Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 372
May 22, 2012
Don’t Settle for Competence—Embrace His All-Surpassing Brilliance!
Last week I finally had the chance to read Jared Wilson’s book,Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior. This book is a really solid and challenging look at how we view Jesus and try to remake Him in our image. My one-line take on the book: it’s everything Vintage Jesus wanted to be but didn’t know it. Here’s one of the many reasons why:
The world does not regard Jesus as savvy or practical and, if we’re honest with ourselves, neither do we in the church. I think that...
Links I Like
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I really enjoy the resources being published by Crossway Books. But you may not know that they’re a not-for-profit ministry that relies in part on gifts from individuals like us toaccomplish major ministry projects worldwide. And they’ve just been presented with a wonderful opportunity to help spread the good news of the gospel:
Generous donors have offered an all-or-nothing matching grant IF we are able...
May 21, 2012
Why Don’t More People Give?
You’ve all no doubt heard or read the frequently cited stats and truisms about Christian giving:
Christians give on average 2.6 percent of their income
Four percent of Americans give a tithe (10 percent)
Twenty percent of your congregation is providing eighty percent of the monetary (and volunteer) support
You get the idea.
Typically we see these numbers come out when we’re being taught about the importance of giving (this is not unreasonable). We marvel at them together and wonder… why?
Is it a ha...
Links I Like
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Jesus Loses No One
Justin Holcomb:
It’s easy for many of us to fall into thinking of God as angry and disappointed toward us, or at best, as passive and indifferent. Some may think that they’ve failed him so many times that he’s probably given up on them to focus on the godly, “effective” people. But Jesus’ words tell a vastly different story.
Why the Leadership Movement Is Leaving Your Church Leaderle...
May 20, 2012
Enable Me to Undertake Some Task for Thee
Thou God of my end,
Thou hast given me a fixed disposition to go forth and spend my life for Thee;
if it be Thy will let me proceed in it; if not, then revoke my intentions.
All I want in life is such circumstances as may best enable me to serve Thee in the world.
To this end I leave all my concerns in Thy hand,
but let me not be discouraged, for this hinders my spiritual fervency.
Enable me to undertake some task for Thee, for this refreshes and animates my soul,
so that I could endure all hardship...
May 19, 2012
A Sonship Which Comes By Promise
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”(Galatians 4:6)
We are not the sons of God by nature in the sense here meant. We are in a sense “the offspring God” by nature, but this is very different from the sonship here described, which is the peculiar privilege of those who are born again. The Jews claimed to be of the family of God, but as their privileges came to them by the way of their fleshly birth, they are likened to Ishmael, who...
Links I Like (Weekend Edition)
Barnabas Piper:
Why is it we do not often evangelize our children with the same grace, patience, interaction, and mutual respect we do our neighbors? We correct our children’s ideas about God or morality with a “no, that’s not right” method rather than an “I believe _____ because _____.” method. But what if our children don’t agree? They are under our authority and either afraid of or tired of the “no, that’s not right” response so they keep their thoughts and disbel...
May 18, 2012
How Many Books Can Someone Really Read?
Recently I did some reorganizing of our bookshelves and notice something interesting and kind of disturbing:
I’ve got somewhere around 60 physical books sitting on my shelves that I’ve yet to crack open.
Now, I read fast—really fast—and some of these are small books, but is it really possible to read all of these, plus the others that keep finding their way onto my “to-read” list?
At what point does it become too much and how can I manage to get through the most important books, if not all of th...
Links I Like
Julian Freeman:
If you are a pastor — or just a mature man in the church who desires to mentor younger Christian men — let me admonish you: Let men into the backyard of your life. It will be good for you and it will bless them immeasurably. Resist the urge to keep guys in the ‘front yard.’ Let them see how you wrestle through the unfinished business of your spiritual life and they will grow.
SomeThoughts on Ministering to Youth
Joel:
I have been reflecting somewhat on the issu...
May 17, 2012
How Introverts Can Thrive in an Extroverted World
I’m an introvert.
This is a shock to exactly no one who knows me well (although apparently people have been surprised meeting me at a conference or when I’m preaching).
Particularly over the last decade, I’ve had to work really hard to learn how to function as an extrovert. It doesn’t come naturally to me and it is exhausting. But it’s absolutely necessary in order to function in a culture dominated by the Extrovert Ideal, what author Susan Cain describes as “the omnipresent belief that the ide...
