Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 397

I'm Giving You a Library for Christmas!

One of the things I'm most grateful for about this blog is the opportunity to share great books with you—and this Christmas, I have the privilege of giving some of you a ridiculous pile of great books! In partnership with the fine folks at Crossway, Bethany House, Baker Books, Tyndale, Thomas Nelson and Super Big Robot, I'm giving away the following:

Gospel Wakefulness by Jared C. Wilson (reviewed here) Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian What is the Mission of the Church by...

Holiness Calls for Continual Commitment

Holiness and work are closely related because of the need to persevere in personal discipline, and discipline takes time and effort. As Paul advises Timothy, "Exercise thyself rather unto godliness" (1 Tim. 4:7). Holiness is not achieved sloppily or instantaneously; it calls for continual commitment, diligence, practice, and repentance. . . . How critical it is that we live each day in total commitment to God, forming habits of holiness, rooting out every inconsistency, and refusing to fall...

3 Reasons to Get Lovers on the Edges of the Twilight by Michael Krahn

Recently, my good friend Michael Krahn released a new 5-song EP, Lovers on the Edges of the Twilight. I've been listening to it pretty steadily for the last little while and it's great stuff. My first thought: "This is very Blue Rodeo." (Canadians know that this is a very good thing, depending on your taste.) Here are a few reasons why I hope you'll buy this record:

1. It has nothing to do with Twilight. Tim Challies may have beat me to that smart-alecky comment, but it's still true. It also h...

A Readers Guide to the Inspiration of Scripture

There's been quite a few posts here lately about the nature and authority of the Bible—and for good reason. As Christians, we are to be people of the book. Men, women and children who observe and obey God's Word, who love it and long to know the God who reveals Himself through it.

There's an important question that comes up when we start trying to understand the nature of Scripture, and that is: What do we mean when we say that the Bible is inspired? Do we mean the same thing as when we say...

Branch Out! Three Reasons to Diversify Your Reading in 2012

I've been spending some time considering my reading habits over the course of 2011. A challenge I gave myself in 2011 was to read 100 books in the year (I completed the goal in mid-November). A lot were books on theology and Christian living for reviews—but as much as possible, I tried to include some material to break it up with a few biographies, a bit of history, some marketing books and the odd bit of sociology. Because I live increasingly in a Christian bubble—I work with Christians, I m...

Around the Interweb

Tim Tebow Uses Words At All Times Because They're Necessary

Great post from Jared Wilson on the recent advice that Tim Tebow's been getting of late to stop talking about Jesus so much:

There are a few problems with this
It assumes Tim isn't already "being a good
It assumes one can simply imply the gospel with actions and it be
It assumes that the gospel isn't offensive, really, but is made so through verbalizing it too

All of those assumptions are incorrect...

The Backlist: The Top Ten Posts on Blogging Theologically

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

Everyday Theology: God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle (July 2009)Everyday Theology: God helps those who help themselves (July 2009)The Dos and Don'ts of Book Reviews (or at least how I do them) (January 2011)John Piper on Mark Driscoll & John MacArthur (May 2009)Book Review: Love Wins by Rob Bell (March 2011)(Cheap) Christian e-Books for Your Kindle! (November 2011)Book Review: For the City by...

Immanuel: God With Us

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel"—Matthew 1:23

Immanuel is God with us. We here ascend infinitely above the human. It is not merely an angel that is with us- a man that is with us; it is Deity who is with us, none less than Jehovah Himself, Israel's covenant God and Keeper. We cannot do with anything short of Deity. If Deity does not come to our aid, if Deity does not stoop to our low estate, if Deity does not save us, we are lost to all...

All It Took Was A Question

With the creation of the first man and woman, God saw "everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." The divine work of creation was now complete. Genesis chapter two leaves us with a picture of the "very good"-ness of creation as the man and the woman enjoy a perfect relationship with one another, with the rest of creation, and most importantly with their Creator. It was a world in which poverty could not exist. A world free from any material, relational, or spiritual need...

Inerrancy and Infallibility: What's the Difference?

Over the last few weeks, Dave Jenkins and I have been looking at the big question of inerrancy. What does it mean? Where did the idea come from? What does it mean if we lose it? Today, I want to quickly look at a nagging issue that comes up again and again in conversations and debates surrounding the inerrancy of Scripture and that is the issue of infallibility.

Understanding Inerrancy: A Quick Recap

As was stated in the first post in this series, inerrancy means that the Bible is entirely...