Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 385

The Purpose of Testing

Our faith is tested by the fire for a purpose—that it may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory (1 Pet. 1: 8). Faith is refined so that at the last day, at the final consummation of the kingdom of Christ, it will be the occasion for praise, honor, and glory. God values your faith more than He values your gold or your present...

Book Review: Lit! by Tony Reinke

You know you're a bibliophile—or possibly a giant nerd—when you're really excited about reading a book on… reading. I mean, who intentionally reads about reading? If all the stats about how much time people are spending in front of screens are accurate, the strangeness of reading about reading isn't really that much of an issue—the real issue is getting people to read at all. To think about what to read, when to read, how to read and most importantly why reading matters. For the Christian...

#Kindle Deals for the Christian Reader (March)

Check out these great books for the Kindle (shared from my Twitter account):

Practicing Affirmation by Sam Crabtree—$4.61 for the #Kindle: amazon.com/gp/product/B00… #fb

— Aaron Armstrong (@AaronStrongarm) March 3, 2012

Holy Subversion by @TrevinWax—$2.99 on the #Kindle amazon.com/gp/product/B00… #fb

— Aaron Armstrong (@AaronStrongarm) March 2, 2012

Our Triune God by Philip Ryken & Michael LeFebvre—$1.79 on the #Kindle amazon.com/gp/product/B00… #fb

— Aaron Armstrong (@AaronStrongarm) March 3...

A Baby Dramarama Update

As many readers are aware, we're currently expecting our third child. A few weeks ago, Emily went into the hospital due to the threat of pre-term labor (I shared about this here). Well, now we're officially passed the major milestones and into week 38 of the pregnancy and excited about the possibility of meeting this wee child. And Sunday (yesterday) seemed like it could be the day! While I was preaching at Community Bible Church, Emily started having contractions. Regularly. This, we...

Around the Interweb

The State of the Church in Canada

John Mahaffey in conversation with Collin Hansen:

Churches serious about the gospel and mission have had to rethink how they do ministry. How do we communicate the gospel to a Hindu? How do we share the gospel with a Muslim? These are questions we have had to wrestle with. Our Jerusalems with which we were so familiar now look and feel like Samaria. Our neighbors used to be those who were physically close and culturally close. Now they are physically close and...

The Way of Attaining to Godliness

The way of attaining to godliness is so far from being known without learning out of the Holy Scriptures that, when it is here plainly revealed, we cannot learn it so easily as the duties of the law, which was known in part by the light of nature, and therefore the more easily assented to. It is the way by which the dead are brought to live to God; and therefore doubtless it is far above all the thoughts and conjectures of human wisdom. It is the way of salvation, in which God will 'destroy...

The Backlist: The Top Ten Posts on Blogging Theologically

 

Let's take a look back in time and see the most-read posts from February. Go check them out:

Everyday Theology: God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle (July 2009)The Dos and Don'ts of Book Reviews (or at least how I do them) (January 2011)Everyday Theology: God helps those who help themselves (July 2009)John Piper on Mark Driscoll & John MacArthur (May 2009)Why I Quit Following (Most) Celebrity Pastors on Twitter and Maybe You Should, Too (February 2012)Book Review: Real Marriage by...

Help Me Choose My New Facebook Cover

You may have heard that Facebook is introducing the Timeline format to Pages. Aside from some snazzy new features (the admin panel is terrific), this redesign allows for "cover" photos—a big banner image at the top, rather than just an itty-bitty profile picture. So, in preparation for making the change to the Facebook page, I'd like you to help me choose what to cover image to use:

Option 1:

Option 2:

Tell me your favorite in the comments—the winner will be used when I make the switch later...

What's On Your To-Read Pile?

Here's a look at a few things I'm reading right now:

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Reading, Life and Priorities

Recently, I finally had a chance to read Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke (a full review is forthcoming). But one thing that stood out to me right away was the importance he placed on prioritizing your reading. After offering two big categories—there's the Bible and everything else—Reinke gets breaks down his reading priorities with a little more clarity:

Reading ScriptureReading to know and delight in ChristReading to kindle spiritual reflectionReading to initiate...