Week in Review

Tweet of the Week

"We don't join churches, we submit to them." - @JonathanDLeeman - "The difference between community and a church is authority."
— EricBancroft (@EricBancroft) July 16, 2014

An unpopular truth in our day and age. I think this is often the reason that men do not want to commit to the church. It isn't that its  boring or "not manly enough." Faithfulness to the church means faithfulness and obedience to Jesus Christ by faithfully submitting to biblical church leadership. 

To Read:

1. Being in pastoral ministry, I read a lot about it. Leadership, preaching, ecclesiology. There is a big push right now for people to understand their pastors. While this is important, often overlooked is the pastor's wife. Check out this good article on what life is like for your pastor's wife. You may be surprised. 

2. In case you've been stuck under a rock this week and somehow managed to come up and stumble on my little puddle (I'm not a news site); a Malaysian airlines passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine. Almost 300 men, women, and children were tragically killed. The international implications remain to be seen, as the investigation is still ongoing. You can find a good overview and continuing timeline here.

3. Courageous exploits in battle are not widely read or heard of in our day and age. Men of war, ready to do violence against the forces of evil, are viewed as archaic; a thing of the past. Many refuse to acknowledge the wickedness in the hearts of distant-shored enemies. They prefer to live in the blissful cocoon of safety that others shed their blood to secure. They wallow in moral relativism while heroes die, forgotten in the dark. This week, Thomas Gibbons-Neff highlighted the life of one such hero. He brings to light the stirring story of Major Zembiec, the "Lion of Fallujah."

4. A story that won't make major news headlines in our politically correct and morally bankrupt society. Another illustration that the way of the transgressor is hard (Proverbs 13:15).

5. Further down the slope of moral and theological degeneracy by a "church" that long ago traded the authority of Scripture for the traditions of men. 

6. After so much bad news above, we wrap it up with the good guys at the Cripplegate. Check out Nathan Busenitz's 200 word theological tractate on the deity of Christ. Good truth to meditate on and retain to be ready for a defense (1 Peter 3:15).