Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview


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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Graves, Gardens & God at Work. John Pletcher writes “There is an oft-overlooked detail in the resurrection morning story. It’s a curious inclusion that holds potential for answering these questions. It might also bolster our faith at work.”
  • Mere Christians: Scott Sonju. On this episode of the Mere Christians podcast, Jordan Raynor visits with Scott Sonju, Managing Director of TrailRunner International. They talk about why viewing sports as trivial diminishes God’s sovereignty, why we’re tempted to assign priority where God does not, and how Christians should think differently about free enterprise.
  • Why Do You Love What You Do (And Not Something Else)? Tim Challies writes “One of my favorite questions for times of small talk is “Why do you do what you do instead of doing something else?”

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Leadership Attributes: Continuous Learning  


In our series on leadership attributes, we now look at continuous learning. In the organization I worked in my entire career we used to say that “school was never out”, to indicate a life-long learning mentality. That’s an approach every leader should have, as good leaders never stop learning. Continue reading →


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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


CMT Campfire Sessions – NEEDTOBREATHE
****

NEEDTOBREATHE recently appeared on CMT Campfire Sessions television series. This album of the band performing nine of their songs unplugged is from that episode. The only time I have seen the band in concert was on one of their acoustic tours. The band has previously released a few live albums, both full band and acoustic. They are an outstanding live band, and they approve that again here.
The songs included here span the band’s career, ranging from one of their early favorites “The Outsiders” to “Wasting Time” and “Temporary Tears” from their 2023 album CAVES, my favorite album of last year. Alana Springsteen joins the band on “Let’s Stay Home Tonight”.
You can listen to the album in its entirety on the band’s YouTube channel.

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  • Music News
  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Completely Known, Completely Loved by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

BOOK REVIEW:
How to Reach the West Again: Six Essential Elements of a Missionary Encounter by Timothy Keller. Redeemer City to City. 51 pages. 2020
***

In this short book, Tim Keller writes that the overall decline of Christian influence in the West is inarguable. Each generation is becoming less religious and less Christian. He tells us that this decline should prompt us to examine ourselves, pray, and work toward a new missionary engagement with Western culture. He states that we have to model and proclaim the Christian faith in our generation in a way that is both intelligible and compelling to our neighbors. Our challenge is how to evangelize people who “lack any sense of sin or transcendence, or who lack the traditional basic religious infrastructure such as belief in a Supreme Being or the afterlife?”

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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading →


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In Appreciation of the Ministry of Michael Card

Recently, Michael Card announced his retirement, at least from his long-running radio program/podcast In the Studio with Michael Card, which was hosted by Wayne Shepherd. You can listen to the last episode here. The program began in 2002 and was proceeded by his Joy in the Journey program. It was really unlike any other program, featuring conversation, music and Bible teaching. Past episodes will continue to be available on iTunes and Spotify.
Michael is unique in that he was first known as a musical artist, and later became known as an author and Bible teacher. It is hard to measure the impact of Michael’s ministry in my life through his music, writing and teaching since I was first being introduced to his music via his 1984 Known by the Scars album when I was still a relatively new believer. As I recall, there was some controversy around that album, with the record company wanting an album of more “radio friendly” songs. Known by the Scars would later become part of The Life, a three-album trilogy on the life of Christ. I have always appreciated how he took scripture and creatively turned it into songs.
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THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

  • How to Find a Good Church. Ligonier President Chris Larson and Ligonier Teaching Fellows Robert Godfrey and Burk Parsons recently discussed how Christians can exercise discernment when looking for a faithful church. The program begins at the 14:18 point.

  • One of the Most Overlooked Arguments for the Resurrection. Michael Kruger writes “Even though Jesus was killed by the Romans, like all the other would-be Messiahs, his movement didn’t Indeed, it grew. It exploded. And these same followers of Jesus began to boldly proclaim that he was Lord and Messiah.”
  • The Awakening We Need: Why the Reformed Pray for Revival. Ray Ortlund writes “Revival is ordinary Christians experiencing extraordinary power from on high, so that the gospel gets traction in us and through us with astonishing impact. It cannot be scheduled — not by us, anyway. It is of God.”

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  • Favorite Quotes of the Week

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Carrying Your Work Into Worship. In this session from the 2023 Faith + Work Los Angeles Conference, Matthew Kaemingk, co-author of the excellent book Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy, explores a wide variety of work experiences that we can offer to God in worship.
  • How to Transform Destructive Coworker Behaviors. Shutting down negative behaviors is important. Depending on the severity, certain negative actions make teamwork all but impossible. David L. Winters looks at three destructive behaviors and biblical solutions.
  • Powerful Bible Verses for Monday. Jonah McKeown writes “Following is a collection of Bible verses specifically chosen to uplift and empower you on your Monday. Let these powerful words guide you as you navigate your workday, reminding you of God’s unwavering love.”

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• More links to interesting articles
• The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
• Faith and Work Book Review ~ The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World by Peter Scazzero
• Quotes from the book Agents of Flourishing: Pursuing Shalom in Every Corner of Society by Amy Sherman.
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My Review of the Movie ‘Unsung Hero’

Unsung Hero, rated PG
** ½   

This faith-based film tells the true story of the Smallbone family from Australia. The film is written and directed by Richard L. Ramsey and Joel Smallbone, one-half of Christian musical artists For King & Country.
The film begins in 1990 in Australia where David Smallbone, played by his son Joel Smallbone, works as a successful concert promoter for Christian musicians such as Stryper. David and his wife Helen, played by Daisy Betts (Last Resort, Chicago Fire), live in a large home, have six children and a seventh on the way. While David pursues his dream in music, Helen looks after the children and the home.
But David suffers a major loss when a recession impacts Amy Grant’s Australian tour. He loses everything. And now nobody wants him to handle their tours.
As a result, he convinces Helen to move the family from Sydney, Australia to Nashville to work in the Christian music industry there. Helen agrees to give the move two years, even though it means leaving family, friends, schools, etc.
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25 More of My Favorite Quotes from Truth for Life: 365 Daily Devotions Volume Two by Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg has written two volumes of Truth for Life: 365 Daily Devotions. I have used these volumes the past two years as a part of my devotional reading. You can read my review of the book here (please link to the review in blog post 272). Here are 25 more of my favorite quotes from the book:

  • Do not neglect your Bible. Ask God to work in you as you open it up to revive your soul, to make you wise, to bring you joy, and to light your path.
  • God’s purpose for His people in every age is that we will depend upon Him entirely.
  • Christ is the object of all our worship. He is the source of all our joy. He is the one who deserves all our obedience. He is the focus of all our praise. And we are accepted in Him.
  • For it is when you realize you have nothing that you are in just the right position for Christ to be your everything:
  • Prayer is simply too great a privilege for any Christian to ignore and too great a necessity for any of us to neglect.
  • He answers all your prayers exactly when He knows it is right to and in precisely the manner that is always best for you.
  • In whatever remains of today, allow yourself to enjoy all that God in His sovereignty brings into your life, seek to obey Him in those things, and rest easy in Him who orders every season for your good and His glory.
  • Affliction is a significant means by which God forms our character, but it is also a means by which He reveals our character.

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


Sing! The Great Commission World Tour Live – Keith & Kristyn Getty and Friends
****

A live album has been released from the annual Sing! conference each year since the conferences began in 2017. This is probably my favorite of all of those releases. It is billed as Sing! The Great Commission World Tour Live, as it includes songs from Sing! events in Belfast, Singapore and Sydney, in addition to the Sing! Conference in Nashville.
The album features sixteen songs and two readings, with contributions from Keith and Kristyn Getty, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, CityAlight, Chris Tomlin, Andrew Peterson and more. Here are a few comments about each song.

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Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Beautiful Scandalous Night – Shane and Shane Continue reading →