Best of the Week for July 31
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.
Two Different Ways to Think About Sex in Marriage
“Husband, your body is hers. You gave it to her and have no rights over it, no right to do what she does not consent to. Wife, your body is his. You have no right to do what he does not know about.”
This is pretty simple, but a pointed reminder of how good a thing God gave us in faithful, MARRIED sex and how we keep it that way.
If You Don’t Fight Lust
“Jesus said, if you don’t fight lust, you won’t go to heaven. Not that saints always succeed. The issue is that we resolve to fight, not that we succeed flawlessly.”
Short, to the point, and powerful. How we fight sin (specifically lust here) has a direction correlation to whose we are and where we’re headed.
The Great Prize in Christian Dating
“In my best moments, I was pursuing clarity through intimacy, but in a lot of other moments, if I’m honest, I just wanted intimacy at whatever cost. ”
Postponing intimacy in order to pursue clarity is spot on. It’s hard. I still remember my single days. It was hard, and I made mistakes, too many of them. We can and we must do better. Not-married-people: this is a good read. Married-people: our not yet married brothers and sisters need us, so this is a good read for you, too.
Marshall Segal‘s series on dating and singleness has been great. You should also check out his book, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating.
Discerning Your Child’s Spiritual State
“Christian parents often tend to take the minimalist route, which is easy and requires no college degree: Let’s just get our child to ‘pray the prayer’ to ‘accept Jesus into their heart.’ That done: success!”
This is a VERY practical article for parents. It gives several guiding principles and several tips for discerning what’s there and what’s not.
Reading is Just the Beginning
“In this way, the Bible is the most important piece of technology you’ve ever touched. So, what do you do with one? How do you make the most of something so valuable?”
This article will give you several ideas for what to do in addition to simply reading the Bible that will help your reading to turn into learning, growing, and walking with Jesus.
Facebook is Not My Church
“The First Church of Facebook can only temporarily spackle the holes in our hearts and lives, never fix or heal them. We need Jesus for that, and Christ’s Plan A for our sanctification and the world’s redemption is the local church. ”
Some good discussion and three simple reasons why Facebook (and other social media, an “online campus,” TV church, and other digital, distant forms) can never be enough for us spiritually. We need the physical body of Christ to have its hands on us on a regular basis.
Community Covers a Thousand Threats
“Habits not only help us live in the moment by minimizing unnecessary distraction; they also keep us from having to make the “right decision” over and over again.”
This is a great article on why we so desperately need the physical presence of the body of Christ, how that consistency helps keep us from wandering away, and how making it a habit helps foster deeper commitment, growth, and joy.
The Rest of God
This is Mark Buchanan’s book on Sabbath, and it’s the best I’ve read on the subject! It gives a very robust picture of what Sabbath is, what it is intended to be for us, and how to make it a reality. I highly recommend it as we wrap up our Summer Sabbath and head back into the busyness of life.
Comments