Weekend A La Carte (January 20)
My gratitude goes to Open the Bible for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about their excellent courses—a “video-based training platform designed to equip you with a solid biblical foundation and practical, actionable guidance for serving the Lord over the long haul.”
Today’s Kindle deals include a few notable titles.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Big Problem You Didn’t Know You Had)
Chopo Mwanza considers the life and ministry of John the Baptist and asks whether we display his kind of humility.
“Though it all ended well, it was frightening to witness. As is helpful and necessary after an unsettling event, I continued to process what I had seen in the days that followed. This young lifeguard—she couldn’t have been older than twenty—headed into danger in order to rescue someone out of it. This moved me. On that day, she courageously embodied her title: she guarded life—an actual life!”
“False teachers will always be with us. Peter points out how they have hidden among God’s people since Old Testament days. In fact, it all began in the garden of Eden with the first false teacher, the serpent—Satan himself—who twisted God’s words, leading to death.” Jonathan Gibson identifies four characteristic traits to watch out for.
And on a somewhat similar note, Jacob Crouch warns about the devil’s normal schemes. “If the only devil we are looking out for is the red horned master of Hell, then we will be caught off guard when his schemes seem normal. Let’s be honest: No one is falling for the devil’s outrageous schemes. If the devil stood up in your church and shouted, ‘Let’s all follow a false god!’ very few (any?) would respond. But the devil is smarter than that. He doesn’t look to shock and awe, he boils the frog. You know what I mean? He puts you in pretty comfortable water and then slowly turns up the heat.”
“It’s not really ‘trust’ when life is going easy, is it? When life is a walk in the park, we aren’t really trusting God. Yes, we might be trusting him with regard to salvation, but for all other things we tend to run on autopilot, don’t we? (Not that that’s right!) But even so, to say, ‘It’s so much easier to trust when life is going well’ is like saying, ‘It’s so much easier to climb when you are standing on the ground’!”
That’s actually quite an interesting question to consider: are the Psalms maximally or minimally Messianic? I’d probably land a bit closer to Spurgeon than some others, but am very willing to be persuaded otherwise!
The most difficult time to lead is when you have forfeited the respect of those who are meant to follow you, when your confidence, and theirs, is shattered. But this is also the most important time to lead.
Our spiritual disciplines don’t just benefit us. We don’t follow Jesus in isolation. Our growth and our perseverance also encourage growth and perseverance in our brothers and sisters in Christ.
—Glenna Marshall
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Weekend A La Carte (July 1)
Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians!
My thanks goes to BJU for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about their counseling degrees. “BJU Seminary equips Christian leaders through an educational and ministry experience that is biblically shaped, theologically rich, historically significant, and evangelistically robust.”
(Yesterday on the blog: The Holy Sexuality Project)
When We Cannot Stop the Tears
“I can’t stop the destruction that sin unleashed on the world. I can’t stop the tears of the ones I love.Neither can you. What do we do then when our tears fall? What do we do when all we can see is the aftermath of another tragedy?”
The Sabbath at the Supreme Court
Zachary Groff writes about a recent ruling of the Supreme Court and how it impacts Christians who hold to a sabbath view.
Oldest Fragments
“If you had asked me at about age eleven what I wanted to be when I grew up, my ready answer would likely have been Archaeologist. To this very day, my family teases me about my hope that the Cave of Machpelah has never really been found and that I will be the one to stumble across the undisturbed remains of Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah and Jacob!”
Why Do We Affirm What We Affirm?
Stephen McAlpine writes a follow-up to a controversial article he shared last week. “The shock and dismay at my post, and the concern that I apparently misrepresented the church in question: all these things are a tiny taste of what non-affirming Christians face in the media on a constant basis. A tiny taste of the shape of things to come.”
The Music We Make
Seth writes about the music his family makes and, along the way, celebrates one of God’s good gifts.
Of Questioning God
“Why? How? When? All of us who know the Lord have questions for him. But are they OK? Is it right to question God? Interestingly, the answer is not as simple as one might think. There is no clear yes or no.”
Flashback: When Failure Saves and Success Destroys
God’s care for us may be better expressed in allowing us to fail than permitting us to succeed. That’s because we’re often better at handling failure than success. Failure has a way of bringing us to the end of ourselves, of causing us to rely even more on the Lord.God’s word preached does not merely tell us to work; it does the work. —Sinclair Ferguson
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A La Carte (January 4)
The God of love and peace be with you today.
There continue to be at least a few Kindle deals pretty well every day.
(Yesterday on the blog: On Being a Heroic Man)Rachel Ware puts out the call for students to consider getting an education overseas for the sake of the nations. She offers six reasons to pursue a degree while helping a healthy church in a foreign country.
This author makes a compelling argument. “Ubiquitous pornography does not simply lead to privatized vice, but also destabilizes human culture and civilization to such a degree that the state should seek to degrade and destroy it as a menace to society. Such a proposal will likely find opponents among libertarian republicans and centrist liberals for whom individual autonomy is the highest political good. But opposition to pornography should command overwhelming support from religious conservatives on the right and opponents of misogyny from the most progressive portions of the left.”
Nicholas Lewis draws some lessons from Tolkien’s world and applies them to our own.
Jen Oshman analyzes a popular contemporary axiom: “new year, new me.”
This article asks an important question based on a biblical parable: “Do you view God as a hard man? I know that I am tempted in this way. Especially in times of trial, it is easy to acknowledge God’s sovereignty, but what about his goodness? Does he truly have my good in view? Does He love me?”
“Whatever changes await us in the year ahead, there is one solid foundation we can stand on that never moves: ‘I the LORD do not change.’ He won’t go back on his promises. He won’t revoke his offer of salvation, or quietly update his terms of service. He won’t adjust his commands to suit the sensibilities of the masses, and then adjust them again when the masses change their minds.”
Books on marriage can be wonderful, and I have benefitted from reading many of them. But the best and most helpful books on marriage are the ones being lived out by husbands and wives in your family, in your neighborhood, and especially in your church. Read them longer and more thoroughly than any other.
…if you want to be much less of a follower of Jesus Christ five years from now, make church marginal in your life. If you make church an afterthought, you won’t be thinking about centering your life on Jesus five years from now.
—Kevin DeYoung -
Weekend A La Carte (May 6)
I’m so thankful to Children’s Hunger Fund for once again sponsoring the blog to tell you about some of their remarkable programs. “Our mission,” they want you to know, “is to deliver hope to suffering children by equipping local churches for gospel-centered mercy ministry.”
You will find a few new Kindle deals.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Toxic War on Masculinity)
Gain Is Godliness, or Godliness Is Gain?
“What do you need right now? What would make you genuinely, blissfully, permanently happy if you just had it right now? Ultimately, the answers to that question fall into one of just two categories: either ‘gain is godliness’ or ‘godliness is gain.’” Justin explains the difference.
Jesus Will Return to Put the World Right
He will, indeed. And what a day that will be.
FAQ: Will We Ever See God the Father?
This question is asked quite often, I find.
The Origin of Satan
Where did Satan come from, anyway?
Gratitude Multiplies When We Return It to God
“God gives us hundreds of reasons to be grateful every hour—and if you think I’m exaggerating, ask Him to make you aware of His gracious provisions surrounding you. Developing the habit and discipline of gratitude results in greater praise to God and greater happiness for ourselves.”
Pastors, Brace Yourselves for Another Election Year
With another election looming in the not-too-distant future, Trevin counsels pastors to avoid two extreme reactions.
Flashback: Is Your Church Christian or Christianish?
There is nothing in all the world as precious as a truly Christian church. There is nothing in all the world as dangerous as one that is merely Christianish. Choose your church well.When our lives are united to Christ through faith, we have the assurance that our best days are always ahead of us and never behind us. —Scott Sauls
