The Christian Life
David Murray:
Over 900 pages with over 300 articles and conference addresses that respond biblically, pastorally, and passionately to the most pressing and urgent Christian issues of recent times.
The Christian Life looks like quite the resource.
And there’s more where that came from. Check out The Christian Ministry and A Bundle of Joy as well.
Sermon Preparation Time
Thom Rainer:
These numbers represent total sermon preparation time per week, and the increase from a decade ago is dramatic. Of the pastors we surveyed, nearly seven out of ten spend eight or more hours in sermon preparation. More than four out of ten spend eleven or more hours; and more than one out of five spend 15 hours or more preparing sermons each week.
I am encouraged. In past studies, I have found a correlative relationship between time in sermon preparation and church health metrics. The greater the time in sermon preparation, the more likely the church is to be evangelistically effective, have a higher retention rate of members, and have a higher weekly per capita giving.
Simply stated, when the pastor spends more time in the Word, the church tends to be healthier.
On Parenting Advice
Jared Wilson:
My personal rule of thumb is not to take most, if any, parenting advice from people whose kids aren’t fully grown human beings yet, and therefore I tend not to dish much out myself.
Interesting policy.
Jason Snell on David Letterman
In anticipation of David Letterman’s final show this week, Jason Snell gives his take (an interviews others about theirs) on Letterman’s significance and legacy on The Incomparable podcast.
I didn’t get a chance to listen until after Wednesday, but I found it to be really interesting. If you’re a fan of David Letterman, Johnny Carson, or late night talk shows in general, I’d recommend giving this a listen.
Introducing Meet
I tend to be underwhelmed by calendar apps. This isn’t the case with the latest update to Sunrise Calendar which introduces Meet, a custom keyboard for scheduling one-on-one meetings.
It’s fantastic—a game-changer even—and I’m pretty sure it’s going to change the way I do work (specifically, the way I schedule meetings) from my iPhone.
Battling Sexual Sin
Rosaria Champagne Butterfield:
Today, I now stand in a long line of godly women — the Mary Magdalene line. The gospel came with grace, but demanded irreconcilable war. Somewhere on this bloody battlefield, God gave me an uncanny desire to become a godly woman, covered by God, hedged in by his word and his will. This desire bled into another one: to become, if the Lord willed, the godly wife of a godly husband.
And then I noticed it.
Union with the risen Christ meant that everything else was nailed to the cross. I couldn’t get my former life back if I wanted it. At first, this was terrifying, but when I peered deep into the abyss of my terror, I found peace.
Butterfield provides a strong testimony about the power of the gospel over sin as well as a helpful introduction to John Owen’s writings on sin, temptation, and repentance:
Indeed, John Owen’s understanding of indwelling sin is the missing link in our current cultural confusion about what sexual sin is — and what to do about it.