Best of the Week for March 27
In Best of the Week we link to a handful of the best articles, videos, books, etc. that we have come across in the last week. We hope this will point you to some of the right places and give you gospel-rich tools and thoughts for life and mission.
No Spin on Sin
“The danger of this is that it produces a culture where sin is not really a big deal. It’s just a necessary part of life that we need to deal with. Like a man with a limp we just keep moving along with our spiritual handicap.”
This is a GREAT read (especially for you Remedy folk in light of the passages we’re in the middle of in Genesis). He goes directly at our tendency to think and say things that “declaw” our sin and keep us in these unhealthy and rebellious patterns. Please read and be honest and clear about your own particular struggles.
The Particular Temptations of Young Men
“Purposelessness may be the foremost struggle for young men, the one that feeds so many other vices….We fail to teach them that even today they are building the house they will have to live in for the rest of their lives.”
I love this one because it addresses a necessary topic head on, with gravity and grace. It does mention porn, which is a huge problem among young men, but it does so in context of other, deeper root things that normally lead to it. Porn itself isn’t the issue, and unless we deal with the things under it, we will never win.
Are Christians Too Intentional In Dating?
“Men and women can be so busy trying to test the strength of a relationship that they miss the awesome experience of a beautiful beginning.”
This is an interesting take on an old conversation. This pastor and counselor argues there is a middle road between over-pressuring a relationship from the beginning and flippantly being guided by the emotions of it, and he gives three encouragements toward that. One of his best lines is a simple one: “In the end, there is no test like the test of time.”
Preparing Our People for Witness
“It’s from an approach which says, ‘Would you like to come to my church? It’s a great church!’ to ‘How can I answer questions you have about life, spirituality, good, and evil?’”
This post is written to church leaders and church planters, but it is a very good read for all of us. He lays out why culture is seeming more secular and some ideas about what it will look like for all of us to bring the gospel into it in tangible, sustainable ways.
The Millennial Marriage Proposal
Another hilarious social commentary from John Crist…
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