Blogs
Don’t Just Redecorate Your Life–Redesign It!
“The healthier, more mature, and more values-driven your “inner room” grows, the more you will provide a welcoming and inspiring space for others.”
Paul Tripp’s Story of Hope in the Midst of Suffering
Watch the moving video that accompanies this article.
Burnout Is Coming. Here’s How to Prevent It.
“Compassion burnout is a reality of ministry life as finite and fallen creatures. But by slowing down, stocking the pond, and leading from within, we can find ongoing renewal for a compassion-filled life.”
Be the Teen God’s Calling You to Be
“The teen years have been hijacked. They’ve been hijacked by pleasure–fashion, sex, music, movies. They’ve been hijacked by pressure–from school, peers, and society. And they’ve been hijacked by distraction–games, smartphones, and social media. None of these things give teens the purpose or identity they were made for. None of these things give teens ultimate happiness and satisfaction. None of these things answer the big and serious questions teens have: Who am I? Why am I here? How can I make a difference in this world?”
Six Ordinary Lessons for Mental-Health Issues
“The church we attended was relatively small (maybe one hundred attenders), on the youngish side (a number of recently married people), and with no mental-health professionals that I knew of. It seemed ordinary. And yet the help this church gave its psychiatric patients had stood out to the staff. As I have reflected on that church and others like it, I’ve identified six principles that guided their care for those with complicated troubles — troubles that would be identified as psychiatric. These include depression, bipolar disorder, dissociative identity disorder, anorexia, and other disorders that are commonly treated with medication. I am assuming that the person is already under the care of a psychiatrist.”
Be Tender-Hearted and Thick-Skinned: How Humility Protects Pastors from Pastoral Burnout
“heep have been known to bite their shepherd. How should pastors respond in the face of unjust criticism? In a nutshell: don’t be thin-skinned, do bSe thick-skinned, and be sure to be tender-hearted.”
Sleep 101: Harvard Freshmen Required To Take Sleep Course Before School Begins
“For the first time, Harvard is requiring that all incoming first-year students complete an online course about sleep health before coming to campus. Research finds that college students tend to sleep too little and too erratically — habits that can affect everything from mental health to athletic and academic performance.”
Keeping Technology in Its Proper Place: An Interview with Andy Crouch
“With new research linking smartphone use to teen loneliness, depression, and even suicide, more experts raising concerns over laptops in the classroom, and the ever-present threat of exposure to harder core pornographic material online, there are legitimate reasons for all of us to be concerned about the effects of technology on children’s well-being and the health of family life.”
A 10-Point Social Media Strategy
“Ligon Duncan—Chancellor and CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, as well as the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at RTS—recently shared his social media strategy. ”
The Sins Forbidden by the Ninth Commandment in a Social Media World
“I will share in bullet points each phrase of the explanation provided in the Westminster Larger Catechism, then, beneath each one, suggest questions that may foster meditation and application”
New Book
6 Ways the Old Testament Speaks Today: An Interactive Guide by Alec Motyer
Kindle Books
Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church by Michael Horton $2.99.
Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoung $3.99.
Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering by Kelly M. Kapic $4.99.