“How the prayer became associated with Jefferson, a deist who famously edited Gospel accounts of miracles out of his own Bible with a blade, turns out to be a yarn unto itself.” - RNS

“11) Where is Satan? 56:50 12) Is Satan the ruler of this world? 1:02:50 13) What is Satan doing? 1:10:09 14) Is Satan the source of all evil? 1:13:15 15) Is Satan the ruler of demons?” - Gavin Ortlund

“This New Year marks the 1,700th anniversary of [the Nicene Creed], which was produced by bishops attending Christianity’s first recognized ‘ecumenical’ (that is, universal) council, as opposed to regional councils and synods.” - Religion Unplugged

“Meta announced Tuesday that it will end its fact-checking program on its platforms in exchange for X-style community notes as part of a slate of changes targeting ‘censorship’ and embracing ‘free expression.’” - Axios

Related:

“What most people don’t know is that liberal theology is a tradition; it is not just any type of theology that a person disagrees with because it seems too revisionist.” - Roger Olson

Read Part 1.

Why the “fear and trembling” in Philippians 2:12? In the three verses that come before, it says,

Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Php 2:9-11, LSB)

These verses speak of Christ’s exaltation with a fearful reverence that we need to see and connect with who we are in our need for humility.

“The growth of spiritual secularism, or secular spiritualism, does not disprove the secularization thesis, but it does reframe it.” - Breakpoint

“It was forty years ago that I began serving a small rural church in southern Indiana. I was so incredibly green then; I’m glad I didn’t always realize it. I loved those people in that church, and for some reason, they loved me, too.” - Thom Rainer

“A new ad urges supporters to buy a Bible commemorating Trump’s return to the White House. The new edition of the God Bless the USA Bible features Trump’s name on the cover and will be on sale until Jan. 19.” - RNS

“In 2024, faithful evangelical publishers released hundreds of theologically orthodox and robustly biblical books. Though we still have work to do in defending Scripture from critical erosion, there’s now more intellectual space for theologians to explore narrower doctrinal topics with precision.” - TGC

“Both of us hold that humans are composed of soul and body but we emphasize different aspects of that dualist human constitution: Farris, the immaterial; I, the material.” - Christ Over All

“Finding My Vocation is a rare achievement. It expresses rich biblical and theological principles (informed by some of the best minds from church history) with simplicity, clarity, and specificity.” - Ref21

“In one sense, talking about Jesus is easy. He’s our Savior and our redeemer. He’s the atoning sacrifice for sinners…. In another sense, talking about Jesus is dangerous, and sometimes people veer into heretical waters.” - Word by Word

“Spiritual disciplines are not about legalism or perfectionism. They are about creating rhythms in our lives that cultivate spiritual fitness. Just as physical exercise strengthens the body, spiritual habits strengthen the soul.” - IFWE

“January 6 is a major Christian holiday that most Americans know little about. The Feast of the Epiphany, from the Greek word meaning ‘manifestation,’ celebrates the visitation of the Magi to the infant Jesus and his family in Bethlehem.” - Breakpoint

“In the United States, abortion accounts for roughly one-third of all annual deaths. The figure among African Americans reportedly exceeds 60% of total deaths [per Breitbart].” - C.Post

Read Part 2.

As we move on to the “covenant of grace” one thing to look for is how passages explicitly assigned to the covenants one can locate in the Bible are reassigned to support this theological covenant, which can’t be located in the Bible. Perkins, along with CT’s the world over, makes assertions about the “covenant of grace” that the Bible claims are about the New covenant:

The covenant of grace offers Christ as the mediator for sinners…The covenant of grace also promises the Spirit to believers. (189)

“Each of these years taught me a painful but valuable lesson: life is unpredictable…. this year, instead of setting specific goals, I’m focusing on something more foundational: habits and consistency.” - P&D

“…a new report from Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts. According to the report, evangelicals’ financial generosity is down in every metric measured in a similar survey conducted three years ago.” - C.Leaders

“Truscott followed up on [his study] findings by examining similar data from the Public Religion Research Institute and reported the results in a paper in the Journal of Sociology and Christianity in October. Truscott argues that the decline in religion can be tied to a loss of self-control and correlates that with more suicides and assaults.” - RNS

“Murthy’s advisory comes as research and evidence mounts about the bad effects that alcohol has on human health, but his proposal for a label would require a rare approval from the U.S. Congress.” - AP

“Phil Johnson … shared on social media that Pastor John MacArthur is currently receiving treatment for complications stemming from a heart valve replacement he received last year.” - C.Leaders

By Jonathan Peters

The Napa Institute (NI) exists to “empower … Catholic leaders to renew the Church and transform the culture.” As their website states: “We believe that now is the time to advance the re-evangelization of the United States. Yet many yearn for the foundation they need to advance Christ’s mission. At the same time, leaders and benefactors yearn to support Catholic causes. The Napa Institute acts as a conduit so all can courageously and eloquently defend our faith in the public square.” NI seeks to accomplish this goal by providing conferences, pilgrimages, and events worldwide.

“On average, Congress will continue to be much more religious than the nation as a whole, with around 95 percent of lawmakers across both the Senate and House identifying with a religious faith.” - Roll Call

Related:

“Trump’s political instincts—as exhibited in his first presidency and on the campaign trail for his second—are reflexively Jacksonian, deeply rooted in an ‘America First’ branded nationalism.” - Law & Liberty

“Oxford University Press’s 2024 word of the year is … ‘brain rot.’ The term is not new. Henry David Thoreau first used it in his 1854 book Walden to refer to the devaluing of complex ideas in favor of simple ones.” - Breakpoint

“None of us are alone. Far from it. In fact, we often wish we had more free time. Yet we still feel lonely. Why?” - Ref21

“An hour of prayer is a reasonable expectation. Prayer will provide increased spiritual power. And when we pray, we wage war against the flesh.” - Cripplegate

In Philippians 2, there is an overarching theme of unity the church with the more specific application of obedience that points toward our need for humility. But humility is a slippery thing. When you say you have it, you do not.

In this article, I want to turn our attention to our need to follow the model the Lord Jesus Christ laid out. We need to be humble, and this is shown when we humble ourselves in obedience before the Lord Jesus. Concerning this and the danger of false humility, Charles Spurgeon has written:

“The grief and tragedy that greeted New Orleans on New Year’s Day…reminded me of the promise Jesus gave His disciples in John 16:33: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.’” - Baptist Press