by Stephen Rodgers

“We have already noted that this paradox [of being despised and feared at the same time] appeared also in the treatment of the early Church. It was important while it was still insignificant, and certainly while it was still impotent. It was important solely because it was intolerable; and in that sense it is true to say that it was intolerable because it was intolerant. It was resented, because, in its own still and almost secret way, it had declared war. It had risen out of the ground to wreck the heaven and earth of heathenism. It did not try to destroy all that creation of gold and marble; but it contemplated a world without it. It dared to look right through it as through the gold and marble had been glass. Those who charged the Christians with burning down Rome with firebrands were slanderers; but they were at least far nearer to the nature of Christianity than those among the moderns who tell us that the Christians were a sort of ethical society, being martyred in a languid fashion for telling men they had a duty to their neighbors, and only mildly disliked because they were meek and mild.” (The Everlasting Man, GK Chesterton)

Howdy folks. Hopefully it went undetected by our readers, but I’m back from a month-long “vacation” from the Beacon. I’ve got the usual monthly suspects in terms of new resources, but I’d also like to alert you to a few changes and features that I’ve had time to work on as well.

FREE RESOURCES

• The free book of the month for Logos is DL Moody’s Heaven. If you’ve been meaning to check Logos out (or at least check out the free engine), you can head over to their downloads page to get your installer of choice.
• The free audio book (we used to call these books-on-tape back in my day…there were things called cassettes…nevermind) is John Stott’s Basic Christianity. This is an excellent overview of the Christian faith, and I highly recommend you pick it up for the low, low cost of free.
• The free ebook from Ligonier this month is Sinclair Ferguson’s In Christ Alone. That’s another one you’re going to want to definitely get your hands on.
• There’s a new edition of Tabletalk out as well, entitled “The Blessing of Discipline.”
• Jim Hamilton has a new essay entitled “Does the Bible Condone Slavery and Sexism?” Given how popular that objection is in our culture today, you’re going to want to be informed.
• I’m still evaluating the Faithlife Study Bible, but their free run is coming to an end, so I’d recommend grabbing it while you can. If you already have Logos (or a Logos account), you just log in using those credentials.

MOHLER RETURNS

• Al Mohler’s daily podcast reviewing news from a Christian point of view is back from its summer hiatus.  This is great to have as part of your daily routine.

BEACON UPDATES

• I’ve updated the Recommended Resources page, especially the software and study section; if you’ve exhausted all the resources there and still want more, then I’d suggest starting with something like Nate Busenitz’s recommendations for online theological resources.
• Our topical index of the 9Marks eJournal is up to date.
• Our chronological index of the Tabletalk archives is also up to date.
• Last but not least, I’ve made a few improvements to Stoogle. Most notably there is now a search refinement called “Counselize!” that queries a number of reputable biblical counseling sites. That might be useful for the folks at our church who are currently going through related programs of study.

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege