May you know and acknowledge the Lord’s sweetest blessings as you serve and worship him this weekend.
My gratitude goes to my friends at Ligonier Ministries for sponsoring the blog this week. Be sure to stream their Luther documentary while it’s free.
There’s a nice little list of Kindle deals for today.
(Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books fo October 2021)
Not How We Would Have It
Nick Batzig looks back to Ecclesiastes to draw some important lessons. “Many with strong convictions look back at church history and bemoan our current state of affairs in comparison with bygone ages. However, the sad reality is that there were just as many false teachers, compromising ministers, rebellious and difficult congregants, and hateful worldly opponents then as there are today.”
What If God Doesn’t Answer?
Guy Richard addresses the age-old issue of unanswered prayer.
Memory, the Reformation, & Revival
Michael Haykin: “If it is true that knowledge of the past is vital to meaningful living in the present and the future, and I believe it is, then Evangelicals in the West face a very uncertain future for we are living in a day when knowledge of our past as Evangelical Christians is abysmally low. Who were our forebears and what did they believe? What was their experience of God and how did that shape the churches they founded, churches which we have inherited?”
Romans, the “Righteousness of God,” and the 1984 NIV
Michael Kruger writes about some of his “favorite verses in the Bible, Romans 3:21-26. Martin Luther called those verses, ‘The chief point, and the very central place of the Epistle, and of the whole Bible.’”
Ask God to Send Gospel Workers
“Have you noticed the massive staff shortage across industries during this extended season of COVID? I can’t drive a mile without seeing a ‘help wanted’ sign. I’ve waited a long time lately at restaurants for a table and then my meal. It wasn’t for a lack of tables. And it wasn’t for a lack of food. It was for a lack of workers. Workers are scarce. The same is true in the kingdom.”
Sufficient for the Day
Reagan Rose offers some helpful words on productivity. “Planning for tomorrow is important. Having lists of projects and tasks you hope to do is important. But when we spend a lot of time looking down the road we can lose focus on the bit of road that’s right in front of us. We can be tempted to become discontent or anxious.”
Flashback: The Cracks Begin at the Bottom
…disunity often begins with the membership and spreads toward the leadership rather than beginning with the leadership and spreading toward the membership. This is not always the case, of course, but often it is.
The Scriptures are the lifeline God throws us in order to ensure he and we stay connected while the rescue is in process.
—J.I. Packer
