EVANGELISM
2 things we must do to help our post-Christian neighbors trust Jesus (Bob Thune at The Gospel Coalition): I’m persuaded Dallas Willard had it right when he identified “gospels of sin management” as a core problem within Christianity. More than merely a way to manage sin, the gospel of Christ offers people salvation and a new life that transforms them and the world around them. In the church, our neighbors should see a beautiful, attractive, and compelling picture of life in the kingdom of God.
A call for evangelism and why it might be missing in the West (Simon van Bruchem at Written for Our Instruction): The gospel message is that Jesus Christ is the only one in whom we can find salvation, meaning and hope. Christians find great comfort and joy in this exclusive claim by Jesus. And it leads us to an inescapable piece of logic: those who are not currently following Jesus are in big trouble and need to come to Jesus. That’s true whether they are following other religions, are devoted to some other philosophy of life, or if they have simply never thought about these kinds of things deeply.
WORSHIP
5 ways the enemy seeks to attack us before worship happens this weekend (Chuck Lawless): Let me get right to the point: the devil wants to hinder your worship of God this weekend, so he will work to distract and deceive you. Even before we get to worship this weekend, he wants us to:*
SPIRITUAL LIFE
How to live for God by fearing him first (Douglas Allison at Living to God): If the fear of God is the most important and fundamental of all our fears, and if the fear of God ought to regulate other fears, then how do we go about putting the fear of God above every other fear? How do we cultivate the fear of God?
Attitudinal forgiveness and transactional forgiveness (David Powlison at Counseling One Another): You stand alone before God your Father dealing with your own attitudes. This vertical aspect of forgiveness deals with our attitudes. Its purpose is to change you, not to deal with the other person. It prepares you, so you will go to the other person already willing to be merciful. You are no longer holding the grudge, building up bitterness, on the defensive, on the offensive.
Three biblical postures for hostile times (Davy Ellison at The Gospel Coalition): How can Christianity survive such a hostile onslaught? Do we have a survival strategy? The familiar narrative of Daniel 6 answers these questions with the foundational truth that God rules over all—even in the most hostile environments. Daniel’s confidence in God’s absolute authority encourages us to adopt three postures in the face of hostility.
MINISTRY
Hospitality is about more than just food (Jacob Crouch): I think we can miss the heart behind hospitality when we simplify it to a meal in our homes. Here’s what I mean: The word we translate as “hospitality” is literally “philoxenia”. Do any of those parts look familiar? It literally means “love” (philo) for the “stranger” (xenia). So when we are commanded to show hospitality, we are commanded to show love for the stranger.
PREACHING
Don’t fall into ditches when it comes to preaching (Darryl Dash at Dashhouse): Yes, I’m a preacher, and I’m not neutral on this subject. Nobody is. But I’ve seen the danger of falling into one of two ditches when it comes to preaching. We do well to avoid both.
Preaching that moves the heart (Jonathon Woodyard at Theology Along the Way): One of the things preachers must aim to do is move the hearts of their hearers. That is, the sermon is not a lecture that seeks to merely inform the mind, though that’s necessary. The sermon aims to engage both the mind and the heart.
BIBLE INSIGHT
What will we remember in the New Creation? (John Piper at Desiring God): In the new heavens and the new earth, whatever God grants us to remember of this world will only serve to deepen our joy, the joy of worshiping Christ. Everything will be forgotten in the sense that everything that would hinder that worship will be excluded or transformed.
When does God write our names in the Book of Life? (Adriel Sanchez at Core Christianity): If you’re a Christian, when was your name written in the Lamb’s book of life? Did it happen when we you were born again or some other time?
How does the doctrine of the bodily resurrection shape the life of the local church? (Mitch Chase at Credo): Biblical doctrine is not just for the head but for the heart, for daily life as a disciple of Jesus. So it is, too, with the doctrine of bodily resurrection. Thinking about the future will help us here and now. In local churches that are pursuing faithfulness to Christ, we will want to connect the importance of sound doctrine to the lives of our church members. How, then, does the doctrine of bodily resurrection shape the life of the local church? Let’s reflect on four ways.
God’s pleasure is not reserved for a particularly faithful few (Stephen Kneale at Building Jerusalem): This means the commendation of good and faithful servant is not saved for only those A-grade super-Christians, great and godly as they may seem to us. It is a commendation that belongs to all of God’s people because of Christ.
Reversing Romans 1: A glimpse of the Godward life (Joe Rigney at Desiring God): Romans 1:18-32 is a horrifying picture of human rebellion and ungodliness, what might the opposite be? Could an inverted Romans 1 give us a renewed vision for the Godward life?