Blogs

Opioid Crisis Hits Home
“Drug overdoses killed more than half a million Americans from 2000 to 2015, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”

If church leaders are looking for some practical help with this problem, here’s a new Practical Tool Kit for Faith-Based Leaders

Weariness is Part of the Job
Helpful distinction between burnout and weariness.

“Are you tired today? Do you feel worn-out? That’s OK. It is normal. Don’t throw in the towel. Don’t give up. Ministry is supposed to make you weary, but you can make it. Don’t quit. Press on. The work is worth the weariness and our God is of far greater worth than the cost of serving him.”

To Phone or Not to Phone—and When?
Eric Geiger thinks through the questions to consider when deciding if/when to give your teen a phone.

Everyone Wants to Be More Productive
Ligonier Connect and Tim Challies have launched an interactive video course that provides a practical and distinctly Christian approach to productivity.

New Accelerated Degree Program in Partnership with Several Respected Seminaries
And just in case you had any doubt that there was life after RC for Ligonier….

My Indebtedness to the Puritans – Meet the Puritans
Did you know that Joel Beeke likes the Puritans?

“While there are many ways that the Bible-saturated books of the Puritans have influenced me, I would like to highlight three special lessons I have learned from them about experiential, practical Christian living.”

Health Workers Who Oppose Abortion Get New Protections
Good news for Christians in healthcare.

“The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it was taking new steps to protect doctors, nurses and other health workers who have religious or moral objections to performing abortions or sex-change operations, or providing other medical services. The move, one day before the annual March for Life in Washington, was a priority for anti-abortion groups.”

Workplace Trial: How One Executive Led During Dual Tragedies
Fascinating story about how a successful Christian businessman navigated some huge workplace challenges.

Kindle Books

If you’re into history, there are multiple history books on sale at Amazon.

Blogs

11 Ways We Can All Nurture Our Mental Health
“Our mental health is not entirely outside our control. In fact, even when a genetic predisposition is present, or our circumstances are harmful, our lifestyle choices can prevent a disorder from developing, lessen its severity, or help us achieve better recovery. Regardless of our predispositions, experiences, or sense of health, it really doesn’t make sense for anyone to neglect the opportunity to protect and strengthen our mental health. No matter who you are, why not give some thought and care to your mental health this year? Here are 10 ways we can all do that.”

Disability and a Theology of the Body
“A “body is everything” theology (at least functionally speaking) leads to a near-exclusive focus on comfort and relief of bodily suffering in a ministry context. This may be associated with the assumption that suffering people in their particular state of disability bear little to no responsibility before God. They are sufferers much more than they are sinners. On the other hand, a “body is nothing” theology (again, functionally speaking) leads to a near-exclusive focus on soul care. Seeing people come to Christ and discipling them is where the action is. Suffering is primarily seen as a pathway to holiness rather than something to grieve and lament. But either of these two extremes actually dehumanizes people. How does Scripture provide a balanced view of the body?”

How to Reconcile with Another Christian
“How do we reconcile with fellow Christians? In my thirteen years of pastoral ministry, I have found that much of my calling deals with helping those who have been injured by other people—especially other people in the church.”

The Joy of the Old Testament
“After reading the New Testament multiple times over, while only reading small chunks of the Old Testament, I realized something was missing. One time, as I came to the end of the New Testament, again, I felt a void. The New Testament wasn’t coming together as I had hoped. I was not gaining the joy in God that it once had. I did not have a want for more.”

Preparing for Winter
“The response of Christian higher education to the coming winter must therefore be twofold: financial planning for the worst-case scenario, where not only federal money but also tax-exempt status is revoked; and careful reflection on how the curriculum can cultivate accurate and wholesome aesthetic judgment. And, given the very brief time colleges have to shape young people’s minds, they need to see their task as adjunct to the greater task of family and, above all, church—the vessels that carry us from the cradle to the grave.”

Will You Pray for Awakening? Download Your Free Prayer Guide
“We hope this prayer guide encourages you this year and in future years. Join us in praying fervently for a mighty movement of God’s Spirit today, thankful that He has graciously promised to hear us, and confident that He will answer our prayers according to His will.”

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.

Defending Your Faith: An Introduction by R.C. Sproul $2.99.

Expositional Preaching: How We Speak God’s Word Today  by David R. Helm $3.99.

Do No Work: Beat Burnout, Find Inner Peace, and Strengthen Your Faith by Studying the Most Overlooked of the Ten Commandments by Andrew Gilmore $0.99

Blogs

How To Teach Your Brain Something It Won’t Forget A Week Later
I’m a firm believer in “spacing.” See my post on it here at #10.

Preaching with Integrity
“I so appreciate the practical wisdom of Dr. Adrian Rogers when he said, “If my bullet fits your gun shoot it, but use your own powder.”  We don’t hear enough of that kind of practical, pastoral insight in today’s academically saturated church-world. So, how should a pastor who has to preach multiple times every week to the same congregation handle the issue of preaching and plagiarism? He’s my rule: Don’t be lazy and don’t be a liar. What does that mean? What does that look like?”

Ten Commandments of a Disability-Friendly Church
“What do you need to be a disability-friendly church? Do you need a staff person assigned to a formal disability ministry? Do you need a large budget and a special curriculum? All of those things can be helpful, but becoming disability-friendly is much simpler than that. I have both pastored and attended only small churches over the past two decades and have witnessed the loving and welcoming of those with disabilities. Any church can become a safe place that embraces people of all disabilities. I have an article on this in the current issue of Faith Today. But you can begin with these ten simple steps. ”

Your Child is a Work of Art
“Psalm 139 tells me that my son, with all his unique needs and diagnosis (spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, microcephaly) is a personal creation, a sacred work of art of God himself. He matters to God. Be encouraged, your child is a sacred work of art crafted by the Creator of the universe. And he knows every single detail of your child, they are his masterpiece.”

3 Lessons I learned from Burnout
“Pastors aren’t supposed to have breakdowns. We’re supposed to be in control, collected, stoic. Pastors exist to help others in their needs, and through our work, be able to rise above our own.  Unaware of what was brewing underneath the surface of my soul, I believed the lie that pastoral work required me to be fixed, resolved, finished. So I thought. Yet, God has humbled me, bringing me to the end of myself and the beginning of his grace.  ”

Saying “Yes”
“So many people I know have died over the past two years—more people than in the previous ten. A few died from disease, a few more died from suicide, but most died from overdoses. Among those who overdosed, the stories began to sound the same. They often began with legal narcotics when a physician prescribed something for pain relief (Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycontin). The drug worked until the person developed tolerance, and then looked for and found either more of the drug or—something worse. Heroin was cheaper and became the drug of choice. It was eventually supplemented by fentanyl or carfentanyl, and the person unintentionally overdosed. And the deaths keep coming.”

10 Theological Tenets for Covenantal Apologetics
“I want to suggest 10 tenets to keep in mind as you begin to have apologetic conversations with unbelieving friends and neighbors. These 10 tenets flow from biblical truth, and find agreement with what many have said in the Reformed tradition”

A Year in PRRD (Week 1) – Meet the Puritans
“Every Wednesday in 2018 Michael Lynch (PhD candidate at Calvin Theological Seminary) and our own editor Danny Hyde (PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) will be blogging through Richard Muller’s Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics.

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.

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life  by Donald S. Whitney $1.99.

The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures by Jayson Georges $3.99.

Developments in Biblical Counseling by J. Cameron Fraser $2.99.

Blogs

To Recover from Burnout, Regain Your Sense of Control
“It’s far better to adopt an ownership mindset, that sounds like this: Others may have contributed to my situation, but I have the ability to make choices that can improve my present and future. Thinking in this way gives you the license to choose, even in small ways, to take action to recharge and build momentum. Realizing you have autonomy opens up hope for the future.”

If You’re Feeling Too Frantic, Genuine Leisure Can Restore Your Soul
“We need to create more time for what Pieper calls meaningful “non-activity.” We need to add pockets of leisure in our family lives, so we can fall more deeply in love with our world and each other. We need to protect our Sabbaths, our nights off, and our holidays. While the demands of work and technology seek to exert their dominance over our lives, we must also make a concerted effort to abide by the divine command: be still.”

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, December 2017
“The December issue of Tabletalk addresses the biblical-theological theme of the temple. The tabernacle and temple are prominent in old covenant worship and history. There is also extensive teaching on the temple in the Gospels, Hebrews, Revelation, and other New Testament books. A right understanding of the temple thus is key to a right understanding of the Bible. Regrettably, however, Christians often have a poor understanding of the temples’ significance and its fulfillment in Christ and His church. This issue considers various aspects of the tabernacle/temple, and what it tells us about Christ, the church, and salvation.”

The Pentateuch: 5 Books About God’s Grace
“If we take a tad closer look at the Pentateuch, we will see that it contains five books filled with God’s grace.”

Shaped by God: Thinking and Feeling in Tune with the Psalms | Desiring God
Free e-book on the Psalms by John Piper: “My aim in this book is God-centered, Christ-exalting, Psalms-saturated thinking and feeling. I believe this kind of thinking and feeling will bear fruit in the kind of living that cares for people and magnifies Christ.”

Matt Chandler on Leading a Growing Church Without Getting a Big Head
You don’t need to have a big church to learn from this.

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.

Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat by James D. Bratt $2.99.

From Heaven: A 28-Day Advent Devotional by A. W. Tozer $1.59. You may need to strip out a few Arminianisms but his writing is always warm and worshipful.

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

Blogs

What Sexual Theft Says About You
“You can begin to see adultery for what it is by grasping how antithetical it is to faith. The sin of adultery screams out to the world that you don’t really believe God. Perhaps it will be helpful to make this clear. If you are contemplating adultery, consider at least four probing questions about what you believe.”

With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit
“What happened so that so many more teens, in such a short period of time, would feel depressed, attempt suicide and commit suicide? After scouring several large surveys of teens for clues, I found that all of the possibilities traced back to a major change in teens’ lives: the sudden ascendance of the smartphone.” And Evidence mounts that laptops are terrible for students at lectures. Yet…..

The Most and Least Digital Jobs – and How Well They Pay
“The researchers broke occupations into high, medium, and low use of digital, and found that highly digital occupations made $73,000, on average. Medium occupations made $48,000 and low occupations made just $30,000. To some extent, that’s due to the fact that more digital jobs are held by more highly educated people. However, the researchers found that, even after controlling for educational requirements, more digital jobs paid better — and that this premium had increased over the past decade.”

A dose of nature: doctors prescribe a day in the park for anxiety
“The Huddle’s family physician wrote her a prescription that read: “Five times a week… spend 30 minutes at a park near your home.” Huddle’s treatment plan is part of a growing field of medicine called “ecotherapy” — nature-based programs and exercises that can help patients cope with mental and physical illnesses. Instead of prescriptions for more pills, doctors around the country are increasingly prescribing trips to the park for a range of conditions, including anxiety and depression, attention deficit disorder and chronic illness such as diabetes and high blood pressure.”

Personality Disorder: What Use Is This Label for a Counselor?
I link to this not because I agree with everything in it (I don’t), but because it shows how some biblical counselors approach these complex disorders:

“So what does a biblical counselor do with a personality disorder label? Do any of your counselees have this label from a psychotherapist? Do you suspect a counselee might fit the diagnosis? Does it even matter?”

Kindle Books

Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives by Richard Swenson $3.99.

The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent by John Piper $3.19.

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent by Nancy Guthrie $0.99.

Uncensored: Daring to Embrace the Entire Bible by Brian Cosby $2.99.

Blogs

Something to Hate
“While hate is a strong word, it is a necessary word. It is necessary to speak the truth about what is evil. We need to use it to think about, talk about, and act against sin. In doing so, it will help us see sin for what it is: an affront against a holy, perfect, and righteous God. Hating sin helps us take it seriously. It helps us put it in its proper place. When we hate sin, it moves us fight against it, to be alert for its work in our lives, and to put it to death. The opposite of hate is love and if we don’t hate sin and treat it as evil, we will grow to love it.”

The Research Proves The No. 1 Social Justice Imperative Is Marriage
“A consistent and irrefutable mountain of research has shown, reaching back to the 1970s and beyond, that marriage strongly boosts every important measure of well-being for children, women, and men. Pick any measure you can imagine: overall physical and mental health, income, savings, employment, educational success, general life contentment and happiness, sexual satisfaction, even recovery from serious disease, healthy diet and exercise. Married people rate markedly and consistently better in each of these, and so many more, compared to their single, divorced, and cohabiting peers. Thus, marriage is an essential active ingredient in improving one’s overall life prospects, regardless of class, race, or educational status.”

Let Me Show You What Postpartum Depression Really Feels Like
“Being a mom not suffering from postpartum depression (PPD) has been an illuminating experience. After suffering from it with my first two children, I am sure I technically have PPD with my third child, but I am on medication that controls my symptoms so well that I function as a healthy neurotypical person.”

Elijah’s Tree Ministry for Discouraged Ministers
“Elijah’s Tree exists to provide God-centered, Christ-magnifying, Scripture-saturated, confidential, and accessible shepherding and spiritual refreshment for discouraged, burned out, wounded and hurting pastors, pastoral couples, chaplains, and missionaries.”

Emotional Intelligence, a Critical Trait of a Church Replanter
The four characteristics of emotional intelligence that we cover in this episode are:

1. Self-awareness: The ability to know yourself and your emotions, not as you wish they were, but as they really are.
2. Self-regulation: The wisdom and ability to understand the impact you have when you take action or refrain from action.
3. Social awareness: The ability to read other people and understand their emotions.
4. Relationship management: The ability to incorporate the other 3 skills to navigate and build positive relationships with all types of people.

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, November 2017
“The November issue of Tabletalk considers the biblical teaching on leadership. Our nature as human beings is to seek out leaders to set a course for us and direct us in accomplishing things, and as Christians we are designed to seek leaders who will motivate us to do excellently for the sake of the kingdom of God. Yet in the workplace, the church, and the home, good leaders are often scarce. Further, we see leaders fail, and we often resist following our appointed leaders. These problems indicate that while we know we need leaders and that many of us should become leaders, we have a deficient understanding of what godly leadership actually is. This issue examines the biblical concept of leadership so as to help equip believers to be better leaders and followers in the various spheres of life.”

Whatever Is Lovely: How to Overcome Demanding Thoughts
“When we are struggling with distracting, demanding thoughts and emotions, God wants us to know that we are not victims who must simply endure the miserable ride on the train of our thoughts. He wants us to seize the controls he’s given us, switch tracks, and head in a faithful, joyful direction.”

Conversations through 95 Theses – Reflections on a Facebook Live Q&A
I’ve rarely seen such a sustained, charitable, and reasonable critique.

Kindle Books

Pursuing Peace: A Christian Guide to Handling Our Conflicts by Robert D. Jones $3.99.

Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing by Andy Crouch $2.99.

The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship by Thabiti Anyabwile $2.99.