May the Lord be with you and bless you today.
Westminster Books is having a big Spring Clearance Sale—reducing their inventory of books that are great, but that they have too many of. Also, if you let them know of a current or future pastor, they’ll send them a free copy of a brand new book by John Currie.
There are a few new Kindle deals this morning.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Sins That Plague Our Souls)
We Need a Gospel Awakening in Africa
“We need a gospel awakening in Africa. Those of us who labor across Africa must not sacrifice biblical principles for short-term results. Over the past 50 years, this approach has resulted in African churches filled with nominal Christians who believe in a different gospel. We must do the long work of biblical preaching that convicts men of sin and calls men to repentance and faith. We must labor in prayer until Christ is formed in the hearts of men and women who are dead in their trespasses and sin. We must long, pray, and work for the conversion of men and then diligently disciple each one who believes in Jesus into maturity.”
Can I Tell an Unbeliever ‘Jesus Died for You’?
This is a good question to wrestle through. “Don’t be more guarded in your language than the apostles. When you’re more careful than Scripture, it can justify others’ concerns about Calvinism killing evangelism. Peter and Paul may not have told unbelievers ‘Jesus died for you,’ but they did make similar appeals in their evangelism…”
Brother, Sister – Don’t Lose Your Home to a Passing Storm
Andrew pleads with wavering Christians not to abandon their faith. “As you consider deconstruction, deconversion or even the moral dereliction of the truth at is in Jesus, may I offer you four facts that might anchor the home of your heart and might help you to stand firm when drifting back or away feel like a foregone conclusion…”
The Case for Holy Obstinacy
Trevin Wax: “It doesn’t matter how kind or winsome our approach may be. There will be times when our polite refusal to go along will be seen as a threat to societal cohesion. When we refuse to name good evil and evil good, or be complicit in certain forms of injustice, or deny the nature of bodily givenness, or go along with a lie simply because it’s socially acceptable, or say the lesser of two evils is somehow good, or sacrifice key principles as we engage in public and political life, or deny the core teachings of Christianity when they’re unpopular, our quiet ‘no’ will be scandalous.”
What Will It Be Like? Imagining the New Heavens & New Earth
Elyse Fitzpatrick imagines some of what we will experience in the new heavens and new earth. “If you believe that this present world is all there is, then you will war and plunder and seek to get rather than give. If, on the other hand, you believe that what you’re seeing now is merely a shadow of what is to come (1 Cor 13:12), then you can live freely, generously, and joyously in this present age.”
Christians Are a Last Days People
“Christians are a Last Days people and will continue to be, until Christ’s return. Let’s not get caught up in the Speculation Industry that promotes confusion, distorts biblical texts, and deceives people far and wide. The Lord Jesus will return in great glory and splendor. But his return isn’t prompted by or connected to a total solar eclipse.”
Flashback: My Dear, Sweet Girl
We all sin in different ways. Some sin loudly and some sin quietly. Some sin in their actions and some in their imaginations. But it’s all sin.
If I could write as I would about the goodness of God to me, the ink would boil in my pen!
—Frances Ridley Havergal
