Aaron Armstrong

bloggingtheologically.com

Bible translations

Weekend reading (1/21)

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Introducing the Christian Standard Bible

Here’s a look a brief introduction to an excellent English translation of the Bible.

3 Principles to Communicate the Bible

Michael Kelley:

Many years ago I was impressed with my own rhetorical skill and put together a sermon I was super proud of. I started with a lengthy and elaborate illustration using Gilligan’s Island as the premise. I wrote out the sermon which explained how all of us, from time to time, get stuck on a spiritual island. I spoke of how we might use all kinds of things to get off that island – we might use our intelligence, our money, our talent, our charm. See what I did there with each of the characters on the TV show?

Yep. I did that. And then, after I wrote it, I remember thinking to myself, I should find some Bible verses to stick into this talk.

4 Things to Tell Yourself When Worry Settles In

I needed to read this post by Rob Tims.

A Literary Journey into God’s Love

Jared Wilson shares his non-fiction reading for 2017, which is focused on the subject of God’s love.

The Power and Phobia of Public Speaking in Ministry

Eric Geiger:

While movements are launched and sustained through spoken words, many people are terrified of speaking. While some use public speaking as a powerful tool, it is terrifying to others. Spoken words may launch and sustain movements, but a plethora of people experience anxiety even imagining standing in front of a group of people to deliver a message. The Washington Post, for example, reported that more Americans fear public speaking than heights, bugs, and drowning.

Faithfulness in the Age of Trump

Trevin Wax:

Today, we are called to be faithful to Jesus in the age of Trump. And that task may actually be harder. Why? Because the lines between Christian principle and Trump’s policies are drawn in different and unfamiliar places, and because many conservative Christians belong to the party that Trump now leads.

So what will faithfulness in the Trump era look like? Here are four words of caution for believers today that should apply to you, no matter how you voted.

A short reading list for every prospective minister

A favorite from the archives:

I asked the folks on Twitter and Facebook to recommend two books every prospective minister should read. Obviously, the Bible should always be primary, but we would do ourselves a profound disservice to neglect the thoughtful writings of others. Two books are never going to be enough to capture everything a pastor needs to know, and so I’ve compiled the six most frequent answers into the following short reading list for every prospective minister.

Links I like

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links-weekday

Kindle deals for Christian readers

Lots of new stuff today for those looking to stock up on reference materials from Zondervan:

The overlooked hope for Susan Pevensie

Joshua Rogers:

Although I’ve read The Chronicles of Narnia dozens of times since I was a boy, Susan’s tragic end gets me every time. The book eventually reveals that Susan grows up and outgrows her love for Narnia. We get few details about her until the end of the book, when High King Peter responds to an inquiry into his sister’s whereabouts.

When The World Has Gone Mad

Really appreciated what Mike says in this piece.

Three books every church planter should read

The guys at TGC asked 20 leaders to recommend three books to prospective church planters. There’s a lot of good stuff on this list.

Three Problems with Asking Religious Questions of Political Candidates

Thabiti Anyabwile:

This morning I’m more concerned about what such questions suggest about those of us who ask them and the place of such questions in our political discourse. Here are three such concerns.

6 Areas of End Times Agreement

Chris Brauns:

While there are many different interpretations of how events of the end times will unfold, orthodox, Bible-believing Christians passionately agree about the most important matters. Here I point out six end times areas of agreement about which the Bible is explicit.

When the Unbeliever Departs

Rachel Watson:

We were friends for years before dating. We dated for years before getting engaged. We had the support of our families, friends, and church. My dad performed our wedding ceremony, and my best friend made the cake. He was even my first kiss.

Not long ago was our fifth wedding anniversary, and I spent it in my old bedroom at my parents’ house. He spent it in a half-filled apartment several states away. This just isn’t how I thought my life would go.

Vader’s redemption

This is what happens when you play the Imperial March in a major key. And while it is awful, it is interesting:

Wycliffe Associates Leaves Bible Translation Alliance over ‘Son of God’ for Muslims

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra:

A long-running debate among Bible translators over how to best convey the Trinity to Muslims has led one group to distance itself from others.

Wycliffe Associates (WA)—a smaller and separate organization from Wycliffe USA (the American chapter of Wycliffe Bible Translators)—is leaving Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA), a partnership of more than 100 Bible translation agencies around the globe.

Links I like (weekend edition)

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Kindle deals for Christian readers

On the audiobook front, ChristianAudio’s free book of the month is Anna and the King of Siam. And finally, Westminster Books is giving you a $5 coupon, good for anything in the store, if you watch a 5-minute video.

How Not to Argue: The Problem of ‘Folk Fallacies’

Joe Carter, kicking off a new series:

Argumentation is the act or process of forming reasons and of drawing conclusions and applying them to a case in discussion. Christians are required to argue (1 Peter 3:15), so we should learn to do it well. When it comes to learning how to argue, you can find no better model than Jesus. (Which is why I co-wrote a book titled, How to Argue Like Jesus).

But you can also learn to argue well by learning how not to argue. On that subject, I’m somewhat of an expert. Over several decades I’ve argued a lot and, on the whole, made quite a mess of it. But while I have a woefully rudimentary knowledge about how to argue (a shameful admission considering I wrote a book on the subject), I’ve learned more than my share about how not to argue.

The great translation debate

Adam Ford summarizes it pretty well.

The Failure of Intellectual Imagination

Derek Rishmawy:

We seem to live in an age that lacks intellectual imagination; at least when it comes to the thought processes of others. One of the most glaring (and personally annoying) examples of this is on display in many modern “intellectual conversion” narratives. It could be about any issue really, whether politics, or religion, or broader ethical issues, it’s very common to find a thread along the lines of:

“I used to believe position X for stupid, hateful Reason Y.  Reason Y must be only reason to believe position X.”

They Know Not What They Do

Greg Forster:

The open persecution of explicitly anti-Christian tyrants, while harder to endure, is easier to understand than the more complex attacks on the church in America today. From Nero to Kim Jong-un, tyrants have always been more or less the same. Lying behind all their actions, you will find some combination of traditional cultural superstitions, cynical political manipulations, and that special breed of insanity that absolute power always seems to nurture in those who possess it. Small consolation this may be to those who suffer under tyranny, but there are few puzzles about how and why tyrants do what they do.

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