I wanted to remind you about Ligonier’s amazing free service through which they’re available 24 hours a day to answer your theological questions. They’ve also got an extensive archive of already-answered questions.
If you’re looking for something to watch, be sure to check out my friend Tim Keesee’s new Luke’s Dispatches video which is on sale at Westminster.
Essential Services: The Why of Church
Tony Payne writes about the essential nature of church. “And now, as we start on the road back to normal, it’s an excellent time to reconsider what ‘normal’ essentially is. This is not only because we will still have limitations placed upon us for some time to come, and some tricky choices to make. It’s also because the coronavirus lockdown should help us realise that we always have limited resources and opportunities, and that tricky choices always have to be made about what is essential and what is peripheral.”
When God Saved the Guy Next to the Guy I Was Trying to Reach
This is a neat story.
Common Pitfalls in Family Worship
What does family worship look like? How do I do it? The practice of family worship can be hard to start. And when we do begin, it is often less reverent, tranquil, and tidy than we would hope for. Just because it can be difficult, however, does not mean that it isn’t good and right. Just because expectations aren’t always met doesn’t mean the practice should be abandoned. The key to family worship is to stick with it, to keep plodding. Don’t give up, brother and sisters. Don’t throw in the towel. The struggles you are facing in family worship are the same ones I and countless other families before you faced. Some gave up, some didn’t. I encourage you to determine to be among those who are faithful. As you labor in this way, I want to warn you about a few common pitfalls. (SPONSORED LINK)
Submission, Authority, and Every Christian’s Core Identity
Justin Taylor has shared a very helpful excerpt from a longer essay by David Powlison. “You have a common calling in all relationships to walk worthy of your identity as Wife, Child, and Slave of the Lord. The Lord calls you to please him by humility, forbearance, candor, generosity, and tender-heartedness to all others. This common calling operates irrespective of the social roles you fill. It establishes a core attitude of mutuality that threads through every single relationship.”
The Truth About
“The algorithms that decide which videos to suggest have decided that conspiracy theories are what I need to see right now, and before long I’m learning ‘the truth’ about ANTIFA from a YouTube account with less than 1,000 subscribers. The point being, that for everyone’s quest for and affirmation of ‘the truth,’ the Truth has largely been ignored. Relegated to the sidelines. Shoved to the corner. Disregarded. And, I might even say, discarded. In favor of something (anything) else.”
I Will Taste It For You
I think James Faris is right on this point: “Because we have already been given this unity in the Lord Jesus, we are able to have meaningful and profitable discussions about how to grow. To listen to some of the media, the church has never been more divided, and there are certainly tensions and divisions. But, my observation is that the church is actually making progress in unity…”
The Right-Now Blessings of the Kingdom of God
God has promised many future blessings, but what are some of the key right-now blessings?
Groaning, Waiting, Hoping
Jon Bloom: “Looking at this sun-drenched spring morning world, I delight in its glory and the glory of the One who created it. But woven into this sublime beauty is sorrowful gore. The world labors under a profound and horrible brokenness. I hear its groaning and groan with it to the One who created it. But there is hope in this groaning, for the world’s Creator is also its Redeemer, and he has promised that something greater than Eden is coming.”
Flashback: Have You Looked Into the Mirror Today?
As the mirror hanging on the wall reflects the outer man, the mirror of God’s Word reflects the inner man. For this reason every Christian needs to gaze into the mirror of the Word to assess the state of his heart.
Pride ever lurks at the heels of power, but God will not encourage proud men in His service.
—Oswald Sanders
