Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 47

Three great recent episodes of The Hero of the Story

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A few weeks ago, we launched our podcast, The Hero of the Story, which helps you teach, study, and live in light of the story of redemption from all Scripture. And over the past few weeks, we’ve had some really great discussions that are worth your time:

Why it’s important to teach kids the tough truths of Scripture as we asked why the story of the Flood has become a staple of children’s storybooks and curriculum. How we see the good news in hard to love books like Leviticus. Why Christ’s p...

Links I like (5/15)

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Podcast: On the latest episode of The Hero of the Story, Andy McLean joins me to chat about why we need to teach “the beginning” to our students. Check it out on Apple Podcasts or using your favorite podcast app.

I Want To Buy Your Cheapest Phone!

Tim Challies:

For some time I had been battling a growing conviction that my phone had taken an outsized place in my life. This manifested itself in a number of ways, but none more concerning than how it had come to fill up nearly every single one...

S3, Ep. 14: The secret of compelling fiction

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What happens when you put Barnabas Piper, Dave, and me in a podcast studio? You get something incredibly special. Or bizarre.

Or both.

Either way, you’re going to have a blast listening to this episode of Reading Writers where we:

Revisit the Audiobooks debate (and remind Brian he’s wrong) Talk about what we’d write if we wrote fiction Authors as book-mills The secret of compelling fiction When a series goes on way too long

We’re also playing by Happy Rant rules. What does that mean? You’l...

Weekend reading (5/12)

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The Gospel at the Center: Watch the first session now

The new webcast from The Gospel_Project is coming up on May 21. Find out who’s speaking and watch the first session now. And don’t forget to sign-up at live.gospelproject.com to see the whole thing next week.

How to read a 240 page book in 2 hours

Jesse Wisnewski:

Reading is the best thing I’ve done to help me progress professionally.

From working as a retail store manager and in a call center, to working as a senior marketing manager for...

“In the Beginning” (video)

I love exploring the relationship between teaching, the gospel, and creativity. How do you tell the gospel story—the story that runs through all Scripture—with the right visuals and words to that emphasizes its beauty?

One of the great joys of my professional life has been working on The Gospel Project. And recently, we had the opportunity to explore this relationship in a series of videos that are part of a brand new Bible study, Gospel Foundations. Take a look at the first video, “In the Be...

Links I like (5/10)

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Definitely Keep Insulting Your Kids With Sarcasm. Great Idea.

Jen Wilkin:

Ironic humor involves saying the opposite of what you mean, either in word or in tone. In its positive form, wit, it can be used to diffuse tension, put others at ease, or even pay a compliment. (Think of congratulating someone by remarking with a smile, “It is her burden in life to excel at everything she tries.”)

3 Reasons to Step Away from the Pulpit This Summer

Mark Dance:

Pastor, I want to try to convince you to s...

One way to think about sin

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One of the most difficult things to understand is the way the world responds to sin. Not simply how we as people respond, but how creation responds to its presence. Think about it this way: Sin is a foreign element, a virus. It doesn’t belong in the world that God created. When we’re sick, our bodies immediately respond to the presence of the intruder, attacking the virus with everything our immune systems can throw at it.

The world responds in a similar way. The world is groaning, longing f...

Links I like (5/08)

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Podcast: How do we teach the tale of Noah and the Flood to kids without missing the point of the story? Brian and I discuss on the latest episode of The Hero of the Story. Check it out on Apple Podcasts (and leave a rating and review if you’re digging it).

2 Views on Hiring Friends

Eric Geiger:

Thoughts about hiring friends are typically passionate thoughts because leaders have benefited greatly from doing so or been hurt deeply by doing so. This is a subject where there is little middle gr...

S3, Ep. 13: How Fiction Makes Us Better Writers (part 1)

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How does reading fiction make us better writers? That’s one of the big questions we attempted to get to in today’s episode of Reading Writers—but we didn’t quite get all the way there because we were having too much fun chatting with our friend and coworker, the oft-referenced Whit Stiles!

Whit works as a copywriter at LifeWay Christian Resources who is an excellent guitar player, my favorite coffee snob, and an all-around great guy. He’s also one of the guys Dave and I turn to for reading r...

Weekend reading (5/05)

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In Defense of More ‘Gospely’ Writing

Jared Wilson:

So when people criticize all the gospel-centered this and grace-focused that coming out of the few Christian publishing houses committed to producing them, I get a little concerned. First, because gospel fatigue is a real thing, and it is spiritually dangerous. Second, because while I share a concern about The Gospel becoming just a fad, I think there are a lot worse fads (to be honest), and also, until the CBA charts are dominated by “gospe...