"Faith is to Be Awake, And to Be Awake is for Us to Think"

Posted on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 by Aimee Byrd on Housewife Theologian

When a Twenty-One Pilots song got me thinking about Rejoicing in Lament.

Well this is strange. My daughter was playing a song called "Car Radio" off her phone while we were riding in the car and something about it made me think of cancer. Well, not just cancer in general, but cancer and faith as Todd Billings describes it in his outstanding book, Rejoicing in Lament.
This Twenty-One Pilots song certainly didn’t sound like the type of music I suspect Billings listens to. But there is a message in this song about a guy whose car radio had been stolen, thus his distraction from his fears and emotions has been stolen.

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A Good Assistant Pastor--Easier Said Than Done

by Jason Helopoulos • February 17, 2015

A good Assistant Pastor can be one of the greatest blessings a local church enjoys or one of its greatest struggles. He possesses the ability to support or divide, build or teardown, encourage or discourage. He will be a help or a detriment--one or the other--a drain on the energies of the church and the Senior Pastor or one of their greatest refreshments. If you are a good one, keep at it. If you are looking for one, choose carefully. If you have one, thank him.

Good Assistant Pastors are hard to find. I don't say this, because I am one. I say this merely from observation and as the recipient of too many horror stories. A good Assistant Pastor must be marked by the same things as any other pastor. He must possess a love for God, His Word, and His people. He needs to be strong and winsome, a teacher yet teachable, a man of prayer and action. Yet, he also must possess some additional qualities. He is not only called to serve the congregation, but also the Senior Pastor.

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The Trap

Posted on Monday, February 16, 2015 by Carl Trueman on Postcards from Palookaville

Mark McDowell persuaded me to return briefly to Ref21 on the promise of pre-empting the annual TGC/YRR Ashandlentfest and, as a side attraction, the possibility of arousing the Anglicans from their dogmatic slumbers.  It plays out here:

The trap baited.

The bait taken.

The trap sprung.

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On Praying Publicly

Posted on Monday, February 16, 2015 by Todd Pruitt on 1517

Pastors, pray well for your congregation.

Charles Spurgeon suggested that the pastoral prayer may be the most important element of the church’s corporate worship. That may have been a bit of hyperbole. It may even be apocryphal. But I would suggest that a time for the pastor to publicly intercede for the people he serves should figure prominently in our Lord’s Day gatherings. 
Let us who serve as pastors not take for granted our times to pray publicly for those we serve.

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Ash on a Monday?

Posted on Monday, February 16, 2015 by Aimee Byrd on Housewife Theologian

And you don't have to forgo the Fasnachts.

There are plenty of commands in Scripture to be discerning. As I am reading through Christopher Ash’s excellent commentary on Job, I am realizing what a great illustration this book of the Bible is on the significance of separating the truth from the lies. I’m also getting further conditioning in the practice.
The speeches of Job’s three so-called comforters and friends have always wearied me. But Ash takes care to give them credit where credit is due.

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Responding to Todd's Question on Carl Lentz

Posted on Friday, February 13, 2015 by Carl Trueman on Postcards from Palookaville

Predictable, oh so predictable.

In responding to Todd, I am tempted to make a comment about the church dying from the death of a thousand cliches.  'The story is not the clothes people wear.  It's the lives they lead' is almost as good as 'We have a stance on love, and we have a conversation on everything else.'  Big Eva has found its postmodern Master Po, only with better hair and better eyesight (though no doubt 'it's not about the hair, it's about the journey to the salon....').

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Carl Lentz and Hillsong go Hollywood

Posted on Friday, February 13, 2015 by Todd Pruitt on 1517

It was bound to happen...

It was bound to happen. Actually I feel quite stupid for missing an opportunity to prophesy this rather unsurprising event. It seems that Carl Lentz and his New York Hillsong franchise are now going to be managed by the William Morris Agency out of Hollywood. A more fitting relationship I cannot fathom. Read about it, if you dare, HERE. 

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A Good Man IS Hard to Find

Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2015 by Aimee Byrd on Housewife Theologian

With Valentine's Day approaching and the Fiddy Shades fiasco, I thought this would be appropos. I know, I'm such a romantic.

Have you ever thought about what your dying words would be? Well, I have, and I asked that question to my Bible study gals as we were studying the faith of the patriarchs. In Hebrews 11:20-22 we see faith that finishes well. Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph end their lives holding fast to the confession of their hope without wavering (10:23).

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Avoiding a Spirit of Lethargy (Part 1)

by Scott Redd • February 12, 2015

Do I have what it takes? It’s a question that all of us have asked ourselves. Some of you ask it every day. Do I have what it takes to succeed in this life? What if I don’t? What would they say about me? The pressure of the question can be so great that some of us are tempted to fail out of the gate--to undermine our own efforts before we even start. So often those who care the most about success make the least effort.

Do I have what it takes? It’s a question that all of us have asked ourselves. Some of you ask it every day. Do I have what it takes to succeed in this life? What if I don’t? What would they say about me? The pressure of the question can be so great that some of us are tempted to fail out of the gate--to undermine our own efforts before we even start. So often those who care the most about success make the least effort.

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Christward Collective is a conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Christward Collective and the mission of the Alliance.

Two of my good friends and colleagues speak on church history

Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 by Carl Trueman on Postcards from Palookaville

Bruce Gordon, of Yale, and Jon Master, of Cairn, talk church history.

Bruce Gordon, the Titus Street Professor of Church History at Yale University Divinity School, has made some wonderful contributions to the scholarly world of church history.  Bruce and I first met at a monastery, of all places, in January 1989, when we were both postgraduates in Church History in Scotland and -- what can I say?

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Mortification of Spin is a casual conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Mortification of Spin and the mission of the Alliance.
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