CHRISTIAN LIVING:

• Should You Share Your Sexual Past? David Murray writes “Should you share your sexual past with the person you plan to marry? Personally, I’ve never been convinced that this is always necessary or wise for a dating or an engaged couple.”
• Colton Dixon and the Craziness of Saving Sex for Marriage. Trevin Wax writes about comments posted to a recent People magazine article about Colton Dixon and his new wife waiting until marriage to have sex.
• Anxiety. In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell encourages us to share our anxieties with God or others. Don’t keep them, but find a way to pass them on.
• D.A Carson on the Grounds of Our Assurance. Here is a powerful reminder from D.A. Carson, the President of The Gospel Coalition.
• Desiring Knowledge and Maturity. Kevin DeYoung writes “All else being equal, I’d rather have a mature Christian with simple theological knowledge than an extremely knowledgeable, well-read Christian without a lot of maturity. But, of course, neither situation is desirable.”
• A Prayer for Reaffirming, Resting and Rejoicing in God’s Sovereignty. Here is our prayer of the week from friend Scotty Smith.
• When the Mormons Come Calling. Tim Challies writes “So this is my strategy when the Mormons visit: Preach the gospel. The gospel, after all, is the source of true joy. This is the same strategy I employ when the far-less-polite and far-more-aggressive Jehovah’s Witnesses come knocking.”
• Defy the Impossible in Front of You. Marshall Segal writes “Whatever the burden or obstacle or fear is in front of you, today is another opportunity to ask, “Is anything too hard for God? (Genesis 18:14). Another opportunity to redefine what might happen if He moved. Another opportunity to defy the impossible with faith.”
• 11 Questions to Ask Ourselves about Debt. Randy Alcorn offers these questions to consider before we go into debt.
• Jesus and Performance Fatigue. Scott Sauls writes “When we lose our intimacy with God, it’s not because God has shifted. In these moments and seasons of distance, we can truly say to him, “It’s not you, it’s me.”
• The Character of the Christian: A One-Woman Man. Tim Challies continues his series on the character of the Christian.

CHRISTIANS AND CULTURE:

• Grand Jury Indicts Filmmakers Who Secretly Recorded Planned Parenthood. Joe Carter writes about the Planned Parenthood filmmakers being indicted on January 25.
• When Abortion Suddenly Stopped Making Sense. Frederica Mathewes-Green writes “I changed my opinion on abortion after I read an article in Esquire magazine, way back in 1976.”
• The New Tolerance Must Crumble. Tony Reinke writes “The Woman from Kentucky,” the title of Don Carson’s message this week at the Bethlehem 2016 Conference for Pastors and Church Leaders. Carson stepped back into the froth of the controversy, and into an inescapably tangled mess of civil complexities and biblical paradigms, in order to draw out essential lessons for Christians in America. He focused on three lessons in particular: the loss of moral consensus, the expression of a “new tolerance,” and the rise of a “new authenticity.”
• Faith of the Candidates – Ben Carson. Ed Stetzer of Christianity Today interviews Ben Carson about his faith. This is part one of four in the series.
• 12 Francis Schaeffer Quotes That Will Challenge the Way You Engage Culture. Jesse Carey shares 12 of Francis Schaeffer’s most influential quotes about art, culture and why Christians should never stop engaging the two.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

• Antinomianism Is Not the Antidote for Legalism. Tony Reinke writes “I doubt I will ever forget the place I was walking when I first heard (Sinclair) Ferguson explain why antinomianism is not the antidote for legalism, and why legalism is not the antidote for antinomianism. One deadly poison cannot cure another deadly poison, but each poison calls for the counterpoison of grace.”
• Questions and Answers with R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur and Steven Lawson. Watch this video from a Ligonier conference in which R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur and Steven Lawson answer questions about standing firm in the faith and other doctrinal issues. The Questions and Answer sessions at the conferences are always among my favorite sessions.
• Deserted Island Top 5: John MacArthur. Listen as Stephen Nichols visits with John MacArthur about his top 5 books should he be on a deserted island.
• Go and Tell, “It is Finished” This eleven minute video is part six of a six-part series through John Piper’s book What Jesus Demands from the World.
• Covenant Seminary to Offer Classes in Nashville.  Megan Fowler writes “Beginning this month, Covenant Theological Seminary (Note: where I got an MATS degree), will offer live classes in Nashville for its Master of Arts in Theological Studies (MATS) degree. The second site will allow students to earn up to 23 of the 48 credit hours in Nashville in conjunction with completing the rest of the of the blended MATS degree either online or at Covenant’s St. Louis campus.”
• Old Princeton: Her Pastoral Heart. I was blessed to have two courses at Covenant Seminary with Dr. David Calhoun. He writes “For a hundred years Old Princeton Seminary trained men of missionary zeal, evangelistic fervor, pastoral loyalty and scholarly ability.”
• God’s Glory in Judgment. In this short video from the 2010 Ligonier National Conference, R.C. Sproul considers God’s glory in judgment from a message in which he addressed the difficult question “Can we enjoy Heaven knowing of loved ones in Hell?”
• 12 Church Enemies. David Murray writes “Every pastor will eventually have to face enemies within the church, people who are dedicated to damage and even destroy them. As these enemies have a range of motives and methods, and can be deadly if not recognized early, here’s a selection of the kinds of enemies that can be found in many churches (some belong to more than one category – some belong to all!)”
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans 7. Ben Bailie shares the final installment in a special three-part “Perplexing Passages” forum examining the long-debated Pauline passage, Romans 7:13–25.
• Sermon on the Mount.  I’m excited about this new 12-part teaching series from Sinclair Ferguson. I’ve listened to the first message of the series and look forward to the rest of the messages. It’s an excellent companion resource to Martyn Lloyd-Jones Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, which I’m reading at this time.

• We are free to choose, but we are always a slave to our greatest desire. Jonathan Edwards
• The poison of self-righteousness = the main thing keeping you from God isn’t so much your sins but your damnable good works. John Gerstner
• If a man can preach one sermon without mentioning Christ’s name in it, it ought to be his last. Charles Spurgeon
• If your name is in the Book of Life, your calling is not to stay alive but to stay in love with Christ. John Piper
• “If I have THAT, my life will have meaning. I’ll have value and feel significant and secure.” THAT—is the object of your worship. Tim Keller
• We are great sinners but Jesus is a greater Savior! John Newton
• In the Lord Christ alone; in him only is God an all-sufficient God to any, and an exceeding great reward. John Owen
• Read two old books for every new one. J.I. Packer
• Compassion gives people space to be themselves. It doesn’t decide what people need. It doesn’t treat others like machines needing to be fixed. Paul Miller