Link to a previous post on my blog.
Bible Study: What happens when we sin?
Links to things I’ve read recently.
You should not assume that I agree with everything said in these articles, but I did find them thought provoking.
Because of Jesus, Our Best Years Are Always Ahead of Us
Growing Old Together. I don’t think many of us expect that growing old part to arrive so quickly. It’s takes awhile to grow old–it’s a process, and that process starts a little earlier than we imagine when we’re starry-eyed 20-somethings. There comes a point when it gets harder to keep the extra pounds off. A few silver hairs start shining under the lights of the bathroom vanity. We look in the mirror and are confused by what we see. We only pictured the young us and the very old us and forgot to imagine what the middle-aged us would be like.
When Darkness Descends. There are seasons in every missionary’s time overseas where the darkness is close at hand. Early on, before we knew the language of the Yembiyembi, it felt like we were going to funerals every week. Our financial support was low and there were regular bouts of malaria and other new diseases that we were trying to stay on top of. I remember wrestling with my motivations for being there. Malaria does funny things to the mind, and what was once a clear calling would drive me to despair in this jungle swamp so far from home.
A Culture of Chronic Doubt: and how the virtue of Faith can help us endure
The Pastoral Virtue of Avoidance. At least seven times in the pastoral epistles, Paul directly charges Timothy and Titus to “avoid” and to “have nothing to do with” ideas and people who pose a threat to their flock. This is jarring since one of the main purposes for these letters is to encourage Timothy and Titus to engage false teaching and teachers. Yet here is where the paradox emerges: Paul teaches a pastoral virtue of avoidance—showing that sometimes the wisest form of engagement is careful restraint.
Seven Principles for Preaching Ecclesiastes (Part 1). The book of Ecclesiastes has left its mark on history. Shakespeare referenced Ecclesiastes in the opening line of Sonnet 59. Abraham Lincoln quoted Ecclesiastes 1:4 in his address to the reconvening Congress on December 1, 1862. In Tolstoy‘s Confession, he talks about how it affected his life. The title of Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, was taken from Ecclesiastes 1:5. Herman Melville said it’s the “truest of all books.” The testimony could continue. Few books of the biblical canon have left such a widespread mark on notable figures in history.
Seven Principles for Preaching Ecclesiastes (Part 2)
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