Article Roundup: September 2016
This month was a good month for articles. My soul was blessed, and I pray yours will be, too.
News I Can Use by R.C. Sproul at Ligonier Ministries
Sproul speaks about the dynamic relationship between doctrine and practice: "Doctrine matters. Practice matters. Feeling matters. For all that we are is His. There is nothing more practical than doctrine. There is nothing more true than obedience. And there is nothing more moving than Him."
Reading for the Rest of Us by Sam Bierig at For The Church
I always want more time to read. Here is a husband/father/pastor/seminarian (quite a busy man!) giving some practical tips.
Find a Friend to Wound You by Greg Morse at Desiring God
The Bible says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." Do you believe it? Then where are your friends who love you enough to wound?
On The Shore of Glory by Tim Challies (quoting James Russell Miller)
From September, 2009. This is a hard read, but it is well worth reading. He starts:
"Old age is the harvest of all the years that have gone before. It is the barn into which all the sheaves are gathered. It is the sea into which all the rills and rivers of life flow from their springs in the hills and valleys of youth and manhood. We are each, in all our earlier years, building the house in which we shall have to live when we grow old. And we may make it a prison or a palace. We may make it very beautiful, adorning it with taste and filling it with objects which shall minister to our pleasure, comfort, and power. We may cover the walls with lovely pictures. We may spread luxurious couches of ease on which to rest. We may lay up in store great supplies of provision upon which to feed in the days of hunger and feebleness. We may gather and pile away large bundles of wood to keep the fires blazing brightly in the long winter days and nights of old age."
13 Spurgeon Quotes for Fighting Sin and Shame by Christian George at The Spurgeon Center
There is good reason to call Spurgeon the Prince of Preachers. The truths of the gospel from his lips are like a clear bell on a crisp morning. Be reminded of the Savior, and be encouraged to love Him again!
The State of Theology by Ligonier Ministries
This isn't an article, but a data set about the current religious state according to a very recent poll. In conclusion, the page says, "Faithful Christians can look at these survey results and lament the state of theology in America. Or, we can look at these results and engage our Great Commission work with a renewed urgency and purpose. Ligonier Ministries is taking the latter approach. " Amen! We ought to do the same.
Micah 7
Woe is me! For I am
Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
Or a first-ripe fig which I crave.
The godly person has perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among men.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a net.
…
But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will see His righteousness.
Then my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the LORD your God?”
…
Shepherd Your people with Your scepter,
The flock of Your possession
Which dwells by itself in the woodland,
In the midst of a fruitful field.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
As in the days of old.
“As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,
I will show you miracles.”
Nations will see and be ashamed
Of all their might.
They will put their hand on their mouth,
Their ears will be deaf.
They will lick the dust like a serpent,
Like reptiles of the earth.
They will come trembling out of their fortresses;
To the LORD our God they will come in dread
And they will be afraid before You.
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity
And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in unchanging love.
He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities under foot.
Yes, You will cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
You will give truth to Jacob
And unchanging love to Abraham,
Which You swore to our forefathers
From the days of old.