Here is a collection of good reads gathered from across the internet this past week.
On the church shooting in Texas: Tragedy in Texas: Christian Testimony in the Face of Evil by Albert Mohler
This particular attack in Texas highlights the fact that Christians are not immune from this kind of heartbreak. We cannot understand exactly what that congregation in that community is experiencing, but we do understand heartbreak, and we know that heartbreak is at the very center of their experience at this moment.
The Christian worldview affirms the dignity of human life. According to Scripture, every single human life is of eternal value and inestimable worth. Murder is not, then, merely a crime, it is an assault on the dignity of the human being—an attack upon the image of God. (click here to read more)
On contentment and the gospel: Chasing Contentment by Jonathon Woodyard
How does all that relate to contentment and discontentment? Augustine once told us that man’s heart is restless until it finds rest in God. Another way to say it, man is perpetually discontent until he finds contentment in God. We are constantly looking for the “great it of satisfaction.” Yet, we look in all the wrong places. We look for ultimate happiness and peace and satisfaction (i.e. contentment) in relationships and riches and promotions and a host of other things. And yet nothing ever quenches that deep thirst for something more, something else.
The gospel is a message to every discontented heart that says the pathway to contentment is open to all who would come to Jesus in faith. Come to Jesus and be reconciled to the one at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore (Ps 16:11). Turn from sin and place your faith in Jesus and find that through Jesus you get God. God is the great who of satisfaction. (click here to read more)
On loving your enemies: The Lord’s Crazy, Counter-Intuitive, Upside Down, Against-All-My-Feelings-and-Emotions Command by Stephen Altrogge
Has someone hurt you, taken advantage of you, ripped you off or insulted you?
You could take revenge. You could treat them as they treated you. You could hurt them back. You could take something of theirs. You could insult them back or badmouth them to others.
But if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you don’t have these options. Jesus says, “I’m going to tell you something completely counter-intuitive. Something absolutely crazy. Something that will go against all your feelings and emotions. And something that you can’t possibly do in your own strength. Yet when you do it it will demonstrate that you are a son or daughter of mine. And you will experience blessing you couldn’t imagine.” (click here to read more)
On God’s sovereignty: How a Genealogy Changed My Life by Jordan Standridge
The New Testament begins with the genealogy of Jesus. Unlike the one in Luke 3 which goes in ascending order form Jesus to Adam, the one in Matthew goes in descending order from Abraham to Christ. Matthew does something really fascinating in a few of the verses. Whenever there’s a famous woman in the line of Jesus, He lets us know. In verse 3, He mentions Tamar, in verse 5, Ruth, and in verse 6, Bathsheba. But it was another name in verse 5 that really blew my mind. The name was Rahab.
All of a sudden, when I read her name, it was as if a burden lifted off my back. I understood God’s sovereignty like never before. I became emotional as I considered the implications of reading her name in the line of Jesus. (click here to read more)
First Baptist Church 