Category: Links

Links for the Weekend (2023-11-24)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Why the Church of England’s Same-Sex Marriage Vote Breaks My Heart

Rebecca McLaughlin reflects on the Church of England’s recent vote on same sex marriage and what the Bible has to say about sex.

Some think Christians who uphold the Bible’s no to same-sex sex are hateful. Sadly, some Christians have indeed been hateful in their treatment of people who identify as gay or lesbian. The bullying, stereotyping, and mocking of those we are called to love is sinful, and Christians who have done so must repent. But when we dive into what the Bible says about sexuality and marriage, we’ll find it’s not a story of hate but a story of love—it’s just a more amazing love story than we’d imagined. It starts at the very beginning and finishes at the very end.

Thankfulness (and other habits)

This article discusses mental health and some of the commands in Philippians.

Whether you keep a journal of things you’re grateful for, or just make a practice of stopping throughout the day to notice what’s good, being thankful is an important habit (all year long, not just at Thanksgiving!) It will also help you to see the goodness of God in your life, which takes your eyes off of yourself and puts them on him. 

Working and Resting

Here are some helpful and thought-provoking musings about what it means to work and rest in the modern day.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-11-17)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Answering Kids’ Hardest Questions: Will God Always Keep Me Safe?

This article tackles an important matter: how do we help our children grapple with what God has and has not promised?

God does not promise to leave us alone. God does not promise to not allow us to encounter these circumstances. But what God does promise us is that he is good and that he is always working for the good of his people.

Dare to Be a Daniel

When we ask how to read the Old Testament, Mitchell Chase has a great answer: look at how the New Testament authors read the Old Testament.

A mere moralization of Old Testament stories is a deficient interpretive method. But as we seek to read the Old Testament as the New Testament authors do, we will see that they not only show how Old Testament stories anticipate Christ, they teach how these Old Testament stories build our faith and direct us in wisdom. 

The Last Days of C. S. Lewis

We are coming up on the anniversary of the death of C. S. Lewis. Trevin Wax takes the occasion to write about the end of Lewis’s life and how he faced death.

Lewis said goodbye to his closest friends, perhaps like Reepicheep as he headed over the wave in his coracle in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader—“trying to be sad for their sakes” while “quivering with happiness.” The joy—the stab of inconsolable longing—that animated his poetry and prose was on display in how he died, in those weeks of quiet rest, as he endured his physical maladies with patience and good humor, in full faith that this earthly realm is just a prelude to the next chapter of a greater story, a new and wondrous reality suffused with the deep magic of divine love.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-11-10)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Aslan and the Path of Faithful Pain

This article discusses how God uses pain in our lives by drawing on part of C.S. Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy.

To deny that God could or would use discomfort for our good is to deny that He is present in our pain. He is. Just as, in His quest to restore the glory of His creation, He did not shrink back from inflicting pain on His dear Son, His love for His people often includes a level of discomfort and pain. In the end, it is part of His work to restore His image bearers to their intended dignity.

Is It Wrong to Have Sex Before Marriage?

While you might think the answer to this question is easy or obvious, it is still important to be able to provide an answer. Even better, Kevin DeYoung offers some reasons why such an answer might be the one the Bible provides.

When couples have sex before marriage, they are engaging in private activity whose purpose is to consummate a public promise. Without the latter, the former is an endeavor to enjoy the benefits of the covenant without formally entering into the covenant. 

The Scottish Reformation

Reformation Day is not too far behind us. This longer article provides some of the history of the Scottish Reformation; as Presbyterians, this is some of our “family” history!

Abundant thanks to Cliff L for his help in rounding up links this week!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-11-03)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Living Sorrows and Departed Joys

Tim Challies writes a moving article comparing the griefs that come from losing a child to death and having a child leave the faith.

His daughter has said she will come to church today. His daughter has wandered far but has said she is ready to return. His daughter who has squandered so much says she has learned her lesson. His daughter who has caused her father’s heart to ache has said that today she will soothe it. This man is looking for his daughter, his beloved daughter.

When Death Starts to Take Our Friends

This author reflects on the death of actor Matthew Perry and urges us to keep the brevity of life before us.

I was told I was going to die, once. I mean, I was told that I was going to die in a very short period of time of a dreadful illness. I didn’t. Here I am still. So far. But for a few short weeks the full impact that one day very soon would be my last day and after that, eternity, was seared into my brain. The enormous reality of it hit me. And I was only 42. The lurking truth came out of the shadows over there and stared me in the face right here.

What Does It Mean to Grieve the Holy Spirit?

Here is a video posted by Crossway in which Dr. Fred Sanders answers the question, “What does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit?” (A transcript is also available.)

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called 3 Skills Christians Can Learn from a Great Interviewer. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-10-27)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

How to Mourn Over Your Sins

This article is a great explanation of the discipline of “spiritual mourning.”

When you mourn your sins, seeing them for what they are, it can be easy for you to despair. Instead remember that when God shines the light on your sins, his great purpose is to lead you to Jesus, the friend of sinners. In him you will find hope. Hope is a signature mark of spiritual mourning, and it arises from faith in Christ and all that he has accomplished through the cross.

A Word to My Inner Perfectionist

Amy Medina has some really helpful thoughts about the difference between our sin and our finite limits as humans.

And in this Truth, there is freedom. I don’t need to get it all right. I can’t. I never will. In fact, when I insist on impossible standards for myself, I’m trying to pretend to be an infinite God. Taking time to rest, depending on others, and giving myself grace when I make mistakes are not signs of weakness, failure, or sin. On the contrary, accepting my finiteness is an expression of humility. I am not God. 

That Time the Bible Said to Follow Your Heart

How do we reconcile parts of the Bible which seem to be at odds? The answer is usually some form of pay attention to the context! This article is a good example of context-sensitive Bible reading.

The larger context is always important for any verse. When the author of Ecclesiastes exhorts his readers to any action, he is always doing so with a view toward wise behavior. When he says “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God” (5:1), or “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart” (9:7), or “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days” (11:1), these are calls for wise living.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-10-20)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

The Last Thing Sufferers Need to Hear

Does the sovereignty of God bring comfort in the midst of suffering? It can, but it might not be the first thing to share with a grieving friend.

But for others, these truths—prematurely applied—can bypass the grieving process that needs to happen to fully reckon with and heal from a loss. Our brains often work in binaries, assuming that if God is in control, we shouldn’t make a fuss about it. Good theology can be used to heal the wound lightly, pronouncing “Peace, peace” when, in the raw heart of the bereaved, there is no peace (Jer. 6:14).

The Power And Pitfall Of Vulnerability

This author writes about learning to be vulnerable and the difference between online and local vulnerability.

I hated vulnerability because I’d rather push through life on my own. Put my head down, wipe the sweat and tears from my face, and plow forward alone. I sought independence, because it was the only way to keep my pride before others. If they knew what laid in my closet, they’d mock me, disown me. No one could see the shadows and grim behind my façade.

The Afterlife

This article is another entry in the “Theology in the Everyday” series at For The Church. The author here explains the Bible’s teaching on what happens after we die.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Taking a Biblical Worldview to My Back Yard. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-10-13)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Beware the Corrosive Quest for Respectability

Here’s a bracing exhortation for Christians not to seek out acceptance from the broader culture. The article lists some common arenas in which this temptation shows up and offers some advice for resisting.

Whatever credibility your constant digs at “those other Christians” earns you in the eyes of cultural elites, it’ll all be lost the minute they find out you actually believe what the Bible says about sexuality or the exclusivity of Christ (among other things). That’s perhaps the greatest reason efforts at “respectability” are a fool’s errand. Even if you say and do all the right things, if you believe a few wrong things, respectability will be elusive and elite access will be denied.

Dad, Where Are You Going?

How does a father discuss his terminal cancer diagnosis with his young sons? Tim Albert writes about the ways God has helped him grapple with this question using Psalm 77.

My son’s innocent question strikes at the core of my fears. He hardly knows what cancer is, let alone that his dad has it. I’ve avoided the conversation to this point, but spend a significant portion of each day replaying what seems inevitable in the theater of my mind: life cut short and my boys growing up without their father. 

Seven Blessings for Empty-Handed Believers

Colin Smith writes about what it looks like to turn to the Lord and let go of our pride.

People who feel they have something to offer God come to him with their hands full, but as long as our hands are full, we are not in a position to receive. As Thomas Watson says, “If the hand is full of pebbles, it cannot receive gold.”

People who are poor in spirit drop the pebbles because they want the gold, and they know that it can only be received by empty-handed believers. When you know that you have nothing to offer God, you are in a position to receive all that he offers to you. When you accept that you cannot claim his blessing as a right, you are in a position to receive it as a gift.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-10-06)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

10 Things You Should Know about the Most Famous Blessing in the Bible

I’ve always loved that tried and true benediction from Numbers 6:24–26. This article courtesy of Crossway provides some great insight on this blessing.

In its immediate context it follows redemption and consecration (Num. 5:1–6:21), meaning that it is a word of God’s grace in response to a people under grace committed to being a holy nation. God saved Israel out of bondage before he gave them the Law, and the people consecrated themselves in response. The Aaronic blessing wasn’t earned, but with it came the great responsibility to bear the name of God (Num. 6:27). Therefore, it is a benediction, a “good word” from God which both affirms our standing and exhorts us to be holy as God is holy.

Why we are tempted not to pray

I appreciated this article from T. M. Suffield about prayer. His conclusion is something we can all agree with—we can always ask Jesus to teach us to pray!

So, throughout the day as I speak with my best friend—the almighty ancient of days, who speaks and the earth melts (Psalm 46)—he might choose to change the entire course of history because he loves me and wants to meet my needs and discipline me towards the good.

If that’s true, why don’t I pray more?

Why should Christians study the Minor Prophets?

Derek Thomas addressed this question at Ligonier’s recent national conference: Why should Christians study the Minor Prophets? This is especially relevant for those in our current adult Sunday school class studying Zephaniah!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-09-29)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

When You Long to Know the “Why” Behind Your Sorrow

Tim Challies, who has seen his share of sorrow over the last few years, writes about the natural human impulse to understand why God would bring such sadness into our lives. He ends the article with some wise counsel about how to handle these impulses.

Yet the answers are rarely forthcoming. We may know the general answers—“all things work for good” and “for my name’s sake” and find some comfort in them. But when we scour the Scriptures and devote ourselves to prayer in search of the particulars—or even go further and appeal to prophecies, coincidences, or inner feelings—we are met with silence or uncertainty.

It’s Worth Saying Again: You Need Repetition

Modern evangelicals tend to think things that are repeated are formal and unable to help us worship. But Trevin Wax makes a good case for the value of repetition in our Christian lives.

Repetition can lead to a cold-hearted formalism, but it can also work against it. The deeper I dive into the meaning of familiar words, the more likely my heart is to be transformed. The constant search for novelty can be a setback, like wearing a new pair of shoes every day—they may dazzle on the outside, but we stumble around in them. We don’t give ourselves time to adapt and align our hearts to the truths we profess. 

Hymn of the Day: Praise Him All My Days

The Hymn of the Day website shared the hymn Praise Him All My Days recently, and I appreciated this reworking of a psalm with a focus on singability for the congregation.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-09-22)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Spiritually Hungry? The Church Service Is Your Main Meal

Kristen Wetherell compares individual devotion times to the weekly local gathering of God’s people.

The next time you feel discouraged and guilty about not having your personal “quiet time,” do this instead: remember the previous Sunday at church, and then breathe a sigh of relief and praise. You have consumed God’s Word. More than that, you have feasted on its abundance. Through singing it, praying it, reading it, and hearing it preached alongside God’s gathered and beloved people, you have “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Your soul has been truly nourished.

Contentment doesn’t mean you must stay in the same circumstance forever

I appreciated this close look at what contentment does and does not mean.

Paul wrote this from prison, yet he knew that he could be content there. His satisfaction with what he had was not due to his present circumstances, but it was due to God who strengthened him.

This raises a logical question for us: does this mean it is wrong for Christians to try to change their circumstances? Is it wrong to be ambitious and to make major life changes? After all, if we are to content with what we have, surely what we have should be sufficient!

What does it look like to glorify God?

Ligonier has a short video addressing this most important question: what does it look like to glorify God?

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called One Surefire Way to Harden Your Heart. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.