Weekly Recap

I didn't post one of these last week, so my "top three" is actually a top five this week...

1. In a world filled with tragedy and suffering, humanity is often left wondering, "Where were you, God?" This song addresses that in a powerful way!

 
2. "Jesus said 'not to judge'" seems to be the only scripture some people know. Trip Lee does a good job of addressing the misconception that "only God can judge me."

3. Is God a pacifist? Should Christians practice self-defense or serve in the military? Mark Driscoll gives some food for thought.

4. Check out this comic (and the article that inspired it). Has anything done more damage to the modern church than the heresy of "easy-believism"?

(Click the picture to go to the full comic)

5. Finally, this article kind of puts things in perspective for pastors and others in ministry by asking, "Is It Actually Hard to Be a Pastor?"

Mortification: A Prayer

 

Mortification

from The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions by Arthur Bennett

 

O DIVINE LAWGIVER,
I take shame to myself
for open violations of thy law,
for my secret faults,
my omissions of duty,
my unprofitable attendance upon means of grace,
my carnality in worshipping thee,
and all the sins of my holy things.

"Sexy" Christianity, Billy Graham, and Heartwarming Camraderie

My Top Three for the Week of November 8th, 2013

I think it is possible to over-analyze movements, and I would take this first post with a grain of salt. But I do think that some Christians are just trying to hipster-ize the faith, and the points raised in this article are worth thinking about:

sexy "christianity"

Billy Graham was back in the headlines for at least one more time this week; Fox News Channel aired a message from Graham entitled "The Cross", and USA Today ran the following article covering his 95th birthday celebration:

Billy Graham's final sermon: "I've wept for America"

Finally, if you follow sports at all, you are probably sick to death of hearing about the bullying in the Miami Dolphin's locker room.

Here is a bit of antidote, courtesy of some young football players who "get it."

Living in Babylon

Obama makes the case for his new war.

Sometimes it is overwhelming to me to think of the rampant injustice in our nation, both at home and abroad.

We fund terrorism and slaughter thousands  in unjust wars of aggression around the world. At home, we butcher unborn children by the millions. Immorality and ignorance are practically virtues in our land. And our leaders openly trample on the laws of our nation and mock justice.

All of this prompted me to turn to the book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament. At first I thought that I would relate to Habakkuk's feelings about his own people, the nation of Israel. But I quickly realized that America has much more in common with ancient Babylon.

Zeal, or Arrogance?

Here are two excellent (and convicting) articles. There is much work to be done in our churches, and zeal is a good thing... but it is so easy for zeal to become tainted with arrogance, and for people to define themselves by what they're against, and for new meaningless traditions to take the place of old meaningless traditions. Check these out:

The new religious fundamentalists? Millennial Christians.

The Arrogance of My Generation’s Church Leaders

Weekly Recap

It has been a busy couple of weeks for me here, and I haven't had much time to keep up with writing. I plan on being back in full force next week. In the meantime, here are my top three favorite posts from the last two weeks.

A lot of Christians had a lot to say about the Supreme Court and DOMA last week. Unfortunately, a lot of what was said left me wishing that some Christians would just delete their social media profiles for the sake of Christ. However, there were a few voices with a gospel shaped perspective on the issue, and Trevin Wax wrote a must-read article on TGC that was (in my opinion) the best take on the whole issue:

Why Gay Marriage Is Good (and Bad) for the Church


On a more lighthearted note, Jon Acuff shared some "Worship Typos" that had me laughing out loud. I'm sure we've all had some similar experiences:

Top 16 Worship Typos

Finally, when it comes to youth ministry, much has been written about why young people are leaving the church. Jon Nielson approaches the issue from the opposite angle:

Common Traits of Youth Who Don't Leave the Church

Godliness Doesn't Happen by Accident

In 1 Timothy 4:6-8, Paul challenges Timothy to train himself for godliness. This analogy between physical and spiritual development can teach us a lot as we seek to grow in godliness.

Godliness Defined

At our church we are going through 2 Peter together on Sunday evenings, and the past several weeks we have been studying the character qualities that Peter wrote about in 2 Peter 1:5-7.

This past week I had the opportunity to give a message about godliness, and I am sharing those thoughts again on here in the form of a short series of posts.

Job: A Vision of God

The Word of God is inexhaustible!

Not too long ago, I had a chance to once again read through the book of Job. Though I had read it multiple times before (and even studied it for a class), God had something new to teach me: He wanted me to catch a renewed passion for worshiping Him.

Evangelism and Discipleship

Alan Hirsch hits the nail on the head when he says that discipleship and not evangelism needs to be our focus.

Of course, if our mentality is that "evangelism" and "discipleship" are things that we do, then we will find ourselves struggling to balance the two. But if we are being and making disciples, then evangelism will happen naturally in the process.

What do you think? Agree or disagree?

Weekly Recap

"The form of rap is no less godly than the form in most of our hymns." Check out this great post about music by Ed Stetzer:

7 Biblical Tests for Christians and Music


Community groups, bible studies, and small groups do not necessarily equal missional communities. Todd Engstrom explains the differences in this article that will challenge your perspective on small groups:

What Makes a Missional Community Different?

People get caught up by theological labels, but I wonder how much they actually think about those labels?

Debatable: Why Are There Calvinist Baptists but No Lutheran Baptists?

Guidelines for Social Media

Have you ever posted something on social media that you later regretted? Maybe it was sarcastic, or inappropriate, or just plain mean. Or maybe it would have been okay to share if your best friends were the only ones who could see your feed, but it wasn't necessarily something you needed to share with the public.

I've been there. Quite recently, in fact. And afterwards I realized it was time to seriously think through some guidelines for social media.


These are some questions that I am going to use to evaluate the things I post on social media. I'm sharing them in the hopes that you might find them useful, too.

Weekly Recap

Opponents of biblical marriage often accuse Christians of inconsistent interpretation/application of scripture. Tim Keller addresses that in a clear and concise way:

"Why Same-Sex Acts Got the Death Penalty in OT, but Not Today"

Change. That can be a scary word. And when you are in ministry, how you handle change can make or break you. Shauna Niequist shares a brief but memorable illustration about change:

"Making Big Changes Is a Great Way to Sink a Ship"

Are you a coffee-lover like me? As I slowly begin to shed my Starbucks training wheels, I realize just how much there is to learn about this wonderful beverage. Here's a post that might help with your initial ventures into the local coffee shop:

"How to Drink Espresso"

Connecting God's Grace with Our Effort

It is a common struggle (in both theology and in practice) to try to balance the roles of God's grace and our effort in sanctification. Errors of license and/or legalism abound wherever people emphasize one at the expense of another!

Whenever I consider this tension between relying on grace and exerting effort, I find myself going to back to Titus 2.

Twenty-five Reasons to Be Thankful

On my 25th birthday, here are 25 Reasons that I'm thankful:

Weekly Recap

Are you like me, and looking for ways to grow as the pastor of your home? Mark Driscoll gets "practical":

11 Practical Ways for Men to Lead a Family

Some people have been reacting to the recent movement of "radical," "missional" Christianity with accusations of legalism. Ed Stetzer has a great response:

Radical Christianity: A Call to Legalism or a Cause to Live?

My fellow WOLBI alumni Stuart Young just released a new video. It's a powerful song about suffering and beauty:

"Beauty in the Broken Heart"

As a bonus (this is actually from last week), I have to share this article from Gavin Ortlund. He offers an interesting take on pre-Reformation Christianity:

Searching for Gospel-Centered Theology before the Reformation

Update

Stay tuned: the first full week of regular posts is coming up starting next week!

Here It Is!

Here it is: my first post!

By way of introduction, the name of my blog comes from the word “chairo,” which is found in my life verse, Philippians 4:4. It means “to rejoice.”

I chose the name "Chairo" because I want everything about this blog to lead people to joy in Christ. Sometimes that will be explicit; sometimes that will be implicit. But that will always be the theme.