Here is a collection of good reads gathered from across the internet this past week. Enjoy!
On trusting God, even when it is difficult: Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled by Donald Macleod
What is before the Lord’s mind here, then, is not how he himself would cope with the cross, but how his confused and bewildered disciples would cope. It is the trouble in their minds that troubles him, and he addresses it not only with soothing words, but with powerful arguments — arguments they must remember when they see him hanging on the cross, and which we, too, must remember when God leads us where we cannot cope and cannot understand. (click here to read more)
On seeing Jesus as bigger, greater, and more dangerous: We Talked to Jesus in an Inside Voice and He’s Going to be Nice Now by Owen Strachan
We’ve got to wake up. We’ve got to sober up. We need to get on mission, too. We need to stop playing life safe. We need to stop thinking we’re owed luxury and ease. We’re not. Most of the apostles died in ministry. Many Christians all over the world suffer on account of Christ. We don’t need to be foolish here, but we should plunge into the work of the Great Commission. Whatever our vocation, whether we’re changing diapers or taking exams or running boardrooms, we can participate in the promotion of Christ’s dominion. (click here to read more)
On faith and technological advancement: Here at the Dawn of the Revolution by Tim Challies
Historically, the pace of technological change has been slow. But over the past five hundred years that pace has consistently increased. Today we can hardly keep up. By the time we purchase and enjoy a great new gadget, the next one (and the one after that) is already being finalized and perfected in the labs. The newest, greatest, and most expensive device is built with a planned obsolescence that may be only three or four years away. It seems like every year or two we need to prepare our families and our churches for another big shift, another great innovation, that will call them to learn new skills and adapt to new realities. (click here to read more)
On caring for others by listening: Do You Listen and Care or Take the Easy Way Out? by Nolan Trapp
The best we can do for someone at times is listen. There are many proverbs that tell us the benefit of listening, such as Proverbs 21:28
. If it wasn’t important, I’m sure that the Bible wouldn’t have focused on it. Another key scripture I think of that tells us the benefit of listening is James 1:19
On the freedom we have in Christ: Freedom from the Performance Treadmill by Paul Tautges
As we meditate on truths like these, our minds are renewed and freed from enslavement to performance. Focusing on the truth that our acceptance with God is purely because of His grace toward us in Christ will keep us humble and dependent on the Spirit of God. Bridges ends his chapter on, “The Performance Treadmill,” with an illustration of Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan (2 Samuel 9), in which he likens the lame man’s ever-helpless physical condition to our spiritual need of grace and makes this application: “Mephibosheth never got over his crippled condition. He never got to the place where he could leave the king’s table and make it on his own. And neither do we” (p. 24). (click here to read more)
First Baptist Church 