Month: September 2012
Preachers and their critics
There’s a helpful blog post here by Brian Hedges on preaching and criticism that should be profitable to both hearers and preachers.
For Hearers
Be careful. It’s dangerous to sit under the ministry of God’s Word with a critical ear. If you don’t watch your heart, you will impoverish your soul. Look for defects in the sermon and you’ll always find them. But don’t develop a critic’s mindset. Instead, come to worship with eyes peeled and ears perked for the Word of the living God.
For Preachers
Take your critics seriously. Almost every criticism contains a germ of truth. Your job is to find it. Maybe you weren’t clear enough. Perhaps the sermon really was too long, or had too much content, or was over people’s heads. Spurgeon once reminded his students that the Lord commissioned Peter to feed his sheep, not giraffes. Whatever the critique, give it some thought. You will learn something.
iPiper daily – Solid Joys
Desiring God ministries have just launched their latest app for iPhone and iPad users. It’s a daily Bible devotional with reflections from John Piper’s ministry, entitled Solid Joys and you can get hold of it here or by searching for it in the App Store.
And apparently there’s an Android version coming soon.
Why you’re probably not a bigot
So Nick Clegg was almost brave enough to say what he thinks about those of us who hold opposing views to him and thus demonstrate just how tolerant he really is.
The fact is many people think Christians who oppose gay marriage are bigoted, and my guess is that with all the cries for equality and fairness hurled against us, not a few Christians may by now be beginning to doubt their stance and wonder if the Bible really is bigoted.
Isn’t the fair position for marriage to be open to all?
Not if the word marriage refers to a specific relationship. Just after I’d heard about Clegg’s dishonest two-step shuffle, I read this on Doug Wilson’s blog.
I cannot think of a single genuine right that I have that homosexuals do not have together with me, and for the same reasons.
At this point in the proceedings, someone clears his throat and says, “Umm, marriage? You have a right to marry, and they do not.” But “marry” is not an unspecific verb with no direct object. I have the right to marry a woman, and so do they. A man and a woman together is what marriage is. The fact that they don’t want to marry a woman is their look out. I have a right to own a gun and so does your spinster Quaker aunt. The fact that she doesn’t want to own a gun is perfectly acceptable. But what she is not free to do is redefine everything, and say that gun ownership is very important to her, but that for her, gun ownership means owning a quilting rack.
I’d highly recommend reading the whole blog post here.
Luke 1:5-25 – God graciously answers prayer
3 media myths about abortion
We’re looking at the 6th Commandment this coming Sunday evening. Here Trevin Wax outlines three media made myths concerning abortion. He’s speaking with reference to the US and all of the stats he mentions reflect that, but the myths themselves are as prevalent here in the UK.
MYTH #1:
Believing abortion should be outlawed in most or all cases is an extreme position.
MYTH #2:
A pro-life position is unpopular with women and risks losing their votes.
MYTH #3:
Abortion is one of many women’s health issues.
Counterfeit Gods
Shock headline: Dog bites man
An article in the The Telegraph expresses the incredulity and shock of both Johnathan Peralman, the Telegraph’s correspondent in Sydney and other Australian media at the recent decision of the Anglican Church in Sydney to include the words “Will you honour and submit to him, as the church submits to Christ?” in one of their recommended vows for wives to say to their husbands within marriage ceremonies.
Give thanks to God for Archbishop Peter Jensen and for the many evangelicals within the Anglican Church in Sydney. But what’s odd, yet sadly all too common about the article, is the snide, belittling, language and tone towards a teaching of the church that has been around since the Apostle Paul.
The move is described as the “controversial pledge,” there has been “furious public criticism,” against a section of the church that “is notorious for its staunch conservatism.” Then there’s the reference to 50 Shades of Grey, the recent trash lit fad, by which two millennia of Christian use of vocabulary is now apparently to be judged.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, – Ephesians 5:22-25
Paul wrote the book of Ephesians 2,000 years ago, much of western civilisation has been based upon a Judeo-Christian view of marriage for a great deal of that time, and yet when it’s affirmed by bible-believing Christians, it’s reported as though it’s a startling case of man bites dog rather than what it actually is.
Luke 1:1-4 – Is the Bible just made up stories?
Visual theology goldmine
Many people find it easier to learn and commit information to memory when it is presented in a visual form. I’ve previously linked to some excellent charts and images on various issues of theology and Scripture, mainly created by Tim Challis and The Good Book Company.
And then last week I came across visualunit.me a veritable cornucopia of charts, infographics, maps, images, and visual resources. A big thanks to Mark who runs the site for providing such useful resources and I know I’ll be returning to the site many times in the future.
WHATEVER IS COMMENDABLE 