Friday, June 29, 2012

Christianity 101 for Journalists

from Justin Taylor

Tim Keller:
I find it frustrating when I read or hear columnists, pundits, or journalists dismiss Christians as inconsistent because “they pick and choose which of the rules in the Bible to obey.” What I hear most often is “Christians ignore lots of Old Testament texts—about not eating raw meat or pork or shellfish, not executing people for breaking the Sabbath, not wearing garments woven with two kinds of material and so on. Then they condemn homosexuality. Aren’t you just picking and choosing what they want to believe from the Bible?”

It is not that I expect everyone to have the capability of understanding that the whole Bible is about Jesus and God’s plan to redeem his people, but I vainly hope that one day someone will access their common sense (or at least talk to an informed theological advisor) before leveling the charge of inconsistency.
Read the whole thing here.

Redemptive History in Classical Art

This Is the Gospel Project - This is a great little look at redemptive history via classical art.

Toward Better Short-Term Missions

Toward Short-Term Missions - Darren Carlson continues his look at short-term missions. “In the first article I laid out the history of short-term missions and some of the opportunities it has provided. The second article pointed to some of the problems that surround the enterprise. Now I want to offer a way forward.”

It was encouraging to find our current direction follows his recommendations closely. Our missions training wiill pick up in the Fall with a new ministry we are launching for that purpose.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Why You Should Consider Cancelling Your Short-Term Mission Trips

This article summarizes the challenges and frequent shortfalls of short-term mission trips...and the things we seek to address and avoid in our efforts.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Sharing Your Spiritual Journey Story

A Christian's personal testimony is their most powerful tool for sharing the Good News of Jesus with spiritually lost friends and family. My Sunday message on June 17 communicates why a testimony is important and key elements in that testimony. For further help in developing your own spiritual journey story, the following brief article by Rick Warren will be helpful. See article....

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Six Ways of Minimizing Sin

Six Ways of Minimizing Sin - This article is helpful in seeing ways we play with sin rather than overcome sin. Take a moment and examine your fight against sin, the ways you are prone to minimize sin.

Is the Bible Reliable?

Is the Bible Reliable? - Here is some helpful counsel on how to answer when someone says that the Bible is not reliable. This is a simple response to what may seem to you to be a complex question.

Ten Tips for Going to Church

Going to Church - Christine Jensen writes down some of her top tips on going to church as a family. Her list will help to make the day count and make it count for more than just the day.

20 Things Every Pastoral Counselor Hears

20 Things - Here are twenty things that every counselor hears from the people he speaks with. Do you know how to answer these things?

Tim Keller's Top-Ten Evangelism Tips

Tim Challies shares - Tim Keller’s Top-Ten Evangelism Tips - “A while ago on our elder retreat we listened to a talk Tim Keller gave at Lausanne. As part of that talk he gave 10 tips to help our lay folk in their evangelism. They were so helpful I wanted to put them down somewhere, so here they are…”

Stay at Home Moms - You Need to Know...

What Every Husband Needs to Know - Gloria Furman tells us what every husband needs to know about stay at home moms. (Here’s another article on a similar subject)

“Getting Ready to Go to Church…”

This article by Shawn Lovejoy is a helpful guide to spiritual preparation to meet with God at His house on Sundays.

“How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” (Psalm 84:1–2 NIV) “Getting ready to go to church.” What emotions does that phrase evoke in your family? In your heart? Your mind? The psalmist yearned for the next … [Read more...]

25 Insightful Quotes About Fatherhood from All Pro Dad

All Pro Dad: Seven Essentials to Be a Hero to Your Kids is an excellent playbook for fatherhood. This article leads to a review of the book but here lists twenty-five pearls of wisdom on fatherhood.

1. Leading a family is the hardest job a man can ever have. –Dave Ramsey
2. Our job as dads is to stay the course and to persevere when trouble comes our way, even during the darkest and most difficult hours of our children’s lives.
3. People think love is soft and weak, but it is really a sign of strength. –James “JB” Brown
4. Love is not a feeling; it is a decision. Love is an act of the will to be patient, kind, gentle, humble, sincere, compassionate, giving faithful, trusting, forgiving, uniting, and persevering.
5. Hail Mary passes don’t work in fatherhood. Fathering is all about a dad moving the ball forward in his relationship with his child, one yard at a time, day in and day out. (See the complete list here)