“Every true man is resentful of slanders against a human friend. Should we not be grieved ten times more by slanders against our God? How can we possibly listen with polite complacency, then, when men break down the distinction between God and man, and drag God down to man’s level? How can we possibly say, as in one way or another is so often said, that orthodoxy makes little difference. We should never talk in any such way about a human friend. We should never say with regard to a human friend that it makes no difference whether our view of him is right or wrong. How, then, can we say that absurd thing with regard to God?” (J. Gresham Machen, The Person of Jesus: Radio Addresses on the Deity of the Savior)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! I hope this week has been full of opportunities of glorifying our God and loving one another! I also hope these links will continue to further those goals for you all! So here we go!

• Pastor Dan Phillips (of PyroManiacs fame) has been writing on the PJ Media platform as of late, and has written a stellar article on how Christians try to be nice to the point of wanting the world to like them. He thoroughly exposes the foolishness of such an idea. I’d say this was the article of the week.
• Well, today is St. Patrick’s Day, and you may have never looked into the life of Patrick. Stephen Nichols will be a source of help in that, while church historian Michael Haykin writes of 10 things you should know about this man of God. Seems like someone who practiced the MVP.
• Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, co-authors of The Trellis and the Vine, have a follow-up book called The Vine Project: Shaping Your Ministry Culture around Disciple-Making. Justin Taylor posted their summary answers to the five convictions they maintain and expand upon in the book. This is a great picture of faithful ministry that every Christian should get behind!
• The Jenkins Center for the Christian Understanding of Islam, a center of study in Southern Seminary, recently sponsored a mission trip to Dearborn, Michigan, home of the largest concentration of Arab-Americans in the US. They report on the efforts of students from both the seminary and Boyce College to go and get the gospel to Muslims. May this news give you more boldness to share Christ with those around you.
• Dan DeWitt sought to answer the question, ‘Can Christian students thrive at Harvard, Yale and Oxford?‘ by inviting Christian professors who have studied at those universities at a recent conference to give their experiences and insights to have flourishing faith in those secular settings.
• What would be some strategies for building a case for inerrancy? Steve Hays gives some pointers.
• Ligonier Ministries recently had their National Conference entitled, ‘The Next 500 Years,’ in light of the upcoming celebration of the Protestant Reformation. All the sessions have been posted online, so take advantage of what’s available there!
• CBMW just posted their new issue of the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, which looks to be a great resource of articles and book reviews. Happy reading!
• Rod Dreher’s new book, The Benedict Option, has become a very popular topic amongst conservatives, yet some may not know what the hubbub is about. One post I found helpful is from Wyatt Graham’s brief explanation of Dreher’s thesis. This looks to be part one of two, so be on the lookout for his next post regarding the success of this book.
• CCEF’s On the Go podcast this week focuses on an interview with CCEF faculty Julie Lowe on attachment theory. This will always be a great resource to get a biblical perspective on psychological concepts, so don’t miss out on this one!

That’s all for this week! Please be in prayer for the youth and collegians, who will be meeting tonight at church. See you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

by Stephen Rodgers

Alright…we’re back. Thank you for your patience in light of last week’s hiatus. So without further ado, here’s the good stuff…

• The Gospel Call and True Conversion by Paul Washer (audio book) – Get it. Get. It.
• The Risen Existence: The Spirit of Easter by Paula Gooder (Logos) – I have no idea what this is, but it’s free if you’re a Logos user with a collector streak.
• Secularism (Tabletalk) – I’ve said it before…Tabletalk is a gem. People come up to me all the time and ask what I think about <insert goofy book or resource here>. Sometimes I lie awake at night and just wonder why they don’t read Tabletalk instead.
• Credo Magazine – So this is a bit of a teaser, but Credo has said that all future issues this year will be thematically tied to the Reformation (given that this is the 500th anniversary of a certain monk and his mallet).
• Shepherds Conference – The 2017 SC media is…not up yet. But the material from past years certainly is, if you need something while you’re waiting.
• TMS Course: The Reformation – It’s likely that very few folks reading this attended the TMS Winterim and took the offerred church history class with Carl Trueman. But you know what’s amazing in our day and age? You actually can. For free. Just click, read, study, watch. And that’s amazing.

by Stephen Rodgers

The Weekly Links will be delayed until next week; traveling for conferences doesn’t leave a lot of room to curate free theological goodies, and vice versa.

Sorry for the delay, but at least this gives you something to look forward to!

“God chooses to glorify himself in and through human beings, first and foremost through his own Son become man, but also through his chosen people called to share his glory in union with Christ.” [(David VanDrunen, God’s Glory Alone—The Majestic Heart of Christian Faith and Life: What the Reformers Taught…and Why It Still Matters (The Five Solas Series)]

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! All thanks be to God for sustaining us this week to worship Him in spirit and in truth. I found some great links for you, so make sure you grab a seat and enjoy what’s coming your way!

• You may wonder sometimes how to approach those who don’t believe in God in conversation. Sometimes, telling the gospel immediately will help. Other times, telling your testimony is the way to get to the gospel with someone. And other times than the first two requires giving some reasons/arguments for faith. Eric Chabot provides a chart of different approaches of talking about God to those who don’t know Him. This is definitely a link to bookmark for future reference.
• For many parents, The Jesus Storybook Bible has been a godsend for their children. In case you don’t know the backstory behind it, Sarah Zylstra provides the wonderful details/circumstances behind the creation of this book. Take a look!
• Tim Keller recently gave a talk at Google on his most recent book, Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical. He also did a talk previously on The Reason for God, which is also linked. Very interesting!
• Jay Adams writes a short but helpful reminder in what is most important when we counsel. Heed his counsel!
• Dan DeWitt puts to rest the idea that engaging in apologetics leads to rationalism. He also warns about the hidden implication behind the objection.
• Michael Kruger considers a passage from Scripture as a clue about whether the apostles expected the canon of Scripture to include new books post-Old Testament. Kruger also answers the oft-asked question, “Did Jesus claim to be God?”
• J. Warner Wallace gives a succinct summary of the three M’s that naturalism can’t provide: mind, morality, and meaning.
• On the CCEF podcast, Alasdair Groves and Mike Emlet discuss what the best aspects of psychology are, which will be a recurring series. This will be especially insightful, as you will hear from the top guys in biblical counseling discuss some of psychology’s positive contributions in the field of counseling, which isn’t usually talked about.
• On ACBC’s Truth in Love podcast, some great topics have come up: whether Christians can/should cuss, same-sex physical attraction in counseling, believers and their relationship with food, forgiveness after abortion, and how to deal with couples who disagree about sex.
• Last weekend, Norma McCorvey, the Roe in Roe v Wade, passed away. The Public Discourse gave some background behind the decision and courage of not only her, but Sandra Cano (Doe of Doe v Bolton) as well. Creation Ministries International highlights her life, while The Daily Signal gives her testimony from pro-choice to pro-life activism.
• Ligonier Ministries has been putting out content concerning the Reformation, and this week’s highlight is the Latin phrase Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone be the glory). Hopefully this gives you a better understanding of why I end every Weekly Links the way I do!

That’s all for this week! Please be in prayer for flocks this week, as we will be reviewing this past Sunday’s message, as well as the upcoming Care in Action event tomorrow. See you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

There is no shame in being hurt and hopeless. The hopeless and needy are the ones who are welcomed into the tender, understanding arms of a God of eternal love. (Dave Harvey, Paul Gilbert, Letting Go: Rugged Love for Wayward Souls)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Another week filled with God’s sustaining grace, and lovingkindness. I hope this week’s links will be an extension of that to you, so here they are:

• Ever wondered where the Bible predicts the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple in A.D. 70? TMS professor Dr. Michael Vlach presents his list of passages that he believes does this very thing. This may be a good resource for future reference, especially when talking to others about prophecy in the Bible.
• Over at the Gospel Coalition blog, Aaron Wilson writes about the concept of embryo adoption and the importance of Christians learning and engaging in it, while Russell Moore deals with the false dilemma some Christians may have: whether to adopt or have children of their own.
• It seems some of the bloggers over at The Cripplegate are getting back into the issue of cessationism vs. continuationism. This week, Eric Davis addresses continuationist arguments made from 1 Corinthians 14. You may want to go over this a few times for that next conversation with your brother or sister with whom you disagree with.
• Jason Helopoulos spends a little bit of time on the issue of assurance in a believer’s life and when it seems to be fleeting.
• Simonetta Carr, author of Christian biographies for children, dedicates a post to a reformer that you may have never heard of: Peter Martyr Vermigli. Doesn’t ring a bell? Then you check it out!
• Is there joy in discipling others? Not surprisingly, David Mathis at Desiring God thinks so, and points out that God thinks so, too.
• Justin Taylor recently interviewed Lydia Brownback about her new book, Finding God in My Loneliness. She was the first female Christian author I read, and I absolutely loved her writing, so take it for what it’s worth, but this may be something to consider watching (and reading!).
• Mark Dever recently preached at Bethlehem College & Seminary’s PasCon 2017 (conference for pastors) on evangelism. Enough said.
• Common in culture today is the idea that abortion is an act of women’s rights. However, as Brian Fisher argues over at Public Discourse, abortion has historically (and still is) a reflection of male dominance.

That’s all for this week! Please be in prayer for both the collegians and youth as this weekend, both groups will be at Pine Valley for their respective retreats. See you Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

“A man who loves his wife will love her letters and her photographs because they speak to him of her. So if we love the Lord Jesus we shall love the Bible because it speaks to us of him. The husband is not so stupid as to prefer his wife’s letters to her voice, or her photographs to herself. He simply loves them because of her. So, too, we love the Bible because of Christ. It is his portrait. It is his love-letter.” (John Stott, Fundamentalism and Evangelism)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Praise God for another week of blessings and opportunities of trusting in Him! I hope these links will further your love and trust in Him this weekend. Here are this week’s links:

• Jason Engwer has published a five-part series (one, two, three, four, five) on how the gospels compare to ancient biographies, and there is a lot to chew on! This will be a great apologetics conversation-starter, so read up!
• Jesse Johnson, over at The Cripplegate, addresses a common question from believers: were Old Testament believers indwelt with the Spirit?
• Is teaching creation to your kids a form of child abuse? Gary Bates, CEO of Creation Ministries International, provides a short but compelling response.
• Randy Alcorn highlights a new pro-life short film that is a powerful testimony to the reality of the life of the unborn, and is worth sharing on social media. Recently, Josh Brahm from the Equal Rights Institute spoke at the Students for Life of America East Coast Conference on their new-ish argument against abortion: the equal rights argument. If you want to view other sessions from the conference, check out the YouTube playlist.
• The True Woman blog has some great posts this week: “When am I the older woman?” and “If God loves me, why am I still single?”
• Pastor David White gave a couple lectures dealing with the canon of Scripture and the reliability of the New Testament text that will be a great resource for anyone seeking to have a deeper grasp of both topics.

That’s all for this week! Please be in prayer for Youth and College Life, as they meet tonight, and for those playing in Mission Bowl to avoid injuries and enjoy fellowship with one another! See you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

by Stephen Rodgers

Alright, so here we are with the free stuff post for February. This one should actually be a bit short.

• Kingdom Woman by Tony Evans and Crystal Evans Hurst (free audio book) – I don’t know much about Tony Evans (or his daughter) aside from the fact that he’s a Dallas Seminary grad, and both John Piper and John MacArthur have said nice things about him. So there’s that.
• Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Christian Discipleship by N.T. Wright (free Logos book) – So here’s the dilemma: Wright is a great scholar, but his books tend to be pretty inconsistent (I’m obviously not a big fan of NPP). The joke among theology nerds used to be that Wright was “good with Jesus, but bad with Paul,” but some of his more recent books dealing with the former have been controversial. I have no idea where this one in particular lands, but that’s the context that I do know.
• Joy (February edition of Tabletalk) – Tabletalk is always good, so you definitely should check this one out. There you go: one unqualified endorsement.

Enjoy your reading!

“Christianity is the Story of how the world began, why the world is the way it is, what role we play in the drama, and how all the plotlines of the Story are resolved in the end.” (Greg Koukl, The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! A new year to point you to great content online, and to draw you closer to Christ with each new link. May the tradition continue with these week’s links!

• One of the best things to happen this week is the relaunch of the CCEF On the Go podcast, after nearly three years of their last episode! This is a great resource to gain some nuggets of biblical wisdom in counseling in byte-size, so make sure to bookmark it for future reference!
• Can it be the case that Christians are arrogant? Well, it has everything to do with your definition of humility. Michael Kruger makes a case for the rejection of modern culture’s definition of humility, and turns the tables on those who would make that kind of judgment claim. This article can come in handy for your next conversation with your non-Christian friends and family.
• Tim Challies writes a fitting end to his series on aging graciously with his last article, “Aging Brings Life-Shaping Decisions.” For us young bucks, learning from older, seasoned believers seems to be just what we need. Learn from your elders!
• Challies also answers a much-asked question: do children have a financial obligation toward their parents?
• Heath Lambert writes on the commonly proclaimed myth that addiction is simply a disease and not a moral failing.
• Bob Kellemen just gave his top 10 list of biblical counseling blogs that he frequents. There is much to choose from, so make sure you check them all!
• The Women’s March came and went last week, and gained a lot of media attention. Many decried the exclusion of female pro-life groups from their march, and have called out those who would identify as progressive Christians for not speaking out about it. Many have also predicted the amount of media coverage for today’s March for Life will be much less, even if more people are expected to be in DC today.
• TGC highlighted the pro-life group Human Coalition, which purposely seeks to reach out to those who are determined to get an abortion. This is a ministry that is worth supporting and praying for. May God use His people to end this global-wide injustice.
• Apparently, some object to the idea of using ultrasound to plainly point out the heartbeat of an unborn baby. Even when we now have evidence that an embryo knows what to do post-conception autonomously in directing its own development, even when not in their mother’s womb, there is a slight bit of irony in denying the obvious.
• Joe Carter lays to rest the claim that only three percent of Planned Parenthood’s services are abortions.

That’s all for this week! Hope you all get to spend time with one another during flocks! See you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

by Stephen Rodgers

Ok, it’s  new year, so let’s go back to the old way of offering up free stuff. Less marketing blurbs, more editorial commentary. Here we go…

• Living Forward by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy (free audio book) – This one seems a bit squishy in terms of content to me, at least from the description and the comments. But hey, it’s free if you want it.
• Bulletin for Biblical Research, Vol 1 (free Logos book) – I don’t recognize all the names of the contributors to this, but there’s a few good ones if you want to roll the dice and are so incline.
• Themelios 41.3 (free journal) – There’s actually a lot of good articles in this one. If you’ve never checked out Themelios before, you could do a lot worse than starting here.
• Success (January Issue of Tabletalk ) – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If you only read one of the free resources that are featured here every month, make it Tabletalk.
• Sola Scriptura (Credo Magazine) – I think Cesar featured this last month, but it’s worth offering up again for your consideration.
• Healthy Churches Around the World (9Marks Journal) – Considering that missions applications should be appearing shortly, here’s something to get in a more international frame of mind.
• ESV.org (free online Bible) – As part of their new site redesign (I am not a fan, since they reduced the number of simultaneous comparisons from “how high can you count?” to “2”), the folks at Crossway have made all their study content free through April 4th, so this might be a good change to test-drive some of the materials you’ve been eyeballing (if that applies to you). On the other hand, it’s not clear to me if their new “subscription model” is as anti-consumer as it seems; time will tell.

Ok, that’ll do for now. Happy reading!

“Everything in the Hebrew worldview militated against the idea that a human being could be God. Jews would not even pronounce the name ‘Yahweh’ nor spell it. And yet Jesus Christ—by his life, by his claims, and by his resurrection—convinced his closest Jewish followers that he was not just a prophet telling them how to find God, but God himself come to find us.” (Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! As we are two days away from celebrating the greatest birthday ever, I have sought to bring links that direct us upward in focusing our thoughts to the one birth that will matter for all eternity. Merry Christmas!

• As Christmas is quickly approaching, the media continues their consistent reporting bias against the reality of Christ’s birth, as Jason Engwer points out. Last month, he collected all that he and the Triabloggers wrote on the issue of Christmas this year, which you can access here. I hope this can be a source of great conversations this Christmas!
• Christian apologist and detective J. Warner Wallace reminds us that the reason Christmas is Christmas is because Jesus is God.
• Al Mohler discusses the persistence of Christmas with historian Gerry Bowler. You will learn a lot about our cherished holiday!
• Pastor Conrad Mbewe ponders why missionaries take such embarrassing photos in Africa. It’s worth reading, especially if you ever decide to take photos on your next missionary trip.
• Ravi Zacharias writes on Oxford Dictionary’s 2016 word of the year, and the importance of it in proclaiming Christ today.
• As the day draws near, there’s at least 10 things you should know about Christmas, and 10 things you should know about the Incarnation.
• James Anderson simply lays out the three mysteries of Christmas that we are quick to forget or ignore out of familiarity. May it never be!

That’s all for this week! We hope you enjoy this Christmas holiday remembering the glorious, yet humble birth of our Lord and Savior! See you at church this Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria