Persecution

Saturday Sampler: September 16 — September 22

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Fall Garden Sampler

Taken by John Kespert at Boston Public Garden

The trouble with Mike Ratliff of Possessing the Treasure is that I want to include the majority of his articles in Sampler! Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season certainly belongs in this week’s curation, since it addresses many themes that I want you ladies to understand. I hope you won’t neglect this one.

Michelle Lesley handles an important topic with The Mailbag: Is lust a sin for women, too? Of course the short answer is yes. But Michelle’s long answer enhances our understanding of just how seriously the Lord takes female lust.

Despising God’s Word Might Not Mean What You Think It Does, suggests Mike Leake in a post for Borrowed Light. I agree.

In an article for The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel, Justin Peters uses his own experience with Cerebral Palsy to repudiate the victim and entitlement mentality that fuels the Social Justice Movement. Thanks for Nothing reminds us what true justice is and why we really don’t want it.

Sydney, a high school age young lady who blogs at Squid’s Cup of Tea, displays her astonishing insight with Are You Texting God? Do you need to learn from her?

You’ll be encouraged, challenged and inspired by Life Lessons from A British Cemetery, which Courtney McLean writes for Biblical Woman. I guess the tombstones of Susanna Wesley and John Bunyan would have an impact on me, too!

For another healthy challenge,  consider We Need to Change How We Pray by Jordan Standridge on The Cripplegate. His perspective isn’t popular, but it’s definitely Biblical.

It’s true! You Don’t Want to Miss This Post that Leslie A writes on Growing 4 Life. She muses about the odd disconnect that keeps so many Christians from becoming all we should be in Christ.

I totally agree with Jason Marianna of Things Above Us about The Saddest Day in Church History NO ONE Talks About. Even if you deplore history, you’ll learn something that may give you better insight into how problems arise when churches embrace social justice.

The lady who blogs at Biblical Beginnings takes on a familiar challenge to Christian faith with The Rock — But Can He Lift It? Frankly, I’ve always found this question to be incredibly obnoxious, so her positive approach to it humbles me.

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Saturday Sampler: September 9 — September 15

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Cinderella Sampler

In a guest post for Pyromaniacs, Darrell B. Harrison insists that God Has Spoken regarding how Christians must implement justice. Scripture speaks clearly to how we can live justly in this fallen world.

Do you remember how excited you were about Jesus when you first became a Christian? Elizabeth Prata invites us to think back to those days by Remembering our earliest grace in The End Time. She definitely provides wise counsel in this essay.

When the Holy Spirit helps us understand Scriptural principles, we naturally want to pass  those insights along. And that’s generally a good thing. But, as Leslie A of Growing 4 Life shows us, sometimes we need His wisdom on When to Stop Talking.

With compassion and fidelity to God’s Word, Michael Coughlin writes Do People Who Commit Suicide Go To Hell? as his contribution to the Things Above Us blog. You might appreciate his thought-provoking perspectives.

Look at Pilgrim Theology Versus Ethnic Theology by R. Scott Clark on The Heidelblog for a helpful understanding of why we must avoid classifying Christians by ethnicities.

It pleases me to recommend a second Elizabeth Prata post this week. The Truest Poverty Social Justice Can Never Cure brings us to the heart of the conversation. Isn’t it amazing how Scripture gives such clarity to a controversy?

John Ellis reviews Aimee Byrd’s controversial book on friendships between men and women for his personal blog, adayinhiscourt. Aimee Byrd Asks About Men and Women ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends?’ candidly examines the book’s strengths and weaknesses from a male perspective that few women really understand. We desperately need to consider the points Ellis makes.

Against the backdrop of suffering for Christ, Mike Ratliff studies 2 Timothy in Possessing the Treasure to remind us why we must Rekindle the Gift of God. He even uses the text to show us how to rekindle our spiritual gifts. As persecution increases against American Christians, Ratliff’s teaching is much needed.

Take a look at Colin L. Eakin’s article, When the Sunday Sermon Is Really Demon Doctrine, in Pyromaniacs. Dr. Eakin highlights the desperate need for Biblical discernment in evangelical churches today.

Speaking of discernment, Michelle Lesley takes us back to the fundamentals of it with Basic Training: Being Berean — 8 Steps for Comparing Teaching to Scripture. Even if you excel at discernment, her principles might serve as a helpful refresher.

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A Webcast That Got My Attention — Bold Chinese Pastors Aren’t American Snowflakes

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Chinese ChristiansJohn and I enjoy listening to The Dividing Line with James White (usually for different reasons). I’m pretty sure it’s John’s favorite, and it’s definitely mine.

Today we listened to roughly the first half of yesterday’s show, which started off with a discussion of the persecution Christians and Muslims are facing as the Chinese government has recently imposed religious restrictions on both groups. Truthfully, I  started out only mildly interested. But then White Continue reading →

Playing Catch-Up Is Just Fooling Around

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Playing Around

The visible church, often comprised of false converts and true Christians who haven’t received solid teaching, betrays its eagerness to follow the world. From the ordination of women as pastors to the Woke Movement, evangelicals have worked long and hard to catch up to the progressive standards of our greater culture.

Compromise indeed keeps us comfortable, especially when the world has declared (in no uncertain terms) that Continue reading →

Saturday Sampler: August 19 — August 25

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Birds Sampler

Let’s start this week’s Sampler by going to Knowable Word for Ryan Higginbottom’s Context Matters: The Lord’s Prayer. I particularly appreciate his emphasis on the fact that we mustn’t isolate portions of Scripture.

I debated long and hard about including The Mailbag: Should Christian women cover up while breastfeeding? by Michelle Lesley only because I don’t want to tempt men to read it. But I definitely believe young mothers should seriously consider Michelle’s Biblical perspective on this controversial matter.

The Believer And Suicide by John Chester appears in Parking Space 23. He handles this difficult issue with sensitivity and tact while also maintaining a solid commitment to the Word of God. Please note: throughout his article, Chester correctly identifies suicide as a sin. Nothing he writes should be construed as permission to kill yourself.

Don’t overlook Maybe We Need Less Math and More History, in which Tim Challies outlines several benefits of studying church history. How can I not love this one?

As a contributor to For The Church, Patrick Meador encourages each of us to Be a Missionary, Not a Marketer. This is one of the best responses to the church growth industrial complex that I’ve read in a long time.

John MacArthur continues laying his foundation for critiquing the Social Justice Movement on this Grace To You blog with The Long Struggle to Preserve the Gospel, Part 1  and The Long Struggle to Preserve the Gospel, Part 2. These posts help explain why this current trend weakens the mission of the Church.

Reasoning from Scripture, Elizabeth Prata of The End Time analyzes a Facebook meme in Throwback Thursday: Does God Speak In Unidentified Promptings? Ladies, we must follow Elizabeth’s example and think Biblically when we see “Christian” memes on social media.

Few American evangelicals really believe that persecution is knocking at our door. SlimJim of The Domain for Truth gives us a needed wake up call with Tolerance? Church Vandalized. It’s a short but personal account that demands our attention.

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If I’ve Told You Once, I’ve Told You A Thousand Times!

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cropped-cropped-cropped-cropped-img_4654.jpgMy sister and I must have been exasperating kids. To this day, I can hear my mother’s reproving voice saying, “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times…”

I’m not saying those words reprovingly. Quite the contrary — today I’m typing the thousandth post in The Outspoken TULIP  blog! It’s been both a delight and a privilege to sit before this keyboard and  blog about the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ to you ladies each day.

Tomorrow I’ll begin composing my next thousand posts, confident that the wobbly evangelical world will continue having controversies and making compromises that Continue reading →

Saturday Sampler: August 5 — August 11

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Ryan Higginbottom of Knowable Word helps us Overcome Common Excuses for Not Studying the Bible. I needed this little kick in the pants. Do you?Victoria Painting

Have you ever been called a judgmental hypocrite for contending for the faith? I have. Recently, in fact! So I appreciate The Natural Man, the visible Church, and telling the truth by Mike Ratliff of Possessing the Treasure. If you need encouragement to stand on  God’s Word, this is your article.

It doesn’t matter if someone we witness to claims to reject the Bible’s authority. God’s Word continues to be the means that the Holy Spirit uses to give people saving faith. In keeping with that truth, Jordan Standridge’s latest item in The Cripplegate shows us 3 Bible Passages to Study with Unbelievers that could help us in our evangelism efforts. As usual, Standridge writes with a Scriptural clarity that we desperately need.

It’s been a while since Lisa Morris has written on Conforming to the Truth, but she’s Michele Smithback!  Her study, Patience The Heart The Tongue and Our Love instructs us in applying the fruit of patience. I like her practical approach to this discipline. Welcome back, Lisa!

Douglas Wilson has been writing a chapter-by-chapter review of Aimee Byrd’s disturbing book, Why Can’t We Be Friends? on his blog, Blog & Mablog. I don’t want to feature each post in his series on Saturday Sampler, but Gaaa! Jezebel! definitely deserves attention. Of particular note is his reference to the Revoice Conference. The comparison between Aimee’s book and the conference had never occurred to me, but it really makes a lot of sense!

If you’re a mom sending your child off to college this month, warn your child to be careful about campus fellowship groups. Garrett O’Hara, in his contribution to Things Above Us, writes Extrabiblical Revelation: Being Chained to the Ocean Floor as an example of mysticism creeping into even non-Charismatic organizations at colleges and betty-portrait-painteduniversities.

In Getting “Unhitched” from the Old Testament? Andy Stanley Aims at Heresy, Albert Mohler evaluates Stanley’s latest controversial remarks through both Scripture and church history. This blog post underscores the important role of church history in exercising discernment concerning current problems in evangelical circles.

Responding to a question from a reader, C.T. Adams writes Question 34: How does one judge the fruits of others without being judgmental? in Faith Contender. This one might sting a little, just as any good antiseptic should, but it’s wonderfully cleansing. If you do any level of discernment ministry, I encourage you to Kristy Culverhouseconsider the admonition in this piece.

Feminism makes demands. Women want power that creates equality with men, evidently. Blogging in The End Time, Elizabeth Prata offers thoughts On empowerment from a Biblical perspective.

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