Saturday Snippets (September 12)

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…

DON’T SKIM THIS

Here’s an interesting article by Daniel Darling about having a lot of information at our finger tips and FOMO. What did Paul mean when he condemned “busybodies” in his letter to the Thessalonians and to his protege Timothy?

HOW TO GATHER EVIDENCE OF GOD

“If we are willing to cross the thresholds of our comfortable, predictable lives and go, even for a time, wherever he calls—into uncertainty, into mystery, into wonder—then he will surely lead us into deeper encounters with himself. He will lead us into a richer experience of his love and a world of infinite possibilities.”

How Should I Pray When I Want to Quit Ministry?

A helpful article for those in ministry who are tired and who are maybe even doubting their ‘call to ministry’. Let those thoughts and feeling make you run to the Lord in prayer and depend fully on Him.

The Chair That Remains Empty

We need to be sensitive and choose our words wisely not just on World Suicide Prevention Day but everyday.

Forgiveness and Abuse: The Forgiveness Problem (Part One)

This 5 part blog series is really helpful! Andy brings in biblical truth to a very difficult pastoral issue, he speaks gracefully and he confronts some of the misconceptions that people have.

Translations of 9Marks Books

There are so many great books in English, here’s a good list of some of the 9Marks titles in other languages. I hope that these links will help you get resources in your own language to train up leaders in your church and local area.

Covenant Theology

I am a theology nerd and so I enjoy reading long and sometimes complicated books on theology. I’ve recently started reading more on covenant theology because we are studying it at seminary at the moment. Here is a short, helpful article explaining the basics of covenant theology.

Helping Protect Your Pastor from Death by Suicide

Pastors and leaders are not immune to suicidal thoughts. This is a really insightful and honest article by a pastor describing some of the contributing factors to depression in ministry and how you can help.

Evangelism: Reconsidering Our Approach in a Pandemic

“Opportunities change during certain eras and historic moments in the church. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic I want to recognize that new kinds of evangelism, or more precisely returning to older ways have now become the front and center evangelistic approaches for us.”

The State of Theology

This is a very interesting article about what American adults believe about theology and what American ‘evangelicals’ believe about theology. This is a very telling study and I would love to see something similar done in the UK. Does a resource like this already exist for the UK?