IN THE NEWS:

• Affirming Sexual Immorality is a Departure from the Christian Faith. Denny Burk writes “I just read Jen Hatmaker’s interview with Jonathan Merritt in which she says that sexual immorality is compatible with following Christ.” Here’s a quick reaction to her comments from LifeWay Christian Stores. LifeWay Stops Selling Jen Hatmaker Books over LGBT Beliefs. Aimee Byrd offers her thoughts Lifeway’s Curious Doctrinal Guidelines.
• Open Bibles, Burning Hearts: A Response to Andy Stanley. John Piper offers four responses to the kind of preaching Andy Stanley is commending and the way he makes his case.

ELECTION:

• Check out iVoters.com, a non-partisan voter information service to help you make informed voting decisions.
• A Leopard Doesn’t Change It’s Spots. Tim Challies writes “It’s election season and millions of Americans are weighing and evaluating the character of the candidates. Why would they examine a person’s character when deciding how to cast a vote? Because a leopard doesn’t change its spots. What those candidates have been in the past is a predictor of what they will be in the future.”

PORNOGRAPHY:

• Is it Sinful to Watch Porn with My Spouse? In this episode of the “Ask Pastor John” podcast, in responding to this question, John Piper states “Yes, it is. It is sin. And it is a revolting sin.”
• Never Harmless, Never Private, Never Safe. Marshall Segal writes “Pornography seems to devour as much (or more) square feet of spiritual ground as any other threat to young Christians today.”

HELPFUL RESOURCES:

• The Briefing. I start out each day listening to Albert Mohler’s daily worldview analysis about the leading news headlines and cultural conversations on his The Briefing Check it out.
• 2016 Lancaster Regional Conference: Highlights. Nathan W. Bingham shares a brief summary and several highlights from Ligonier Ministries’ Lancaster Regional Conference. Look for the messages from the conference to be available soon.
• What’s the Best Book You’ve Read on the Reformation? Watch this ten-minute conversation with Tim Keller, Don Carson, and John Piper as they discuss the best books they have read on the Reformation.
• The State of Theology: Suspicious Of Authority. Stephen Nichols writes “The State of Theology study for 2016, undertaken by Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research, looked at 47 statements of religious belief. Among those statements are four that directly examine beliefs regarding church. Take a moment to give yourself this brief church survey”
• I Am the Only God There Is! Listen to Derek Thomas’s sermon “I Am the Only God There Is!” preached at First Presbyterian Church, Columbia on Sunday, October 16.  It is part of his sermon series Isaiah: Strength for the Weary.
• Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical. Watch this message that Tim Keller delivered recently at Google.
• Looking Forward to a Heaven We Can Imagine. Randy Alcorn shares answers to six questions about Heaven.
• What is The Tree of Life? Randy Alcorn writes “The tree of life is mentioned three times in Genesis 2, in Eden, and again four times in Revelation, three of those in the final chapter. These instances seem to refer to Eden’s literal tree of life.”
• The World Series Hero Rescued by Grace. Jeff Robinson tells the inspiring story of former major league baseball player Bernie Carbo.
• Introverts vs. Extroverts. Are you an introvert or an extrovert (or maybe an ambivert)?

TO MAKE YOU SMILE:

• Millennial International: Sponsor a Millennial Today. Millennial International is a sponsor based program designed to help Millennials live the lives they portray on Instagram. Consider sponsoring a Millennial today.
• Steven Lawson Rushed To Hospital After Exposure To Topical Sermon. The Babylon Bee reports “After an apparent, sudden exposure to a topically arranged sermon, preacher and teacher Dr. Steven Lawson reportedly began convulsing and breaking out in hives, and was immediately rushed to the hospital by paramedics Friday, sources confirmed.”
• San Diego Zoo Opens Cage-Stage Calvinist Exhibit to Public. The Babylon Bee reports “The San Diego Zoo unveiled its highly anticipated new exhibit “Close Encounters With Cage-Stage Calvinists” Wednesday, garnering much acclaim and praise for the up-close-and-personal look at the notoriously aggressive species.”

• There’s a name for those pastors who never speak of sin, repentance, or hell—they’re called false teachers. Burk Parsons
• God made us to sleep so that every day he can remind us that he manages things just fine without us. Kevin DeYoung
• Of one thing I am perfectly sure: God’s story never ends with ashes. Elisabeth Elliot
• We are saved by works. They’re just not our works, they’re Christ’s. Stephen Nichols
• We don’t hold our convictions. They hold us. Albert Mohler
• Repentance is a characteristic of the whole life, not the action of a single moment. Sinclair Ferguson
• Theological corruption is always prior to and explains moral corruption. Albert Mohler
• There is great darkness in our land today, but God has not forgotten His promises. Derek Thomas
• Nothing could be more irrational than the idea that something comes from nothing. R. C. Sproul