Let’s get your Thursday started off with some links.

What a Pro-Life Church Looks Like

A pro-life culture in church doesn’t end at the grave.  A pro-life culture starts on the other side of the grave and is pulled backwards from there into this side of it.

Why is Fear an Evangelical Habit of Mind?

This was an interesting read, is it true? “But history teaches us that evangelicals should be more suspicious about who is stoking that fear, and to what ends. And, if Marilynne Robinson is right—if “fear is not a Christian habit of mind”—we would all do well to consider why it seems to have become an evangelical habit of mind.”

What I Really Think About Halloween

If you asked me my favorite holiday, I would probably say Christmas or Easter, but I wouldn’t want to risk saying that while hooked up to a lie detector. The polygraph would probably jump around erratically until I blushingly admitted the truth: it’s always been Halloween.

Christianity: A Spiritual Contact Sport

As I hear many Christians react to the changes in our culture, I hear panic in their voices. In fact, I would say that fear of the changes we are facing in the culture grips and controls many professing believers. 

So, how do we respond to cultural declension and intimidation that we see happening? This is not a new question for Christians. Thankfully, we have a good roadmap in the Bible for how to deal with this. And the examples laid before us involve contexts that are far more difficult than the one we find ourselves in.

Lord, Help Me See Their Destiny

Saving sinners is God’s delight, and it should be ours as well. But too often, we are fearful, shortsighted, and unmoved by the fact that billions of people are on their way to an eternal hell. We need God’s intervention to stir zeal in our hearts for evangelism. What follows are four simple prayers that ask God to help us join him in saving the lost.

Happy Reformation Day, Happy Halloween, Happy Harvest Festival, Happy 10/31 not sure which you will be celebrating or if you just treat it as any other day, either way here are some links for your edification.

Reformation Day: What Did Martin Luther Protest?

With the commemoration date of the Reformation on October 31, 1517, the 501st anniversary is upon us. It was the day when that little known monk, Martin Luther, nailed a document written in Latin to the doors of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. In doing so, Luther was not intending to start the Reformation, but, to simply dispute the nature of Rome’s teaching on indulgences.

The Lionhearted Listener: The Habit That Set Luther on Fire

The Ninety-Five Theses may not have been nailed to the door, as the scene has been famously painted. They were probably pasted with glue. Pieces like these were often posted to the door, which served as a bulletin board for the university. Luther likely did not even post the theses himself. But his ninety-five nails drove deeper than any metal might have, because they were forged for this emerging war in the fire of divine revelation.

7 Life Lessons for My Younger Self

Very helpful and practical.

Discipling a Generation Who Grew Up with Porn

I’m a pastor in a college town, not a social scientist. I can’t tell you how many young Christians view pornography regularly. But I can tell you that when I meet with young men, I don’t have to ask, “Have you struggled with pornography?” I can save time by simply asking, “Would you tell me about your struggle with pornography?”

Here are some helpful links for your day!

4 Habits to Cultivate During Times of Change

If you are in a period of struggle, and you’re not quite sure how you’re doing (or maybe you know how you’re doing and the answer is not well at all), here are 4 habits to cultivate during this time of change:

What’s Wrong With The Prosperity Gospel?

Advice From Spurgeon For Those In The Age Of Social Media

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) died a century before Mankind mastered the ability to pass along unverified news stories and unfounded rumors at the speed of light. But while the medium is new, the sin of gossip isn’t, and Spurgeon’s warning remains as relevant as ever.

Distraction Can Cost You Everything

Everything hangs on how well you hear what God is saying — what we commonly call the word of God. And hearing God well requires your close attention. Are you paying attention?

Six Spiritual Causes of Depression

As we’ve already noted, Richard Baxter understood that there was often a physical cause in depression and recommended medicine in such cases. But he also recognized that there were often spiritual causes of depression. For example, he mentions:

 

Hope everyone had a restful Lord’s Day.

Joni Eareckson Tada on When Is It Right to Die?

I can’t say enough about When Is It Right to Die? Joni is not a professional ethicist pondering the theoretical; she is a wise and devoted Jesus-follower living out the actual, every day for the past fifty years. She has met and listened to thousands of people whose lives are often seen, sometimes even by themselves, as less than meaningful or worthwhile. She shares many of their stories with compassion and empathy. Joni is both a veteran and an expert on every facet of this issue—in fact, she has advised presidents concerning it. She knows the facts and the complexities, and offers no easy answers, but nonetheless she writes with profound wisdom and eternal perspective.

WHAT A PARABLE TEACHES US ABOUT EVANGELISM

We’ll encounter a lot of reactions as we share the gospel. Perhaps more often than not, a large percentage of our efforts will feel as if we’re sowing among “bad soil.” So are we wasting our time?

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Pastors Need Rest Too

Church planting can be exhausting. Starting anything is hard. It takes all of your effort, and then a whole helping of God’s grace to establish a gospel outpost in a hard place. But the God who called you there didn’t call you to work without ceasing. He gave you the work and invites you to rest. So, here are a few rest tips from a rest failure like me, learning how to lay down my work so I can take up some Sabbath habits.

If You Hate Jews, You Hate Jesus

We should say clearly to anyone who would claim the name “Christian” the following truth: If you hate Jews, you hate Jesus.

When You Feel Like a (Christian) Imposter

It’s called Imposter Syndrome, and while the name might not be familiar to you, the concept behind it is sure to be. Imposter Syndrome is the haunting feeling that you can’t really do what everyone expects you to be able to do. It assumes any success you’ve experienced was an unrepeatable fluke. You’re a fraud, and any moment now everyone is going to realize that…There’s a similar feeling that easily creeps into our Christian lives as well. We walk into church on Sunday and look around. Everyone else looks as though they belong here. They seem to have the Christian life figured out (or so we think). But Christianity doesn’t feel so natural to us. It feels far from second nature.

Satisfied in the Arms of Another

So, if you are a Christian experiencing same-sex attractions, here are four truths I believe will help you fight well and flourish in your faith in Jesus.

Needed: Word-Spreading Women

God’s people have the astounding privilege of passing on the good news of what God has done for us through the death of Christ on our behalf and his resurrection from the grave. Although it is clearly the concern of the whole church—both men and women—the subject of sharing the gospel is one that women will do well to consider deeply together.

5 MYTHS THE CHURCH OFTEN BELIEVES ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

A Google search reveals various myths about domestic violence, but what myths are signature beliefs within the church?

Peter, Paul, and Race

Now, I want to go back to my earlier clarifications: I am not saying Galatians is about race. I’m not even saying Paul’s ultimate concern is the sin (whether of racism specifically or legalism generally), but rather the gospel: that no person is justified by anything—whether religion or race—except for faith alone in Christ alone. But the idea that there are racial justice concerns in the Jew/Gentile tension and Paul’s rebuke of Peter is not weird, new, or even wrong. 

A Human Life Well Lived: Eugene Peterson

The end of all Christian belief and obedience, witness and teaching, marriage and family, leisure and work life, preaching and pastoral work is the living of everything we know about God: life, life, and more life. If we don’t know where we are going, any road will get us there. But if we have a destination–in this case a life lived to the glory of God–there is a well-marked way, the Jesus-revealed Way

What Eugene Peterson Taught Me About Self-Protection

As I reflect today on the death of the writer/pastor Eugene Peterson, I can’t help but think about many of the things he taught me. One of the most important, though, was a lesson in anatomy, on the difference between the skeleton of a beetle and a kitten. Believe it or not, that lesson has proven to be one of the most important for my life.

Ten Years from Now, How Secularism and Church Diversity Intersect

Very insightful article.

“In light of the changing life of the church, what exactly will the nation look like ten years from now?“

Why the Reformation Still Matters

None of the goodness or relevance of the Reformation’s insights have faded over the last five hundred years. The answers to the same key questions still make all the difference between human hopelessness and happiness. What will happen to me when I die? How can I know? Is justification the gift of a righteous status (as the Reformers argued), or a process of becoming more holy (as Rome asserts)? Can I confidently rely for my salvation on Christ alone, or does my salvation also rest on my own efforts toward and success in achieving holiness?

What Makes a Woman Strong

God delights in strong women. We in the church should, too. 

Our celebration of strong women in the body of Christ should be heard loud and clear. What needs to be heard as well is a joyful embracing of what the Bible celebrates as a strong woman. There’s no biblical formula for a strong, godly woman. But as the Spirit opens our eyes, we can dig relentlessly into God’s revelation, to get a clearer and clearer view.

Your Church Is Not a Restaurant

How do you view church?

There are so many good links, here are just a few I dived into.

10 Things You Should Know about the Ten Commandments

Kevin DeYoung is helpful here.

3 Characteristics of Childish Christians in Your Church

We should aspire for a childlike faith and abhor a childish one. A childlike faith is a faith that trusts and a faith that is in awe. A childish faith is a faith that, according to Andrew Murray, creates division, is unable to help others, and display gifts without grace.

The Scariest Thing about Introverts

Introverts drive extroverts crazy. Or should I say, extroverts drive introverts crazy?

Movies Every Millennial Dad Should Introduce to His Kids

This was an interesting list.

Why Ben Sasse Quit Twitter for Half a Year—And What He Now Teaches His Family about Social Media

Helpful post with some guidelines to consider. “When we’re constantly online, it means that the people who are literally, physically, in front of us—our spouse, our kids, our coworkers—are being sidelined in favor of people who are far away (some of whom we’ve probably never even met).”

12 RULES FOR SPEAKING LIFE-GIVING WORDS

Let me encourage us, then, in this way – before we post anything on social media, before we send an email, before we respond to another brother or sister, review these twelve rules and choose to speak life-giving words. I’ve updated the language and added applicable Proverbs.