Every now and then I post a list of links to articles, blog posts and interesting things I’ve been reading this week. So, stand by, here’s this weeks list:
Bible Reading
This week .. the book of Romans four times. Once in the ESV and three times in the NLT. Favourite part Romans 16:25-27 – “25 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from[f] faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
Articles
I Hate “Hate Speech”
Pastor, author, and blogger, David Robertson regularly engages with difficult topics and I appreciate the way he writes, as well as his insight. Here is a great post on hate speech
Where do our thoughts come from?
In her book “Am I Just My Brain”, neuroscientist Sharon Dirckx lays out the current understanding of who we are from biologists, philosophers, theologians and psychologists, and points towards a bigger picture, that suggests answers to the fundamental questions of our existence. Not just “What am I?”, but “Who am I?”—and “Why am I?. The blog post introducing the book is here
Stop praying “be with” prayers
Alister Begg is a firm favourite of mine and as I was reading the above post I also discovered this gem of a post
Calvary Global statement on women in ministry
There is not much to say about this one but I’m grateful that the CGN leadership have clearly articulated what they believe. Here’s the link
Podcasts
Talking to Teens
Jane Nelsen, author of the Positive Discipline books reveals some positive strategies of rebellious and defiant teenagers. Even though Nelsen comes from a humanistic psychology perspective there were some great nuggets like “connect before correct” and the idea that teens need belonging and significance – which I am trying to relate to the hundreds of teens I interact with every day.
Expositors Collective
In this weeks episode my friend Mike Neglia presents a podcast on “Clear Communication Only comes through critical thinking” which is definitely one of the episodes I need to listen to again, with a pen in hand
Books I’m Reading
Christians in an Age of Outrage
Honestly … every Christian should read this book. If you can’t .. here’s the 1hr 45min video version ... here’s the book
The Gospel-Driven Church: Uniting Church Growth Dreams with the Metrics of Grace
I’ve just started reading this .. I’ll let you know how it goes! For those interested, here’s the book
Videos
Why I’m Not A Calvinist
Oooh, controversial (but true) and .. I’m just saying …. I watched it. That’s all 🙂 Here’s the video
Learn How To Do Apologetics in the Twenty-First Century with Ravi Zacharias
In this message Dr. Ravi Zacharias shares strategies for answering faith questions in the twenty-first century. Worth your time. Here’s the video
Favourite Tweets
It might be supernatural, it doesn’t mean it’s God. Don’t validate everything that’s miraculous as the Kingdom. @mrbeechy
If Paul showed up in one of our “churches,” I think we would get a letter. @lensweet
We made an astonishing find in the Galilee this week, 3000 year old standing stone @chris_sinkinson
Moralism divides the world into bad people and good people. The gospel divides the world into bad people and Jesus. @MattSmethurst
Pastors are never instructed by God to preach “what is on their heart.” We are solemnly charged to “preach the Word” (2 Tim. 4:2). Text-driven preaching produces thoroughly equipped men and women. The tools I can equip my congregation with come directly from the Biblical text. @jakegwright
The greatest stumbling block for a child in worship is a parent who doesn’t @johnpiper
What a fantastic start to the Calvary Chapel UK Pastors and Leaders conference! Worship, prayer and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit! @Darnold317
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