Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 364
July 4, 2012
What Does it Mean to Be Meek?
“Blessed are the meek,” Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes. But what does that mean? Depending on who you talk to, the answer varies—and many of them are devastating to the Christian life. But of all the helpful explanations I’ve read, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ in Studies in the Sermon on the Mountis among the most helpful. There, Lloyd-Jones writes:
Meekness does not mean indolence. There are people who appear to be meek in a natural sense; but they are not meek at all, they are indolent. That is...
Links I Like
Tim Challies:
A reader of this site recently asked me to explain how I determine whether a book is good and worthy of recommendation or whether it is not. That is a fair question and I was surprised to find that I had not addressed it in the past. I will take on that challenge today. It will be helpful to assume that the book in question is meant to address the Christian life, falling under the broad categories of Christian Living or Spiritual Growth or something si...
July 3, 2012
Book Review: Real by Daniel Darling
“JESUS! GOD! DA BIBLE!”
Whenever we start question time during family devotions, our middle daughter, Hannah, immediately starts shouting these answers while wearing the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. She’s just thrilled to offer up what must be the right answer (she’s paid enough attention to know that if she answers with “Jesus” she’s going to be right at least 30-50 percent of the time).
While it’s super-cute and warms my heart, it also makes me a little nervous.
Emily and I are first gener...
Links I Like
Jared Wilson:
I’m a devotee the “simple church” concept, but I have experienced just how daunting a task it can be to lead the under-programming of my church. We are inundated constantly with opportunities for activity from other churches (which we don’t want to turn down lest we appear uncooperative and standoffish), advertised “movements” local and national (which are good at getting people excited and distracted), and “good ideas” from our own community...
July 2, 2012
The Challenge of Contending Graciously
“Contending” isn’t a pleasant activity, but it’s one vital to the health of the Church. But knowing its importance doesn’t make doing it any easier. Here are things we need to remember as we strive to contend in a Christ-exalting fashion, from my upcoming book, Contend: Defending the Faith in a World Without Reason:
Demonstrate humility: Christians can and must contend withoutbeing contentious.Just like Jude’s audience, we have beencalled by, purchased by, and kept for Jesus Christ. Whatever i...
Links I Like
Rikk E. Watts:
This apparent discrepancy was noted as far back as the fourth century by Jerome, who respectfullyobserved:”O Apostle Peter, your son Mark, not in the flesh but in the Spirit,has made a mistake.” He was not alone. Two early manuscripts and all the laterByzantine ones also saw the problem, rescuing (presumably) Mark’s credibility bychanging “in Isaiah” to “in the prophets.” Interestingly, the most reliable and earliestmanuscripts and their ear...
July 1, 2012
The Backlist: The Top Ten Posts on Blogging Theologically
Let’s take a trip back in time to see the top ten posts in June:
Everyday Theology: God Won’t Give You More Than You CanHandle(July 2009)
Everyday Theology: God helps those who helpthemselves(July 2009)
John Piper on Mark Driscoll & JohnMacArthur(May 2009)
Where Is Jesus In The OldTestament?(June 2011)
More Lessons I’m Learning from OtherPreachers(June 2012)
Book Review: Equipping Counselors for Your Church by RobertKellemen(June 2012)
Book Review: Date Your Wife by JustinBuzzard(June 2012)
Let Us Im...
“Yet the man at the gate will receive you…”
Throughout our Christian life, there is no shortage of distractions. We are constantly being pulled this way and that by the counsel of others and the “wisdom” of the world. In The Pilgrim’s Progress,John Bunyan does a masterful job shining the light of the gospel upon the world’s wisdom and reminding us of the refuge we have in the gospel:
Mr. Worldly-Wiseman . . . is well named because he loves only the doctrine of this world (he always goes to the town of Morality to attend church). He love...
June 30, 2012
The Secret to Spiritual and Natural Greatness
I believe that spiritual as well as natural greatness depends in a high degree on the faithful use of means within everybody’s reach. Of course I do not say we have a right to expect a miraculous grant of intellectual gifts; but I do say, that when a person is once converted to God, his progress in holiness will be much in accordance with their own diligence in the use of God’s appointed means. And I assert confidently that the principle means by which most believers have become great in the...
Links I Like (Weekend Edition)
Chris Vacher:
It’s pretty easy to find lots of tutorials and tips on how to write the greatest blog post ever – so much information is available on writinggreatblog posts but it’s pretty hard to find information on how to write horrendous, awful, terrible blog posts. Until now!
June26th
Amber Van Schooneveld:
I will never forget June 26th. It was the day 1 year ago that I got appendicitis while 6 months pregnant in a foreign country. It was the scariest day of my...
