• 3 Ways to Stay Christian During This Election Season. Jared Wilson shares three ways we can wisely engage in the upcoming election cycle without losing perspective on what matters more than who wins or loses.
• Christianity Continues Rapid Decline in U.S. as Number of “Nones” Swells: Pew. Adam Ford writes “The percentage of Americans who identify as Christians continues to decline rapidly while the portion of Americans who claim no religious affiliation rises, according to new data from the Pew Research Center derived from telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019.”
• Francis Chan Leaving US to be International Missionary in Hong Kong. Caleb Parke writes “Francis Chan, former megachurch pastor and best-selling author, is leaving the United States to become a full-time missionary to “bring relief, share the gospel, and plant churches among” the “ultra-poor” in Asia.”

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

• More interesting article links
• Cartoon of the Week
• Favorite Quotes of the Week

• Ask Ligonier with John MacArthur.  On November 5, John MacArthur joined Nathan Bingham for a live Ask Ligonier event. You can watch the event here.
• Why Are People So Resistant to Reformed Theology? When we find ourselves resisting what Scripture teaches, it may be because the Bible challenges our presuppositions about who God is and how He should act. From one of the live Ask Ligonier events, Burk Parsons reflects on his former objections to the doctrines of grace.
• Watershed Differences Between Calvinists and Arminians. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to the question what is the main difference between Calvinism and Arminianism?    
• How Do We Share the Truth without Being Argumentative? We do not need to be hostile in order to make sound arguments for the truth. From one of Ligonier the live Ask R.C. events, R.C. Sproul encourages us to clearly present the truth of Scripture without being mean-spirited.
• Albert Mohler – Ask Anything Live. I always enjoy theses live events in which Albert Mohler answers listener’s questions on a wide range of topics including theology, ministry, and culture.

• Worship Influences All of Life. In this brief video from his teaching series Discovery Deuteronomy, Robert Godfrey examines how the Sabbath influences the way we plan our whole lives.
• The Fellowship of the Church. In this brief video clip from his teaching series The Basics of the Christian Life, Sinclair Ferguson discusses the importance of belonging to the church and the wonderful witness of our fellowship and community.
• How Do I Know That God Is for Me? Sinclair Ferguson writes “We can be sure that God is for us because this God, the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up to the cross for us all. If this is true, Paul affirms, we can be confident He will give us everything we will ever need. This is the only sure way we can know that God is for us.
• How Tim Keller Seeks to Pray Without Ceasing. Tim Keller writes “I would encourage others to do the same thing I did with Calvin: take these as examples and use them to compose your own. Having something written, which I can read and use as a basis for prayer to God—and taking only one minute for each—has been extremely helpful for remembering the presence of God and the truths I learned that morning in Bible reading. It “frames” the entire day with God and the gospel.”
• For Jesus’s Sake, Be Kind. Trevin Wax writes “We are to show kindness even to people who may be deemed “unworthy” of receiving it, but this kindness cannot be reduced to a spirit of civility, a bland attempt to “be nice” to people. Niceness and kindness are not the same thing. Kindness requires intentional action.”
• When Christianity Doesn’t Work. Michael Horton writes “Christianity offers hope even when it doesn’t work.”
• Tim and Kathy Keller on Dating, Marriage, Complementarianism, and Other Small Topics. Matt Smethurst corresponds with Tim and Kathy about advice for dating couples, the beauty of complementarianism, counsel for parents in the little years, and more.
• What Does It Mean to Be Ready to Meet the Lord? Randy Alcorn writes “First of all, and most importantly, being ready to meet the Lord means you’ve made sure of your relationship with Jesus Christ, and are trusting only Him to save you – not anyone or anything else, and certainly not any good works you’ve done.”

   

• If we say we believe the doctrines of grace but do not show grace to others, we do not understand the doctrines of grace. Burk Parsons
• There is no entrance into the kingdom of heaven that does not march through the gate marked repentance. Kevin DeYoung
• If you do not believe in God’s wrath there is no real need for the sacrifice on Calvary’s hill. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• The great need is for us to be taught theologically, not just stirred emotionally. Alistair Begg
• Jesus cannot be just liked. His claims make us either kill him or crown him. Tim Keller
• The glory of the gospel is that God pronounces people “just” while they are still sinners. R.C. Sproul
• Grace is only given to those who know they’re beggars, and beggars only know they’re beggars because grace is given to them. Burk Parsons
• The safest place to be is in the will of God, but the safe place may not be the will of God. God has not called us to live in safety but only in the will of God. The best life is doing daily God’s will. H.B. Charles Jr.
• The Lord intends to educate us by non-success as well as by success. Charles Spurgeon