“While we must always remember that it is our responsibility to proclaim salvation, we must never forget that it is God who saves. It is God who brings men and women under the sound of the gospel, and it is God who brings them to faith in Christ. Our evangelistic work is the instrument that he uses for this purpose, but the power that saves is not in the instrument: it is in the hand of the One who uses the instrument.” (J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! It’s been a hot week, but the weekend is here, so make sure you have something cool to drink, and enjoy this week’s links!

• There was a recent conference in Vallejo called The Man of God Producing Men of God with Chris Mueller and Brian Croft as a couple of the speakers that seems worth listening to. Some of the sessions are for church leaders, not just pastors, so take a look!
• Cold case homicide detective and former atheist J. Warner Wallace was recently interviewed about his unique circumstances revolving his conversion and how he now uses the methods in solving homicide cases to making a case for the Christian worldview. If you have never heard his story, this will definitely worth your time.
• Tony Reinke interviewed historian Dr. Andrew Pettegree on the influence Martin Luther had with the use of the printing press and how it changed the way theology was disseminated to laypeople. Very fascinating to hear stories surrounding the Protestant Reformation.
• Speaking of which, Desiring God continues their Here We Stand podcast with profiles on Hugh Latimer & Nicholas Ridley, Ulrich Zwingli, Hans Gooseflesh, and Hellen Stirke.
• Ligonier Ministries, for a brief period of time, is making their new album Post Tenebras Lux: A Symphonic Celebration of the Protestant Reformation free to download! Beautiful music to highlight what God did 500 years ago, and continues to do today. Don’t miss out on this!
• A website called Church Clarity is seeking for megachurches to come out and declare whether they allow anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+ to participate fully as a member of their church. Denny Burk exposes the lack of clarity this group seeks, both biblically and theologically.
• Matthew Barrett lays out a simple thesis: sola Scriptura calls for inerrancy. I would wholeheartedly agree.
• Patrick L. Tomlinson, a science fiction writer, believes his thought experiment that involves choosing to save a five-year-old girl over 1,000 embryos from a burning building proves those who are pro-life with respect to abortion truly do not believe their own position. Robert George and Christopher Tollefsen give a thorough response to Tomlinson, who claims he has not had a satisfying answer in the 10 years since proposing this scenario. I would say the wait is over.

That’s all for this week! Please pray that the youth and collegians will hear the Word of God preached tonight, and those participating in the College Life Evangelism Workshop will be further equipped to give the gospel to those in need of it.

Soli Deo Gloria