Here is a collection of good reads gathered from across the internet this past week. Enjoy!
On the Bible and inerrancy: The Bible Is Better than Google by Margaret Bronson
The beautiful truth in all of this is that GOD WANTS US TO KNOW HIM. Learning about God isn’t googling “God” and reading millions of opinions on God. Instead, we open His Word, and we hear His very words breathed out. All other doctrines hinge on a sure source of evidence, a witness that we can trust. Without inerrancy, we cannot know anything about God with any certainty, and the “study of God” would be a guessing game, just like trying to figure out why my kid’s hair smells. Instead, with inerrancy, we can approach God and His Word with certainty, eager to learn of His ways and discern how to live faithfully in the world. (click here to read more)
On godliness and health: Guard Your Health by Tim Challies (note: Challies is writing this “Run to Win” series for young men, especially, but it has truths which all can learn from)
You need to steward your body. As you surrender your body, you acknowledge that it does not belong to you but to God. Just as you are responsible to faithfully steward your time and money, you are responsible before God to faithfully steward the body he has assigned to you. You are to use your body wisely, to put your body to use in ways that bring glory to God. After all, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). (click here to read more)
On Jesus as the “way, the truth, and the life”: The Most Controversial Claim Jesus Made by David Mathis
Jesus gets the glory of being “the way,” (not “a way”), “the truth” (not just true), and “the life” (not just life), and as he does, we get the joy and peace and stability of having such a Lord and Savior and Treasure. “The way” is not centrally belief in certain principles and execution of particular actions, but trusting and treasuring a living person. At the heart of Christianity is not pillars to follow, but a person to know and enjoy. (click here to read more)
On the pastor and his character: A Pastor’s Character Over His Competence by Chris Thomas
Character over competence is a biblical idea. Note that I’m not saying that competence doesn’t matter—we’ll soon see that it doe. But that the vast weight of Scripture leads me to believe that God is primarily concerned with the type of man who shepherds, rather than the skills that man brings to the role.
There are two ‘go-to’ passages that deal with the qualification of a shepherd, both are found in letters written by Paul to emerging leaders of the first century church… (click here to read more)
First Baptist Church 