The Cross of Christ is certainly a noble example of self-sacrifice; but if it be only a noble example of self-sacrifice, it has no comfort for burdened souls; it certainly shows how God hates sin; but if it does nothing but show how God hates sin, it only deepens our despair; it certainly exhibits the love of God, but if it does nothing but exhibit the love of God it is a mere meaningless exhibition which seems unworthy of God.
Many things are taught us by the Cross; but the other things are taught us only if the really central meaning is preserved, the central meaning upon which all the rest depends.
On the cross the penalty of our sins was paid; it is as though we ourselves had died in fulfillment of the just curse of the law; the handwriting of ordinances that was against us was wiped out; and henceforth we have an entirely new life in the full favor of God. (J. Gresham Machen, What is Faith?)
by Richard Shin
We are back from the all-church retreat and in full force. I myself was tremendously blessed to have partaken in it. Looks like the blogosphere went a little overboard on good content while we were gone. In light of this, we’ll do this a bit differently today:
Here are some new and free stuff for you to indulge in:
- Not only did Logos come out with Logos 5, they released their free book of the month.
- Reformation Day was last week. In celebration of this, Desiring God is giving away some e-books on Calvin and a biography of Martin Luther.
- Crossway’s online Bible esvbible.org is changing its format to encourage Bible study and integrate with mobile apps.
- Another oft-forgotten Bible software is the Olive Tree Bible Study app. If you make an account before Nov 12, you can download the ESV for free.
Since this week was the conclusion of the long race to the Presidential election, I thought it would be appropriate to devote some space for some responses of the aftermath:
- Randy Alcorn notes that we never truly stop voting, even after we have voted.
- Russell Moore encourages us to honor the President.
- Pre-election Collin Hansen from TGC wrote a letter to post-election Collin Hansen.
- Al Mohler gives a broad overview of the moral climate in America.
- C. Michael Patton writes about the common response of Christians and how God’s will was done in this election.
- I would like to highlight one particular reflection piece by Garrett Kell who writes very honestly about his past sins and how he found refuge in Christ. It is quite sobering and extremely encouraging at the same time.
And then a few articles and videos to top it off, like icing on a triple-decker chocolate cake:
- Justin Taylor pointed to a video of the Gospel presentation using the numbers 3, 2, and 1. Check out the producer’s website here.
- Depression is a serious issue among many Christians. Even some of the most prominent have experienced it, or even suffering it now. Drawing from the life of Elijah in 1 Kings,r read Dr. Bob Somerville’s 3-part series on fighting depression here, here, and here.
- J.D. Greear shares a powerful set of observations on giving from Exodus 35-36. It can be a sensitive topic, but nonetheless necessary to think about.
Have a great weekend, y’all.
Coram Deo