Here is a collection of good reads gathered from across the internet this past week. Enjoy!
On church history / Reformation Day (note: Oct 31 is the anniversary of Martin Luther publishing his 95 theses which sparked the protestant reformation. 10.31.17 will be the 500 year anniversary of this event): What is Reformation Day? by Stephen Nichols
One of Luther’s 95 Theses simply declares, “The Church’s true treasure is the gospel of Jesus Christ.” That alone is the meaning of Reformation Day. The church had lost sight of the gospel because it had long ago papered over the pages of God’s Word with layer upon layer of tradition. Tradition always brings about systems of works, of earning your way back to God. It was true of the Pharisees, and it was true of medieval Roman Catholicism. Didn’t Christ Himself say, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light?” Reformation Day celebrates the joyful beauty of the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ. (click here to read more)
On parenting: Repentant Parenting Isn’t Hypocrisy, It’s the Gospel by Katie Hughes
Somehow in all the parenting literature and teaching I think we’ve lost the importance of repenting to our own children. Now, don’t get me wrong. Instructing children in the way they should go, when they rise up, when they walk along the way, when they sit down to eat, when they lay down to sleep, is vastly important (Deuteronomy 6). We are called to it, and it IS indeed vile and disappointing when we don’t live it.
Yet we live on this side of the cross, where the perfect parenting life was lived by Jesus, and our punishment for sinning against God in parenting was taken by the death of Jesus. His life and death make it possible for us to both live holy parenting lives AND repent freely when we don’t. (click here to read more)
On love and trust: The Greatest Act of Spiritual Warfare by Jon Bloom
The more we trust someone, the easier it is for us to love him. We feel confident in and safe with those we trust, and we can bear with a lot of their idiosyncrasies, foibles, and even sinful stumbles. And we tend to be far more willing to receive correction from them.
But it’s harder for us to love someone when we lack trust in them. We are more guarded and prone to question their judgment. It’s far easier to see potentially serious moral issues lurking in their idiosyncrasies, foibles, and sinful stumbles, and we are much quicker to suspect sinister motives when they bring us correction. A trust deficit usually results in strained relational distance, and broken trust usually results in a broken relationship. (click here to read more)
On church unity: The Cracks Begin at the Bottom by Tim Challies
Great ruptures in the church often begin with just one member gossiping about another or just two quarreling members who have no desire to pursue reconciliation. Great division often begins with a clique that refuses to integrate with the rest of the congregation or with a small group of people who make a disputable matter into a matter of spiritual life and death. Sometimes it’s one person who asks questions meant to cause others to doubt the good intentions of the pastors. The greatest rifts can have their genesis in even the most innocuous words or actions. (click here to read more)
Finally, some a thought on marriage from the desiringgod.org instagram feed:
First Baptist Church 