CHRISTIAN LIVING AND CHURCH LIFE:

• Keep Speaking. Jon Bloom writes “This is not the time for Christian timidity. This is not the time for Christian silence. This is not the time for Christian retreat. This is a time for Christian boldness. It is a time to speak.”

• A Prayer for De-Cluttering and Re-Centering Our Lives. Here’s another wonderful prayer from our friend Scotty Smith. Here’

• The Efficacy of Prayer. R.C. Sproul writes “Given these scriptural passages, and the many, many more that clearly show that prayer does achieve things, we are not free to say: “Well, God is in control. He’s sovereign, immutable, and omniscient, so whatever will be will be. There’s no point in praying.” Scripture universally and absolutely denies that conclusion. Instead, it affirms that prayer does effect change. God, in His sovereignty, responds to our prayers.”

• Do We Have to Enjoy God to Believe? This video is the fourth of a six-part series on the theme of joy in the book of Philippians. John Piper walks us through a short study of how to understand joy, pursue it for ourselves, and then apply it in all of life. Here are the other videos in the series.

• Hope for the Unhappily Single. Marshall Segal writes “There is a new and widespread epidemic in our nation and even in our churches. It’s called the not-yet-married life.”

• Seven Steps Churches Are Taking to Replace the Stand-and-Greet Time. Thom Rainer writes “Church leaders are finding other ways to keep their congregations friendly during the worship services.”

BIBLICAL KNOWLEDGE AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH:

• 2016 Ligonier Ministries National Conference. The conference will be held February 25-27 in Orlando, Florida. The theme will be “The Gospel”. Speakers include R.C. Sproul, Sinclair Ferguson and Albert Mohler

• Worthy Eating and Drinking. Iain Campbell writes “So, I may come to the Lord’s Table overwhelmed by a sense of my unworthiness, broken by a sense of my sin, mourning because of my disobedience. But none of these is sufficient to keep me away if, in my heart, I know that the death of the Passover Lamb is my only hope and that Jesus is still my best friend.”

• Piper on Psalm 16. Here’s a new sermon from John Piper on Psalm 16.

CURRENT EVENTS:

• John Newton on Broadway. Betsy Childs Howard writes about the new Broadway production about the life of John Newton, best known as the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace”.

• Elizabeth Elliot Memorial Service. You can watch the service here.

• The Sixth Planned Parenthood Video. Justin Taylor links to all six of the videos released thus far.

• What’s it Like to Abort Your Own Child? Bethany Jenkins writes about Bernard Nathanson, who was responsible for in excess of 80,000 abortions, including one on his own child, before having a change of heart after ultrasound technology was developed.

• Now Sexual Orientation is seen as “Fluid”. Gene Veith writes “Now that gays have won the right to marry, the tune is changing.  Instead of the view that homosexuality is a fixed, permanent, non-alterable state, the word now, including among gays, is that sexual preference is “fluid” and exists along a continuum.”

SEX!

• Sex is More and Less Important than You Think. Trevin Wax writes “When our age of expressive individualism leads people to assume sexual behavior is one of the only ways a human life can flourish, the Church must be ready to put sex in its place: elevating the significance of the sexual union, and demoting the significance of sexual identity.”

• Reaping the Whirlwind of Sexual Idolatry. Denny Burk writes “It is important for Christian leaders, pastors, and parents to know what children and young adults are facing today. The reality is ugly, and we do no one any favors by pretending that it doesn’t exist.”

• I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer. Martin Luther
• The only thing of my very own which I contribute to my redemption is the sin from which I need to be redeemed. Sinclair Ferguson
• God is good—on good days, bad days and all the days in between. Don’t just say “God is good” when you feel good, say it even when you don’t. Burk Parsons
• Men will trust in God no further than they know him. Jonathan Edwards
• People will not receive the balm of the gospel unless they know something of the wounds that sin has made. Charles Spurgeon
• It is better to preach five words of God’s Word than five million words of man’s wisdom. Charles Spurgeon
• I get irritated when I hear preachers say, “Come to Jesus and all your problems will be over.” That’s just simply a lie. R.C. Sproul
•  By definition, the big difference between mercy and justice is that mercy is never ever obligatory. R.C. Sproul
• The word of God can be in the mind without being in the heart, but it cannot be in the heart without first being in the mind. R.C. Sproul
• If truth were told, most of us spend longer each day on personal cleanliness than on practical godliness. Alistair Begg
• Fear, logic, and tradition are not going to make you live a good life when no one is looking. Tim Keller
• Any person that says, “Of course I wouldn’t do ______” doesn’t know their own heart. Darrin Patrick
• We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness. Francis Chan
• Jesus, the one who rose from the dead, demonstrates his right to tell us who he is, who we are, what he came to do and what our future holds. Michael Horton
• It will cost you to follow Christ, but it costs even more not to follow Him. Steven Lawson
• We do live best in this world when we keep the next in mind. Mark Dever
• There is no biblical Christianity without the cross at its center. John Stott
• Where God’s Spirit does not reign, there is no humility, and men ever swell with inward pride. John Calvin
• Deliver me, oh Lord, from that evil man, myself. Augustine
• At our church, we refer to the Lord’s Supper as the dysfunctional family meal. We are all incomplete works in process. Hence…grace. Scott Sauls
• Indwelling sin always abides while we are in this world; therefore it is always to be mortified. John Owen
• The devil doesn’t fill us with hatred for God, but with forgetfulness of God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer