Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 374
May 11, 2012
Division, Contending and Speaking the Truth in Love
The recent vote in North Carolina and this week’s generally unsurprising announcement from President Obama in support of same-sex marriage have Christians all abuzz. Some, lament the North Carolina decision saying they’re tired of the culture wars. Others have reminded us that there are good reasons that believers ought to continue to oppose gay marriage.
Younger Christians (and non-Christians) struggle to understand the uproar from their conservative forebearers. Rachel Held Evans is right to...
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Nathan W. Bingham:
Whether that’s from seeing “prosperity gospel” false teachers on television, or observing conservative Christians leaving their homes on Sunday morning wearing their “happy clothes” and “happy face.” Either way, we’re good at giving the world the impression that life’s hard for the heathen and roses for the righteous.But that’s not true.
WhoAre You Calling a Culture Warrior?
Daniel Darling:
Our generation is in the midst of a good discussion on the...
May 10, 2012
3 Words To Aid in Forgiveness
If anyone here who is a Christian finds a difficulty in forgiveness, I am going to give him three words which will help him wonderfully. I would put them into the good man’s mouth. I gave them to you just now, and prayed you to get the sweetness of them; here they are again!
“For Christ’s sake.”
Cannot you forgive an offender on that ground? Ah, the girl has acted very shamefully, and you, her father, have said some strong things, but I beg you to forgive her for Christ’s sake. Cannot you do it...
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Collin Hansen:
…there’s another reason much of the country has shrugged off no-news headlines about the culmination of President Obama’s “evolution”:50 percent of Americans now agree with him. In the last 16 years, support for same-sex marriage has nearly doubled. Gallup shows an increase in support from just 27 percent in 1996 to a high of 53 percent in 2011 and now 50 percent in 2012. Since 1996, Christians have debated homosexuality almost non-stop, and...
May 9, 2012
4 Reasons to Preach Through Whole Books of the Bible
Preaching methods are a big topic right now in certain corners of evangelicalism. Should we preach through books of the Bible? Is topical okay? How should we approach topical sermons if we do them at all? These are questions that many of us have to deal wrestle with.
Mark Dever and Greg Gilbert are both strong advocates for the practice of preaching through entire books of the Bible. In their new book,Preach: Theology Meets Practice,they offer a number of practical considerations as to why our...
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Freedomto Fail
Darryl Dash:
I want to say that I’m driven by the desire to establish a work that will bring God glory and to spread his fame, and this would be true. But if I’m honest, I’m also driven by a desire not to fail at something that is tougher than anything I’ve ever done to this point. I don’t want to fall flat on my face and embarrass myself — a very real possibility given the number of church pl...
May 8, 2012
Book Review: What is the Mission of the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert
If you want to cause a ruckus at Thanksgiving dinner, bring up politics. If you want to cause a ruckus at a church get together, bring up social justice. There’s so much confusion and debate over the church’s role in social justice issues that it doesn’t seem like more discussion is going to help resolve the tension. Nevertheless, Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert enter the fray with What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission. In this boo...
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Collin Hansen:
So you want to go to college. Good decision! There’s a good chance followers of Jesus played a key role in starting your school, even if you don’t attend a Christian college. These heroes showed us how to glorify God by exercising his gift of thinking. Following in their steps, you will be one of the relatively few around the world with the intellectual and financial means to attend college. You have been given this rare gift so you can bless others, n...
May 7, 2012
Be Careful Offering Criticism To Your Pastor
Mondays are probably the worst day of the week for pastors and preachers. I don’t even do it full time, and I’ve experienced the roughness of Monday. Whenever I’m in the pulpit, I tend to experience an interesting combination of being energized and completely exhausted. Preaching the Word and seeing people “get” it is awesome—but by the time I get home, I’m ready for a roughly 100 hour nap. For me, it usually takes until mid-day Tuesday before I’m feeling back to normal.
Because I’m not in voc...
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Kit Eaton:
Because what we think is happening is that the era of the e-reader as a must-have device is drawing to a close. Back in March someresearch suggestedthat expectations for e-reader sales for the quarter were way down on the previous year’s, and those predictions now look to have been right on target.
Rescuing Church from a Facebook Culture
Michael J. Kruger:
What affect does “social media” technology have on the way we view church? What affect doe...
