There are some Kindle deals to consider today. Also, if you’re looking for a new ESV, Westminster Books has some of their “content Bibles” on sale.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Teen Girl’s Guide To Growing in Christ)
The Majority of Gospel Work Is Done By A “Forgotten Army” Of Churches And Pastors
“In recent weeks attention has been focused on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. Televised events of remembrance and celebration were held, heroes and veterans honoured and documentaries broadcast.” But there was another big battle at the same time and there’s a lesson to draw from it.
PCA Sides With the Nashville Statement Over Revoice’s Approach
It’s no small thing that the PCA General Assembly approved measures to affirm the Nashville Statement. CT reports. (See also Denny Burk.)
The Great Model Train Robbery
This is a quirky and enjoyable story (though it doesn’t resolve quite as nicely as you’d hope). “In the heart of Gravesend, in Kent, England, a hedged lane runs alongside a retired Royal Air Force field, now occupied by the Cascades Leisure Centre, a recreation facility with a gym and a pool. Under a cloudy moon this past Valentine’s Day, a van rolled into a mini-roundabout near the Leisure Centre, stopping opposite a row of brick homes.”
The Mistake I Made With My Grieving Friend
We have all made this mistake at one time or another. “I may have been trying to empathize, at least on a conscious level, but what I really did was draw focus away from her anguish and turn the attention to me. She wanted to talk to me about her father, to tell me about the kind of man he was, so I could fully appreciate the magnitude of her loss. Instead, I asked her to stop for a moment and listen to my story about my dad’s tragic death.”
Messy Church History
Church history is messy … and we shouldn’t run away from the mess. “As a pastor, I have tried to teach my congregation over the years is that church history is messy, and that’s okay. It’s okay to wrestle with the messiness of the history of the church, whether the whole church or our particular denomination’s history.”
3 Reasons Why Pastors Should Study Church History
And speaking of church history, here are some good reasons to study it.
HBO’s Chernobyl and the Communal Nature of Sin
I found this a fascinating reflection. “Chernobyl is an excellent show, but a large part of its massive cultural resonance has to do with its emphasis on the net effect of human sin—the disproportionately catastrophic results of seemingly small errors. When I gaze on the wreckage of Chernobyl, I don’t think of Mount Sinai or the Bhagavad Gita. I think of Eden—a garden where a seemingly small act of disobedience set off an irreversible shock wave of destruction that infects every single one of us. Our world is a kind of ‘exclusionary zone.’”
Flashback: Don’t Cheat Yourself Out of Good Tools
Don’t be afraid or ashamed to get the tools you need to do your best possible work. If you’re going to scrimp and save, well and good, but this is not the place to do it.
By redeeming us, the Lord secured us in His hand, from which we cannot be snatched and from which we ourselves cannot escape, even on days when we feel like running away.
—Burk Parsons
