Podcast: on the latest episode of The Hero of the Story, Brian and I discuss finding Christ in the hard to read books of the Bible (like Leviticus).
Humanity’s Fall and God’s Redemption
Samantha Sykora:
Do you feel it – that gnawing desire for more that often diverts you onto a quest for contentment in all the wrong places? Maybe you feel that insatiable lust for attention or approval that enslaves you to vanity and fear of man? Maybe you feel that sideways glance mixed of envy and greed as you deem someone’s life as better than your own?
Solo: the full trailer
Starting to actually look forward to this one.
The Importance of Being “a Finisher”
Eric Geiger:
For Christians, there is a holy perspective to finishing. Our King finishes what He starts. As Christians, we desire to display the characteristics of our Father. Because He is holy, we desire to walk in holiness. Because He is love, we seek to love. Because He is gracious, generous, and compassionate, we desire to be people who are the same. He also finishes what He starts. He finished the work for us on the cross when He paid in full, not in part, for our sin. And He is going to keep working on us and in us until we are with Him in eternity. The apostle Paul reminded believers, “He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). When the apostle Paul knew he was about to die, he declared, “I have finished the race” (2 Timothy 4:7). He had walked faithfully, though not perfectly, with the Lord. Finishing the race as a Christian is much more important than finishing a project, but we can look to our Christian faith to motivate us to be a finisher in all that we do.
7 Ways to Work Hard at Rest
Gavin Ortlund:
Over the last several years I’ve been through busier seasons, and now God has kindly provided more of a sabbatical kind of season. I’ve noticed several things about the idea of Sabbath rest:
- Busy seasons are often when I’ve learned how to do Sabbath well.
- Not being busy is never a guarantee that I’m actually resting my soul.
- Paradoxically, drawing from both of these points, rest is hard work.
Here are some specific lessons I’ve learned along the way. Maybe they’ll help you to endure amid busyness and fatigue.
When the Real You Suddenly Shows Up
Jared Wilson:
It seems every week now brings with it a new revelation of a pastor’s or other evangelical leader’s moral implosion. Whether it’s the next step in the seismic shifts of our culture’s #MeToo moment or simply evangelicalism’s chickens coming home to roost, the fallout is getting gut-wrenchingly more routine — personal shame, relational devastation, and a tarnishing of the church’s witness.
We Need Counter-Cultural Common Sense
Trevin Wax:
In 1955, in a used bookstore in San Francisco, Chesterton’s personal copy of Platitudes was discovered, with all of his markings intact. I recently came across one of the hard-to-find facsimile editions of Chesterton’s copy of Platitudes. It is simply marvelous to watch how Chesterton tested every platitude, no matter how wise it may have sounded, and responded with humor and verve.
I am a grumbler, too
A favorite from the archives:
I’ll admit, it gets tempting to look down on the Israelites when I read passages like this. After all, one would think that after seeing everything God had done for them—parting the Red Sea, giving them victory over armies, making it rain food, making water come from a rock and so much more—they’d have started to realize that they could trust him.
But that’s not how things work in a world filled with people who have a sin problem, is it? This is the problem of every single person, ever since Adam and Eve first sinned against God. People like you and me. We grumble and complain about anything and everything. We grumble because we’re not content with what God has provided. We grumble because we don’t trust God.
