Tag: Unlocking the Bible

Links for the Weekend (11/8/2019)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

Comparison Steals More Than Joy

Brittany Allen writes about comparison, envy, and the sorts of truth that we really need to hear.

We need truths about Jesus. Truths that cause us to be overcome by thankfulness and gratitude. Truths that ingrain a trust in the Lord that seeps deep into our hearts. A trust that freely and humbly appeals to the Lord about our desires, but submits to His timing and will, knowing what He chooses to give or withhold are both His grace.

What Kind of Older Man Will I Be?

Here’s a short article at For The Church which tells the story of two godly older men and highlights their prayer for others. The author writes about good and bad ways to age in faith and ministry.

The examples of T.S. Mooney and William Thomas really help. Like them, I want to be an older man who disciples younger men with the confidence that the Lord will use them greatly in the future. Some men, as they grow older, become increasingly critical of younger believers. That’s such an unhelpful attitude. Instead, I want to teach younger men the Bible, believing they will grow and honor Jesus. 

Kanye West Proclaims Jesus Is King

The subject of iconic rapper Kanye West’s conversion to Christianity has been fodder for lots of online discussion over the past weeks and months. John Stonestreet pulls back a bit and asks us to consider celebrity conversions in general.

This foolish embrace of our cultural tendency toward celebrity worship has infected the church in so many ways, as evidenced by a generation of musicians and leaders in the church seeking to be famous and “have a platform” instead of being discipled and educated and obedient.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called The Glory of Repetitive Tasks. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Thanks to Cliff L for help 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 (8/2/2019)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

Christianity’s Best-Kept Secret

How’s that for a title? Tim Savage contends that while Christians think a lot about Christ in the past (forgiven sins) and the future (the coming of heaven), we don’t think enough about Christ in the present. This article helps to explain the wonderful phrase “Christ in you.”

As Christians, we’re organically linked to Christ at the deepest level. The apostle Paul makes the point repeatedly in a simple but easily overlooked prepositional phrase. No less than 164 times, Paul refers to Christians as people “in Christ” or “in him” or “in God” or “in the Lord.” It’s a tantalizing phrase, with thrilling implications for the lives of Christians.

4 Promises to Christians about the Resurrected Body

What does the Bible say about our future resurrected bodies? Colin Smith takes us on a tour of important Scriptural truths.

The new earth will be better than the earth we have now. The resurrection body will be better than the body you have now. And you will have forever to savor the pleasures that God has in store for you.

The Gospel in Psalms

Jesus told us in Luke 24 that all Scripture pointed to him. This is easier to see in some parts of the Bible than others. In this post, Bruce Ware and George Robertson show us how to read Psalms with Jesus always in mind.

Reading the Psalms mindful of Jesus is not a clever way to read this book of the Bible, nor is it one way to do so among others. It is the way. A gospel-lens to reading the Psalms is how Jesus himself teaches us to read them. As you read this portion of God’s Word, make these prayers to God your own, and consider the ways these Psalms are good news to us—expressing the full range of our emotions, and ultimately bringing our minds to rest on the finished work of Christ on behalf of sinners.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called How to Resist Sins of Conformity. 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 (3/8/2019)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

Praying Past Our Preferred Outcomes

Over at The Gospel Coalition, Nancy Guthrie wrote about prayer requests, suffering, and submitting to God. When we are experiencing pain and sadness, what should our prayers sound like?

What would happen if we allowed Scripture to provide the outcomes we prayed toward? What if we expanded our prayers from praying solely for healing and deliverance and success to praying that God would use the suffering and disappointment and dead ends in our lives to accomplish the purposes he has set forth in Scripture?

5 Pieces of Advice for Discussing Gender Roles with Other Christians

While this article at the Crossway blog is about discussing gender roles, we can apply it much more widely. Abigail Dodds helps us think about discussing sensitive issues with people we care about when there is a possibility of disagreement.

It’s easy to pontificate in an article or to spout off in a blog post or twitter thread or facebook rant, but the most fruitful place to talk about gender roles is in our local churches with the actual brothers and sisters we’re laboring alongside. We should care the most about having meaningful conversations with those closest to us.

Seven Tips on How to Study the Bible with Neighbors

Sometimes we speak of our “neighbors” in a generic way, referring to the people that we encounter or think about each day. Beth Wetherell wants to help us love our actual neighbors, the people that live near us. How can we love our neighbors enough to look at the Scriptures together with them?

But then God drew near and renewed a right spirit within me. He reminded me that I was doing this for him! It was an act of obedience. I was doing this because I had the best news in the world to share. I was doing this because I really liked my neighbors and cared about their eternal state. God had prepared me and equipped me – in his power and strength, I pressed on to the next house until all the invites were delivered.

Thanks to Maggie A and Phil A for their help in tracking down 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 (12/28/2018)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

Family Devotions

Tim Challies has a great post containing ten ideas and then ten tips on family devotions. I thought everything was valuable, but here are the first two tips to give you an idea.

1. More important than how you do family devotions is that you do family devotions.
2. Keep family devotions simple, especially when starting out. Five engaging minutes are far better than 20 rambling ones.

Encouragement for the Weary

At the end of the calendar year, it’s easy to feel more worn out and tired than excited and energetic. Here’s a post by Colin Smith at Unlocking the Bible addressed to those who feel weary.

Here’s what you know about yourself: You are not God. You’re a created being with limits to your own strength and endurance. You will become weary. You will know what it is to feel spent and exhausted. Feeling worn out should not take you by surprise. Lean into the truth that you know. But that’s only half the answer. 

Bible Reading Plans

The beginning of the calendar year is a great time to reassess your Bible reading practices. There’s a great post at Ligonier which collects links to many helpful Bible reading plans. Maybe you’ll find something here that will be a good fit for you in 2019!

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