Saturday Snippets (August 21)

As well as reading a lot of books, I also read a ton of articles every week. Here are some of the articles that I’ve read recently and have found interesting, helpful, challenging and encouraging. I hope that they will be the same for you, my dear readers…

Unintended consequences of failure porn

“It can be so easy for us to read their stories and assume we would have done differently. But if God thought we would have done better, He wouldn’t have bothered giving us warnings in His inspired word.”

So many in the West are depressed because they’re expected not to be

Not the typical kind of article that I’d link to but it is a very interesting cultural analysis.

Bethel, Jesus, and Dove Dung

Should we sing songs from Bethel? That’s a debate that is going on all over the church today. Here’s an article from one side of the story.

John Piper on Jonathan Edwards and the slave trade

“I think Piper’s wishful thinking whilst understandable is unhelpful. We would do better to say simply that Edwards was wrong on this. Indeed, if Piper is right and Edward’s theology helped convict Piper on these very issues then that makes the situation worse not better. Edwards own works condemn him on this issue.”

Speak, listen and learn

“This book will not change the world, but I hope it’ll help even just a few people be more equipped to help, listen, learn about and love those with depression.”

How Afghan Pastors Reflect on God’s Sovereignty

A heartbreaking, but necessary, read for every Christian.

The “Rot” of Evangelicalism Doesn’t Need Deconstruction. It Needs Church History.

“Evangelicals who are broken by the sinful betrayals around them should not look to deconstruct, but to connect: to see their story in the story of the church historic. We should not commend people’s blowing up of their faith; we should commend a clear-eyed embrace of the faith that has been assailed from within since ancient times. And we should insist on understanding our story in 2021 as part of the wider story of the church.”

Are we in the ‘end times’?

This is a very interesting read and the interview is worth listening to. The interview challenges so many questions and topics that many Christians believe, sometimes without much thought.

Afghan Pastors Ask for Prayer

Here are suggestions of how you can pray for Afghan pastors and their families.

In Search of the Simple Life

“Maybe by pursuing less of the world and more of what God values, our lives wouldn’t be characterized by a thin veneer of Christianity overtop hurried materialistic lives that are nearly indistinguishable from the world. Maybe we’d look a lot more like people who actually possess the purpose that this world is so desperately seeking.”

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