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Blogroll

The Blogroll is a collection of blogs that are often of interest and help to SI readers. SharperIron does not create the content of these blogs and the views expressed in them are those of their respective writers.

Stuff Out Loud (about) Larry - 5/23/13 8:36 AM

RJS is a contributor to Scot McKnight’s blog, Jesus Creed, who usually writes on matters of science. Today she references a recent survey about pastors and their view of origins, and answers a question about the necessity of the Bible’s view of the fall and redemption. You can read it here, though I will pick out just one section.

There is no more certain fact than the “fallenness” of humankind. We don’t need a single mother, a single father, or a snake to convince us of this. It runs through human experience worldwide. Given a fallen creation (however it got there), we need redemption and a redeemer.

Emeth Aletheia (about) Joe Fleener - 5/23/13 7:31 AM

Recharging emotional batteries | The Proclamation Trust Sleep is a remarkable restorative for every part of life. I have found CJ Mahaney’s sermon on this particularly useful. Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. Filed under: … Continue reading →

Naselli's Theology Blog (about) Andy Naselli - 5/23/13 4:21 AM

Emeth Aletheia (about) Joe Fleener - 5/22/13 7:34 PM

How Pastors Can Encourage Artistic Gifts – The Gospel Coalition How Pastors Can Encourage Artistic Gifts   His Mission: Jesus in the Gospel of Luke Is The World Really Flat? – The Gospel Coalition s The World Really Flat?   … Continue reading →

Religious Affections (about) Administrator - 5/22/13 3:31 PM

The significance & duty of family worship ow.ly/lidZ7
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Stuff Out Loud (about) Larry - 5/22/13 2:47 PM

“Why does God do stuff like that?”

Except “stuff” wasn’t the s-word he used when he asked me that question last night about the tornado that tore through Oklahoma this week.

There wasn’t much time for a treatise on the sovereignty of God in a broken world, and he wasn’t looking for information. He, like many, was looking to vent. And so the conversation moved quickly on.

Perhaps you are asking the same question.

The truth is there is no easy answer. There is nothing that will make sense to us. It would be somewhat easier to stomach if a tornado had ripped through a maximum security prison where people are doing hard time for their crimes.

Religious Affections (about) Administrator - 5/22/13 2:40 PM

Helpful presentation on Technology, Theology, Culture, and Ministry ow.ly/li6xr
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Religious Affections (about) Administrator - 5/22/13 2:05 PM

When authenticity trumps godliness ow.ly/li45q
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Religious Affections (about) Administrator - 5/22/13 11:32 AM

Progressives & Conservatives: Is there Common Ground? ow.ly/li2xM
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Religious Affections (about) Scott Aniol - 5/22/13 6:00 AM

Regular readers of this blog know that I am a fervent defender of the Regulative Principle of Worship. However, today I’d like to set that debate aside and address something that both sides of the issue should be able to agree on.

(For non-regular readers, allow me to summarize the principle briefly: the regulative principle states that only those elements that are prescribed by God in the New Testament for worship may be used in worship. The alternative view, often called the normative principle, states that we may include any element in worship as long as it is not forbidden in Scripture.)

Today I would like to focus attention on a few elements of corporate worship that must be part of worship regardless if one holds to the regulative or normative principle.

Glory & Grace (about) DMD - 5/22/13 5:51 AM

The leadership of an institution is a stewardship entrusted by both God and men. I followed a man who shepherded this congregation for forty years. The same man was the founding president of DBTS. I serve a congregation with a clear set of doctrines and by-laws which govern it, and they called me to serve because I affirmed my agreement with those. Yes, I think God directed my life to this place of service, but He did so by the means of human agency–a pastor, a pulpit committee, and a congregation.

ChurchWorks (about) 5/22/13 5:05 AM

Dear Young Seminarian,

Have you thought about your future? Of course you have, you think. You are in seminary, or headed to seminary, or just finished seminary. You are hoping for a pastoral position, or looking for one, or maybe even in one?

But what do you want to be?

Do you want to be a pastor? Or do you want to pastor?

At first, glance that may seem like a strange question. But it actually flows from an old, perhaps cheesy, thing that was making its way around college back in the day. It was a little statement about relationships and dating, and people who were “in love” with being “in love” rather than being “in love” with a person.

Stuff Out Loud (about) Larry - 5/21/13 8:11 PM

Recently my mind was drawn to a chapter in a book I read a number of years ago. Overall, the book was unremarkable, but the last chapter was worth reading and rereading.

A couple of quotes from the chapter are worth hearing.

“A honest evaluation of the dramatic number of callings that the church has created would reveal that we have found extraordinary ways of describing the overwhelming amount of Christless living in the church.”

And

“In the process of creating a theology that accommodates apathy, disinterest, compromise, and even rebellion, we have lost the essence of the movement for which Jesus died. We made a mistake of making heroes out of those who were simply living a normal Christian life.”

Emeth Aletheia (about) Joe Fleener - 5/21/13 7:34 PM

The Mass Exodus of Christians from the Muslim World A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway.  Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other.  Christianity Declining 50pc Faster Than Thought – … Continue reading →

ChurchWorks (about) 5/21/13 11:05 AM

All the rage. Do you remember what you “just had to have” over the past few decades? Maybe I can jar your memory with the help of a few examples I found at www.crazyfads.com:

1970’s

  • Big Wheels
  • Hot Wheels
  • Mood Rings
  • Sea Monkeys
  • Pet Rocks

1980’s

  • Care Bears
  • Rubik’s Cube
  • Cabbage Patch Dolls
  • Smurfs
  • Swatch Watches

1990’s

  • WWJD
  • Tickle Me Elmo
  • Pokemon
  • Gigapets
  • Polly Pocket

2000’s