Free Stuff Fridays

This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by Zondervan Academic, and they’re giving away 5 copies of A Theology of Biblical Counseling Video Lectures. There will be 5 winners this week and each will receive the lecture series. In these lectures, Heath Lambert unpacks the core convictions that underlie sound counseling and gives practical wisdom for counseling practices today. These lectures show how biblical counseling is rooted in the Scriptures while illustrating the real challenges counselors face today. A Theology …

What’s the Purpose of … Children?

It used to be so straightforward. We got married, then we had children. It’s just what we did. But then something changed, so that today both marriage and having children have become optional, matters of preference. Countless millions are choosing to delay marriage or take a pass on it altogether. Many of those who choose to marry decide not to have children at all. In the face of these new realities we do well to ask: What’s the purpose of …

A La Carte (September 22)

Readers may want to check out deals from Westminster Books on Our Secular Age from The Gospel Coalition or the ESV Thinline Bible from Crossway. If you’ve never tried Logos before, the barrier to entry is lower than ever: They now have a free, browser-based version anyone can try. Efficient or Effective After telling about some ridiculous inventions, this author says, “This is mystifying until you realize that people don’t love digital technology because it makes them more productive or …

Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids

A key component of every parent’s task is helping our children form good habits. A key component of every Christian parent’s task is helping our children form the good habit of personal devotions. We are convinced that our children are sinners in need of God’s saving grace, we are convinced that God’s Word is powerful, we are convinced that God is pleased to use his Word to convict our children of their sin and draw them to his Son. This …

A La Carte (September 21)

Today’s Kindle deals include a quirky collection of this and that. Nabeel Qureshi’s Memorial Service A celebration of Nabeel Qureshi’s life and ministry will take place this Thursday, September 21, at 10:00 a.m. (CDT) at The Loop Campus of Houston’s First Baptist Church (7401 Katy Freeway Houston, TX 77024). It will be livestreamed online for those who wish to watch it. Lying to Machines John Dyer: “Over the past few months, I’ve been testing out the beta version of iOS …

The Art of Godliness, Episode 2: Honoring Parents

After discussing conflict resolution in episode 1, we turn today to the subject of honoring parents. Specifically, we discuss how we, as grown adults, should honor our aging parents. The Art of Godliness is a podcast in which we think out loud about how to live a quiet and peaceful life, godly and dignified in every way.

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Book Reviews

Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids

Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids

David Murray

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A La Carte (September 20)

Today’s Kindle deals include a few minor deals that may be worth a quick peek. Westminster Books has a selection of Reformation-related titles on sale. You should probably read at least one book on the Reformation before October 31! Speaking of which, you can get a copy of the classic biography of Luther Here I Stand for a gift of any amount to Ligonier Ministries. Setting the Tone in Your Home “Mamas, you have been granted a special gift in …

The Order and Causes of Salvation and Damnation: An Infographic

Though the name Visual Theology may be new, the idea is not. In fact, all the way back in the seventeenth century John Bunyan produced an incredible work of visual theology titled “A Map Shewing the Order and Causes of Salvation and Damnation.” In a pair of side-by-side timelines he traced the salvation of the believer (or the elect) and the damnation of the unbeliever (or the reprobate). This chart has since been reproduced a number of times but, to …

A La Carte (September 19)

Today’s Kindle deals include a few titles by John MacArthur as well as a few by other authors. Yesterday Keith and Kristyn Getty kicked off their first Sing! conference. You can watch it for free via livestream if you’re so inclined. Rejecting The Weekly Verdict While this article applies specifically to worship leaders, I suspect it applies to each one of us at one time or another. Only Love Prevents Adultery Jani Ortlund pens a letter to a would-be adulteress. …

3 Pivotal Questions on the Reformation and the Doctrine of Justification

This sponsored post was prepared by Zondervan Academic and includes material written by Frank James, Douglas Moo, and Peter H. Davids for Zondervan Academic Online Courses. One of the decisive doctrines to emerge from the Protestant Reformation—and central to Luther’s theology—was the doctrine of justification by faith alone (sola fide). How did Luther come to understand justification? What, according to Romans, does it mean to be justified? And how are we to read Luther’s understanding of Paul alongside the book …

The Duty of Diligence

Of the many legacies of the Protestant Reformation, few have had greater and wider-reaching impact than the rediscovery of the biblical understanding of vocation. Before the Reformation, the only people considered to have a vocation or calling were those who were engaged in full-time church work—monks, nuns, or priests. As Gene Veith writes, “The ordinary occupations of life—being a peasant farmer or kitchen maid, making tools or clothing, being a soldier or even king—were acknowledged as necessary but worldly. Such …

A La Carte (September 18)

Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of top-notch Study Bibles. Died: Nabeel Qureshi, Author of ‘Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus’ “Nabeel Qureshi, a popular evangelist who found Jesus while seeking Allah, died Saturday of stomach cancer. The 34-year-old convert from Islam was an itinerant speaker with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) until his diagnosis last summer. He spent months in aggressive treatment, including the removal of his stomach, all the while praying for a miracle to heal him.” (See also the …

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My Books

Do More Better Cover

Do More Better

by Tim Challies

I wrote this short, fast-paced, practical guide to productivity to share what I have learned about getting things done in today’s digital world. It will help you learn to structure your life to do the most good to the glory of God. Read More

Letters to the Editor (The Bible, Grief, Divorce, Having Children, Respecting Husbands and Hurricane Harvey)

It has been too long since I have compiled a collection of Letters to the Editor–letters from people who have read articles and are eager to respond. Here are some of the best from the past few weeks. Letters on Is Your Church Messy Enough? I wanted to comment on your use (and criticism) of the word “safe” in this article. I think I can guess why you used it the way you did – it’s a buzz-word these days …

Weekend A La Carte (September 16)

Today’s Kindle deals include a number that are worth looking at. Hebrews Bible Study Last year Michael Kruger led a ladies’ Bible study on Romans through Reformed Theological Seminary. This year he’s working through Hebrews and the videos are being released on YouTube. This is a tremendous resource! Don’t Speak Up: On the Spiritual Discipline of Silence Yes! “As evangelicals, we often feel guilty for not evangelizing more, or not speaking a word of correction to a friend in sin. …

Free Stuff Fridays

This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by B&H Publishing and they’ve got two exciting new books to give away. There will be three winners this week and each winner will receive a copy of both of these books. Steal Away Home is a new kind of book based on historical research, which tells a previously untold story set in the 1800s of the relationship between an African-American missionary and one of the greatest preachers to ever live. And then …

What’s the Purpose of … Sex?

Our culture is ruled by sex, obsessed with sex, saturated in sex. It sometimes seems that everywhere we go and everywhere we look we are confronted with messaging about sexuality. So much of this messaging is false, misleading, and downright disturbing. A little historical perspective can be helpful, though, for as we look to the distant past we see that the culture at the time of the early church was equally obsessed and saturated with sex. For this reason, the …

A La Carte (September 15)

Westminster Books has a great deal on what I think will be one of the books of the year (for parents, at least). Be sure to check it out! Meanwhile, Logos has a really good deal on a really good commentary set (one of my favorites). Will a Happy Marriage Prevent an Affair? I was planning to write about this article but am glad Russell Moore beat me to it. “A couple, even a Christian couple, should not assume they …

God Didn’t Write a Book

The Bible is a book—God’s book. Even a child knows this, right? Except that the Bible isn’t a book. Not really. The Bible was at first oral transmission passed from person to person, events and conversations observed, remembered, and shared. But it was still the Bible. Then the Bible was a collection of scrolls, each containing a single letter or history or group of psalms. But it was still the Bible. Then the Bible was a series of codices, large …

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Messy Grace

Function & Use of the Gospel Print

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This print shows that as we preach to ourselves, evan-gelize to others, worship in community, and celebrate the ordinances the use and function of the gospel in our lives must and does increase. buy

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Three In One T-Shirt

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The Trinity is a simple yet infinitely complex mystery. The Three in One shirt displays that theological concept in a minimalist simple design that is sure to spark some questions. buy