Quillette has been an interesting source of ideas. Though this article was published a couple of months ago, it makes some valuable points about what is the purpose of free speech. https://quillette.com/2019/08/18/free-speech-matters-even-when-its-not-protected-by-the-first-amendment/ UPDATE: 20200916 Well said. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/condemning-cuties-noncontroversial/ For a response (with which I disagree): https://quillette.com/2020/09/17/dont-listen-to-the-outrage-cuties-is-a-great-film/ Rom 3:8 “And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.”

I was converted in part out of a political ideology and as part of that move, I took a two-year political hiatus in which I neither read nor watched the news. (This all followed a destructive act of anger on my part and God’s gracious humbling.) Following my return from political abstention, I slowly began to digest the news, wary of becoming enraged, concerned that I did not know what my fellow man was experiencing around me.

The idea of God accepting us “just as we are” holds only a half-truth in it. First, accepting is a bad term to be used, even if it is readily accessible. What is communicated by accepting is not what is communicated on the cross. Jesus’s death and resurrection was not an acceptance of sin, but a continuing declaration of war that dealt a decisive victory against sin. Second, we are not accepted for who we are, but we are accepted based upon no prior criteria as God chose us before the foundation of the world, before we existed, before we had done any works or had willed anything; God chose according to his own mercy and grace and love, not according to anything within us; God does not accept us.

It’s great to see discussions like these happening. While I may have worded the counsel provided in this article differently, I think it is still very useful. There’s also some good import from this article on how does our faith influence our art. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/not-cliquish-silent-faith-work/ UPDATE: 20191017 A solid basic introduction to the Bible and friendship. Another good serieson friendship from TGC by Kevin DeYoung, which I utilized in some discipleship meetings with a student, is his “The Gift of Friendship and the Godliness of Good Friends”.

A helpful article for those of us who find ourselves working with those in our churches who are offended at the inclusive exclusivity of Christianity. We must do a good job of teaching our children, students, and church members. They must understand why we believe what we believe and we must help them to see the issues with holding onto ideas like “Christianity is a relationship, not a religion” and “I’m spiritual but not religious”.

We should be cautious about what kinds of pride we let dictate how we will serve our self-empyting (through addition) God. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dont-use-calling-avoid-serving/ UPDATE: 20200224 This is a great article that should be helpful for all those who think they have to wait to be hospitable. I encourage the read! https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/unfussy-hospitality/

A challenging idea! Our children’s books certainly need to be able to cover more ground than silly stories or political activism, and Jackie Gibson’s suggestion and her husband’s own publication may be one way forward! Something like this could accompany a catechism very well. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/children-death/ UPDATE: 20200206 Simple but great advice for nourishing and admonishing our children in the way they should go! https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/point-kids-gospel-great-books/ UPDATE: 20200208 An interesting take on how we can use things like Frozen 2 to teach our children and understand our children.

A good argument against pornography’s existence and use. There is so much more that could be said on the horrendous and heinous qualities of this sin, those who perpetuate this sin, and the nefarious industries which have arisen to satisfy the depraved desires of those lost in the sea of its destruction. What we do alone does not affect just us; all our actions are accountable before God and affects our community around us and around the world.

A great discussion to begin the conversation about how can we work as Protestants to reclaim good Christian art. There is a lot of things briefly touched upon here which I have tried to highlight in the post’s tags, but utilitarianism is definitely a major component. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/tgc-podcast/christian-art-often-bad/ UPDATE: 20191016 It is good to see Christian arts perform well at the box office and in other arenas, but I still believe Christian art, especially evangelical art, has a long way to go and improve.

Numbers like these should make the church consider whether or not higher accessibility in giving is worth the loss of giving in worship or the cut taken by companies for processing the church’s giving. There certainly are statistics pointing to higher amounts given when web-based giving is available. https://www.disrn.com/2019/09/27/digital-tithing-has-become-a-multi-billion-dollar-industry/ UPDATE: 20191021 An absolutely fascinating post! This gives a philosophical framework explaining why we do not need to fear the rise of machines.

Interesting thoughts about how to process the cultural shifts made by the Internet. Not unlike the argument I made in my poem, “The Search Engine Lament”, the book under review by Greg Bailey discusses how having a vast swath of information makes us process the information we have less. The Search Engine Lament Even companies are marketing in this way, arguing against information overload. (There was another company which marketed against it based on the idea that our brains would freeze because of how much information, but I can only seem to find Bing’s.

Ann Swindell writes about how motherhood has kept her from pursuing the type of work or art she enjoys, but how motherhood has been a blessing in seeing how God works in our lives. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/gift-frustrated-passions/

Desiring God has said it well. In the age of social media, our ability to argue, debate, critically think, analyze, synthesize, and the like have been degraded, corroded, and starved. Unlike the humanistic renaissance, if Wikipedia doesn’t include something (and hasn’t edited it out of existence), people are bound not to know the history of their ideas, culture, faith, or the like. Many modern peoples are happy eclectics, believing in disparate doctrines and ignoring the gulfs between them.

My introduction to biblical counseling came in the fall of 2017. I wish it had come sooner. The needs of the suffering are mountainous and deep valleys. Since then I have been learning much and growing in wisdom, and David Powlison’s writing and teaching has been moving, helpful, enlightening, and has been God-glorifying and worship-igniting. While I never met him, the Lord used him mightily for his kingdom, and I have no doubt will continue to use his writing and teaching and mentoring for years to come.

Corruption breeds in the dark; expose the darkness to the light. The prosperity gospel is a uniquely Western abomination that spawned within Christendom, spreading its virulent tentacles abroad, which must be squashed through the proclamation of the truth. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/pray-negative-prosperity-gospel-stories/