You Already Work a Christian Job
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“A job is worthy of our efforts if it harmonizes with God’s original mandate that humans steward the earth in submission to him (Gen. 1:28). Legitimate work must serve God by serving people.” - TGC
The Only Comfort in Life and Death
This is the beginning of a series of brief devotional articles on The Orthodox Catechism (“OC”), a Particular Baptist document written by Baptist pastor Hercules Collins in 1680. It’s basically the Heidelberg Catechism (first ed. 1563) with Baptist flavor and a few other additions. It is a rightly famous tool for doctrinal and devotional instruction in Baptist churches. In the congregation where I serve as pastor, we discuss one question from the OC each week during the worship service.
Discussion
“Every home is dysfunctional because everyone is sinful.”
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“When we consider the state of the family at the beginning of the twenty-first century, our tendency is to reflect nostalgically on imagined idyllic days of generations past when families weren’t perfect but pretty close to it, or so we like to think.” - Ligonier
Discussion
We Might Be Stuck in the Christian Bubble
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“…the longer we’re in church and the higher we go up the Christian ladder, the more likely it is that we’re stuck in the Christian bubble…. we need to recognize some of the signs that we’ve insulated ourselves from a world we’re called to reach.” - Chuck Lawless
Discussion
Always for All Things
By C.H. Spurgeon
Sermon No. 1094, delivered on Lord’s-Day morning, February 2, 1873, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20.
Discussion
For Richer, for Poorer: How to Steward Money in Marriage
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“Using the word makarios, which means ‘happy-making,’ Jesus said, ‘There is more happiness in giving than in receiving’ (Acts 20:35 GNT). Nanci and I found that happiness, not duty, permeates a God-honoring theology of money.” - Randy Alcorn
Discussion
‘Polyworking’—A New Term for a Very Bad (and Old) Thing
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“When I was still teaching at a state university in Georgia, one of the most alarming developments I noticed was the rise in the number of overwhelmed and exhausted students who were trying to balance multiple low-paying, part-time jobs just to make ends meet.” - IFWE
Discussion
The Simplicity of Biblical Parenting
From the archives…
Christian parenting experts often seem unable to see the forest for the trees. Whether it’s “grace based,” “gospel centered,” “heart focused,” or some other phrase du jour, many seem to begin with a lofty concept about what the Bible ought to teach about parenting then go to Scripture and—surprise!—find it there.
As a result, we have constantly clashing emphases—to the everlasting frustration of parents, who just want to know what God expects of them and how to perform those tasks more effectively.
Discussion
American Council of Christian Churches: Resolution on Video Games
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“The video game industry especially fosters this by creating addictive virtual worlds, oftentimes filled with occultism, profanity, sensuality, triviality, and lurid violence. Gamers are rewarded for their distractibility, recklessness, greediness, and perversity, and they are encouraged to think of themselves as heroes for conquering fake substitute realities in a short period of time.” - ACCC
Discussion
Say No to Retirement & Yes to Redirection
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“It is God’s call on our lives—our whole lives—that makes me see the idea of retirement as a myth. Now more than ever, I believe we are in a time where we are being stirred to action to use the gifts God has placed in us, no matter what stage of life we are in.” - IFWE
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