Aaron Armstrong

bloggingtheologically.com

Christianity

Weekend reading (5/12)

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Weekend Reading

The Gospel at the Center: Watch the first session now

The new webcast from The Gospel_Project is coming up on May 21. Find out who’s speaking and watch the first session now. And don’t forget to sign-up at live.gospelproject.com to see the whole thing next week.

How to read a 240 page book in 2 hours

Jesse Wisnewski:

Reading is the best thing I’ve done to help me progress professionally.

From working as a retail store manager and in a call center, to working as a senior marketing manager for one of the world’s largest publishing companies to a senior content marketer for an online and mobile giving provider, reading has been the most influential catalyst in my professional development.

But trying to read more books can be frustrating.

Avoid engagement bait

Chris Martin:

Facebook has never been more difficult to use from a content and marketing perspective.

The target is always moving when it comes to what “success” looks like on Facebook, which can make life frustrating for the social media marketer. But, as I have said before, this is part of what makes Facebook fun for me. It feels like a game whose rules constantly change.

One of the most recent rule changes on Facebook is the suppression of content that includes “engagement bait.”

God Hates Abuse

Chad Ashby:

The primary message an abused woman should hear from a minister of Christ is that the Lord is the protector of the weak. He is our Boaz, the gentle, kind, and strong Redeemer who spreads his wing of protection over us (Ruth 2:12). Like Naomi spoke to Ruth, the voice of the church should unequivocally call a vulnerable woman to the safety of Jesus Christ: “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted” (Ruth 2:22, ESV). We make that safety tangible by surrounding a victim with advocates, counselors, and resources to help her make the difficult choices that lay ahead.

6 Important Reminders for Leaders from Proverbs

Eric Geiger:

The Bible is not a self-help book given to us to help us become better people, better leaders, or better at whatever it is we attempt. If it is about leadership, it is about God’s rule and reign and His relentless pursuit of people. At the same time, the Bible is incredibly practical and offers us wisdom on how to live life well. Some time ago, I offered a list of ten proverbs for leaders, from the Book of Proverbs. With some added commentary, here are six important reminders for leaders from Proverbs.

Time to Cut the Emotional Umbilical Cord

Scott Sauls:

If Lewis is right, that God alone can provide the answer to the ache in our souls, then just how do we live in the reality that only God clearly lights our way? How do we store up treasures in heaven while ceasing to store up treasures on earth? How do we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, that all these things may be added to us also? How do we exchange our life lie for the truth of God and lean our success ladders against the right wall instead of the wrong one? How do we loosen our grip on the seductive “Precious” to, instead, return the embrace of God, who alone can fill the “infinite abyss” that is our grand and glorious, image-bearing souls?

What makes a book worth re-reading?

A favorite from the archives:

In my house, we have very different reading styles. Emily rarely reads a book more than once. Abigail cycles through some books (particularly graphic novels) multiple times a week. Me… I have a few that I come back to repeatedly, but not a ton. So what makes a book worth re-reading? Here’s what I look for.

Weekend reading (4/21)

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Weekend Reading

Don’t Celebrate Brokenness 

Erik Reed:

One value at the church I pastor, The Journey Church, is “pompous-free realness.” This refers to our unwillingness to celebrate facades or masks. We discourage pretending in church because there is a full quota on churches hosting weekly masquerade balls. Churches must be places of refuge for hurting people. People crave realness. So, I am for broken people and welcoming the broken. I do not discourage brokenness. I certainly do not encourage pretending to be good when you, in fact, are not.

My concern is how we use the word. Brokenness is not an excuse to remain in our sins. It is not a justification for habitual wrongdoing. You cannot disregard repentance by pleading “I’m broken.”

Disneyflix is coming. Netflix should be scared.

This is interesting:

Disney, in other words, is constructing what looks to be a worthy rival to Netflix. Will this be enough to inaugurate another century of dominance? Based on its public statements and on private conversations I’ve had with Disney executives, the company’s most likely path forward is to nurture Disneyflix gradually, in an effort to ease the decline of pay-TV and film—the equivalent of saving its flooding fortress by plugging each new leak as it springs. That may be a prudent way to maintain the status quo for a few more years. To save the kingdom, however, Disney may have to blow up the castle.

Rob Bell, Fundamentalist: 5 Ironies from the New Bell Film

Owen Strachan:

I just watched the new Rob Bell documentary. It’s entitled The Heretic. Here’s a better title for it: The Fundamentalist: Rob Bell Walks Through Airports. I’ll explain what I mean below, and encourage you to listen to the podcast I recently recorded with Isaac Dagneau of indoubt ministries.

After viewing The Heretic, I was struck by five ironies that relate not merely to Bell, but “progressive” post-evangelical gurus more broadly. Here they are.

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands—Including Your Kids

Jared Kennedy:

A stewardship vision of parenting—one that says my kids belong to God—is scary, since God doesn’t always meet our expectations. He doesn’t see as we see, nor should he. His vision for our lives is better. Embracing this truth is ultimately freeing, and it will lead us to gratitude.

How to complete a session of The Gospel Project in 20 minutes

This was a fun post to write.

Be Heavenly Minded So That You’re of Earthly Good

T.D. Alexander:

While Christians aren’t immune to feelings of despair and hopelessness, faith in Jesus Christ lessens the pain of pessimism and despair. Faith in the resurrected Son of God gives us confidence to trust that this life is but the prelude to something more wonderful.

Earth Day, religious devotion and creation care

A favorite from the archives:

The first time I heard about Earth Day was when it interrupted my Saturday morning cartoons. I was probably seven or eight at the time, and this particular weekend NBC decided to air one of their NBC All Star type shows. This one featured the Huxtable family talking about how we shouldn’t be taking long showers as it wastes water. This was a way we could take care of Planet Earth. Next, came the announcement at school: because we had to do our part to care for the planet, we’d be spending a couple hours on Earth Day cleaning up trash in the school yard and the surrounding neighborhood.

Links I like (4/19)

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Links I like (2018 edition)

Webcast: We’re gearing up for the next webcast with The Gospel Project, The Gospel at the Center. Recently, Matt Chandler joined us to invite you all to this event:

Learn more at live.gospelproject.com.

What I Didn’t Know Before I Wrote a Book

Chris Martin:

In the spring of 2014, Trevin Wax and I were having lunch in the LifeWay cafeteria when he said I should write a blog on how evangelical pastors can better minister to Millennials.

I balked at the idea…hard.

“It’s so clichĂŠ to talk about Millennials,” I remember saying to him, “I just don’t wanna be ‘the Millennial guy.’”

Well, here we are.

Racial Reconciliation: What We (Mostly, Almost) All Agree On, and What We (Likely) Still Don’t Agree On

I think Kevin DeYoung does a good job of summarizing the big ideas of what we do and don’t disagree on.

Why good theology is the answer to bad technology

David Murray:

The longer I’ve wrestled with the challenges of digital technology in my life and in the lives of others, the more convinced I’ve become that the ultimate answer is not “no technology” or “more technology,” but “more theology.”

Who Will Save Superman?

Russell Moore:

I do not write this as a neutral observer, but as a fan of the character—and the larger DC universe—since before I was even able to read. The stories from Smallville and Metropolis (and Gotham and Central City and Paradise Island) populated the Fortress of Solitude that was my childhood imagination in ways that, looking back, I think pointed me onward to the writings of Lewis and Tolkien and beyond. But why did I, along with millions of others over the past eighty years, want to put that red blanket over my shoulders and pretend to fly?

4 Reasons Why Pastoral Honeymoons Are Shrinking

Eric Geiger:

If you aren’t familiar with the term or concept of a “pastoral honeymoon,” it refers to the period of time after a new pastor arrives. It can refer to other pastors and leaders on staff too, not just the senior pastor. During the pastoral honeymoon, the leader enjoys a season of support and grace. The people want the leader to be able to make decisions, set direction, and build the team he would like to work with. During the honeymoon period, the church as a whole is committed to assuming the best about the pastor’s motives and about the decisions that are being made.

Be Countercultural and Enjoy Your Work

Russell Meek:

The Bible in its ancient context was a profoundly countercultural document. Its creation account revealed a single, omnipotent ruler. There were no shenanigans; there were no death matches with other gods. There was only Yahweh. It presented a lofty vision of humanity created in God’s own image for the purpose of ruling his creation as his emissaries, a far cry from other ancient Near Eastern accounts in which humans were slaves created to serve the needs of the gods. Its laws valued life over property in distinction to other law codes, such as Hammurabi’s.

On hope, joy, pain, and false dichotomies

A favorite from the archives:

How many of us would say we are joyful people? Chances are, probably not that many.

And we all have reasons, probably really good ones. Maybe we’ve been lied about by someone we thought was trustworthy. Perhaps we were abused verbally, physically, or spiritually. Maybe we deal with depression, or struggle to make sense of the loss of someone close to us. Maybe it’s just that God seems to have abandoned us… or at least that he’s got better things to do with his time than to deal with you and me.

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