An analogy for sin that hits home
If you work with Muslims and want to share the gospel with them, you will resonate with this one. You may find the analogy offered helpful as you try to explain the concept of sin and depravity.
10 things the woman married to your pastor wants you to know
I think my wife would particularly resonate with Numbers 5-9.
The influenced will be like the influencer
Tim Challies: ‘Many of our influencers are people we may never know and who may never know us, and we take less seriously the decision of whom we will follow. We follow their books, their videos, their blogs. That’s well and good as far as it goes. But we do need to be aware that what was true then remains true now—a blind guide will lead his followers into peril and a student will become like his teacher. The influenced will become like the influencer in his convictions and in his character, in his beliefs and in his actions.’
Christians & the Sabbath
TGC has put together a “three-view forum” on a Christian understanding of the sabbath. This was something of an ongoing concern for me growing up in Grace Baptist churches. Here are three articles explaining the different positions.
- In the first article, Stephen Wellum explains why Sunday is not the Christian sabbath;
- In the second, David Strain explains why Christians should be sabbatarians;
- In the third, Justin Huffman finds in the sabbath an enduring principle for the soul.
Why I am voting for Trump
Last week, I shared this article by John Piper as to why he couldn’t, in conscience, vote for Donald Trump. In the interests of balance, here is an article arguing in favour of voting for him.
A shout-out to the meddling kids: the age of unmasking
Stephen McAlpine: ‘The last few years in evangelicalism around the West has been the era of the great unmasking. It feels like “Big Eva” has a problem around its leadership style, and as the stats show… churches attract an inordinate amount of leaders high up the narcissistic scale. And in this era of “we need someone to get stuff done cos the church is in a tight spot”, that’s often a recipe for disaster.’
From the archive: What sort of person can serve in a deprived community?
‘You don’t have to have the most thrilling (humanly speaking) testimony in order to serve in a deprived community. You needn’t have the harshest upbringing or the grimmest past. What you need is a love for Christ, a love for his people and a love for the lost. You need to know and understand the gospel, particularly to the point that you have personally responded to it. You need to love God’s people, his bride – the church – with all its faults and foibles. You need to love the lost, to recognise the reality of Hell and the horror of a lost eternity for those who do not know Christ that moves you to share the gospel with them even when it is difficult. These are the qualifications you need to serve in a deprived community.’