Good morning from Zambia where I have finished up my time at a seminar for writers and am beginning to make the 24-hour journey home. It was a blessing to be here but, as always, I’m glad to be heading home.
We have been spoiled with Kindle deals this week and the bounty continues today. Ian Harber’s new Walking Through Deconstruction is on the list, as are books by J. Warner Wallace, Greg Koukl, and many others.
4 Causes of Division in the Church
I think Trevin is right about this. “I’m convinced one of the exacerbating factors in today’s fracturing comes from people who unintentionally (or in some cases, deliberately) misrepresent the nature of the disagreement. A difference in ministry philosophy gets framed as a departure from the faith. A difference in temperament leads to accusations of manipulating ministry for personal gain. The result? Confusion, cynicism, and slander.”
Union with Christians
On a somewhat related note, Ken Jones writes, “our union with Christ ought to cause us to be collegial and gracious in our disputes, debates, and dialogues with others who also ‘call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ but with whom we may have significant differences on various points.”
Be Wary of 1%-er Rhetoric
Justin Poythress considers the 1%-er rhetoric that is so common today.
Distinguishing Shame from Guilt
John Piper does his best here to distinguish shame from guilt—two concepts that are related but distinct. A preview: “Here’s my effort to define and distinguish guilt and shame based on the way the Bible talks about these realities. Guilt is the moral and legal condition of deserving punishment for real wrongdoing.”
Prayer or Sleep? Which is More Important?
There are times when we all need to choose between prayer or sleep. Kenneth Berding helps prioritize appropriately.
In Praise of Lay/Non-staff/Unpaid Elders
Stephen Kneale: “As a paid elder, I wanted to give a shout out to all those unpaid elders. Those elders who do what I do without the coin.”
Flashback: Don’t Waste the Days When You Feel Little Need for God
Ideally, darkness is not the time to begin groping around for a light, but the time to depend upon the light you have been carrying with you all along.
Jesus’s greatest work on earth was accomplished by submitting and not by “doing.”
—Vaneetha Rendall Risner
