“If you are a Christian, by definition you ought to believe what Jesus teaches. He is the Son of God. He is our Savior and Lord. We must follow his example, obey his commands, and embrace whatever understanding of Scripture he taught and assumed. Surely this means we are wise to believe about the Scriptures whatever Jesus believed about the Scriptures.” (Kevin DeYoung)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! It’s been awhile, but it’s good to be back with this week’s links. Enjoy!

• Al Mohler wrote a very clear essay delineating moralism from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no mistaking that many people in today’s society, as well as in the church, believe that improving your life through your behavior will earn you God’s favor and salvation. Nothing could be further from the truth, as Mohler makes it clear. Our salvation is not based on our righteousness, but solely the righteousness of Christ and Christ alone. Read and share!
• Ryan T. Anderson has come out with a new essay explaining the inconsistencies in the belief that opposing same-sex marriage and opposing interracial marriage are similar. This article includes some very helpful information that is worth your time. Don’t miss this one.
• Tim Challies has been doing a series on false teachers that is very timely and wise for us to ponder as we grow in our discernment. It started 2 months ago when he wrote about Arius, and continued with Pelagius, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, Ellen G. White, Charles Taze Russell, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Norman Vincent Peale, and most recently, Marcus Borg. If you don’t know any of these people or their disciples, it’s likely that you may have heard many of their ideas. Learn and discern.
• A new website dedicated to the upcoming Shepherds’ Conference came out within the past week or so, and the website already looks to be something to bookmark and check back (or add to your RSS feed). Titled Inerrant Word, the conference will focus on teaching inerrancy and defending it against those from outside the church, as well as those from within. There are media, articles, book recommendations, and even the “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy” posted there. Do not miss this one.
• A lot of buzz has been coming from the evangelical blogs concerning Kevin DeYoung’s new book, Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What that Means for You and Me. I have only heard good things about it, and invite you to read at least one review: Challies’ review,  or even read the first chapter.
• This may be the philosopher in me coming out, but I was very thankful to read this post about the church’s need for philosophers and vice versa. When both sides seem to distrust each other, something is off. I would love to see more interaction between both sides, engaging in the debate of today’s ideas with intellectual rigor, but I would also like to see Christian philosophers as a whole be committed men/women of the church. May that tribe increase!
• If you haven’t heard by now, the newest CEO for Mozilla resigned after pressure to be removed due to his past support of Prop 8 in the state of CA. I believe Robert George’s commentary reveals that the lines have been drawn, and we may be looking at a new litmus test for job qualifications. Don’t miss Al Mohler’s The Briefing on this either.
• Joe Carter continues his series on apologetics and worldview analysis with the topic, “What is a Religious Belief?” Food for thought.

That’s all for this week! Looking forward to worshiping the Lord together this coming Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

“The greatest commandment is love, not niceness. And as C.S. Lewis pointed out somewhere, anger is what love bleeds when you cut it. You cannot love without hating, and if you do not hate, you know nothing of love. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Prov. 8:13). To love the wolves is to hate the sheep, and vice versa. Love the termites, hate the house. Hate the man, love the cancer. This is not a difficult principle.” (Douglas Wilson, Preparing for the Refugee Column)

by Stephen Rodgers

In accordance with custom and the ancient pact, I’m going to keep my WL short and sweet so that you have more time to read and listen to the actual resources. Which are excellent. In fact, everybody needs to watch their step, because I’m about to drop some knowledge.

I believe that’s the expression the collegians taught me. Did I say that right?

Anyhow…

• The free book this month from christianaudio.com is What Happens When Women Say Yes To God. I’m not familiar with that book at all, so this is more of a “by-the-way” than a whole-hearted recommendation.
• The free book this month from Logos is Jesus and Scripture by Steve Moyise.  I’m not familiar with this one either, but Craig Evans endorsed it, and he’s no slouch, so it’s probably good.
• Ok…on to stuff I actually know about. The April edition of Tabletalk is out, and it’s on the subject of The Great Commission.  So, if you’re waiting to hear if you’re on a missions team, you should probably read this. That way you can be loaded for bear when your interview rolls around. And if you’re not on a missions team, you should totally read this in order to test someone who is.
• Ligonier is also giving away a free audiobook this month: The Truth of the Cross. In case you hadn’t noticed, Ligonier has recently committed to making many of it’s resources freely available, and they are almost always quite excellent…like this one.
• Last but not least, the audio for the 2014 Shepherds Conference is up. I want to especially point out the seminar by Paul Washer; that’s another resource that you should have digested and stored in your back pocket (ok, sometimes metaphors don’t mix well) if you’re hoping to be on a missions team.

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

I’ve updated the original Strange Fire Conference post (again) with material that has become available since the original post went up.

This is a smaller update than #5 (which was rather significant), but it brings the material current with this week’s updates.  Most notably, the Butler / Unger review of Authentic Fire is now up to chapter 8.

Enjoy!

All that can properly be called truth, not just “religious truth,” resides first in God and men know truly only as they come to God’s revelation of Himself as the source of truth… ( Psalm 94: 10)… This dependence on God in the area of knowledge does not mean that men are without the true ability to think and reason… Men do actually think, yet true knowledge is dependent on and derived from God’s knowledge as it has been revealed to man. (Richard Pratt)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Another week of God’s blessings and sovereign power over all things has come and gone. Here are this week’s links!

• The audio from this year’s Shepherds’ Conference has now been uploaded! Make sure you take advantage of the wisdom from many of the pastors that spoke at this great conference!
• Speaking of conferences, one that has sprung up recently has to do with how to be a faithful Christian in the workplace, in relation to the book The Gospel at Work by Greg Gilbert and Sebastian Traeger. Called by the same name, it has many resources (audio and video of past events, particularly) that give a deeper look into the doctrine of vocation. This is a post specifically for the singles, but it can be helpful for anyone who is either entering the workforce or has been in it, and wants to grow in greater faithfulness to their service to God in this area.
• If you haven’t heard already, news broke out concerning World Vision’s policy change to now allow professing Christians in a legal same-sex marriage to work in their organization. Some of the responses are: Denny Burk (here and here), Al Mohler (essay and radio), Matthew Anderson (specifically, wise considerations for those who currently sponsor a child through World Vision), and Kevin DeYoung (here and here). World Vision did, however, remove that new policy a couple days later after supporters expressed disagreement. Additional responses came from Timothy Dalrymple, Todd Pruitt, Peter Jones, and many more.
• Bart Ehrman, an apostate from the Christian faith and professor/author of a number of books attacking Christianity, has come out with a new book called How Jesus Became God promoting the idea of Jesus’ divinity as a human concept that developed within the church, and was even contested early on at the start of Christianities (plural, not singular, according to Ehrman). Coming right on the heels of Easter, this book has already generated a book-length response from some evangelical scholars titled How God Became Jesus. An interesting take comes from the Answering Muslims blog, along with a long review by Christian scholar Rob Bowman and some comments from James White. Who knows? This may come up in conversation this Easter. Be prepared.
• If you have a Kindle, or use the Kindle App on your phone or computer, you may have been aware of R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series of booklets that are free. Now Logos has followed suit. Go get ’em!
• Lyndon Unger has continued his series of practically living out the doctrine of biblical sufficiency. This time around, it’s not as weird as the last post, but the process is what is most beneficial. Read on!
• Steve Lawson was recently interviewed concerning his new book The Evangelistic Zeal of George Whitefield. This one is worth watching.
• If you had any plans on watching the movie Noah, I’d invite you to read this early analysis and critique from Christian screenwriter Brian Godawa. It was of the screenplay, but he later confirmed after watching the movie that it did not stray too far from the script. He wrote a number of posts leading up to the release of the film, if you’re so inclined.

That’ll do it for this week! Looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

The Bible was written with the assumption that we are the rational and spiritual beings God made us to be, giving us the created dignity of marrying our belief with reason. Christian faith is true not only because we really want to believe it but also because the truth it believes is the most plausible of all explanations. (Andreas Köstenberger, Darrell Bock, and Josh Chatraw)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Another week of fellowshiping with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His bride, the church, has come and gone. It’s always a joy to bring you this week’s links, and I hope and pray that it brings you closer to the One who is the Truth!

• Which is the preferred type of pastor you would want to serve under: a single or married one? Steve DeWitt was a single pastor for 19 years before entering marriage, and has now been ministering as a married pastor for 3 years. Check out his article on this very issue, and let’s celebrate God’s wisdom in using both to bring about His kingdom purposes!
• Here are some words of wisdom on learning evangelism if you think of yourself as a beginner in this area. There’s some good reminders for us all here.
• What do women wish men knew about beauty? Nicole Whitaker (co-author of the new book True Beauty with her mom, Carolyn Mahaney) has written a beautiful post that us guys need to read. If we’re going to live in the family of God, we need to grow in our love for our sisters in Christ. This would be a good start, men. Whitaker follows up with a post about the crisis of beauty in our culture and church, followed by the solution. Read up!
• Are you known for being a gossip or a brash person with your words? Do you have a filter for the things that you say? Sometimes I hear others speak their mind and immediately justify/excuse it with, “That’s just my personality.” As Christians, are we allowed to throw out the ‘personality’ card when it comes to speech? I believe the suggested three questions from the True Woman blog is a good place to start if you want to be have ‘seasoned’ speech (Colossians 4:6).
• Last week, I mentioned the Theological Primer for Counselors series that Paul Tautges began for us all to benefit, and up until that time, he had seven out of ten posts done. Here’s the rest: the doctrine of progressive sanctification, the local church, and the return of Christ. Don’t miss out on reading this! It is succinct, full of content and easy to absorb. This will definitely be a resource I return to again and again.
• Here’s another post that I think is worth ready simply because of the title of the post: Pre-Marital Counseling Asian-American Stlyle (Part 1). Written by Ben Shin (who has spoken at LBC in the past), he gives a dose of what issues come up that are unique to Asian-Americans in their pursuit of marriage. Notice this is part 1, so be sure to check for the part 2!
• Recently, I was able to attend the IBCD Spring Conference in Escondido, IBCD being a biblical counseling organization that offers further training for people wanting to grow in giving biblical counsel in the church. This most recent conference dealt with practicing affirmation from Pastor Sam Crabtree from Bethlehem Baptist Church (where John Piper ministered up until recently). I’d encourage everyone to give it a listen; there’s much wisdom to learn about this subject.
• Lyndon Unger continues his series on practically applying the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture, this time using a strange example to bring up a simple but well-rounded method at getting a deeper understanding of a topic that Scripture surprisingly addresses.
• Coming at it from a counseling angle, what do you do when Scripture seems to fall silent in a counseling issue? Ed Welch has some hope-filled words that can be a lead-in to you growing to be a more biblical counselor.

That’ll do it for this week! Please continue to pray for some of our collegians, as they wrap up their finals and rest up for the final quarter of the year! Way to go, guys!

Soli Deo Gloria

Youth is the seed-time of full age, the molding season in the little space of human life, the turning-point in the history of man’s mind.

By the shoot we judge of the tree, by the blossoms we judge of the fruit, by the spring we judge of the harvest, by the morning we judge of the day, and by the character of the young man, we may generally judge what he will be when he grows up. (J.C. Ryle)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Time has flown since we last had this. Well, before we get another week to fly by, here’s this weeks’ links!

• James Anderson gives some short and sweet responses to four common objections people have against Christianity. You would be wise to read and be prepared the next time you’re faced with these challenges to the faith. Michael Kruger has additional commentary on the fourth objection, FYI.
• Ever read books by Jerry Bridges and wanted to pick his brain about some spiritual topic he’s written about? Well, in this post, some have done so. As he’s about to publish a memoir of his life, it’s good to get in on some of the discussions he’s had in the past. This is a short sampling, but learning how to preach the Gospel to yourself from someone who does it regularly would be worth your time.
• Andy Snider (this year’s Single Life retreat speaker) invited a ministry friend to post on his blog about reevaluating what we find most precious and valuable to us. This is always on my heart and mind, and I hope it is for you, too.
• Sometimes, getting reports from a certain ministry you are personally involved in can be a welcome source of encouragement. Especially if you see them on the frontlines of getting the Gospel to penetrate not in areas where there is no Gospel witness, but also in areas where the Gospel is not dominant in people’s lives. Peacemaker Ministries is one ministry I am continually thankful for, mainly because they are living examples of workers who truly believe and see the fruit of biblical peacemaking take root in the lives of believers. Especially when they themselves didn’t think it was possible that certain conflicts could be resolved in the light of Scripture. Here’s their quarterly monthly report. Be encouraged.
• How do you comfort a brother or sister in Christ? What immediately comes to mind? Can I suggest that giving words of truth about God in Scripture would be good for the body of Christ to hear? Corresponding to our series of the attributes of God, here’s some good counsel given by God Himself concerning Himself, relayed to us by an ordinary pastor.
• Though written for the church leader, I think anyone can benefit from learning some biblical reasons why we all should learn to memorize Scripture, and to do it together. Anyone up for it?
• Piggybacking off Pastor Patrick’s message this past Sunday, here’s more thoughts on fellowship that may be just what we need to stay on the path in our Christian walks. May you take advantage of the means of grace that God has given every believer in His family.
• What do we really need in marriage? Mark Altrogge gives some great thoughts on some real expectations marrieds should have of their spouse.
• Paul Tautges has begun a 10-part series, giving a theological primer for counselors. So far, he’s covered theology proper, bibliology, the lordship of Christ, the Holy Spirit, Satan and his demons, the doctrine of man, and the doctrine of sin. Check next week for the completion of the series!
• Here’s a practical outworking of the sufficiency of Scripture that I think will be immensely useful. And it’s the beginning of a series! Bonus points!

That’ll do it for this week! Please pray for the Singles, who will be away for their retreat this upcoming weekend! See you back here in a week!

Soli Deo Gloria

by Stephen Rodgers

I’ve updated the original Strange Fire Conference post (again) with material that has become available since the original post went up.

This is a rather large update since I haven’t done this for a while, but I felt it was important to jam everything in there since there have been a number of very interesting responses and resources made available in the past several months.

Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two; your life preaches all the week. If Satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating; he has ruined his ministry.

Give yourself to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words from God. In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be success.

It is not great talents God blesses, so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awesome weapon in the hand of God. (Robert Murray M’Cheyne)

by Stephen Rodgers

A lot of folks are probably still recovering from Shepherds’ Conference last week, so we’ll keep this edition of the WL lean and mean so that people can get their free stuff and get back to the weekly madness.

• The free book from Logos for the month of March is Bonhoeffer for Armchair Theologians. In general, that’s a pretty good series for getting a high-level overview of various theological figures, so grab this if you’re a Logos-er.
• The free book of the month from christianaudio.com is Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. I’m not familiar with this book, and I know Nee is solid on some areas of doctrine but sketchy on a few others, so listen carefully and compare everything back to Scripture…just like you would for anything else really.
• Christianaudio.com is also giving away the Good News tracts collection for free. There are some familiar names on some good topics in there, so grab it if you think it might prove useful.
• The new Tabletalk is out: John Knox and the Scottish Reformation. This is basically the inspiration for the M’Cheyne quote above. Mary Queen of Scots once remarked that she feared Knox’s prayers more than any army in Europe. Grab Tabletalk and find out why.
• And last but not least, the free book of the month from Ligonier is Derek Thomas’ How the Gospel Brings Us All the Way Home. I have really been enjoying their monthly offerings, and I expect this will be no different.

Alright everyone. Have a good week! I’ll be back in my regular seat on Sunday, and I’ll hope to see you all there.

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Due to the Shepherds Conference, the Weekly Links won’t be up until Monday.

Don’t forget that if you time it right, you can watch the livestream. Otherwise, I’ll let you know when the audio is posted.

As Christians, we are here to serve (Matt. 20:25-28). When we are being productive, we are actually doing good works, which is part of the purpose for which God created us (Eph. 2:10). A good approach to getting things done reduces the friction in doing good and also amplifies our ability to do good. The result is that we can be of more benefit to others with less snags, stress, and confusing systems. (Matt Perman)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! It’s flocks week, which means most of you will be spending time with people from other affinity groups. Praise God for His powerful grace to save many unlike ourselves! Before you go (unless you already went), here are this week’s links. Enjoy!

• Desiring God had a post earlier this week focusing on short-term missions, using Epaphroditus as an example of how missions was done biblically. If you have ever gone on short-term missions, have supported short-term missions, or perhaps even desire to go on one (pretty much… every Christian), this is for you.
• Since the culture has sought to redefine marriage, and many are happy to live together without pursuing marriage, how would you answer the question, “Why get married at all?” Here’s seven reasons to get you started. Ryan T. Anderson addresses the prior question, “What is Marriage?“, and CBMW addresses cohabitation (“why get married when you can live together?”) and its sinful effects.
• Do you ever wonder what to say to someone when you’re told, “You’re only a Christian because you grew up in the US; you wouldn’t be one if you grew up in the Middle East”? Here’s a short response that is actually very uplifting when you think about it.
• Meditating on the Word of God can be hard to carve time out for, but Scripture calls for us to think deeply and regularly on God’s Word. Yet, how often do we see mention of meditation on blogs or in the books that we read? Tim Kerr has some helpful meditations on meditation, which is the first in a series of posts he plans on writing concerning this vital area of the Christian life.
• Staying on the theme of meditation, Joel Beeke gives some thoughts on how the Puritans meditated. It does sound foreign to meditate, but this makes me want to grow further in my love for Christ and His Word. I hope it’s the same for you.
• If you were given the opportunity to give a presentation of the Christian faith to a non-Christian, how would you go about doing that? As you ponder that (I’d challenge you to come up with a strategy before reading the link), Tim Keller expounds Blaise Pascal’s method for commending the Christian worldview. You may way to adopt his approach as a result.
• A couple weeks back I had linked to articles from the series, “Manhood and Technology.” Well, the series is complete and have a lot to offer us men. I’d highly recommend this series to you in order to become more discerning in our use of digital resources in a distinctly Christian manner.
• Justin Taylor recently interviewed David Wells concerning his new book, God in the Whirlwind, which would be well worth your time to watch. The video series on Crossway has just finished, where you can watch the previous clips, along with the written interview. Again, this comes at a good time while Singles and Grace Life are going over the attributes of God. Don’t miss out!
• How prepared would you say you are in sending off your kids to college, or adulthood, for that matter? What hurdles have to be overcome in order for your kids to be witnesses of Christ in the universities? Alex Chediak (whose earlier work Thriving at College is a very balanced book written for the collegian), in anticipation of his new book Preparing Your Teens for College, has identified some potential threats that are posed to our teens and some reminders of what parents can do to foster a healthy Christian home. The links at the end are helpful articles as well.
• As the culture and media continue to push back on religious liberty, we need to be informed and ready to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ. The most recent news item is the Arizona Religious Liberty Bill, which was vetoed on Wednesday, along with a federal judge’s striking down Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage. To get caught up, here’s a post from CBMW that gives the background information on what has happened, along with Christian responses. Don’t forget Denny Burke’s insightful analysis (all separate links), as well as Al Mohler’s The Briefing from yesterday.

That will do it for this week! Hope your weekend is filled with words that build up one another’s faith, and that Sunday is bursting with praise to our God. See you there!

Soli Deo Gloria