CHRISTIAN LIVING

• Ten Biblical Truths on the Obedience of Children. John Piper writes that we should “think of this article as a short lesson about some things God has revealed in the Bible that give foundation and guidance for our parenting. We’ll start with the very basics.”
• The Secret to a Happy Life. R.C. Sproul writes “Humility is the secret to a happy life.”
• Helping One Another Forsake Sin and Follow Jesus. Randy Alcorn writes “All too often, as believers we don’t realize that the greatest kindness we can offer each other is the truth. Our job is not just to help each other feel good but to help each other be good.”
• The One Ingredient Essential to Biblical Manhood. Thabiti Anyabwile writes “Self-control (or its absence) lies at the root of so many other things we recognize as problems in the thoughts, feelings, and decisions of men.”
• John Calvin’s 4 Rules of Prayer. Joel Beeke writes “For John Calvin, prayer cannot be accomplished without discipline. He writes, “Unless we fix certain hours in the day for prayer, it easily slips from our memory.” He goes on to prescribe several rules to guide believers in offering effectual, fervent prayer.”
• A Failure of Epidemic Proportions. Sinclair Ferguson writes “We must never offer the benefits of the gospel without the Benefactor Himself.”
• 4 Ways to Battle Bitterness. Jen Wilkin shares “a few bitterness-blocking realizations I learned to cling to.”
• What Does True Forgiveness Look Like? In this short video clip from his teaching series The Parables of Jesus, R.C. Sproul reminds us what true forgiveness looks like.
• How Being Conservative Will Make You Liberal. Scott Sauls writes “The more conservative we are in our beliefs about the Bible, the more liberal we will be in our loving.”
• More Tough Skin and Tender Hearts. Phillip Holmes writes “Therefore, as we engage in complicated conversations about racism, be sober-minded rather than drunk with hatred, frustration, and annoyance. Embrace humility and love those you disagree with. But continue to pursue truth and justice as these two are defined in the Holy Scriptures.”
• The Character of the Christian: Sound Judgment. Tim Challies continues his helpful series on the character of the Christian.
• A Prayer for Trusting God with People and Stuff Over Which We Have Zero Control. Here is our prayer of the week from friend Scotty Smith.

TO MAKE YOU SMILE

• The Most Cringeworthy Christian T-Shirts of All Time. These are really, really bad.
• “A Seat at The Table” Francis Chan and Adam Wainwright. Francis asks St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Adam Wainright about his chances of hitting one of his pitches. Bottom-line, chances would be low.

CURRENT EVENTS

• Kentucky Governor Signs Executive Order Resolving the Dispute Over Religious Liberty Newly installed Kentucky governor, Matt Bevin, has issued an executive order removing county clerks’ names from marriage licenses.
• Wheaton College Faculty Say School ‘Discriminatory’ in Treatment of Tenured Black Professor. Elizabeth Dias writes “A Wheaton College faculty diversity committee has described the school’s proceedings against the campus’ first black female tenured professor as “discriminatory on the basis of race and gender, and, to a lesser extent, marital status” in an internal advisory memo obtained by TIME.”
• Former Wheaton College Employee Now Embraces Gay Marriage. Denny Burk reflects on former Wheaton College employee and self-identified “gay Christian” Julie Rodgers revelation that she has embraced gay marriage.

GOOD RESOURCES

• Meet the Puritans. Here’s a new site dedicated to the Puritans from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.
• The Impacts of Calvinism on Culture. David Murray begins a new series on the impacts of Calvinism.
• My Indebtedness to the Puritans. Joel Beeke writes “While there are many ways that the Bible-saturated books of the Puritans have influenced me, I would like to highlight three special lessons I have learned from them about experiential, practical Christian living.”
• New Teaching Series on the Sermon on the Mount from Sinclair Ferguson. I’m excited about this new teaching series from one of our best Reformed theologians today. Ferguson states that the Sermon on the Mount is both the most loved and misunderstood sermon among Christians. I’m listening to the series now on Ligonier Ministries Renewing Your Mind radio broadcast. You can watch the trailer and the first message at the above link.
• Messages from Moody’s Founder’s Week. You can watch or download the messages from last week’s Moody’s Founder’s Week, held in Chicago. Speakers included Alistair Begg and Ravi Zacharias.
• The Porn Phenomenon: a Comprehensive, Ground-Breaking New Survey on Americans, the Church, and Pornography. Dan Wooding writes “In the most comprehensive, ground-breaking, in-depth and wide-ranging study to date on pornography among the American population and the Church — research reveals a younger exposure to pornography, increased desensitization and an escalating usage of pornography.”
• Secularization and the Sexual Revolution: Evangelical Theology and the Cultural Crisis (Part 1). This is the first of a four-part series from Albert Mohler.
• Must Every Church be Multi-Ethnic? In this ten-minute video, John Piper, Trip Lee and Trip Lee (hip-hop artist and pastor of Cornerstone Church in Atlanta), and Stephen Um (pastor of Citylife Presbyterian Church in Boston) tackle the question of whether every church should resemble the United Nations.

• God sees us as we are, loves us as we are, and accepts us as we are. But by His grace, He does not leave us as we are. Tim Keller

• I am praying and hoping for a President of the United States who has demonstrated a long and consistent commitment to the sanctity of life. Albert Mohler

• May the gospel be the only offensive thing about you. Jack Miller

• Grace must be preached in a way that is centered and focused on Jesus Christ Himself. Sinclair Ferguson

• Believer, no matter how many ways you “blew it” today, you’re no less beloved. This doesn’t minimize our sin; it exalts God’s grace. Scotty Smith

• Real life parenting: Alternating between crying because the years are going by so quickly and crying because they’re going by so slowly. Joshua Harris

• It is in style now to debunk the transcendent. We have lost the sense of the eternal, yet we are always on the edge of it. Ravi Zacharias

• God ordains people to salvation but He also ordains the means they come to salvation. He uses our words. Alistair Begg

• Money and Wealth are not evil. They are a magnifier, they make you more of what you are. Dave Ramsey