If you missed what I’ve posted elsewhere, here’s the complete list for this week:
1. Preaching the Truth of the Gospel without Preaching the Gospel
“It is possible to preach much valuable truth essentially belonging to the Gospel, and yet not to preach the Gospel . . .” ~Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry, p. 254
In Preaching Christ by Mark Lauterbach.
2. By Making Him a God, He Can’t Be An Example To Me
In his review of the M. Night Shyamlan movie Lady in the Water, Anthony Sacramone writes:
“Although nominally Hindu, Shyamalan attended Catholic and Episcopal schools before entering NYU’s film school. In The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale, a chronicle of Shyamalan’s struggle to bring Lady to the screen, author Michael Bamberger revisits a Shyamalan quote: ‘I find it much more poignant to think of Jesus as a man, doing what he did purely on faith. … By making him a god, he can’t be an example to me. If you have every piece of magic available to you, and then you walk on water, what’s the big deal? I can’t emulate that. … If Jesus made a blind man see on faith alone, that’s awesome. If he went to the cross as an ordinary man with just unbelievable faith, how inspiring is that? I’d be in awe of that man.'”
3. How does play put God’s glory on display?
“You don’t want to hear God speak these final words: ‘Fool, how did all that pointless play put my glory in display?’ (John Piper, with some words he envisions God speaking) (h/t Bird over at Thinklings)
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven:
A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. (Ecclesiastes 3:1,4)
Read the rest by Weekend Fisher.
4. A thought-provoking (short-ish) piece on The Prohibition of the Slave Trade v the Abolition of Slavery
The Prohibition of the Slave Trade v the Abolition of Slavery by Weekend Fisher.