Blogs

How to Master Audience Engagement When You Present | Duarte
On the importance of introductions from a presentation guru.

If you want to engage your audience in a presentation, you have a little less than 9 seconds to make it happen. Recent studies show that the average human attention span is 8.25 seconds—if you don’t get listeners engaged that quickly, there’s a good chance you’ll lose their focus to their phone, laptop, reading materials, daydreams, etc.

Suffering Opens a Door for the Gospel | Desiring God
“It’s illegal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims in Tehran, Iran. So when I think of gutsy women I think of Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh.”

Opportunity amid Secularism by Collin Hansen
“The rise of the nones and secularism, along with the decline of the mushy middle, poses a challenge that many American evangelicals have never before faced. In a culture that broadly reinforced Christian values, purity did not need to distinguish the church. And if we didn’t think of ourselves as outsiders to the culture, we didn’t need to reflect on how our dignified behavior would set us apart, either.”

Chasing Contentment: Trusting God in a Discontented Age | TGC
Erik Raymond fills in the backstory to his book Chasing Contentment: Trusting God in a Discontented Age:

The story for this book was painfully sweet and stitched to my soul. A couple of years ago I was enduring a particularly difficult season. It seemed as though God had allowed affliction to hover like a rain cloud over my life. Pastoral ministry was especially trying even as I encountered a number of new health problems. This, along with the regular stiff headwind of living in a fallen world, had me weary. But I was more than weary. I was restless. And, upon further review, I was discontent”

Here’s my commendation of Erik’s book:

“Does any word better define our culture than ‘chasing’? Does any word better describe what’s missing in our culture than ‘contentment’? By pairing these seemingly contradictory words, Erik calls us to end our pursuit of more and to begin our pursuit of enough. Read this engaging and enjoyable exploration of Christian contentment and decide, as I did, that this chase is well worth the effort.”

You Cannot Raise Snowflakes in Jesus’ Name
An excellent word to snowflakes and their parents from David Prince:

A mildly teased child is not a victim, but rather a human being learning how to interact with other humans in a sinful world.

An FAQ on The Collected Works of John Piper (3 Million Words over 13 volumes + an Index Volume)
Required reading for anyone who wants to fully understand the rise of New Calvinism.

To read all of Piper’s published writings individually would require the acquisition of more than one hundred volumes, along with tracking down dozens of older articles and reviews in obscure publications. By editing, assembling, and standardizing these volumes in one definitive set, we hope to provide convenient access to the work of a proven and trustworthy teacher. We also hope that the hundreds of pages of indices—tracking every Scripture passage, author cited, and subject matter—will be a helpful too for preachers and all students of God’s Word.

Violent Peace | Gentle Reformation
“Peacekeepers often demand silence.  They will ask you to act (pretend) like everything is okay.  They will change subjects, misdirect conversation, formulate incoherent narratives.  They will sometimes make ungodly compromises to keep the illusion of peace. Peacekeepers are self-protective instead of other-protective. Peacemakers will fight for truth.  They will disrupt.  They will say what is uncomfortable, what may cause friction and even pain if it seeks that which is just and right in God’s eyes.   And they will often be vilified and labeled as trouble-makers.”

Kindle Books

The Money Answer Book: Quick Answers to Everyday Financial Questions by Dave Ramsey $1.99.

The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Gregory Koukl $3.99.

Faith Alone—The Doctrine of Justification: What the Reformers Taught…and Why It Still Matters by Tom Scheiner $3.99.

In this video, I explain how my two experiences of pulmonary emboli resulted in me writing Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture. The book releases today and can be purchased at Reformation Heritage Books and Amazon.

Blogs

How My Daughter Bypassed The Wedding-Industrial Complex | Roger Selbert, The Federalist
Here’s hope for every family with daughters:

“Is it possible to plan a lavish and memorable wedding celebration without breaking the bank? Here’s how we did it.”

How a New Catechism Is Uniting Churches in Europe’s Last Pagan Nation | Sarah Eekhoff Zylsra, TGC
Read how the church is growing and changing in Lithuania.

Introducing Songs from The New City Catechism | Betsy Childs Howard, TGC
Here are some songs to help memorizing of The New City Catechism.

4 Reasons Your Work Matters Today | Michael Kelly, For The Church
“I can see at least four reasons why your work matters today, whether you’re a plumber, a preacher, a stay-at-home mom or a go-to-the-office dad:”

Is Unforgiveness Unforgivable? | Mark Dance, LifeWay Pastors
“Unforgiveness is the most consistent trap for pastors and church leaders that I have seen.”

How to Listen to a Sermon | Daryl Crouch, LifeWay Pastors
“In an age of multi-tasking, total and convenient access to the Internet, and increasing demands on our emotional energy, how can we fully engage, listen, and respond to the sermon from start to finish? What can the listener do to get the most out of every sermon?”

Dying of Despair | Robert VerBruggen, Institute for Family Studies
“In late 2015, Princeton’s Anne Case and Angus Deaton released a blockbuster paper revealing that mortality rates for middle-aged, non-Hispanic white Americans were going up, particularly for those with less education. They were not the first to notice that something had gone awry with this demographic, but their paper landed amidst a national conversation about an opioid epidemic that was, and is still, spiraling out of control.”

New Book

This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years by Jaquelle Crowe. My 13-year-old finished this in less than two days. Loved it.

Kindle Books

For your non-Kindle book buying needs please consider using Reformation Heritage Books in the USA and Reformed Book Services in Canada. Good value prices and shipping.

A Clearing of the Mists: In Pursuit of Wisdom upon the Scottish Hills by Martin Haworth ($4.99)

Psalms by the Day by Alec Motyer ($8.99)

Eternity Changes Everything: How to live now in the light of your future by Stephen Witmer ($9.99)

Join me today at 1pm ET for a Facebook Live video on living a grace-paced life. I’ll be sharing the story of the life-changing events which led to my writing of Reset, and I’ll also be taking your questions about burnout and the related problems of stress, anxiety, depression, etc.

Here are your latest links to help you detox your digital life. More digital detox resources here.

8 Lies to Reject in Overcoming Lust and Pornography

1. “You’re the only one facing this struggle.”
2. “Read your Bible and pray every day, and the temptation will go away.”
3. “Accountability will make the difference.”
4. “A filter or block on your devices will protect you from a fall.”
5. “It’s okay if it’s not hardcore porn.”
6. “Get married, and the problem will disappear.”
7. “You’ll grow out of the struggle as you get older.”
8. “If you didn’t go looking for porn, you’re not as responsible.”

Click through for exegesis.

The Good News about New Brain Disorders | Amy Simpson
Amy analyzes the impact that technology is having upon our brains and our ability to function. She notes how most people don’t think much about brain-health

Most of us aren’t in the habit of thinking about, let alone intentionally caring for, the health of our brains. Those who are in such habits are likely to be people who study brains for a living (people like neurologists and psychiatrists, not zombies) or people who have had something go seriously wrong with their brains, to the point where it interfered with their ability to function. Their experience has convinced them their brains are worth nurturing deliberately…. As we learn more and more about how our brains work, and what they need, we may begin to think differently about taking them for granted.

But she also sounds an optimistic note:

But I didn’t start writing this to issue a warning; I wanted to share hope. There is good news here, in the changeability (plasticity) of our brains. Just as our environment and experiences can have a detrimental effect on our brains, they can have a healing effect. We can make choices that promote health in our brains–even when our brains are already disordered. In fact, that’s one of the reasons good therapists can be so helpful–they help us find new ways of thinking and adapting to our realities. As a coach, I know my work can have this effect too, even though it is not designed to heal or treat mental health problems. Our brains really can learn to be healthier as we treat them well.

Assessment: How Mindful Are You?
Did you know that people spend almost 47% of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing, which impairs their creativity, performance, and well-being? The Harvard Business Review provides a questionnaire to help us gauge our ability to focus, a mental skill that is becoming as important as emotional intelligence and technical skills.

On Loneliness and Addictive Technology | New City Commons
This piece links to a number of helpful articles and resources. It highlights a growing  counter-movement within Silicon Valley that encourages developers to attend to human frailty, rather than exploit it.

The attention economy, which showers profits on companies that seize our focus, has kicked off what Harris calls a “race to the bottom of the brain stem.” “You could say that it’s my responsibility” to exert self-control when it comes to digital usage, he explains, “but that’s not acknowledging that there’s a thousand people on the other side of the screen whose job is to break down whatever responsibility I can maintain.

You can join the movement here.

Penns restaurant gives discount to phone-free diners | Daily Mail Online
Sarah’s Corner Café in Stroudsburg has started offering 10 percent off checks if families can go without checking their phones. The restaurant has set up ‘family recharging stations’ at tables so people can drop their phone into a basket before they order. and they get the discount if they can get through the meal without checking them.

The Fearful and Wonderful Art of Flirting | Desiring God
Great piece of analysis and writing from Tony Reinke:

Social media normalizes voyeurism and makes it possible to stare at pictures of attractive people. On social media, perhaps flirtations begin with studying a woman’s picture. She follows you on Twitter or Facebook, or she makes a kind comment. Her interest in you sparks in you a kind of curiosity in her images. You open her profile picture and study it. Your eyes linger on her profile longer than they should. You go to her Facebook or Instagram feed and you scroll for more images. Maybe she has a boyfriend or a husband, but it doesn’t matter. You respond. Maybe it begins with a follow back. And then maybe a direct message, or a text, or an otherwise obscure comment in public, or even something more private.

It’s not hard to imagine how it begins. Soon enough, digital flirting leads to private conversations where you share your dreams and disappointments, your hopes and longings. Soon enough two smartphones have carved out a private space — now you’re on a digital date — and nobody else knows.

Our cars have warning lights that we can look up in our owner’s manual. But what do the “warning lights” look like for men? What are the danger signs that our present pace may prematurely end our race?

Here’s a checklist arranged in categories. Whereas the physical category had the most ticks for me, for you it might be the emotional, mental, or another category. God has designed us all differently and knows which warning lights will best get our attention. But as some of us can’t (or won’t) see warning lights, even when all of them are flashing red and blue right in front of our eyes, why not ask your wife or a friend to go through these lights with you and give you a more objective outsider’s viewpoint?

Physical Warning Lights

• You are suffering health issues one after another. Seventy-seven percent of Americans regularly experience physical symptoms caused by stress, including headaches, stomach cramps, achy joints, back pain, ulcers, breathlessness, bad skin, an irritable bowel, tremors, chest pains, or palpitations.¹
• You feel exhausted and lethargic all the time, lacking energy or stamina for sports or playing with your kids.
• You find it difficult to sleep, you wake up frequently, or you wake up early and can’t get back to sleep. Maybe you can identify with my friend Paul’s nightmare: “Then came the insomnia. Killer insomnia. Like all night. Then another night. I was panicking. What on earth was going on with me? I went to my doctor. He gave me some heavy-dose, prescription sleep aids. It worked like a peashooter on a tank.”
• You are following the example of a young entrepreneur who admitted to me, “I used my lack of sleep to justify sleeping in later, which only perpetuated that poor sleep cycle.”
• You are like one pastor who confessed to me that “my excessive sleeping was simply an escape.”
• You are putting on weight through lack of exercise or eating too much junk food, or you are drinking too much alcohol or coffee.

Read the rest of this extract from my book Reset at the Crossway blog where I discuss more warning lights such as:

• Mental Warning Lights
• Emotional Warning Lights
• Relational Warning Lights
• Vocational Warning Lights
• Moral Warning Lights
• Spiritual Warning Lights
• Pastoral Warning Lights