“Every child conceived is a God-created and God-loved person with a God-given purpose and destiny. Let your comfort begin with that truth. God created your child. God loved your child and continues to love your child. God’s purpose and destiny for your child are fulfilled perfectly, even if the child dies. The reality of that is beyond anything you can know fully this side of heaven.” (John MacArthur, Safe in the Arms of God)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! There is much to read, listen and watch, so let’s get this started! Here are you week’s links:

• What do you do when your child disobeys? Sam Crabtree, pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, writes on how to address the heart of your child that focuses less on following steps and more on following the lead of our gracious and loving God.
• How can the North American church help the global church, and vice versa? Leonardo de Chirico, Augustus Lopes, Michael Reeves, and Stephen Tong each give their own answer, which provides a small window into how God is working in the church.
• Steve Hays addressed a common objection Roman Catholics bring up with respect to sola Scriptura: where is there an inspired table of contents? In other words, how do we know, if Scripture is sufficient, that we have all that we need to live a life of godliness? This is a great example of clear thinking to stock criticisms of the Christian faith.
• Biblical counselor Lou Priolo discusses how to help suspicious people and paranoid thinking in the most recent Truth in Love podcast.
• What are five things every Christian should be doing with God’s Word? Michael Kruger points to the answer by looking at Psalm 119.
• If you have never seen a dialogue about abortion, this is a great example of how to begin a conversation with someone who disagrees with you on the topic.
• Biochemist Michael Behe, known for his work on Intelligent Design, has written a new book, Darwin Devolves: The New Science About DNA That Challenges Evolution. Book reviews have been published prior to publication, and Behe has begun responding to the most prominent ones. He was recently interviewed on the ID the Future podcast, which summarizes the main criticisms and his responses. This is looking to be a good turnout for future dialogue and debate on this very important issue about our origins.
• What do you think is more reliable, the Word of God or the voice of God? Pastor Clint Archer points out what the apostle Peter thought of his experience at the Mount of Transfiguration in relation to the Bible. This should be taken in consideration whenever any claims of personal revelation from God is claimed. Focus your attention on the Scriptures.
• Have you ever been with someone who was facing a hard trial, and didn’t know what to say? Beverly Moore provides some much-needed guidance on how to encourage one to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God in the midst of trials.
• John Snyder and Matthew Robinson have created a podcast awhile back called Behold Your God (from the same people who made the video series of the same name), and have been doing a series of podcasts on the topic of evangelism. This week is a third part, of which they discuss pastor Samuel Walker’s method of evangelism, and how to biblically respond to conviction. This looks like a very important topic that is worth listening to.
• Is there biblical support for female deacons? Guy Waters argues ‘no’, while Thomas Schreiner argues ‘yes.’

That’s all for this week! Please be in prayer for flocks, most of which are meeting tonight. See you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria