To make a real difference in people’s lives, biblical literacy programs will have to do more than simply encourage believers to memorize a select set of Bible verses. They will have to teach people to speak the language of faith; and while this language is of course grounded in the grammar, vocabulary, and stories of the Bible, living languages are embedded in actual human communities that are constituted by particular habits, values, practices, stories, and exemplars. We don’t memorize languages; we use them and live through them. As Paulo Freire reminded us, literacy enables us to read both the word and the world. Language mediates our reality, expands our horizons, inspires our imagination, and empowers our actions. Literacy therefore isn’t simply about possessing a static ability to read and write; it is a dynamic reality, a never-ending life practice that involves putting those skills to work in reshaping our identity and transforming our world. Biblical literacy programs need to do more than produce informed quoters. They need to produce transformed readers.
We all need to get into God's word. I Peter 3:15 says, "but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you."
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Adrian Warnock presents John Piper's sermon to the Village Church, where Matt Chandler preaches. Matt Chandler, as you may have heard, was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. Chandler has handled this truly graciously. I pray that we do.
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Justin Buzzard, on The Gospel Coalition Blog, writes of Oswald Chambers "4 years of hell on earth."
Friend, the hell you’re walking through right now just might lead to heaven. God has not abandoned you. He’s stripping you of false lovers so that you can know him. You were created to know, love, worship, adore, and enjoy God. Praise him that he loves you enough to not let you settle for anything less than him.
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Thabati Anyabwile also on suffering (seems to be a theme this week):
So, death must be conquered. We must be set free from our fear of it. But neither the conquering of death or courage in its face comes from self-help maneuvers. The grip of death is too strong, our hearts are too weak. To defeat it we must be delivered, rescued, liberated, saved. We need a strong man stronger than all men.
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An article from the New York times documents the folly of living for one's career and salary. What attorneys once thought was a golden ticket is disappearing, leading to greater incidence of depression. Luke 12:13-21 talks about building bigger barns. Their barns are burning.
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Tim Challies engaged in a 3 letter exchange with atheist, Luke Muehlhauser. It is reasonably cordial and well worth the time to read. I always wonder how atheists and Christians can look at the same information and come away with drastically different conclusions.
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Doughnut Upside Down Cake: Any recipe that includes the phrase, "I simply looked through a classic recipe [for pineapple upside-down cake] and replaced every instance of 'pineapple' with 'doughnut'" must be a good recipe.
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Adrian Warnock on getting back to the book of Acts.
Social gospel cares for poor. Prosperity gospel cares for me. Green gospel cares for the earth. Charismatic gospel cares about tongues. The real gospel has Jesus at the centre.
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A truly pro-life, pro-family church welcomes the disruption of children in the foyer, rejoices at the sight of new faces in children’s church and smiles at the thought of families from different countries and backgrounds joining us in praise to God. Read more here.
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