Saturday Six-Pack (8)

Another week, another weekend.  Thanks for coming for a bit of “Wandering & Wondering”.

The Saturday Six-Pack brings a weekly dose of online pieces, written to inform or inspire.  Generally, these articles are faith-focused or ministry-geared, but the “disorderly pile of who-knows-what” tagline at the top of this page catching everything outside of that!

This week:

1) God is Most Glorified When We are Most Dependent on Him
Justin Buzzard takes aim at the hidden dangers of chasing independence.

2) Farewell Rob Bell
On February 26, 2011, John Piper rocked the Twitter-verse with three words: “Farewell, Rob Bell.”  The adieu was viewed as a cutting critique of the not-yet-released “Love Wins”.  This interview provides the behind-the-tweet story that you have likely not heard before.

3) Saudi Grand Mufti Calls for “Destruction of All Churches in the Area”
When I was in Syria, the group I was part of was hosted for a feast by the nation’s Grand Mufti, in Damascus.  This was more than a big deal, as the Grand Mufti is one of the country’s most influential Islamic leaders.  Knowing that, you can now appreciate the context of this article’s opening line: “Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, declared that it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.”  Read this brief piece to enlarge your perspective on what fellow Christians around the globe are facing, as they live out their faith.

4) Life on God’s Time
In a culture bent on instant gratification, how do we follow a God with a completely foreign sense of time?  How do you trust a Being beyond time?

5) How Do You Keep from Getting Distracted?
How do you buckle down and focus deeply when you cannot afford distraction?  Donald Miller has a few ideas.

6) Top Five Regrets of the Dying
What do you get when a palliative care nurse spends years learning from her patients how they look back on their lives?  You get a full-blown book, shrunk down for this blog post.

Have a great weekend, friends–renew yourself and reverence God.

Saturday Six-Pack (1)

Welcome to the weekend, and thanks for spending some time “Wandering & Wondering”.

This is the inaugural “Saturday Six-Pack” post, an effort to share some of the best things I’ve read online from the past week or so.  Typically, these articles will be faith-focused or ministry-geared, but I reserve the right to live up to the “disorderly pile of who-knows-what” tagline at the top of this page!

In this edition:

1) Destruction: God’s Alien Work
Lisa Dye contributes this Lent devotional, focusing on the wrecking role of God’s work in our lives at times.  Creator?  Certainly.  Provider?  Sure.  Demolition foreman?  Sometimes.

2) Nostalgia: The Enemy of Faith
It’s one thing to value our past, in which we idealize memories and idolize heroes.  But Collin Hansen pushes us to take another look for the warts.  As an example, he provides this look at two recently released books, among the first scholarly treatments of great 20th-century evangelical leaders John Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones, wildly inspiring while being as imperfect as any of us.

3) The Intolerance of Tolerance
Is the tolerance that our society so values all that it’s cracked up to be?  Don Carson doesn’t think so.

4) How Do You Disciple New Believers?
For all the things involved in helping new Christians grow, Justin Buzzard says that we must get this part clear: “Discipleship is truth transferred through relationship.”

5) The State of the Church in Canada
The Gospel Coalition is holding a Canada Conference on this topic in late May.  While the event is being held nowhere near my home, this post contains information that will interest anyone working or worshiping in Canadian churches.

6) What People Gave Up for Lent 2012
Christianity Today offers this intriguing peek into this year’s Lent-related habits of Christians through some serious Twitter observation.  Somewhat serious, somewhat sarcastic, this short piece will cause a few smiles and a few shocks.

Have a great weekend, friends–renew yourself and reverence God.