Simple thoughts on faith, church and discipleship
There is no shortage of stuff to read online, in fact there is too much and it can be tough to navigate how to find good content. I am the personal beneficiary of some others who collate some of the helpful content they have seen, and so I try to occasionally collate some of the articles that I have found interesting. As I haven't done this in a while, this one clears a bit of a backlog and so has some new and older content. I will try limit it to five links.
Austin is one of the fastest growing and dynamic cities in the US. It is a place of great opportunity and great need. How can the church love this city in a way that points to the love of Christ and the good news of the gospel?
What keeps us from loving the church? Is it necessary to be part of a church to be a Christian? Why does church matter?
We really can be guilty of a DIY christianity, not stopping to ask others for help and not admitting at any point that we need it, and the results we end up with are not unlike my unfinished fan. Our Christian lives might look good enough from the outside but they fail to deliver on the actual results that this journey with Jesus was designed to deliver on, that we would be more like Him.
How much of professional Christian life is geared so that we spend more time complaining about sinners than we spend in genuine compassionate friendship and relationship?
"And what does your anxiety do? It does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; but, oh, it empties today of its strength. It does not make you escape the evil, it makes you unfit to cope with it when it comes. It does not bless tomorrow, and it robs today. For every day has its own burden. Sufficient for each day is the evil which properly belongs to it. Do not add tomorrow's to today's. Do not drag the future into the present. The present has enough to do with its own proper concerns." - Alexander Maclaren
What does it mean to pray, "Your Kingdom Come?"
I have spent most of my life desperately trying to fit in and to be accepted by people who didn’t even care about me all that much. That is immense folly for children of grace. I don’t want to waste any more time and energy on that. I long to be able to say with the apostle Paul, “…by the grace of God, I am what I am”. That isn’t a prideful arrogance that refuses to be changed. That is a humble acceptance of the acceptance of God. That is a truly liberating thing! That is a freedom I desire.
SBC. Divorce and remarriage. Purity ring statues. Terrorism. Austin. Rugby. Teenaged pastors. Football. Lots to pick from this week.
