“No suffering, affliction, or evil is inflicted on us by God as punishment. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8:31–39). God’s children may experience pain and suffering because we still live in a fallen world that God controls, but he redeems our pain and suffering for his glory and our good. Sometimes he takes our pain away, and at other times he asks us to endure it. But he never brings it upon us capriciously or for some ill purpose.” (Scott Christensen, What about Free Will?: Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Praise God for another week of sustaining us! Amongst many other things to be thankful for, let’s thank Him for this week’s links!

• Over the years, Jay Adams, pioneer of the biblical counseling movement, has been asked multiple times how to counsel an unbeliever. Hopefully, this video will be a great resource in your witness to those who are in need of Christ as Lord and Savior.
• In case you may have missed some of the links from the summer, there was a discussion amongst theologians about how to understand the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son. Over at the Alliance of Comfessing Evangelicals blog is a “best-of” post that links to the relevant articles on the subject. Hopefully, this discussion will be of service to the church.
• Kevin DeYoung has some clear thoughts concerning the upcoming election, and we would do well to listen to wisdom from this pastor.
• What is the future of Christian hedonism, as articulated in the writings of John Piper? Well, Piper himself, along with others, held a conference recently that focused on this issue. If you wonder what the term means, and what Piper hopes this will lead the church toward, check out what they have to say.
• Sadly, Planned Parenthood is celebrating their 100th anniversary this Sunday. Genevieve Wood nails it on the head with this sentence: “It’s and odd, and frankly grotesque, commemoration for an organization that is responsible itself for ensuring over 7 million babies will never have the opportunity to celebrate even one birthday.”
• How do we evaluate claims of supernatural events in other religions? Dominic Tennant gives a quick but very informative response.
• Have you ever wanted to take a short course on the New Testament? Well, Dr. Keith Essex, from The Master’s Seminary, taught a ten-part series surveying the New Testament that would be of great benefit to the believer. Check it out!
• How do we make sense of the media narrative that there are no differences between same-sex households and opposite-sex households? Sociologist Mark Regnerus provides a brief, but helpful, analysis that provides clarity on the issue.
• What would be some danger signs of an unhealthy dating relationship? Tim Challies gives some much-needed wisdom in this area.

That’s all for this week! Please be in prayer for Lumos and College Life, who meet tonight at church. See you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria