He, the Life of all, our Lord and Saviour, did not arrange the manner of his own death lest He should seem to be afraid of some other kind. No. He accepted and bore upon the cross a death inflicted by others, and those other His special enemies, a death which to them was supremely terrible and by no means to be faced; and He did this in order that, by destroying even this death, He might Himself be believed to be the Life, and the power of death be recognised as finally annulled. A marvellous and mighty paradox has thus occurred, for the death which they thought to inflict on Him as dishonour and disgrace has become the glorious monument to death’s defeat. (Athanasius)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope this week has been a blessing to you as we continue to prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior (you are preparing…right?)!

• Pastor Jeremy Walker has some timely advice for prospective students that is applicable to anyone who is making plans to enter college. This is helpful for high schoolers, parents of high schoolers, and also leaders to be reminded that the primary goal for decisions related to a student’s future should always be the glory of God, and not our personal glory. If you fit any of the above categories, you would do well to look into this article.
• Speaking of Jeremy Walker, he has also finished a series on doing effective personal evangelism (which Richard pointed us to in October). We are to be effective in the sense of “faithful communication of God’s saving truth to those who have not known it either entirely or accurately.” The completed series can be found with links to all the posts. May we all grow effective in the work of sharing Christ to all.
• Ligonier Ministries (R.C. Sproul’s main ministry) has made their Crucial Questions booklets available to download for free back in June, but have continued to add more booklets that deal with more questions believers have about different topics. The three new booklets that came out How Do I Develop a Christian Conscience?, What is the Church? and What is the Lord’s Supper? Make sure to grab them (you can get all of them on Kindle, and most on iTunes), and grow deeper in your understanding of the Word.
• How do we keep kids from expressing greed during Christmas? The ladies at Girltalk give 10 ideas, some of which I think I need to apply myself.
• Christmas is a time we focus on being with our families (and rightly so), but we can also be thinking about how to bless those who are serving Christ in a foreign country, or who are currently away from family, who need encouragement from the body of Christ. Here are 15 ways we can do this.
• James White, pastor and apologist (if you haven’t heard of him, let it end this day), was recently interviewed in Germany concerning Roman Catholicism, which is titled and subtitled in Czech (hi Mellwig family…and Hanka!), but is in English. Wise words from a seasoned debater who has engaged in about 40 different debates with leading Catholic apologists.
• Stephen Meyer, one of the leading advocates of intelligent design, was interviewed by Eric Metaxas, concerning his newest book, Darwin’s Doubt. He gives some concise answers to what intelligent design is, along with some witty comments from Metaxas.
• Looking for last-minute Christmas gifts for children and families that are solidly biblical? Then look no further.
• Al Mohler writes a helpful essay on the state of the media in its praise of Pope Francis I and recent outrage at Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame, who are positionally on the same page concerning homosexuality. We all have been warned, and expect to be warned again and again. (Make sure to read Joe Carter‘s angle of this issue, as well as Mark Lamprecht‘s, who also gives some background to Duck Dynasty’s theology.)
• It’s never too late to begin meditating on the birth of Christ, and what that means for us as believers in Him. Don’t waste your Christmas!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas wherever you spend it! May we truly remember the greatest gift that has ever been given, our Lord Jesus Christ, and rightly view all other gifts as pale in comparison. See you next year!

Soli Deo Gloria