community. It could be a small group you are a part of, a group you are pouring into or serving, or a handful of your close friends. What if the one thing that’s holding them back from stepping into real fellowship and vulnerability with your group is your own courageous choice to walk in the light before them?”
To Love Life and See Good Days
“How many of us desire to love life and see good days? My guess is it is all of us. Only the jaded have abandoned this hope. This desire for the good life may seem like something from the self-help section, but it is directly from scripture.” Doug Eaton explains.
Flashback: Why Some People Aren’t Christians
With all of this evangelism and all these opportunities for salvation, why don’t people become Christians? Here are a few reasons I’ve observed in recent interactions.

Beauty is both a gift and a map. It is a gift to be enjoyed and a map to be followed back to the Source of the beauty with praise and thanksgiving. —Steve DeWitt

A friend and I recently realized that we have not been spending as much time together as we would like. We agreed it is high time to do something about it. But what to do?

We put our heads together and determined that we will deliberately build time for one another into our schedules. But we also determined that we need to maximize those times together. To ensure this we will go through an evaluation process to consider whether they were as meaningful as they could possibly have been. Did we listen attentively to one another? Did we avoid speaking about the minutia of life and discuss only things that are of the highest consequence? Did each of us spend the appropriate portion of the time speaking and the appropriate portion listening? Days later, can we remember all that the other person said? Did we wring every possible bit of value out of each moment?
I’m just making this up, of course. To do any of that would make a friendship burdensome instead of free. Such intense evaluation and introspection would rob the friendship of warmth and life and instead leave it bound by rules and regret. In fact, it would be a great way to utterly ruin a perfectly good friendship.
Yet there are so many Christians who relate to the Lord in just this way. The Christian faith offers the ability to have a genuine relationship with God himself, a relationship in which we speak and God listens and in which God speaks and we listen. We speak to God through praise and prayer and God speaks to us through Scripture and Spirit. It’s a wondrous and beautiful privilege we enjoy.
At least, it’s a wondrous and beautiful privilege we are meant to enjoy. But so often we fail to enjoy it because we bind it up in rules. Instead of just appreciating a relationship, we constantly assess it. Instead of appreciating the moments we spent together, we lament that we did not make more of them. Soon enough we find that we associate the relationship more with sorrow than pleasure, more with guilt than enjoyment. We undermine and even ruin a perfectly good friendship.
But freedom comes when we simply free ourselves to enjoy the relationship. Freedom comes when we speak freely, when we speak openly, when we speak about any and everything rather than only what is of the greatest consequence. Freedom comes when we stop being morbidly introspective about the relationship and simply enjoy it as a good and wonderful gift of grace.

Logos users, we are getting near the end of March Matchups and the deals keep getting better. Also be sure to vote in the second-to-last round.

God Saved Me from a Polygamist Cult
“When people ask my wife and me how we met, the story of how Christ met us inevitably takes over. It’s unavoidable from the moment I say, ‘Well, we actually met in a polygamous Mormon cult.’ Eyes grow wide, and folks eventually find a few words like, ‘Wait . . . what?’ Their questions lead us into a testimony to boundless grace. It’s a story of doubt, God’s stubborn love, some dead friends, and a book by Tim Keller.”
How the Holy Spirit Helps Us Read Scripture
We know that the Scriptures are inspired, but as Jonathan Pennington explains here, “the Holy Spirit’s role does not stop with the writing of the texts. Good interpretation is also dependent on the ongoing work of the Spirit to in-spire us to understand, receive, and apply what God has spoken.”
Match of the Day Without Commentary – Lessons for the Church
This article considers the way pastors may say too much or too little as they lead a worship service.
Is my depression really part of God’s plan?
Stephen Kneale: “Somebody asked me yesterday whether I thought my getting depression was part of God’s plan. I thought that was a really interesting question and thought I would share my view on that here.”
How we lost our families and movies in one move
Mwansa Mbewe has a bit of a fiery one here to explain how and why Africa is losing its stories.
Why Read If You Forget Most Everything Anyway?
“If you can’t remember most of what you read, why even bother? Aren’t there better ways to use your time?” Trevin answers exactly the way I would (and often have).
Flashback: Drowning in an Ocean of Encouragement
Just as we have been taught to take 10 looks at the cross for every one look at ourselves, perhaps we ought to speak 10 words that will build up—or better yet, a hundred—for every word that might pull down.

We need the all-sufficiency of Jesus applied in rich measure to our deepest points of personal need. —Ray Ortlund

Blessings to you today, my friends.

I collected a few interesting Kindle deals for you to look at.
(Yesterday on the blog: Living Selflessly with Your Wife)
50 Thoughts on Preaching
This is great stuff from Jared Wilson.
Names Nobody Remembers
“Though the world’s idea of success might see our small days lacking, our good God operates very differently. He has a knack for using people lost in the credit roll. We can see this beautifully in the story of the Israelites in Ezra and Nehemiah.”
Locusts and Wild Honey
Why did John the Baptist eat locusts and wild honey? You may not be shocked to know there was purpose behind it.
One Day It Will Be “Tomorrow”
“Christian, are you mindful of the distinction between ‘Today’ and ‘Tomorrow’ in your evangelism? Do you have the same sense of urgency in your proclamation of the gospel? Are you guilty of preaching a take-it-or-leave-it gospel?”
Your Past Does Not Have To Be Your Future
Here’s a wonderful illustration that your past does not need to predict your future.
Secondary and Tertiary Issues Are Still Important
Lara d’Entremont: “When God led me to my theological stance, he also placed me in a small community where no church holds to this theology—not even closely. My family and I are members at a church that is on the opposite side of the theological spectrum for us. We’ve had to keep ‘the main thing the main thing’ and remember that despite our differences, we each believe the same gospel and worship the same God.”
Flashback: How Long Have You Been Battling?
Sometimes it best serves God’s purposes to leave us in our weakness, for it is in this state that he can best prove himself to be our strength. Yet sometimes it best serves God’s purposes to interrupt long suffering and reward long praying with a demonstration of his power.

Grace means your life will end in victory, no matter how many defeats you’ve had along the way. —Paul David Tripp

This week the blog is sponsored by The Good Book Company. This article is an excerpt from the new, updated, and expanded edition of Is God Anti-Gay? by Sam Allberry. This sensitive exploration of the Bible’s teaching on sexuality has been written to help both Christians and non-Christians struggling with the Bible’s teaching on this issue, whether they experience same-sex attraction themselves or not. Learn more about Sam’s book here.

Western culture has become dramatically more approving of same-sex relationships. In the space of just a decade or two, same-sex marriage, for example, has gone from being something that most people disapproved of (albeit mostly quietly) to something of which acceptance is seen as a litmus test for whether you are a morally good person.
Quality & Clarity
Key to our witness and credibility on this (or any) issue is the quality of our life together and the clarity of our message. We need to be clear on the gospel—clear that it is good news for everyone and that no one is too far gone to enjoy it or too complete to need it. We need to be clear not just that we are all sinners but that we are all sexual sinners. This is the point Jesus makes in Matthew 5 v 27-28:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
The claim here, as we’ve seen, is that we all have hearts that are naturally adulterous— that turn other people’s sexuality into something to be regarded lustfully. None of us are coming at this from any position of superiority. With that gospel clarity needs to come relational credibility. The New Testament often connects the effectiveness of our witness with the genuineness of our love for one another. Jesus once said:
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13 v 35)
Paul describes the church in the following way:
“God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. ” (1 Timothy 3 v 15)
A Strategy of Family
The church is the “pillar … of the truth” because it is the outlet of God’s truth into the world. It is God’s means of bringing his truth to all people. But it is also God’s family—his “household.” And for the church to be an effective pillar, it needs to be an effective family. The local gathering of God’s people is to embody the gospel in its own life. It is the church being church in all its biblical fullness that will most commend God’s ways to wider society. Jesus’ command that his followers “love one another” was not just an afterthought. It is a key part of his strategy to win a watching world.
Jesus promised that those with things to leave behind and give up for him will receive a hundredfold in return:
“ ‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions— and in the age to come eternal life.’” (Mark 10 v 29-30)
Jesus is Always Worth It
The gospel can be relationally costly. But it is also relationally generous. What we leave behind does not compare with what we receive back from Jesus. It is hard to miss the fact that Jesus is talking about family— close family. He doesn’t promise distant cousins and great-uncles, but brothers and mothers and children. All that we have we are to share with one another: time, resources, affection—in other words, ourselves. This, it turns out, is going to be the demonstration, in this life, that Jesus is always worth it. It will be the quality of our community life as church, as much as our ability to speak clearly into the public square, that will most visibly show a watching world that the Christian stance on sexuality is compelling.
Jesus’ words give us all something to do. We might not have the best celebrities, the most talented spokespeople, the most impressive resources, or the most acclaimed thinkers, but in the church we should have the most wonderful and attractive relationships.

Before I set fingers to keyboard, I asked my wife if I should write this article—one requested by Ligonier’s Tabletalk magazine. Before I so much as typed a single word, I asked her if I was at all qualified. She pondered this for a few moments and said, “Yes, I think you are.” I was grateful for her affirmation, yet we both had to acknowledge that many parts of the Christian life are easier to say than to do, easier to describe than to live out. And this one is no exception. It’s easy enough to plan and pledge and pray to live selflessly, but it’s difficult to actually do it moment by moment and day by day. That’s true even of living selflessly with the person in this world I love the most.

I have often pondered one of the strange paradoxes of the married life—that the person I love the most is the person I will sin against the most. Because of our proximity, because of our intimacy, because we have pledged to live our lives together “till death do us part,” I will have a lifetime of opportunities to love my wife but also to hurt her, to bless my wife but also to sin against her. Every day I will have the opportunity to live with her selflessly but also to battle the temptation to live with her selfishly.
God’s Word makes it clear that it is the responsibility of every husband to live with his wife in an understanding way—a way that shows her special honor (1 Peter 3:7). God makes it clear that while a husband is called to lead his wife, he is to lead in a way that is marked by love, not control, and that is shown in sacrifice, not dominance (Eph. 5:25–31). If a wife’s calling is to submit to her husband’s leadership and to show him honor, the husband’s calling is to lead in a way that makes it easy for her to follow and to love in a way that makes him worthy of her honor. It is to think more of her than of himself, to consider her good ahead of his own, to love her even at his own expense. It is, in short, to live selflessly.
To live selflessly is to live with an awareness of complementarity, to understand and embrace the differences between men and women. There is something deep within every man that tacitly believes that marriage would be easier and his union stronger if his wife were only more like him—if she thought like a man and reasoned like a man and felt the desires of a man. Yet God has chosen to display His glory in two genders that are wonderfully different and wondrously complementary. A husband who truly loves his wife is a husband who embraces the differences rather than battling them, who sees them as a feature of God’s design rather than a mistake. He listens to his wife attentively; he comforts her lovingly; he provides for her willingly. He understands and accepts that she is fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image every bit as much as he is, both in her similarities and in her differences.
To live selflessly, then, is to live compassionately. When writing to the Colossians, Paul says, “Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them” (Col. 3:19). Surely he would not have included that particular exhortation if it did not reflect a common temptation. And every husband must admit that he can so easily stoop to harshness, to treat his wife brusquely, sharply, or unseriously. Yet the husband who means to honor his wife will treat her with kindness and dignity, with care and compassion. He will be sobered that God has provided him with a wife at all, be honored that God has entrusted this particular wife to him, and be eager to extend to her all the love and affection that God has extended to him. He will be gentle and forbearing and will always be quick to repent, quick to seek forgiveness and to restore the relationship when he has sinned against her.
To live selflessly is also to live as a companion. It is to “enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun” (Eccl. 9:9). A godly husband enjoys the freedom and intimacy of the marriage relationship and relishes his wife as his dearest companion and closest friend. Though any marriage is at times difficult and though any relationship will at times demand effort and require work, he is committed to enjoying his wife and delighting in the unique joys and wonders of the marriage relationship. He embraces the unique strengths that come with his wife’s femininity, appreciates the unique insights she brings, and learns to enjoy what she finds pleasurable. As he sets aside his natural selfishness, he awakes to the wonders of the closest and dearest kind of human companionship.
Any good man would be willing to die for his wife—to take the bullet that would have struck her, to welcome the pain that would have afflicted her. But it is the rare man who is willing to live for his wife—to set aside the selfishness that is always so close at hand and to instead live for her good and her joy. But then no husband is behaving in a more Christlike manner than the one who considers his wife’s good ahead of his own, who puts to death his natural self-importance so that he can live truly selflessly with the wife whom God has given him.

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Today’s Kindle deals include a little list of books on parenting from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Pastoral Prayer for Love and Unity)
Authenticating the Fourth Gospel
“When I asked Christians why they trust the Bible in contrast to other holy books, most ended up pointing to their own subjective feelings or experiences, rather than to any objective considerations. Some even described faith as a kind of ‘gut-feeling’ or ‘spiritual sixth sense.’” Shane Rosenthal explains why this is insufficient.
The Many Faces of Islam in Africa
David Fugoyo Baime describes some of the many forms Islam takes. “Islam is one of the largest religions in Africa, making up of over 40% of the African population. To ignore Islam is the greatest mistake practicing Christians in Africa can make.”
The Military’s Best Kept Secret
I enjoyed Kevin’s take on the U.S. military’s best-kept secret.
Men and Emotions
Suggesting that men tend to struggle with expressing their emotions, this article asks, “What does Jesus teach us about emotional expression?”
The Basics — Creation
Kim Riddlebarger describes the basic tenets of a distinctly Christian understanding of creation.
See Me
“We all have a need–a craving–to be noticed. And in the noticing, praised. Esteemed. Wanted.Loved. But too often our parents disappoint us. And our friends become our competition.”
Flashback: The Snows, The Deep Snows, the Awful Snows
Though it is certainly not always the case, very often the people who are particularly used by the Lord are the same people who endure suffering. De Witt Talmage makes this point well in a quote from one of his sermons.

God is love, but this is quite different from affirming that our culture’s understanding of love must be God. —Kevin DeYoung

One key element of our worship at Grace Fellowship Church is a pastoral prayer, in which one of the elders prays for the church and on behalf of the church. Every now and again I like to share one of those prayers. This prayer was prayed last Sunday by Paul, the senior pastor.

Lord Jesus, your greatest treasure is Your Father. Thus you could say, “I and the Father are one.” And since Your life was all about service and generosity, it is no wonder You prayed, “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” And we admit to being startled by this request, Jesus. Would you have us be as unified and loving toward one another as that oneness that exists between You and Your Father?
How glad we are you prayed even further. “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one…” Lord Jesus, if it was this unity that took up your last prayers on earth, then we are sure of three things: This matters to You; We must need a lot of help to live this way; It will happen. For no prayer of Yours goes unanswered.
So, even though we are aware of all the ways we mess this up, we are all here now and looking to You and saying, “Please intercede on our behalf before the Father to answer this prayer.” Make us one. Not a group of people that all dress alike, think alike, talk alike, raise our kids alike, spend our money alike, but a bunch of people who look at all the ways we differ, and even all the ways we offend and sin against each other, and say, “I choose to be one with you.” This is our prayer for true fellowship, Lord.
And to do this, make us a more honest church, able to say what we mean and mean what we say to one another. Please crucify all pretension, hidden agendas, passive-aggressiveness, veiled meanings and every sniff of dishonesty. Give us the courage to be authentic with one another. And then balance that authenticity with thoughtful love. We don’t need to say everything we think. And we don’t need to confront everybody who has sinned against us. Grant us that long-suffering, believing-the-best-of-the-other kind of love for our fellow members. A love that endures social awkwardness, bears minor offences, hopes for the best outcomes and displays the Holy Spirit’s enabling grace of patience.
Christ, every thought of you encourages us. Your great love comforts us. We have fellowship with Your Holy Spirit. You have been so affectionate and sympathetic toward us. How could we not do everything we can, to be of the same mind. To hold each other in the same love. To seek to do everything as part of the same team and with the same spiritual objectives in mind.
Forgive us, for when we have thought more about how everyone else has failed us, rather than how we have failed them. Forgive us, for getting cranky that we have to serve again, instead of believing it is more blessed to give than to receive. Forgive us for holding grudges — how could we ever do that, when You have forgiven us ALL of our sins! Forgive us for being easily offended — make it our joy to overlook an offence. Lord, please bring to Your mind all the things that might hinder our fellowship, and give corresponding grace. All those obstacles and interferences that are unique to our church.
Most of us do not live close to one another. Some of us are very introverted. Others have perhaps gotten off to a rough start meeting fellow members. Many of us are relationally weary, very aware of the kind of turnover an urban church like ours experiences. There are perhaps a few here who are just in some kind of weird spiritual funk and are just looking for some way to be offended or hurt.
Lord, look on us. Our church. The members of Grace Fellowship Church, and give us the exact grace we need. Grace to overcome our sins. Grace to compensate for our natural inhibitions. Grace to turn from sin and selfishness and to make it our goal to “in love serve one another.” Make us very mindful of our members who are shut in or providentially removed from us. Help us get to know fellow members that are really different from us. Give us a concerned eye to keep watch for members who are struggling, drifting or turning in bad directions. Help us to fulfil our responsibilities to one another.
Build our unity and love for one another in order that Your very real prayer would be answered here with us, “that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” For, indeed, Father… You have loved us even as You loved Your Son. And people who have been loved like this… well, they live differently. They live with the kind of inner fortitude and spiritual strength, not just to love one another, but to love… love … their enemies.
O God, fill our church with that kind of love. Real love. Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered, God-glorifying love. We join with the Baptist and say, “We must decrease, You must increase.” Revive the fellowship in Grace Fellowship Church. Do that through Your Word as it is preached today by Patrick. Do that in our care for the marginalized and forgotten, such as all those we could serve at the Guidelight Retreat a few weeks ago. Do that for sister churches like, Fellowship Church Rouge Park in Scarborough. And do that for us. We mean it, Lord.
We are willing to do whatever it takes to glorify You in this way. So, please help us. Show us where to change and what to do. And please, Lord, glorify Your Name and Your love in our little church. This we ask in the Name of the One who prayed it first, Jesus Christ. Amen.