As we venture into a new month it’s a good time to remember that right now, at this very moment, God is reigning from his throne.
Westminster Books has a deal on a helpful new resource book.
Ministry Is Tough: When Self-Care Becomes Self-Absorption
Interesting… “I wonder if in some cases the cultural shift toward self-care has led to a new set of wrong assumptions among those just entering ministry. If the generation before me assumed the need for overworking to the point that people had to insist on self-care and say ‘Stop and take care of yourself before you burn out,’ I wonder if the generation behind me will assume the opposite. We’ll assume the need for self-care to the point that others may need to insist on hard and strenuous labor, even when it hurts.”
Answering the Challenge of Back-Alley Abortions
“Now that abortion-choice advocates sense abortion rights are slipping away, there is a growing fear that women who can’t obtain abortions will resort to desperate measures to end their pregnancies. As a result, we’re seeing an uptick in classic pro-choice rhetoric—specifically, the challenge that women will pursue dangerous, back-alley abortions.” Here’s how to answer that challenge.
Who Killed the Prayer Meeting?
This is so true: “The American church is functionally prayerless when it comes to corporate prayer. Of course, a remnant does the hidden work of prayer, but in most churches corporate prayer doesn’t function in any meaningful way.”
Blogging Is Never Going Away
I agree with Chris on this: “A lot of us in the Christian space have, over the years, wondered, ‘Is blogging dead?’ Some have wondered if podcasting, especially, would kill the blog. Though I am biased, because I am a writer and a words guy in general, I have long said that the blog will always have a place in online content. I’ve said, often with skeptical responses, that blogging is never going away.”
Following God When You Feel Forsaken
“Sometimes it feels like God has forsaken us. We don’t hear his voice. We don’t feel his presence. We struggle even to see his hand at work in the world. We cry with the psalmist, ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?’.”
Secular Liturgies Leave Me Longing for More
Darryl recently experienced a kind of secular liturgy and writes: “I left the meeting aware of the ways that we’re being formed without knowing it. I felt sad that the gospel of self-fulfillment and self-empowerment is so commonplace and unsatisfying. I long for more: for a higher purpose than my own satisfaction, a truer compass than my own feelings and intuitions, a better way to deal with what’s wrong with my soul.”
Flashback: One Of The Ugliest Sights In The World
Yet as we address God as Father, we must not behave like children who are peevish or petulant. We must not make demands, we must not level accusations or provide ultimatums. We must always pray that God’s will will be done, that God’s wisdom will be showcased, that God’s glory will be displayed.
Our family in Christ will more than make up for any family lost when we pursue Jesus and the gospel.
—Jen Oshman
