Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
Five Things Every Christian Should be Doing with God’s Word – Michael J. Kruger
17 Ways to Meditate on Scripture – Donald Whitney (via Justin Taylor)
Of Justice and Generosity – Kevin DeYoung
3 Choices in How We Respond to God’s Kingdom Agenda – Trevin Wax
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
How Do I Know I’m a Christian? – Kevin DeYoung
Whenever counseling Christians looking for assurance of salvation, I take them to 1 John. This brief epistle is full of help for determining whether we are in the faith or not. In particular, there are three signs in 1 John given to us so we can answer the question “Do I have confidence or condemnation?”
It’s Not a Blind Faith – Tim Challies
Faith is trusting in someone who has the answers we lack. Faith is trusting in the goodness, in the character, of God.
The Heresy of Indifference – Burk Parsons (Ligonier)
When people tell me they are into Jesus but not into doctrine, I tell them that if they are not into doctrine, they are, in fact, not into Jesus. We cannot know Jesus without knowing doctrine, and we cannot love God without knowing God, and the way we know God is by studying His Word. Doctrine comes from God, it teaches us about God, and by faith it leads us back to God in worship, service, and love. Indifference to doctrine is indifference to God, and indifference to God is indifference to our own eternity.
Four Ways To Fight the Fear of Missing Out – Jon Bloom
The Thing. It’s a strange thing, because it’s there and not there at the same time. What I’m talking about is The Thing that you don’t have that you think you need in order to be happy. And you know when The Thing is there because you begin to feel a low-grade panic that you don’t have it. The Thing makes you afraid that by not having The Thing you’re missing out.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!
Here are a few good posts and resources on helping the people of Nepal:
Deadly Earthquake in Nepal – Samaritan’s Purse
Second Major Quake Shakes Nepal – Samaritan’s Purse
What Nepal Really Needs – Michael Heitland (TGC)
And then, the Pew Research Center released a new study on religious affiliation in America that shows the unaffiliated has risen by almost 7% in only seven years. A few perspectives:
Nominals to Nones: 3 Key Takeaways From Pew’s Religious Landscape Survey – Ed Stetzer (Christianity Today)
Is Christianity Dying? – Russell Moore
Bottom line: Nominal cultural Christianity – those who claim Christianity without any real commitment – seems to be dying. Meanwhile, committed evangelical Christianity is holding steady. Our culture’s move away from Christianity will have serious ramifications for the well-being of our nation. But at the same time, the gospel light will shine brighter in the growing darkness if God’s people will live out their new life in Christ.
Here are some good posts on preaching:
How Long Should A Sermon Be – Brian Biedebach (Preachers & Preaching)
The message must last long enough for the text to be rightly explained and the practical implications properly developed….
Why Sermons Often Bore – Gavin Ortlund (TGC)
…how to preach to the heart, and through the heart to the whole person.
Top 500 Preaching Resources – David Murray
A treasure trove of opportunities to grow in our preaching!
Here are some good posts about the Word in our corporate worship:
The Benefits of Sitting Under Expository Preaching – Eric Davis (Cripplegate)
The Wonder of the Word in Corporate Worship – Matt Boswell (DG)
3 big ideas and 7 tips on how to read the Bible in church – Matthias Media
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
Cheap Grace Isn’t Grace – Ricky Stark (YMRT)
…genuine faith requires repentance—and that a call to grace is a call to holiness.
Living Well in a Digital World – Tim Challies
I am thrilled to live in this time, and eager to use all of these new technologies for good. But I know, and you know, that we need to use them well, and to use them for God’s glory.
Preaching the Ten Commandments – Ray Ortlund
When I preach through the Ten Commandments, each sermon has four points, because each commandment does four things at once. [Not just for pastors – good thoughts on the Ten Commandments]
Two Ways To Ruin Your Relationship With The Giver – Mike Wittmer (via Tim Challies) We must see God’s gifts of creation as windows into his glory and opportunities to praise him. But we must also find pleasure in them.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church!
Here are some helpful posts related to the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments regarding “same-sex marriage.”
9 Things You Should Know About Same-Sex Marriage – Joe Carter (TGC)
10 Questions About Marriage From The Supreme Court Arguments – Russell Moore and Andrew Walker (ERLC)
“It Is Going To Be An Issue” – Albert Mohler
Why Not Gay Marriage? – Kevin DeYoung
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
How Do You Know You’re Repentant? – Jared Wilson
We name our sin as sin and do not spin it or excuse it, and further, we demonstrate “godly sorrow,” which is to say, a grief chiefly about the sin itself, not just a grief about being caught or having to deal with the consequences of sin.
3 Reasons Why You Aren’t Allowed To Be Theologically Dumb – Chris Martin (ME)
When you love God with your heart but not your mind, you end up loving the god of your imagination, not the God of the universe.
Theological Black Holes – Tim Challies
And this is one of the reasons God places us in church communities where we are surrounded by people who are that much wiser and that much more mature than we are.
Making the Most of Sunday – Joe Thorn (TCC)
As we look forward to what God will do among us as we gather let’s remember that there are three ways to get the most out of your Sundays with the church: prepare, participate, and reflect….
Hope you make the most of the Lord’s Day this week as you gather with your local church!
Here are some good posts for pastors:
The Pastor’s Personal Holiness – Jason Helopoulos
Being an Iceberg Pastor – Andrew Haslam (Think)
Pastors, Prioritize Prayer – Don Carson (TGC)
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
6 Things Jesus Does With Sin – Jared Wilson
This is how Jesus forgives sin: He condemns it, carries it, cancels it, kills it, casts it, and clean forgets it.
This. Is. The. Day. – Michael Kelley
It will do me no good to wish for another day. A different day. The day that someone else is having. This is the day that I’ve been given. This day, full of the mundane and the ordinary, full of the opportunity unexpected. This one, the one that’s beginning right now, is the day.
Faithfully Delivering the Gospel – Erik Raymond
So what are you, the evangelist, the Christian, to do? Talk to people about Jesus. The power is neither in you nor the sinner, but in the gospel!
Keller’s 5 Ways the Gospel Transforms Your Work – Nicholas McDonald
The way a Christian works is radically different from those around him or her. The gospel ought to transform the way a Christian works from the inside out.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!
Brian J. Mikul 