- Does God Really Love You? Ed Welch writes “Does God love me? Am I suffering because I have done something to incur his displeasure? These can drift into questions about God himself. Is he good? Does he hear? Does he care? Here are five possible ways to engage these questions.
- What are We to Make of “Believers” Who Fall Away? David Burnette writes “While true followers of Christ do not lose their salvation, Scripture is also clear about the fact that those who belong to Christ persevere to the end.”
- What Are Justification and Sanctification? Guy Waters writes “Christ has won both justification and sanctification for His people. Both graces are the concern of faith in Jesus Christ, but in different ways.”
- Is America Post-Christian? Russell Moore writes “what’s important for the church is not so much whether the United States of America is post-Christian as whether Jesus of Nazareth is post-dead. And we know the answer to that.”
- What Does “Coram Deo” Mean? In case you were wondering about the name of the blog, here’s an article from R.C. Sproul describing what Coram Deo means.
- Video: What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? Here is a video of Kevin DeYoung answering a controversial question: What does the Bible really teach about homosexuality? Recorded live on March 17, 2015 at a special event at College Church in Wheaton, IL, DeYoung walks through the Bible’s teaching on this difficult question and then responds to common objections. See our review of DeYoung’s new book on this topic on our book reviews page here.
- Will There be Sex in Heaven? Randy Alcorn writes “Because sex was designed to be part of a marriage relationship, marriage and sex logically belong together. Because we’re told that humans won’t be married to each other, and sex is intended for marriage, then logically, it seems to me, it means we won’t be engaging in sex.”
CURRENT EVENTS:
- A Requiem for the Boy Scouts. Albert Mohler writes “The Boy Scouts were doomed the moment the national leadership decided to preserve the organization at the cost of the values and ideals that gave it birth.”
- Coach Dabo Swinney Cancels Fundraiser after Backlash from Gay Rights Groups. Denny Burk writes “The Palmetto Family Council (PFC) planned to hold a fundraiser to honor Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney for his charitable work. Gay rights groups and Clemson students found out about it and raised a stink because of PFC’s opposition to gay marriage. Dabo Swinney cancelled his appearance at the event in order to avoid controversy.”
- On Same-Sex Marriage, Catholics Are Leading the Way. Frank Bruni writes in The New York Times “In fact, countries with a Catholic majority or plurality make up half of those where two men or two women can now wed or will soon be able to.” A related story is Bono of U2 supporting same-sex marriage in Ireland.
- The Prospects for Polygamy. Ross Douthat writes “I feel safe predicting that polygamy will not be legally recognized, with fanfare and trumpets, in 2025. But it might be recognized in 2040, with a shrug.
- Matt Chandler Apologizes. Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church, a multisite church based near Dallas, said elders there had been “domineering” in their approach to church discipline in a handful of cases. That was wrong and unchristian, said Chandler, who also leads the Acts29 church planting network.
Courtesy of World Magazine
CHRISTIAN LIVING:
- Letter to a Teen Unboxing Their First Smartphone. Tim Challies writes “As you hold it in your hand, why don’t you take a moment to pray? Ask God to help you to use that phone well. Commit before him right now that, to the best of your abilities, you will only ever use it to serve his purposes. Recruit a believing friend or two to be your accountability and check in regularly. Then go and glorify him with and through it.”
- Seven Concerns about Christians and Tipping. Thom Rainer writes “I have little patience with those who are stingy to servers. If we can afford to eat out, we can afford to tip generously. Church leaders would do well to remind their members about this often-neglected topic of witness in the community.”
- When Hope and History Rhyme. Tim Keller writes “The Christian promise is not that every chapter in history will be better than the first but that in the end “all things will work together for good.” God will eventually bring us to a renewed material universe with resurrected bodies. That, again, is something only biblical religion promises“.
- You Can Believe the Promises of God and Be Lost. John Piper writes “It is possible to believe the promises of God, and have the assurance of salvation, and yet be lost forever.”
- When God Mercifully Ruins Our Plans. Jon Bloom writes “The story of the tower of Babel contains a gospel treasure: even our disorienting disappointments and failures in making a name for ourselves have redemptive purposes”
- Conflicts: Our Laboratories of Love. Jon Bloom writes “Here’s the good news: conflict is the laboratory in which love (agapē) grows. Conflict is the construction area where humility is built. Conflict is the radiology department where pride is exposed. Conflict is the field where our treasure is unearthed. Conflict is a discipline God uses to make us holy and bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:10–11).”
- Prayer for Relating to Full-time Weaker Brothers and Gospel Epicureans. Here’s a wonderful prayer from our friend Scotty Smith.
CHURCH LIFE:
- Introverts in the Dearest Place on Earth. Jared Musgrove writes “Both extroverts and introverts must do the work to see that those with the gift of introversion are a grace to God’s Church. In this sense, I have some considerations for my fellow introverted church members and the extroverts who love them.
- 5 Things Every Christian Leader Should Pray for Themselves Everyday. Here’s an excellent article from our friend Kevin Halloran.
- Fourteen Key Reasons for the Breakdown of Church Unity. Thom Rainer writes “What are some of the key reasons we are seeing the breakdown of unity in our churches? Though my list is not exhaustive, allow me to share fourteen of those reasons.”
- How to Disciple with a Book. Mike Pettengill shares some helpful tips for using books in discipleship relationships.
Truth is Stranger than Fiction – Yep- in Geneva, Switzerland they’re selling Calvin beer.
MOVIES:
- Trailer for Risen. Justin Taylor provides the trailer to the January 2016 film Risen, starring Joseph Fiennes playing a Roman Centurion who investigates the resurrection of Christ.
JUST FOR FUN:
- Evolution of Mom Dancing. Did you see Michelle Obama join Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show?
- Just know that I really wanted to favorite your tweet but I don’t have that kind of energy. Jim Gaffigan
Beyond the Ark by Doug Michael
There is no true praying in the name of Christ without repentance of sin, for Christ is the savior of sinners. Jonathan Edwards
- Faith is more than getting a theological quiz right. Faith is to know, to assent, to put your trust in, and to cherish what is true. Kevin DeYoung
- The promises of God for tomorrow are the anchor for believers today. R.C. Sproul
- Father, when it comes to the sins of others, grant us memory deficiency; but when it comes to the gospel, grant us total recall. Scotty Smith
- When your life is changed by Jesus, you are a new creature. God not only changes what you do, He also changes what you want to do. Ravi Zacharias
- It is a great joy to believe that Jesus has been tempted in all points just as we are. Charles Spurgeon
- Our gracious God, we need the ministry of the Spirit of God within our lives so that Your Word may take root within us. Alistair Begg
- Your feelings come from where you find your hope. Where is your happiness and your significance? Tim Keller
- Union with Christ means communion with his body. There is no Christianity that is free of the visible, living, local church in a known area. Michael Horton
- If there is no fruit in sanctification, there is no root in regeneration. Steven Lawson
- Jesus’ call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing. Francis Chan
- There are ministers who never speak of repentance or self-denial. Naturally they are popular, but they are false prophets. J.I. Packer
- Inerrancy matters because it honors the Spirit, who wants to honor the Son, who wants to honor the Father. Sinclair Ferguson.
- Sometimes sadness is sanity. Tears are the reasonable response. Quickness to shush, shame or fix them, can reveal a resistance to wisdom. Zack Eswine
- The Bible in the memory is better than the Bible in the book case. Charles Spurgeon