I trust you enjoyed your Christmas as we did—remembering the birth of Jesus and spending time with friends and family. The Lord is good to give us days of rest and celebration.
I wasn’t able to track down new Kindle deals before scheduling this post for 12:01 AM, but I did add some good ones yesterday. I will check again in the morning.
A Biblical Framework for Deciding Workplace Moments of Conscience
You will need to set aside a few minutes to read this article, but I think you’ll find it rewarding. The author essentially sets out a theology of getting fired for your faith.
Respectability and Hospitality (And Friendship & Fidelity)
Chad Van Dixhoorn considers the qualifications for elders (which are character expectations for all Christians) and focuses on a couple we are perhaps prone to ignore.
Free eBook: How to Build an Effective Missions Program
When discussing the specifics of church missions programs, it is critical to begin by understanding the motivation behind missions. Properly understanding “God’s Mission” will result in a more deeply rooted mission program and, ultimately, a more effective gospel witness. So, today, The Master’s Academy International (TMAI) is offering How to Build an Effective Missions Program as a free ebook. Download your copy today at tmai.org/challies to develop a strategy for an effective missions program in your church. (Sponsored Link)
What’s the Point of Waiting?
Justin Poythress: “In a sense, all of our lives are waiting. Waiting to grow up. Waiting to leave home. Waiting to finish school. Waiting to get married. Waiting to have children. Waiting for those children to grow up and fly the nest. Waiting for your first job. Waiting for your career. Waiting for your dream job.” And so on.
Reading Scripture Rightly
I really appreciate the heart of this article—to not immediately dull the impact of a passage by too quickly interpreting it through the lens of systematic theology.
What’s the Real Cost of Our Giving?
“Last month, the Lord convicted me that my giving is like that of the rich men in the temple – they were happy to give from their excess because it didn’t pinch them. But the poor widow gave God her all. The little she gave was everything she had. She might not have had enough for her next meal, but Jesus saw her sacrificial offering and honoured it.” That is worth pondering.
Dear Pastor . . . Let’s Cultivate Honesty in Our Churches—Starting With Us
This call to honestly applies to pastors, but to everyone else as well.
Flashback: When I Get to the End of the Way
“So when I am weary in body, and sinking in spirit I say, all the toils of the road will seem nothing, when I get to the end of the way.”
If [God] had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a Savior.
—D.A. Carson
