Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week:

• David Murray has “20 Helps to Sermon Listening.”  Number 1? “Read and mediate on God’s Word every day: Daily Bible reading whets our appetite for the main course on the Lord’s Day. We can’t expect to be ready to digest spiritual food if we’ve not been eating through the week. And don’t spoil your appetite by feasting on sin.”
• Have you considered the wonder of your salvation lately?  Think on the list of “75 Astonishing Things that Happen at Conversion” compiled by Paul Tautges.
• This article may not be well-received by some football-loving Christians, by Jared Wilson is right, we need to be “Thinking Evangelically About Tim Tebow.”
• A thoughtful, helpful article on a topic that too many joke about and do not think rightly or biblically about:  “Wisdom and Sex: Proverbs 5:1-23 (Thomas Schreiner).”

Some time ago the CNN website featured a woman who lived a promiscuous lifestyle for many years. She had many illicit relationships over the years and reflected on them at 40 years of age.  It is clear in the article that the woman who wrote the article isn’t a Christian.  She doesn’t fully understand what God teaches about sexual purity. But we see in her words that one can’t violate God’s ways without consequences. The image of God is etched in us, and we can’t escape God’s world. If we transgress his norms, those norms catch up with us. This woman experienced the consequences of sexual relationships without commitment. She felt the vanity and futility of casual sex. She lived a dissolute life for many years, but she came to see that causal sex doesn’t really exist. It led to “a cold, mechanical exchange” that left her “lonely and depressed.” She came to see that casual sex is “hollow” and “heartless.” We see that her experiment with casual sex failed. It didn’t bring her joy. She didn’t find meaning. Her sexual encounters had become as meaningful as wolfing down McDonald’s hamburgers when one is in a hurry.… [Read the rest]

• Jim Stitzinger offers “4 ways to cultivate evangelistic instincts:”

Evangelizing unbelievers can be difficult for the same reason criminals struggle to find policemen…most are not looking for one. Instead of pursuing others with the gospel, we are cocooned with those who already know it.  A vortex pulls us into Christian activities and lulls us toward indifference to those yet to repent.

Genuinely drawing near to Christ will rightly submerse us in believer’s fellowship, but it will simultaneously thrust us toward others in gospel ministry.  Heavily evangelistic churches become that way as individual believers are passionate and proactive in daily life. They implement the faithful exposition of Scripture and are propelled out to reach sinners for Christ.…

1. Spring load the gospel
2. Live well
3.  Engage your mission field
4.  Relentlessly love other believers.

• Just for fun:  “15 Uses: Old Books:”  5 furniture ideas, 5 for artistic uses and 5 ideas for the kids.  Here are the furniture ideas: