Friday, June 8, 2012

online meanderings: 10 tips for evangelism, the apologetics of grief, the sex talk, and more

Quote of the week
"All suffering is for the sake of others." Take your vitamin Z

Five top posts
Tim Keller's top 10 evangelism tips - Probably the most helpful thing I've read about evangelism. Really. (Except for the 20% bit.)

Grief: A forgotten apologetic - "Between us, let me be the first to say it: life hurts. Life hurts so much sometimes that it has led this grown man to tears. It hurt before I was a Christian and it hurts now." I'm a little late, but this was one of the best posts of last month. Nathan Bingham.

On motherhood joy and the gospel - "Jesus saves sinful, opinionated moms, desperate moms sure they have ruined their kids perhaps forever. He gives...hope and rest on those days you've reached the end of yourself and you are sure you cannot do this one more day.'" Lisa.

Three things we want our kids to know about sex and The sex talk we gave to our kids - Straight talk about the sex talk. We take a similar approach with our kids, and it works well. Ben and Emma Pfahlert.

An open letter to Sam Harris - Letter to an athiest. Dave Macca.

And ten more great posts.
Good news vs. good advice - The difference between Christianity and religion. Tim Keller.

Letter to a 13 year old asking how to go deeper in Bible study - A letter to a teenager packed with good advice for the rest of us. John Piper.

How a child with Down's syndrome can teach you about life - "Less than a minute had passed and she had already forgiven and put it in the past." Beautiful. HT Vitamin Z.

Four reasons to sing this weekend - Four reasons to sing in church. But I'm disappointed he missed this one: to encourage each other (Eph 5:19). Michael Kelley.

What we miss - "Give me one beautiful moment fully lived and fully enjoyed and I will trade it for a hundred moments where my phone stood between me and the source of that beauty." Challies.

CS Lewis on the coronation of Queen Elizabeth - What a wonderful quote! Ali.

An anatomy of sin - The high cost of sexual freedom for children. Lionel Windsor. 

The gospel for those who've grown up in church - "We easily get bored with simple truths...And so we’re constantly looking for titillating new revelations...Or we sit in church with blank stares and mouths open with a perpetual yawn." Daniel Darling.

Degree in hand, more desperate than ever - "Give me more of this kind of weakness. I think this is what seminary is supposed to do to you." Jonathon Parnell

Does Scripture clearly command this? - Whatever our preferences when it comes to dating and courtship, "we have to be careful to distinguish between principle and practice". Mark Altrogge HT Vitamin Z

Ministry
Guilt gone wild - False guilt and pastoral ministry: please everyone; read everything; remember more names; keep up with expectations. John Ortberg HT Alistair Bain.

Why rooting joy in ministry success is disastrous - "Pastoring is not the most important fact about the pastor. Missions is not the most important fact about the missionary. The spiritual gift is not the most important fact about the Christian." Tony Reinke.

Teaching preaching - How to train people at your church to preach. A fantastic and very usable post by David Martin from The Briefing.

How pastoral counselling is different from secular counselling - "In every detail of every...person’s story, you learn to hear the music of these unmentioned realities...No one else is singing what you believe." Justin Taylor on David Powlison.

5 reasons I love church-based counselling - The joys and benefits of church-based counselling. Inspiring! Patt Quinn.

Parenthood
Celebrating forty years - "If you want to have a friendship with your children, you must first be mum or dad to your children; friendship will follow." Challies.

A black book or a black phone - How kids work out what really matters. David Murray.

For husbands
What every husband should know about stay at home mums - "Gospel, garlic bread, then more gospel." Gloria Furman.

Books
Planning with kids - How to organise your life when you have kids. A review of a helpful sounding book by my wise friend Sus.

If you want more links, or want to see my links as I read them, check out

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