• When Goodbye is Forever. Tim Challies writes “A fact of life in this tragic world is that any parting may be our last. If any goodbye may be final, then surely every goodbye should be loving.”
• Why Honoring the Gifts and Abilities of Women Is Relevant to Dechurching. On this episode of the As in Heaven podcast, Jim Davis and Michael Aitcheson welcome Jen Wilkin to discuss the importance of seeing and honoring women’s gifts and abilities in the church as it pertains to dechurching in America.
• The Most Important Thing Our Churches Have Forgotten to Do. On this episode of the Crossway Podcast, Paul Miller deepens our understanding of prayer by highlighting why we need to pray with one another if we really want to experience the full blessing of prayer.
• John Piper on Profanity, Crude Joking, and Using the Word “Dang”. John Piper states “Christians are called to high standards with the words we speak. On the tongue’s use and misuse of words, four general principles guide us.”

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

• More interesting article links
• Favorite Quotes of the Week

• How Christians Should Think About IVF-Created Embryos. Joe Carter writes “The questions we must address aren’t merely scientific or biological but profoundly theological: What’s the nature of a frozen embryo created through IVF? How should pro-life Christians think about such beings? The answers to these questions aren’t just academic; they hold significant implications for how we view life, dignity, and our responsibilities as followers of Christ.”

• Why Did God Stigmatize the Disabled? On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to a question that reads in part “I’m reading through Leviticus in my Bible reading plan. One thing that has confused me is why God would not allow people with physical defects to approach the altar in Leviticus 21:16–21. The tone changes drastically in the Gospels. There Jesus, the true Temple, welcomes the blind, the lame, and the diseased right into his very presence. So, why would God in the Old Testament not allow them near the altar?”
• Your Suffering is Not Meaningless. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to questions that read in part “The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:7–9that he was ‘afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken.’ What does he mean that he was persecuted but not forsaken?  How did Paul endure such pain without feeling totally defeated? And what has faith looked like in your life when your life was its hardest?”
• Is Obedience Without Affection Still Love? On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to a question that reads in part “How important is it to cultivate affectional language for God as God? And what would you say to those who are uneasy with such language for their relationship with God and only ever use this obedience language?”
• How Many Types of Jesus are in the Old Testament? On this episode of Honest Answers, Dr. Mitchell Chase answers the question “How many types of Jesus are in the Old Testament? What is typology in the Bible?”
• How Much Error Can I Believe and Still be Saved? On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to the question that reads in part “What role do personal theological convictions play in personal salvation?”
• Is My Child Transgender Because of Me? On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to a question that reads in part “We recently found out our twenty-and fifteen-year-olds both claim to suffer from so-called ‘gender dysphoria.’  What do we do to fight against the despair we face every day as failed parents? How did we fail them?
• How Does the Holy Spirit Help Me Pray? From the 2023 Ligonier National Conference, Michael Reeves describes the ministry of the Spirit in shaping our minds and our hearts in prayer.

• How Do the Arminian and Calvinist Views of Election Differ? Andy Naselli writes “We can distinguish the Arminian view of election from the Calvinist view of election by answering this question: What is the basis of God’s election? In other words, on what basis did God choose to save some individuals?”
• Does the Doctrine of Limited Atonement Undermine Evangelism?  R.C. Sproul writes “The doctrine of limited atonement, in reality, is helpful in evangelism. The Calvinist knows that not everyone will respond to the gospel message, but he also knows with certainty that some will respond to it. By contrast, the Arminian doesn’t know that not everyone will respond.”
• Stream: A Living Sacrifice: 2024 Columbus Conference. You can now stream for free all of the messages from the Ligonier 2024 Columbus Conference. The theme was “A Living Sacrifice” from Romans 12. Speakers included Burk Parsons, Derek Thomas and Stephen Nichols.

• ‘Masters of the Air’ Soars to New Heights of WWII Storytelling. My wife Tammy and I really enjoyed the Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air. It is the best thing – television or movies – that we have seen this year.
• Sports Spectrum: Cardinals Pitcher Kyle Gibson on Growing in His Faith, Embracing Mentor Role. On this episode of the Sports Spectrum podcast, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Gibson shares about the growth he’s made as a pitcher and as a man of God, and why he’s embraced becoming a mentor at this stage of his career.

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• The day of death is better to the believer than all his happy days. Charles Spurgeon
• Prayer is never about asking God to submit his awesome power to your will and plan; prayer is an act of personal submission to the always-right will of God. Paul Tripp
• Being staunchly orthodox and biblically faithful means not only that we don’t compromise our doctrine but that we don’t compromise our love for one another. Burk Parsons
• The key to humility is not trying to think less of yourself, nor trying to think of yourself less; it is thinking of Christ and others more. Michael Reeves
• Let us not hear [God’s revealed word] as if it were subject to our judgment but let us subject our understanding and minds to it and receive it without calling it in question, for otherwise we will willfully make war against God and lift ourselves above him. John Calvin
• For a full moral reversal to take place, three conditions must be met. The first is this: what was condemned must be celebrated. The second is that what was celebrated must now be condemned. And, third, those who will not join in the celebration will be condemned. Albert Mohler
• It can take thirty years to build a reputation, and only five minutes to ruin it. Alistair Begg
• God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things in the lives of others. Paul Tripp
• God does not hear us because of the length of our prayer but because of the sincerity of it. Charles Spurgeon