Read the series.

We’ve looked at the need for you be an active part of your local assembly. We’ve toyed with some ideas, based on your gifts and abilities. Now we could use some help in thinking of things we haven’t thought of yet, and in evaluating the thoroughness of what we’re doing.

“Philosophers such as Plato, Kant, and Heidegger may champion thought as the means of salvation and freedom. Still, human reason itself is chained in the prison of depravity and can only lead to ultimate death.” - Christ Over All

“What changed in eight years is less that there was a shift in the denomination and more that those who have an orthodox understanding of marriage and sexuality finally said, ‘We have to step up’” - TGC

“While the similarities are apparent in a side-by-side comparison, there are also numerous differences and other factors that caution against overplaying the potential link.” - DBTS Blog

“Brad Amos, a former video editor at Ramsey Solutions, claimed he was fired for failing to follow Ramsey’s faith-based beliefs on how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.” - RNS

“If… businesses are more likely to advertise with creators that get engagement — views, clicks, follows, shares, comments, likes… content creators have incentive to get you to engage as much as possible. Enter rage-baiting.” - Daily Citizen

For some unidentifiable reason I enjoy tormenting students with an important albeit slippery theological and philosophical question. What is good? As you might imagine, the answers I get are quite diverse. One student recently responded by citing an online dictionary that offers forty-seven definitions of the word. Forty-seven! Most, if not all, of the forty-seven were not legitimate, as they typically erred by defining the word by the word itself. As you might expect, the question itself is simple, but an appropriate answer has been far more elusive for the unaided human mind.¹

“everyone who does any kind of work will be heavy laden. No one is exempt from the curse God pronounced on work after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:16-19). This is true for believers and unbelievers.” - IFWE

“I’ve been told that ‘Leemers’ is a term used by naval aviators to describe a gut feeling that something is wrong, even if there’s no definitive proof…. it’s a brilliant concept and something we need to consider in our work.” - Phil Cooke

“They lived in a world with challenges and concerns that don’t feel as pressing to us. So they seem less equipped to help us with ministry. Yet Ford and Wilhite show how these pastors offer wisdom for contemporary pastoral practice.” - TGC

“You can use [Brandon Peterson’s] methods to come to a different conclusion. And this is precisely what I will do in this video.” - Mark Ward

“Clint Pressley does not have a national following or a big social media presence. As SBC president, his goal is to tone down the acrimony.” - RNS

Ambition in life is generally a good thing. Ambition in ministry is indispensable.

We have all heard the tired trope about pastors working only one day a week. It is sad when people repeat such drivel. It is tragic that some ministers have actually provided fodder for this criticism.

Yes, the ministry can, sadly, become a place for the indolent to hide. I’ve never understood why anyone with this mentality would seek the ministry to begin with, but some undoubtedly have.

But, on the other hand, the ministry can also be a place for the motivated to excel—and it has drawn many through the centuries for that very reason. And I believe that the Apostle Paul, above all others, exhibited this kind of spirit.

“Unlike most of his contemporaries, Spurgeon viewed soul-winning holistically, not merely as conversion, but about making converts into disciples in the local church.” - 9 Marks

“liberalism in the tradition of Locke, Kant, and the Founders…. Its central philosophy is that all persons are born free and equal. Its operational principles include the rule of law, pluralism, toleration, minority rights, distributed authority, limited government, and (subject to the other requirements) democratic decision-making.” - Persuasion

“The declining belief in the importance of vaccines is essentially confined to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, as the views of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have changed little over the past 24 years.” - Gallup

“In the period between graduating high school and becoming a senior pastor, a third of pastors (34%) say they spent five years or less working in a non-ministry job, including 13% who have less than a year of secular work experience.” - The Baptist Paper

“Gordon College could be on the hook to repay $7 million of COVID-19 relief funds. A federal court rejected eight of the evangelical school’s arguments that it should be eligible for loan forgiveness.” - CToday

“In today’s digital world—and especially in an election year—it’s heartbreaking to see God’s people become a bickering, angry mob.” - Randy Alcorn

“The easiest way to not be afraid of anything is to be ignorant….The second easiest way to not be afraid of anything is to not love anything….These are sub-Christian options.” - TGC

“We have learned that we don’t have to be a big church to do something great for the Lord….We constantly remind ourselves that church planting is not about the mother church’s seating capacity but its sending capacity.” - GARBC

“Is there a rising number of non-religious Republicans that are going to take the party in a less socially conservative direction? Let’s see what the data has to say about that.” - Ryan Burge

“The former (speaker 1) wants a Protestant confessional state, and the other (speaker 2) is sympathetic to a Catholic integralist state…. We hope this conversation will be the first of many on the topic of liberalism versus post-liberalism.” - Juicy Ecumenism

“The assumptions embedded throughout redemptive history make clear that some sins are worse than others. Consider several examples.” - Kevin DeYoung

“properly chastened and informed requests for God to “be with” us can be quite appropriate…but not all such requests fall so pleasantly on God’s ears.” - Mark Snoeberger

“Long described as atheist or agnostic, Musk has toyed with odd beliefs like the so-called ‘simulation hypothesis’…. However, in a recent interview with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, Musk admitted admiration for Christianity” - Breakpoint

“while support for solar and wind power has declined by double digits since 2020… the share who favor nuclear power has grown by 13 percentage points over that span.” - Pew

“Wherever one comes down on this issue, it is clear that evangelical colleges have every legal right to hire faculty that meet their standards on sexuality.” - Current

Read the series.

I’ve suggested that you ought to be part of a local church assembly, and that you ought to be active, not passive, in your membership there. So what does that look like?