Blogs

Reflections on a Planned Parenthood Protest | John Piper
“I come away with the renewed impression that the protection of unborn life is a cause that will not let go of this nation, and that now, more than ever, leaders are rising across the age-range in such a way that it may be the time for some remarkable changes.”

Living with a Brain Injury | Aquila Report: Miriam Gautier
“I didn’t want anyone to know that I was brain damaged. I didn’t think they’d understand and I really didn’t know how to explain it.”

Ashley Madison: Faithlessness
“Life is short, have an affair.” Or. “Life is eternal, live faithfully.” Take your pick.

10 Descriptors of Bad Teachers and Bad Leaders | Chuck Lawless
“Several times in my teaching career, I’ve asked graduate students to give me descriptions of the worst teachers they’ve had.”

The Value of Reading Expository Commentaries | Ref 21: Rick Phillips
“For years I have plugged through such volumes of exposition and books of sermons, mainly for personal devotional purposes but also for professional growth.  I can hardly express the blessing I have received in this way.”

5 Myths and Truths in Loneliness | TGC
“Having been an ordained minister for 32 years and licensed psychologist for 18, I have had the privilege of being entrusted with many personal stories of loneliness. As individuals from all walks of life have opened up with their struggles, I’ve been deeply affected from two different directions. From a psychological perspective, I’ve been struck by the depth of pain humans encounter in their experience of loneliness. And from a theological perspective, I’ve been amazed at how significant human loneliness is to the triune God.”

Kindle Books

The Messianic Hope: Is the Old Testament Really Messianic? by Michael Rydelink $2.99. A book I learned a lot from.

The Pastor’s Ministry: Biblical Priorities for Faithful Shepherds by Brian Croft $3.99. My endorsement:

What a helpful book! Ten clear pastoral priorities, each one biblically grounded and practically expounded. This book will be a huge blessing to many shepherds and even more sheep. I wish it had been around when I was starting out in ministry twenty years ago

Blogs

Happiness Isn’t the Absence of Negative Feelings | Harvard Business Review
“We’re not happy when we’re chasing happiness. We’re happiest when we’re not thinking about it, when we’re enjoying the present moment because we’re lost in a meaningful project, working toward a higher goal, or helping someone who needs us.”

Good Writing, Prioritizing, And Gospel Communication | Aaron Armstrong
“Simplicity isn’t about dumbing down, it’s about prioritizing.… What’s the core of your message? Can you communicate it with an analogy or high-concept pitch?”

27 Reasons Why Believers Should Rejoice Always | Stephen Altrogge
“Here’s a suggestion: Copy this list and put it where you will see it regularly. Or stick it in your Bible to use in your devotions occasionally. Or make your own list. I have found the more I meditate on all God’s blessings and the more I try to rejoice in Christ for these, the more joy I experience.”

9 Things We Learned in our First Year of Homeschooling | Emily Armstrong
“Well, we did it: we completed our first year of homeschooling. When we started down this road, we didn’t really know what to expect: would the kids take to it? Would they turn into potatoes? Would we face the silent (or not so silent) judging of public schooling friends, family, and strangers?”

25 Questions for a Prospective Pastor to Ask a Church | Ron Edmondson
There are some I’d strike from this list. In fact, it had never occurred to me to have such a list. But there may be a few questions on this list that could help a pastor (and a church) decide if he’s called there.

Kindle Books

What It Takes: The Way to the White House $3.99. the blurb says: “A masterpiece of political reportage that exposes the emotional reality of the modern American campaign system.” So I bought it.

Enthroned On Our Praise: An Old Testament Theology of Worship by Timothy Pierce $0.99.

Praying Backwards: Transform Your Prayer Life by Beginning in Jesus’ Name by Bryan Chapell $4.99

Video

Mia Love Breaks Down In Tears Over Planned Parenthood Videos

This is a powerfully moving video. We need more tears like this. Sincere, unashamed, beautiful, and persuasive tears running down our faces as we plead with anti-baby advocates. Men too. Dobbs goes into a diversion on the Iranian deal from 4.24 to 5.52. But make sure you watch from the beginning to 4.42 and then the tear-jerking conclusion from 5.52 to 6.30.

With one very small edit (for clarity), below are the chapter headings for 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do. Though not an overtly Christian book, the author does speak of how her faith in God helped her through the sudden loss of her mother and then, soon after, her 27-year-old husband.

Read it through the lens of Scripture to weed out anything contrary to Scripture, to identify principles and guidance that are consistent with Scripture (see chapter headings below), and to have these principles explained in more detail.

It’s on that latter point that I found the book most helpful. Many of these 13 strategies are biblical. But the Bible doesn’t give us all the detail about how to argue ourselves out of self-pity, how to set boundaries, etc. That’s where this book excels. Read it with Biblical spectacles, add spiritual analysis, spiritual motivation, and spiritual empowerment, and you have a God-designed package that combines the best of God’s special grace with the best of His common grace. As Jay Adams wrote (in a paragraph that I wish was more consistently applied in the rest of his writing):

I do not wish to disregard science, but rather I welcome it as a useful adjunct for the purposes of illustrating, filling in generalizations with specifics, and challenging wrong human interpretations of Scripture, thereby forcing the student to restudy the Scriptures (Competent to Counsel, 1970, xxi).

It’s not a book just for those who are feeling mentally weak; it’s also for those who want to improve their mental strength and to prepare for times when their resilience will be sorely tested. It will also help you minister to people who are struggling in these areas. Here are the chapter headings:

1. They don’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves.

2. They don’t allow everyone else to set their boundaries and expectations.

3. They don’t shy away from change.

4. They don’t focus on things they can’t control.

5. They don’t worry about pleasing everyone.

6. They don’t fear taking calculated risks.

7. They don’t dwell on the past.

8. They don’t make the same mistakes over and over.

9. They don’t resent other people’s success.

10. They don’t give up after the first failure.

11. They don’t fear alone time.

12. They don’t feel the world owes them anything.

13. They don’t expect immediate results.

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do by Amy Morin.

Blogs

New Research: Divorce Divides More Than Just Families | Ed Stetzer
“Pastors are divided about when divorce is sinful and whether or not they would perform the wedding of someone who is divorced.”

The 7th Planned Parenthood Video | Justin Taylor
Nooooooooooo! Long time since my whole being shuddered. I couldn’t get past 6.30.

How Should our Churches Deal with the After Effects of Abortion? | 20 Schemes: Sharon Dickens
“Scotland has the second highest percentage of teenage abortions in the world (Cuba being the highest).”

Recover and Redemption after a Failed Adoption | Biblical Counseling Coalition: Joshua Waulk
A failed adoption presents the Christian family with an emotional trauma that is at once a crisis of faith and an opportunity for the gospel to expand the borders of belief.

Faithfulness in College is Life-Wide | TGC: Stephen Lutz
“In order for academic work to glorify God we have to see it as a high calling, but not the be-all, end-all.”

What is Cage-Stage Calvinism? And what causes it? | R C Sproul Jr.
“Cage­-Stage describes an all too common phenomenon wherein a believer comes to embrace the doctrines of grace, and for a time becomes an obnoxious lout in defending the doctrines to all comers, whether they are interested or not. It suggests that such a newbie should spend some time in a cage until they calm down. If you are a Calvinist you likely have been through this stage. If you are not, you surely have encountered those who were infected.”

How To Get Useful Feedback: A Speaker’s Guide
Let’s start with three truths about feedback:

1. Most of the feedback you receive as a speaker is not very useful.
2. Useful feedback is hard to find and uncomfortable to receive.
3. To reach your potential as a speaker, you require substantial feedback.

Why People Hate Making Phone Calls | The Atlantic”
“Don’t hate the phone call, hate the phone.”

The Town That Decided to Send All Its Kids to College | The Atlantic
“The Baldwin Promise is more than just $5,000 a year for four years of college. It brought with it a complete change in how the town viewed education. Just as elementary school and middle school were in Baldwin, college was a right for everyone.” As long as it doesn’t become “College is right for everyone.”

Kindle Books

Theology of the Reformers by Timothy George $2.99.

The Pastor’s Family: Shepherding Your Family through the Challenges of Pastoral Ministry by Brian Croft $3.99.

Reformed Means Missional: Following Jesus into the World by Sam Logan $3.99.

New(ish) Book(let)

Why Should I Fast? by Danny Hyde $2.99.

Am I wrong to want more than justification? Am I wrong to want more than forgiveness of sins? Am I wrong to want more than deliverance from hell and the guarantee of heaven? Am I wrong to want more than adoption?

Because I do.

I want to be changed. I want to be saved; not just from the penalty of sin, but from the power of it. I want a clean heart, and mind, and eyes, and mouth, and everything else. And I don’t mean just “cleaner” but “clean.” I don’t mean just external behavioral change; I mean real heart change. That’s the “radical” I want; radical transformation.

Why? Why do I want such transformation? And why should every Christian want the same?

1. To demonstrate the power of the Gospel (Rom. 1:16; Matt. 1:21). If the Gospel is only about the grace of forgiveness, then no one will ever know about it. Oh yes, we can personally enjoy the wonderful assurance of justification by faith. And we can talk all we like about it, with tremendous joy. But no one can ever see it. There’s no proof, there’s no evidence.

But when someone is metamorphosed, when an ugly life and character becomes beautiful, then the power of the Gospel isn’t just an idea, a truth, an emotion, or all talk. It’s concrete, it’s undeniable, it’s impactful. It draws attention to the power of God in the Gospel. It truly is the power of God to salvation.

2. To gain a hearing for the Gospel (John 4:39-42). When a person is transformed by the Gospel, people want to know why. They want to find out what’s behind it. What explains this? Change opens ears and shuts mouths. It wins arguments and silences objections.

3. To become more like Christ (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18). Isn’t that the whole point of the Gospel? To re-create us in God’s image? To conform us to the image of God’s Son? Do we have to wait until heaven for that?

Sure, most of it will happen there, when we are totally and perfectly changed in the blink of an eye and made like him. But it begins here. And we want it to do more than just begin. We want to be image-bearers of Christ in this world. If we have seen His beauty, we want the world to see it too, and we have the privilege and responsibility of showing Him forth.

4. To shine light in a dark world (Matt. 5:14; Phil. 2:15). The more we become like the Light of the world, the more light there will be in the world. We don’t want to be just fireflies do we? We want to be lighthouses.

5. To please God (1 John 3:22; Heb. 13:16). We want to please our children, our parents, our wife, our husband, our boss, our neighbor, and many others. Do we not then want to please God? Of course we do. But how do we do that? Has God left us in the dark about how to please Him? Not at all; He’s provided innumerable verses to guide us in how to put a smile on His face.

6. To enjoy a sense of progress (2 Pet. 3:18; 1 Pet. 2:2). Whatever area of life we look at, few people want to stagnate. Whether it’s a sport, our weight, our education, our jobs, our homes, we have an inbuilt desire to grow, to develop, to progress. Although it’s never as fast as we want, with honest self-examination we can detect spiritual changes that encourage us that we are heading in the right direction by the indwelling power and work of the Holy Spirit. 

7. To enjoy communion with God (John 14:16,21). Growth draws God to the soul. He loves to make Himself known and felt to His growing children.

8. To get assurance of faith (James 2:14ff; Heb 12:14). No holiness, no heaven. If no one can see any change in my life, or if the change is negative and backwards for a sustained period of time, I have good reason to question and doubt my salvation. But if the old ways are weakening and new ways are strengthening, I have good reason to conclude that my salvation is of the Lord.

A few days ago we looked at reasons why we don’t change. I hope these eight reasons help us win the argument.

Blogs

Brothers, Serve in the Nursery | TGC: Samuel Emadi
“Spending an hour with 10 two-year-olds every Sunday may not stretch your preaching skills, but it might just be what the Lord uses to make you a more compassionate and faithful church member in the present and church leader in the future. Nursery service is a great way to grow to love the children in your church—you may just find that requests for their salvation and faithfulness become part of your regular routine in prayer.”

We Distinguish: The Importance of Theological Distinctions | Ref21: Mark Jones
“The Reformed theological world – not to mention the broader theological world – might be a lot better off today if we were able to make sound theological distinctions.”

Teaching Our Children The Raw Parts of Scripture | Christward Collective: Nick Batzig
“As a pastor, I sometimes have parents express concern about that to which their young children are being exposed in church. Whether it is a reference to the Old Covenant sign of circumcision going on the male reproductive organ or some part of a biblical story being discussed in Sunday School–there is no way to avoid exposing our children to the raw portions of Scripture in a biblically faithful church. In fact, I would suggest that we are called to expose them to the reality of these things in the right way.”

The Gospel, Marriage, and Sexual Schismatics | Trevin Wax
“It baffles me that one would blame the schisms across the Western Church today on those who uphold Christianity’s historic sexual ethic instead of those who advocate for a sexual revisionism that would have been unfathomable to the generations of the Christians who came before us and, even today, shocks the consciences of the vast majority of Christians outside the West. Only in Western cultures do we call churches “affirming.” Outside the West, the term is “apostate.””

The Great Vision of Christian Education | Desiring God: Justin Taylor
Ten foundational truths.

Does Contraception Really Prevent Abortions | The Federalist
This is not an argument against contraception; rather, it’s against contraception as a way to reduce abortion. “After fifty plus years of the current approach, we still struggle with “unintended” or “unwanted” pregnancies, ultimately leaving us with over a million abortions a year. The notion that the answer to this dilemma is more contraception, which is at the heart of much of our public policy, is a notion that has little support in the lived experience of people who have embraced abortion.”

Kindle Books

Perspectives on Election $0.99. Scroll down the Amazon page and you’ll find most of the Perspectives series on sale for $0.99 per book.

Running on Empty: The Gospel for Women in Ministry $2.99. Barbara Bancroft “confronts the mythic ministry model of Proverbs 31 and other stereotypes and expectations that hinder women from enjoying and displaying the gospel each day.

The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau $1.99. Over 300 reviews on Amazon.

Recommended New Book

How Should We Develop Biblical Friendship? by Joel Beeke and Michael Haykin $2.99.

DVD

Get Defending Your Faith on DVD for a Gift of Any Amount

The full 32-part series Defending Your Faith on DVD and a DVD-ROM featuring the audio version of the series and a study guide. This resource is yours when you give a gift of any amount to Ligonier Ministries.

Videos

Great Answer to the Accusation That “Christians pick and choose what parts of the Bible to believe.”