“God has always been a revealer of Himself both in His words and in His works. He spoke to Adam in the garden of Eden to reveal Himself and displayed aspects of His character in the works of creation that surrounded Adam.” - Ligonier

“Faith and reason have been divorced, and we Christians sometimes swallow that pill without realizing it. But it doesn’t have to be that way.” - Credo

“intellectual solutions weren’t what Lewis needed in those moments. His arguments hadn’t lost their rationality; they’d lost their emotional weight. In the face of his wife’s death, they now felt hollow.” - TGC

“for readers whose story might echo his own, who too have found themselves disillusioned with the church since 2016, Moore has a powerful appeal: Jesus is exactly the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow.” - Current

“ACU is best known as the driving force behind CPAC, an annual gathering of conservative activists where Republican politicians and presidential hopefuls have spoken over the last 50 years.” - CPost

“The caveat for any solutions to fill leadership voids is that it does not happen overnight. But we are working with a number of church leaders who are beginning to see success in finding the right kinds of leaders.” - Church Answers

This article (part 4 in the series) posted at Sharper Iron in 2019. It is reposted here with original comments included. Read the series.

“This essay is the third in a series looking at moral forms of resistance through the lens of just war statecraft. Some of these ideas are adapted from my forthcoming book” - Eric Patterson @Providence

“Due to the generosity of a friend of the seminary, we now have ten copies of Dr. McFadden’s book that we’re going to give away to the first ten people who send their names and addresses to info@dbts.edu.” - DBTS Blog

“…we’re not called to repay evil for evil, racism for racism, Kinism for critical race theory. ” - CPost

“It’s a narrow view of both God and humans to imagine that God can be pleased and glorified with a trumpet but not a desk, computer, or baseball bat. Will there be new inventions? Refinements of old inventions? Why not?” - Randy Alcorn

“EC Vice President for Communications Jonathan Howe, per EC bylaws, was announced by EC Chairman Philip Robertson as the new interim president and CEO.” - BPNews

Related: New SBC head attends a dually aligned church and his wife is a ‘minister’ - BNG

Read the rest of the series on the Book of Galatians. This article covers Galatians 6:12-18.

Paul has little new to stay—he’s shot his bolt, so to speak.¹ All that remains is to press a few reminders and offer his informed assessment of the Judaizer’s motives.

See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! (Galatians 6:11).

Groothius “means to do his best to explain what these religions actually believe and why, and then to interpret them on the basis of his own Christian convictions.” - Challies

The city denied a license to Country Mill Farms because CMF declines to host gay weddings on its property. CMF sued. - CPost

“Do we share some responsibility for the sins committed by those who were part of the same immediate family? What about the same religious family? Or what if the perpetrators in the past shared our same skin color? In short, how should we think of corporate responsibility?” - Kevin DeYoung

“Around half of U.S. adults (53%) say they’ve ever been visited by a dead family member in a dream or some other form. And substantial shares say they’ve had interactions with dead relatives in the past 12 months” - Pew

“What is humility? Simply put, it is the downward disposition of a Godward self-perception. Let’s unpack this definition so that we can see why Augustine would prize humility so highly and why we should as well.” - Ligonier

“As of 2022, only 16 percent of Protestant senior pastors are 40 years old or younger, and the average age among pastors is 52. As a generation of clergy ages and prepares to step down, it is not clear that churches are prepared for the transition.” - Barna

I’ve had the privilege of speaking in many different churches—not only in these nearly five years of serving as a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, but also for a number of years in which I did a great deal of pulpit supply. This includes ministering for more than 13 years with a home missions board, IMI/SOS International.

“…360-degree review, an evaluation strategy that involves seeking and receiving constructive feedback on a leader’s performance from people who surround him at every level of a ministry organization” - TGC

“He warns that Christian nationalism …’the unbiblical view that we must preserve white ethnicity to build a Christian nation’ — has taken root in the Reformed wing of the evangelical church.” - RNS

“Counterintuitively, part of the trend of decline may be churches that ask too little of those who darken their doors.” - Breakpoint

“The court’s reasoning demonstrates substantial deference to the state’s legislature. Specifically, the court cited a clear expression of compelling interest and a refined statutory scheme as reasons to uphold the law.” - Jurist

Read the series.

My Father’s house

Jesus’ childhood narrative in Luke 3:41-51 records the only words spoken by Jesus while a youth. His family joined the caravan for an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. When they could not find Jesus in the caravan, they searched, finally returning to the temple courts in Jerusalem, where Yeshua was in dialog with the learned rabbis.

It is likely that the young Yeshua (age 12) was preparing for his bar mitzvah when He turned 13. Traditions associated with bar mitzvah are relatively recent, but the concept goes back to the first century.

“In this video, Credo Fellow Gavin Ortlund expresses the Protestant concern about the bodily assumption of Mary and responds to 6 common defenses of this dogma” - Credo

“First, realize people need to talk to process…. Second, gossip is defined more by intent than content…. Third, it’s the leader’s responsibility to provide clarity.” - Church Answers

It seems more and more pastors in our area have no professional training. Some are high school grads who can speak well and know their Bibles. Mega-churches often train their own staffs perhaps in conjunction with online classes.

Is this trend increasing, especially with the pastor shortage (if you believe it exists, as I do) in conservative churches? Please comment to add depth to the poll, if you wish.

“…single assembly reduces your options. When your building is at capacity, you simply have to send members elsewhere or start a building project. Maybe you strategically send members to a struggling, like-minded church down the road.” - 9 Marks

“There will be power at stake, but also tremendous profit as the purveyors of opinion seek to build audiences and sell advertisements. But we are not helpless. We can be more fair to each other and thus create the conditions for a more fruitful discourse.” - Public Discourse