I’m grateful to Coram Deo Pastor’s Conference for sponsoring the blog this week. If you are a pastor, you will definitely want to consider attending this event, which features John Piper, H.B. Charles, Kevin DeYoung, and more.
Today’s Kindle deals include a list of books by Jared Wilson, Os Guinness, and others.
(Yesterday on the blog: Do You Have to Choose Between Science and God?)
The Spiritual Discipline of Unlearning
The Christian life involves a great deal of learning. But as this article expresses, it also involves a great deal of unlearning. “Much of our growth in Christ does not come from learning something new. It comes from unlearning things we already believe, assume, or practice. If learning is addition, unlearning is subtraction. And subtraction is usually harder.”
Satan Wants You Alone This Sunday
Garrett Kell: “When most of us think of going to church, we don’t consider what is happening behind the scenes. But understand this: Sunday morning is a spiritual-warfare battleground. Satan’s attacks aim at hindering faith. God’s aim in the assembly is to edify faith. Gathering with the flock is akin to assembling for war. Liturgy is our battle plan given by the Lord of hosts.”
All of Those Undone Days
This is a beautiful piece of writing. “There is a periodic ache that I feel in my soul, and I suspect that others feel something similar, too. It is not the sharp and then sustained blow of actual loss or bereavement, nor is it the creeping pain of disappointment or disillusionment. I have experienced each of these things, and it is different from all of them. This ache enters into the very nature of being human; it dwells in those barely accessible regions of my emotional life that are connected to my finitude and mortality.”
What We Learned From Asking a Pastor to Step Down
Luke Mitchell explains what he learned from the difficult process of asking a pastor to step down. “We tend to celebrate a church’s ministry of mercy when it matches our basic understanding of the Word—programs that provide care for the poor, resources that heal brokenness, and intercessory prayers for struggling brothers and sisters. But Scripture teaches that mercy walks alongside justice and righteousness, not away from them. Church discipline is such an occasion.”
Holy Humor
Josh celebrates the gift of humor. “Not everyone is funny, but everyone can appreciate a good laugh. Indeed, if you ask me, I truly believe that humor is one of God’s sweetest gifts to His creatures. Indeed, even if we aren’t funny, we all love to laugh. There is something very good, very human, and very right about sharing in a good, hard laugh with those whom you love.”
Intentional Thankfulness
Simon is right: If we are to be truly thankful, it will require intentionality.
Flashback: What I Would Have To Deny To Deny Hell
If I am ever to come to the point of denying the existence of hell, what will be the doctrinal cost of getting there? Though I am sure there is much more that could be said, I can think of at least four major denials.
Nothing pleases God more than washing people clean from sin and giving them life in his son.
—Matthew Rueger
