Aaron Armstrong

bloggingtheologically.com

parenting

Links I like (1/30)

by

Links I like (2018 edition)

They Spoke of Me: How Jesus Unlocks the Old Testament

My friend Brandon has a new book out, cowritten by Everett Berry. I’m only just getting into it, but I like what I’ve read so far.

3 Ways to Learn from the Joyously Annoying Memory of Children

Michael Kelley:

One of the most often repeated phrases at the Kelley house right now is, “But you said…”

You can fill in the blank afterward. For us, it usually has to do with a dessert or a “special drink” (something other than water). Kids are like elephants in that way – they seem to never forget when it’s something they want to remember. Over the course of the past 9 years, Jana and I have slowly picked up on this trait, and it’s caused us to learn to be a little gun shy when we are making promises. More than once we’ve been burned over saying the kids could have or do something, then something else comes up, and we have to make a mid-course correction.

10 Things You Should Know about Suffering

Good stuff here from Dave Furman.

Confidence in the Fight for Holiness

Cody Wilbanks:

J.C. Ryle wrote in his classic work, Holiness, “The heart of the best Christian, even at his best, is a field occupied by two rival camps” (56). Most Christians readily affirm this reality. Like the apostle Paul we recognize the war that rages within (Rom. 7:21-23) and, like Paul, we admit that our wretchedness is undeniable (Rom. 7:24). So often this leaves us feeling like an undersized fighter staring at a heavyweight in the other corner of the ring, helpless in our fight for holiness. What, then, can give us confidence and strengthen us in this fight?

Remembering that the fight is already won.

Public Faith: How to Share the Hope You Have in Christ

Tim Keller:

It’s difficult to publicly identify as a Christian believer in a secular age that pressures people to keep their religious beliefs private. The only commitment approved by our culture is one that produces comfort in one’s private world but doesn’t comprehensively shape one’s entire life. A candid account of the gospel story that is a Christian’s deepest identity can be met with hostile reactions.

So Christians in a place like New York City find themselves perplexed as to how to “go public” and talk to their friends, neighbors, and colleagues about their faith.

Parents, Take Note of the Spiritual Practices Common to Kids Who Flourish As Adults

Trevin Wax:

Parents, don’t take the biblical proverb “train up a child” and treat it like a promise, assuming that if you do everything right in your parenting, your children will turn out right. Proverbs are general truths, not specific promises. Besides, when we consider the overall context of the Bible, we see how counterproductive it is to try to train our kids to trust in God if what we model for them is that we trust in our training.

Brothers, don’t ignore the devout nations

A favorite from the archives:

There are so many wonderful, gospel-loving, Jesus-proclaiming churches in a state like Tennessee that it’s easy to forget that there are still a whole lot more that are either soft on the gospel, or have abandoned it altogether. In my own homeland, Canada, we don’t have remotely close to the remaining cultural openness to Christianity that America does, but we still have many good, faithful churches.

And you know what those churches need?

They need more faithful churches around them.

Links I like (12/12)

by

Links I like

Quebec tries to say Au Revoir to “hi”

Ugh.

Getting a Team to Self-Destruct

Eric Geiger:

A team that fights with itself wastes an incredible amount of time and energy. When a team or church or group fights, everyone loses. Energy is stewarded away from what is most important and given to tearing one another apart. Instead of rallying in the same direction around the same mission and values, time is diverted toward backbiting, politics, and watching your back. Thus, a team that is divided will rarely accomplish the mission they say they have embraced. Their lack of trust slows them down and corrupts their culture. A lack of trust will crush the effectiveness of a team.

Is the Pope right about the Lord’s Prayer?

Denny Burk explains why the Pope is wrong about retranslating the Lord’s Prayer.

What a Stupid Bumper Sticker Can Tell Us About American Christianity

Russell Moore:

A stupid bumper sticker is a stupid bumper sticker. I wouldn’t even mention it if the only problem here was that the combination of biblical illiteracy with temporal obsessions too often sums up American evangelicalism. The problem is that the message of that bumper sticker often does too. The idea is that Jesus would not have been victimized had he just had the power to defend himself.

3 Subtly Destructive Lies that Need Correcting for your Children

Michael Kelley:

Our kids are inundated with messages at school, from the media, and in our culture day in and day out. And on the surface, many of these messages sound good. They’re about positive self-image, self-esteem, hope, and compassion. And yet behind some of them are subtle lies that we, as parents, need to be aware of and gently correct in our kids’ understanding. Here are three examples of what I mean:

When Evil Has Nice Manners

Trevin Wax:

We deceive ourselves if we think evil is relegated to “monsters,” or that evil beliefs take root in people who belong to a different class of humanity than ourselves. The disturbing thing about evil is that it’s everywhere, and most of the time, is not extreme.

The best and worst Christmas songs, part 2: electric boogaloo

You’re welcome.

Links I like (11/28)

by

Links I like

What If God Takes It All Away? Trusting Him Through Financial Struggles

Sarah Walton:

Recently we drove past our old house for the first time since downsizing. Immediately, our four children began rehearsing memories, noting every part of the house that they missed. Once again, they struggled to understand why we had to give it all up.

As hard as I tried to respond with confidence that it was the right thing for our family to follow God’s leading — even at the cost of financial comfort and a home we loved — deep down, I wrestled with my own nostalgia and questions.

One Way to Self-Destruct Your Family Devotion Time

Michael Kelley:

There is no doubt that we, as parents, should be the primary spiritual influence on our children. This responsibility cannot – and should not – be delegated to a church program, though we should work in concert with the church for the overall growth of our kids in Christ. But what strikes me most as a dad is the emphasis on constant repetition we find in these verses.

4 things I want a new mom to know

Jill Waggoner:

There is much preparation for all that happens between the positive pregnancy test to the first birthday. Yet, the experience of motherhood is unique to each mother and child, and nearly impossible to predict. A recent Time magazine article, “Motherhood Is Hard to Get Wrong. So Why Do So Many Moms Feel So Bad About Themselves?”, featured an extensive survey of new mothers and dove deep into the decision-making processes that mothers face during those days. It also discussed the emotional, and I would add spiritual, difficulties of motherhood as more than 70 percent responded that they feel societal pressures about those choices. The survey found that “half of all new mothers had experienced regret, shame, guilt or anger, mostly due to unexpected complications and lack of support.”

Don’t Put Your Seniors Out to Pasture

Jared Wilson:

I once read in a friend’s Facebook status that all the “old people” are gonna hate heaven if they think the worship music in churches is too loud. You know, because heaven’s worship is going to be exactly like the laser light rock and roll concerts we got goin’ on in evangelicalism right now. (Eye roll.)

Sexual Assault and the Scandal of Repentance

Trevin Wax:

Religious people have no room to point the finger and say, “I told you so!” to Hollywood moguls and corrupt politicians. In our own churches and institutions, we’ve seen how sexual abuse and assault can thrive in the shadows of piousness and self-protectiveness. Moral laxity is not the only condition necessary for evil to flourish. High moral standards or the “right positions” on biblical morality do not serve as a safeguard against those who would abuse their power in their pursuit of prey.

The Gospel Is the Only Stable Source of Identity and Value

Melinda Penner:

The beauty and freedom of Gospel identity is that it’s offered in unconditional love and is unchanging because Jesus achieved it for us. We don’t have to strive to find validation from any other source, outside or inside.

Stumbling over relativism

A favorite from the archives:

This is what Trudeau illustrated in his statements. Castro was a family friend, a pallbearer at his father’s funeral—an experience entirely removed from any of the man’s actions as leader of Cuba. His take reflects that experience, which is why it is wildly different than that of the average person (or, for that matter, many Cubans who lived under his regime).

But the response is what surprised me, and actually gave me a little hope. It reminded me that, even in our darker days, human beings are still image-bearers of God. Despite our repression and rejection of the truth about God, despite many of us holding to some form of relativism as a worldview, when we’re confronted with it as we were in this weekend, we can’t help but balk. In this case, it was to say, “No, the man wasn’t simply controversial; he was a perpetrator of great evil.”