I’ve got a big round-up of Cyber Monday deals for you to browse through today. It includes a big selection of Kindle deals you’ll definitely want to check out.
(Yesterday on the blog: My Top Book Reviews of All-Time)
How Do Pastors Pick Their Fights?
David Mathis: “We need men who know how to disagree without creating division. We need pastors and elders who have enough self-control to avoid needless controversy, and enough courage to move gently and steadily toward conflict.”
Was Murdered Missionary John Chau An Arrogant Fool?
“Was John Chau an arrogant fool who sought to impose his views on people who didn’t want to hear them?” Here is Garrett Kell’s answer.
3 Internet Accusations Against Missionaries
And here’s a from-the-field take on John Chau. “The death of John Allen Chau in India has brought out an onslaught of internet hatred. While some of this hatred has been aimed at the methodology of this particular missionary, much of it has been against Christian missionaries in general. And as much as I would like to imagine that these comments represent only those who are not believers, I fear that such thinking has also invaded the church. So, I thought I would address some of the accusations.”
Pastor: Expound, Apply, Repeat
Joel Beeke offers counsel to preachers. “When you apply it, you keep the sermon memorable and you, without saying so directly, are really giving homework assignments to your people. This is how you’ve got to live or this is what you’ve got to do because you love the Lord and this is what Christians do when they love the Lord. You apply the Word at every point.”
The Day Jesus Said “I’ve Got This”
This is a powerful and encouraging read. “I wish that had been my mum’s most traumatic life moment. I wish. But it wasn’t. That came later. Aged forty, and by now living in Australia, mum watched her husband, my dad, who was the love of her life since age seventeen, drive himself off to live with a stranger – the woman who would become his second wife.”
Evil Does not Exist
Wyatt Graham: “Had God created evil, he would create something contrary to his eternally good nature. He would be a different God. He would not exist as we know him. He would be something other than perfection itself. He would not be eternally beneficient. He would not exist. Either God exists or evil does. Both cannot be true.”
Amazon’s Merciless Assault on Brands
This market is changing yet again. “This Thanksgiving, another rapidly spreading plague is terrifying the citizens of brandland, and this one is casting an even darker shadow across the business models of the P&Gs of the world: the rise of the white-label brand, aka the anti-brand. The deus ex machina driving this change? A little product called Alexa and the rise of voice-driven e-commerce, perhaps the most significant change in shopping behavior since the 24-hour supermarket.”
Flashback: 10 Books Every Christian Teenager Should Read
Here is a list of ten great books every Christian teen ought to read—or at least consider reading.
If you could have chosen your own circumstances and conditions in life, you could not have made so wise a choice as God has made for you.
—C.H. Spurgeon
