Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 352
September 10, 2012
Theological Vision, Center Church and Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
Center Church is shaping up to be one of the best books I’ve read on church ministry. This is in no small part due to its being (at least to this point) so drastically different from the other books available on the subject.
Rather than focusing on a doctrinal foundation or methodology, Tim Keller puts the emphasis on theological vision, which he defines as “a faithful restatement of the gospel with rich implications for life, ministry, and missions in a the of culture at a moment in history”...
Links I Like
Joe Thorn:
When did the ice cream man become so creepy? Maybe I’m just getting old (40 in a couple days). Maybe I see more danger in the world than I did as a kid. But my memories of the ice cream man look very different than what I’m seeing today.
Cheap eBooks
A few from Erwin Lutzer:
The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage- $4.79 (this is one of the healthiest books on this subject I’ve ever read)
Is God on America’s Side?- $4.19
One Minute After You Die – $4.19
A couple by John Ma...
September 9, 2012
Preferring God Over All Things
God wills to know the actual, lived-out reality of our preference for him over all things. And he wills that we have the testimony of our own authenticity through acts of actual preferenceof God over his gifts. [CS] Lewis is right that God may as well not havecreated the world, but only imagined it, if his knowing what“would be” is as good as his knowing it in the very act. God willsthat he have an experiential-knowing, an actual seeing-knowing,a watching-knowing. A real lived-out human act o...
September 8, 2012
In Him, Religion and Ethics Are Never Separated
Jesus is an example not merely for the relations of man to man but also for the relation of man to God; imitation of Him may extend and must extend to the sphere of religion as well as to that of ethics. Indeed religion and ethics in Him were never separated; no single element in His life can be understood without reference to His heavenly Father. Jesus was the most religious man who ever lived; He did nothing and said nothing and thought nothing without the thought of God.
If His example mean...
September 7, 2012
Stop Worrying About What Others Are Doing—Follow Him!
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:20-22)
Have you ever had a moment, even a brief one, where you’re in the middle of a project at work and you start thinking about… someone...
Links I Like
An older, but still great, video with David Platt:
Can't see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click Here!
$5 Friday at Ligonier
This week’s selections includesDr. Sproul’sChurch andStateteaching series (download),The Prince’s PoisonCupby R.C. Sproul (animatic DVD), andThe Gospel Focus of CharlesSpurgeonby Steven Lawson (hardcover), among many other items. Sale ends at midnight (Eastern Time).
YourJehoida Moment
Dan Darling:
At some point you’ll have to dig deep and...
September 6, 2012
A Summer of Fiction
Back in June, my friend (and coworker) Amber confronted me on my reading habits. Apparently, I read far too much non-fiction and therefore needed to shake things up a bit. So she challenged me to read some fiction during the summer.
A challenge I accepted. Over the summer I worked my way through a fairly significant number of fiction reads including:
The first four books of The Chronicles of Narnia
The Hunger Games Trilogy (which I wrote about a few months back)
The Hobbit
…and even a couple of gr...
Links I Like
Tim Challies:
So many Christians live their lives racked with guilt and shame. They think back to the things they did, the sins they committed, whether two days ago or two decades, and they live under a cloud of shame. This shame hurts, it burns, it incapacitates. It raises this question: What is the place of guilt, what is the place of shame, in the life of the Christian? I want to take a shot at answering that questiontoday.
3Media-Made Myths about Abortion
Trevin Wax:
It...
September 5, 2012
Success, Faithfulness, and Fruitfulness
One of the looming questions in Christian ministry is trying to figure out how to measure whether or not what you’re doing is “working” (I hope you’ll forgive the expression). Some look at it in terms of success, which really just means numbers.
How many people showed up?
How many baptisms were there?
How much are people giving?
And so on.
These aren’t bad metrics and can be an indicator of God’s working in a church’s ministry, but it’s not necessarily so as many critics of the church growth/seeke...
Links I Like
Eric Tonjes:
Christians have long believed and taught that we are “aliens” and “sojourners” in the sinful system of culture and power that Scripture calls “the world.” Following Christ, we are called to be a part of the world around us. Indeed, like Christ, we long for its resurrection. I will gladly oppose those who seek to partition off the Savior’s kingdom, to only give him hearts and souls and not also offer him bodies and communities and cultures.
Isthe Bib...
