“What we suffer from…is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert–himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt–the Divine Reason.” (G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Another week has come and gone, and God is still in charge. What a great truth that will never change! Here are your links for this week! Enjoy!

• Ever wondered how Sunday School started? Over at the True Woman blog, Katherine Ferguson is recognized for her contribution in impacting the world for Christ in this very way. Learn, and be grateful to God in using an ordinary life in an extraordinary way.
• Glory Books continues to pump out new and helpful material for the church body, some of which I’d like to highlight: a continuing series on studying the Bible with this week on observing the passage, a post on Christian contentment, and a new podcast offering hope to those who have had an abortion.
• A new movie on Jesus’ childhood came out last week. Curious to see it? Well, before you do, it would be wise to see what Scripture records Jesus saying as a boy. Suffice it to say, it’s more than what I’ve written for this bullet point.
• With the many portrayals of Jesus in the media and the internet, especially during the time of Easter, it helps to gain an understanding as to why our Lord was hated while on earth to dispel some of the false portraits. Kevin DeYoung provides a succinct answer.
• Crossway has been publishing some great books recently, some of which I wanted to bring to your attention. Mitch Stokes came out with his book on skeptics and the bankruptcy of their worldview, How to Be an Atheist: Why Many Skeptics Aren’t Skeptical Enough. Justin Taylor recently interviewed him about it. He also interviewed David Mathis on his new book of the spiritual disciplines, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines, of which you can download for free on PDF. Also, today is the last day you can download Why Trust the Bible?, Greg Gilbert’s newest book, either on PDF or as an ebook.
• Kenneth Samples follows up with his article on encouraging intellectually-minded believers with an article on how they can fit within the evangelical church.
• One of the many arguments for the reliability of the gospels that has come around of late is the ‘undesigned coincidences‘ found in the four Gospels. You may want to become familiar with this tool in your belt.
• Back at the True Woman blog, the issue of women and division in the church body can run amock. Laura Elliot provides some necessary counsel on unity within the female members. Kelly Needham identifies self-improvement for what it is: self-sufficiency.
• Tim Challies distills some much-needed counsel on engaging with others online. Everyone who interacts on social media must read this. Now!
• John Piper addresses the root of mental health, and to help supplement his writing, IBCD uploaded their Spring Conference messages, ‘Medical Issues and Biblical Counseling.‘
• And the Shepherds Conference (general) sessions are up!

That’s all for this week! Please pray for those who are attending membership classes this weekend! See you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria