Aaron Armstrong

bloggingtheologically.com

missions

Links I like (4/17)

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Links I like (2018 edition)

Podcast: On the latest episode of The Hero of the Story, Andy McLean steps in to discuss the need for gospel purity in student ministry. This was a fun (and challenging) conversation), so I hope you’ll check it out.

Seven Marks of a Workaholic

David Murray:

Workaholism is probably the most respectable sin in the Christian community, and maybe especially among pastors. In this Harvard Business Review podcast (and transcript) Nancy Rothbard, a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, “draws a distinction between workaholism and working long hours. She explains the health consequences of being addicted to your work. She also gives practical advice for managing work addiction, whether it’s you who’s suffering, your direct report, boss, peer, or partner.”

Ask Ligonier with Sinclair Ferguson: Live at 7pm ET

This will be interesting.

What Seminary Didn’t Teach Ray Ortlund

The Humble Leader

Eric Geiger:

So how can leaders recognize our drift from humility to pride?

Look for entitlement. Entitlement always rises as pride rises. It is impossible to be filled with humility and a sense of entitlement at the same time. Whenever we feel we are owed something, it is because we have forgotten that God is the One who gives all good things.

Give Us Two Years, and We’ll Change the World

JD Greear:

This month we are commissioning the 1,000th Summit Church member to go out with one of our church planting teams, many of those having been compelled by our two-year challenge. Dream about this: What would it look like if every Southern Baptist college student accepted this challenge and pursued the first two years of his or her career in conjunction with a Southern Baptist church plant? Can you imagine the catalyst this would provide for church planting? NAMB and IMB have identified cities and regions ready to host these students, retirees, and others ready to transplant their lives for the sake of gospel mobilization.

On Meetings that Should be Emails: How to Handle Time-Wasters

Joel Rainey:

ou simply cannot allow your time—possibly the most precious commodity you have to give—to be stolen by people and events that will keep you from doing what you know God has called you to do. It may seem cold, but the fact is that the world is full of time-wasters—people who will suck the life out of you, and the effectiveness out of your ministry. When you allow that to happen, everyone you serve suffers for it. Conversely, when you refuse to give in, it may seem at first like the time-waster is suffering. But in reality, maybe he or she will learn as lesson as well.

Are we both “old” and “new” at the same time?

A favorite from the archives:

It’s one of the perennial problems of the Christian life: I’m supposed to be a new person, but I don’t really feel like it. My struggles are still there. I keep sinning even when I don’t want to—am I doing something wrong?

This is a problem I’ve dealt with for pretty much my entire life as a Christian, and I don’t expect to stop having days when I go to bed thinking, “man, I really blew it today…” (Not that I want to do this, mind you; I just expect it.)

Links I like (12/19)

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Links I like

10 Christmas Carols Everyone Should Know

Keith Getty:

It’s all too easy to look up at the end of December and—poof—realize the opportunity for meaningful reflection has passed, vacuumed up or packed away for next year, like another decoration. So this Christmas, how can we truly be present and not just buy presents? We find the answer in the most fundamental (and perhaps surprising) of places—in singing traditional carols together.

Signs You are on the Pathway from Stressed to Depressed

The One Little Word That Changed the World

JD Greear:

Luther knew something that we often forget. He knew that in that little word of faith is the power of God. It makes the sinner righteous. It makes the lame walk, the blind see, and the dead live. It frees the captive from the powers of addiction and heals the wounds of years of selfishness and abuse. It is the power of salvation to all who believe it. It turns tragedy into triumph and makes us more than conquerors through him who loves us. When we believe it, it releases in us the power of the Spirit, so much so that not even the gates of hell can withstand us.

A Vibrant Theological Painting

Chris Nye:

If our theological convictions were a house, some books build the foundation, stabilizing the ideas we hold about God. Others paint the structure with brilliant and beautiful colors, giving what we believe about God a kind of vibrancy.

The trick, then, is to discern which books should build up the foundation, and which should be left for the painting. It’s not hard to imagine readers wondering where exactly to place Emmanuel Carrère’s latest book, The Kingdom, as they construct their own theological house.

Why Take a Short-term International Mission Trip?

Rob Hurtgen:

The Lord has been incredibly gracious allowing me to travel and serve him in some unique places around the world. These short-term mission trips have not only impacted my faith but have shaped me as a pastor. On occasion I have been asked, “Why, when it is so expensive to travel and there are so many needs here should anyone take a short-term mission trip?” I would like briefly offer some reasons as to why you should consider taking a short-term mission trip in 2018.

This Christmas, I’m Defining Family by My Single Friends

Lore Wilbert:

Although the nuclear family was then and still is an essential part of a flourishing society, nonetheless, Christ calls us to expand our loyalties to the larger family of God and extend hospitality to those around us.

The need for this hospitality is everywhere, if only we’ll see and respond.

When the Grinch listens to Christmas music

A favorite from the archives:

As anyone who’s been reading this blog for at least a year knows, I’m not a huge fan of Christmas music, especially a lot of the stuff geared toward Christians (far too much “Mary Did You Know,” not nearly enough “Child of Glory”). I’ve shared a few examples of what I think are good and bad Christmas songs in the past (and I stand by them all), but today I wanted to share a few albums that even grinches like me can enjoy.

Links I like (11/23)

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Links I like

Church Plants Need Shepherds, Not Entrepreneurs

Matt McCullough:

As a church planter, you have to be willing to do whatever needs to be done. You can’t rely on a well-oiled machine in which you have a limited role to play, doing only what you’re good at while other specialists handle everything else. Because there are no systems in place, you have to be able to plan, to see the big picture, and to recognize what steps to take in what order to reach your goals. You have to deal with constant context-shifting, and you can’t be above the range of menial tasks each day might bring.

Struggling Toward Thanksgiving

Trevin Wax:

My wife and I are struggling toward Thanksgiving this year.

Struggling to take part in a celebration in which we are supposed to express gratitude, draw close to family, and enjoy the moments of this season. Struggling in the heart to feel thankful when the trauma of 2017 has crowded out the usual joys.

Crucial Questions: 28 Free eBooks from R.C. Sproul

This is a very helpful series, and you can get them all free.

To My Heroes: Bi-vocational and Small Church Pastors

Juan Sanchez:

Sadly, though, I sense that my bi-vocational and small church brother pastors are often discouraged in their ministries. So, allow me to offer seven reasons for my bi-vocational and small church brother pastors to be thankful. Rejoice and be thankful for…

5 Readings for Your Thanksgiving Gathering

These are great.

A Call for Patient Evangelism

Caleb Greggsen:

Almost everyone knows the story of Adoniram Judson. But among the most God-honoring and baffling parts of his story is what happened on his way to the mission field: he broke his ties with the Congregationalist Church because he changed his convictions on baptism. His friend and fellow laborer, Luther Rice, had similarly shifted. Rice returned to the U.S. to raise support from Baptist churches for Judson, who was now a missionary without any sending churches. Under Rice’s initiative, Baptist churches in the U.S. supported Judson for decades—without ever even meeting him. Rice returned home in 1812, but Judson’s first and only visit back wasn’t until 1845, more than 30 years later.

In other words, these churches faithfully supported the ministry of a man they’d never met. They only knew Judson by way of his reputation and the letters that came several months after current events. He never once visited with rousing stories of regular converts.

If I were celebrating Thanksgiving…

A favorite from the archives:

There are times when I get envious of my friends in America. It’s not because I am not happy to be a Canadian (I’m just fine with that), or anything like that. But one of the things we don’t really do well here is celebrate. We don’t have a terribly strong national identity (at least among the current generation of Canadians), and we fail to take serious stock of our history. The thing we’re most confident of, it seems, is the fact that we have “free” healthcare (if by free you mean, paid for through your income taxes rather than an insurance policy).

So when I see how American friends seem to genuinely love their country, and celebrate their history (even if they sometimes creatively edit it), I get a twinge of jealousy. But that’s kind of silly, isn’t it?

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