Links & Quotes

We are born with a certain level of intuition, but we can definitely build a stronger intuition by learning lessons from history. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had about a leader’s intuition + execution.

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“It is idle to talk always of the alternative of reason and faith. Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all. If you are merely a sceptic, you must sooner or later ask yourself the question, ‘Why should anything go right; even observation and deduction? Why should not good logic be as misleading as bad logic? They are both movements in the brain of a bewildered ape?’” —G.K. Chesterton 

I keep six honest serving-men
     (They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
     And How and Where and Who. —Rudyard Kipling

“All the work of man is but the spinning of a righteousness which is undone as quickly as it is spun; but Christ has finished the seamless and spotless robe of His righteousness which is to last for ever.” —Charles Spurgeon 

The Institute for Creation Research opens an article about the impact of and recovery from the biblical Flood with this, “In the beginning, God created plants and animals to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:11–13, 20–25). So, when areas are devastated, living things are engineered with the innate ability to rebound and recolonize. This was seen in the rapid recovery of life at Mount St. Helens after the cataclysmic volcanic eruption of May 18, 1980. But conventional scientists seem to be finally recognizing and appreciating the reality of rapid recovery a bit more after studying the life that existed after the supposed Chicxulub impact.”

John Piper addressing the role of spiritual affections in the life of a Christian says, “No machine, no computer, no AI will ever duplicate the spiritual reality of the soul’s enjoyment of God.”

“Ignorance of Scripture is the mother of error. … Many lay aside Scripture as rusty armour (Jeremiah 8:9); they are better read in romances than in St. Paul; they spend many hours inter pectinem et speculum—‘between the comb and the glass’—but their eyes begin to be sore when they look upon a Bible. They who slight the Word written, slight God Himself, whose stamp it bears.” —Thomas Watson 

Links & Quotes

Christians need to be very cautious about not quarreling in a way that pushes people away from the love of God.

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In discussing how Thomas Huxley coined the term agnostic, John Stonestreet and Dr. Glenn Sunshine note, “If God is rational and created an orderly universe and human beings in His image, we can study the universe. Without these assumptions, there is no reason to assume the world is knowable or that humans are able to know. It is the theistic assumption, not the agnostic assumption, that grounds science. By rejecting God, scientists undercut the foundations for their work.”

“There will come a time when every culture, every institution, every nation, the human race, all biological life is extinct and every one of us is still alive. Immortality is promised to us, not to these generalities. It was not for societies or states that Christ died, but for men.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Weight of Glory 

“If Patrick Henry could arise from the dead and revisit the land of the living, and see the vast system and social organization and social science which now controls, he would probably simplify his observation and say, ‘Give me death.’” —G.K. Chesterton, speaking in New York City’s Time Square Theatre in 1921 

T.M. Moore has an excellent series of posts about God and reason. In the post Since God is Reasonable, he writes, “If we are sluggish in reason, so that we do not like to have to think hard and long about matters; or if our skills in reasoning are inadequate, poorly honed, or rusty from disuse, then we should make it our business to overcome our laziness and improve our use of reason, since the great prize of reasoning with and knowing God lies open to us.”

We all experience conflicts with other people, but this post—8 signs you’re the problem in your arguments—is quite insightful.

Stanley Horton’s influence on the Assemblies of God—and wider Pentecostal circles too—cannot be understated. This is a great mini-biography of his life. 

I’m always impressed by the historicity of the Bible. “Archaeology has demonstrated that numerous people, places, and events within the books [of Ezra and Nehemiah] are historically accurate,” says this post.

“The Jewish high priests went once a year into the Holy of Holies. Each year as it came round demanded that they should go again. Their work was never done; but ‘He entered in once,’ and only once, ‘into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.’ I love that expression, ‘eternal redemption’—a redemption which really does redeem, and redeems forever and ever. If you are redeemed by it, you cannot be lost; if this redemption be yours, it is not for a time, or for a season, but it is ‘eternal redemption.’ Oh, how you ought to rejoice in the one entrance within the veil by our great High Priest who has obtained eternal redemption for us!” —Charles Spurgeon 

Links & Quotes

Before having that difficult conversation, make sure that person you are going to speak to knows two things: (1) God loves them, and (2) You love them. Here’s a great example of how this is done.

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A very interesting post on the history of the Shroud of Turin, including some of the most recent scientific studies. 

“Many read the Bible the way a mouse tries to remove the cheese from a trap… trying not to get caught.” —Søren Kierkegaard 

Is there any historical evidence to the claim that Easter is based on pagan deities or pagan practices? John Stonestreet discusses the lack of solid connections to these claims.

“Today…the church is becoming more of a consumer than a steward. This means we want the church to give us friends, marry us, provide financial help, give us counseling, get us to heaven, help us when our house is flooded, give us good music, and fix our teenagers. All of this while we sit and take it in. Exodus 35 speaks to this. To be clear, when we give our offering, we’re not giving to the Lord something He doesn’t already have a right to. We are just taking our hands off that which already belongs to Him.” —Tim Dilena 

One generation after the apostle Paul wrote his stern letters to the saints at Corinth, T.M. Moore explains how we get a glimpse of how that church heeded his words in the letters from Clement.

Dr. Glenn Sunshine and John Stonestreet explain, “Thomas Jefferson is rightly called a hypocrite. In the Declaration of Independence, he wrote the famous lines: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ And yet, Jefferson was among America’s founders who owned slaves.” Check out this insight into Jefferson

Links & Quotes

Jesus showed us how to remain faithful as a shepherd even in the face of painful attacks. If you are a pastor—or if you love your pastor—please check out my books Shepherd Leadership and When Sheep Bite. 

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Every year I see the same unsubstantiated claims that the Christian celebration of Christmas is a hodgepodge of pagan and cultic myths cobble together and hijacked by Christians. Here are three myths refuted by archeological evidence.

Dr. Allen Tennison points out how Luke emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit all throughout his Gospel, and then continues that theme as he moves into the Book of Acts.

“One of the first gospel blessings is that of complete justification. A sinner, though guilty in himself, no sooner believes in Jesus than all his sins are pardoned. The righteousness of Christ becomes his righteousness, and he is accepted in the Beloved.” —Charles Spurgeon 

“For the apostle Paul, as, indeed, for all the apostles and early Christians, the Church is the Body of Christ, the continuing incarnation of the reigning and conquering King of Glory. The Church, according to the apostles, is the centerpiece of Christ’s historical agenda (Matthew 16:18). Whatever Christ intends to do on earth prior to His imminent return, the focal point of that work will be in and through His Church. … We do not have the mind of Christ if we are not thinking the same way about His Body, the Church. We need the Church, and if we do not think this is so, then we do not have the mind of Christ. We need the Church. But we need it according to the purpose with the guidance and blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ.” —T.M. Moore 

What an amazing story of faithfulness! The faithfulness of God is seen in the loving actions of an unnamed Sunday School teacher and in a lifelong missionary.

Cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace contrasts blind belief and unreasonable belief with what he calls forensic faith. His conclusion: “A forensic faith gives you confidence in uncertainty, strength in adversity, and the ability to engage intellectually with both believers and skeptics. It transforms faith from mere hope into informed trust, and that makes all the difference in how you live out your beliefs in a world that’s constantly questioning them.”

“Depression is one of satan’s most dynamic weapons to divert you from God’s purpose for your life. If he can scatter a little dejection here and there in your thoughts—and even in your prayers—he can convince you to remove your breastplate of righteousness because it is too cumbersome and will go against your material and temporal interest. Do not give in that easily!” —William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armor 

Links & Quotes

When the Holy Spirit shines His light on a biblical promise, and you turn that into a prayer, write it down! You may need to go back to this again and again. When God answers your prayer, write it down again! This can become a testimony journal that you and others can use to recall God’s provision. 

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“The pathway to maturity and to solid biblical food is not first becoming an intelligent person, but becoming an obedient person.” —John Piper 

“Somehow or other an extraordinary idea has arisen that the disbelievers in miracles consider them coldly and fairly, while believers in miracles accept them only in connection with some dogma. The fact is quite the other way. The believers in miracles accept them (rightly or wrongly) because they have evidence for them. The disbelievers in miracles deny them (rightly or wrongly) because they have a doctrine against them.” —G.K. Chesterton 

“At every moment, we always have a choice, even if it feels as if we don’t. Sometimes that choice may simply be to think a more positive thought.” —Tina Turner 

Every day should be a day of thanksgiving!

“We are strangers on Earth; our homeland is in Heaven. Our walk is here; our hearts are there.” —Dr. Henry Halley

Did Jesus “confess” He was God? J. Warner Wallace says He did, but not as some people define the word “confession.” 

I have already shared the first two posts in the latest archeological research on the biblical city of Jericho. Here is part three.

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” —Pelé 

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one who gets people to do the greatest things.” —Ronald Reagan 

Links & Quotes

The writer of the Book of Hebrews challenges Christians to learn how to better encourage others and spur them on to their very best. This means we have to go deeper in our relationships with people. Here’s one way not to do this. 

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T.M. Moore cautions us against having a “too small God” mindset. He writes, “We are short-changing the people of God unless our preaching and teaching fits them to seek the Kingdom of God and the restoration of the world in all our life and work. We do not expect to recreate the original conditions that existed before the fall, but to remember them, to recall them, to recover a measure of them for the life of the world and, by so doing, to point ahead to the new and better and fully remade world that is to come.”

More archeological evidence from the city of Jericho helps scholars date the exodus from Egypt more precisely as well. All of this reinforces the absolute historicity of the biblical accounts. 

“The Pentecostal movement emerged at the turn of the 20th century, resulting from a series of overlapping revivals that occurred around the world.” One of those revivals was in Wales. 

“Although [traditional scientists] feel certain that dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago, unremitting soft tissue discoveries from dinosaur fossils openly challenge such age options and validate the creation model.” Check out how the Raman spectroscopy tests are aligning paleontological discoveries with the biblical timeline of Creation.

Links & Quotes

The Bible doesn’t tell us to choose either love or spiritual gifts, but to be both loving and spiritually gifted. Let’s always go for the both-and!

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T.M. Moore is sharing a fascinating series of posts on economics through a biblical worldview. “All the ancient laws of Israel contain principles like this, principles which, if rightly understood and faithfully practiced, could tap into the grace of God and bring more honesty, respect, fairness, justice, generosity, forbearance, and love into the economic practice of a powerful nation such as the United States—more of grace and less of greed to our economic life.” 

“Christ had even a literary style of His own, not to be found, I think, elsewhere; it consists of an almost furious use of the a fortiori. His ’how much more’ is piled one upon another like castle upon castle in the clouds. The diction used about Christ has been, and perhaps wisely, sweet and submissive. But the diction used by Christ is quite curiously gigantesque; it is full of camels leaping through needles and mountains hurled into the sea.” —G.K. Chesterton 

David Mathis writes that the Bible is not just “a Book.” He says, “In my mind, one of the greatest imaginable tragedies is a professing Christian who is bored with the Bible. Could a truly loving husband cherish his wife but not care for her words? Could an adoring wife respect her husband but not what he says? What are words anyway? They are the breathed-out expressions of the person himself. Words are audible revelations of the otherwise unknown heart.”

Another archeological study supports the historicity of the Bible. This one identifies the battle preparations that King Joash made.

Links & Quotes

Whether we see the world through a naturalistic lens or a biblical lens makes all the difference!

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Columba was a powerful Christian leader in history. Even the legends about him are pretty cool! 

Isaac Newton said, “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler are two gigantic figures in the world of science. These men were both devout Christians. Check out these mini-biographies from the ICR.

“What made David’s heart remarkable wasn’t the absence of sin but his unrelenting pursuit of restoration with God.” —YouVersion reading plan Men of God: Ancient Virtues for Modern Warriors 

It’s always fascinating to read about archeological discoveries that overlap with the historical accounts of the Bible.

Whether you are a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, or just a Christian sharing your testimony with your friend, we need to handle God’s Word correctly. John Piper’s lesson on 2 Timothy 2:14-15 is spot-on.

Links & Quotes

The armor of God is not for us to fight in but to shield us while we pray. Prayer is the weapon!

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“Psychologists, since the beginning of the discipline, have argued about the essence of what it means to be human. Some, like [Sigmund] Freud, insist that we are motivated by physical pleasure, while others, like Victor Frankl or Abraham Maslow, believe that some higher purpose…. Human beings, made in the image and likeness of God, only realize their full potential and pleasure as they participate in the very being of God and know and experience the pleasure He takes in Himself and His glory.” —T.M. Moore 

“If you are persevering in faith today, you owe it to the blood of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, who is working in you to preserve your faith, is honoring the purchase of Jesus. God the Spirit works in us what God the Son obtained for us. The Father planned it. Jesus bought it. The Spirit applies it—all of them infallibly.” —John Piper

“The Hebrew word Davar (דבר, pronounced ‘daw-var’) reveals something profound about God’s Word—it’s not merely information, but transformation. … Throughout Scripture, God’s Word consistently proves both living and active. It has the power to create worlds (Genesis 1), transform lives (Psalm 119:105), and accomplish God’s purposes (Isaiah 55:11).” —Dave Adamson 

More fascinating archeology that supports the Bible’s historicity. This is a look at the library of letters found at Tell el-Amarna in Egypt. “The most obvious connection between the Amarna Letters and biblical history is that some of the letters appear to be describing, in real-time, the attacks of the Israelites during the period of the conquest. Remember, the initial conquest battles took a period of some 5–6 years, but the attempts by various tribes to conquer their allotted territories lasted into the period of the Judges. The letters from the rulers of some of the very cities named in the biblical conquest calling for help from the attacking ʿapîru/ḫa-bi-ru, provide a poignant backdrop to this period of biblical history.”

“Because I am your constant Companion, there should be a lightness to your step that is observable to others. Do not be weighed down with problems and unresolved issues, for I am your burden-bearer.” —Jesus in Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling, based on Psalm 31:19–20; John 16:33

Links & Quotes

Controlling leaders shut down creativity among their teammates, which leads to higher turnover. If your team isn’t sharing their good ideas with you or if they are leaving you, that may be an indicator that you are too controlling. Check out the full conversation on The Craig and Greg Show

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“As a fact, men only become greedily and gloriously material about something spiritualistic. … Take away the supernatural, and what remains is the unnatural.” —G.K. Chesterton 

Astronomical technology like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are providing breathtaking images. They are also creating problems for the scientific theories of the origins of our universe. University of California Santa Barbara physicist Caitlin Casey, said, “It makes sense—the Big Bang happens and things take time to gravitationally collapse and form, and for stars to turn on. There’s a timescale associated with that…. And the big surprise is that with JWST, we see roughly 10 times more galaxies than expected at these incredible distances.” There is a more straightforward answer found in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

“Knowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to use God’s gifts and God’s methods to get them there, in reliance on God’s power through Christ, with God’s appointed people following.” —John Piper, giving his definition of godly leadership 

The Bible records the names of five Persian kings. One of them called “Darius the Persian” in Nehemiah 12:22 requires some historical cross-referencing to identify. The Bible Archeology Report presents another one of their fascinating archeological biographies on this Persian king. 

“The greatness of a leader is in his humility before God, not in his eloquence before men.” —Anonymous

The most viewed and downloaded resource on my blog is my chart of the kings of the united kingdom of Israel and the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. I was thrilled to discover this week that Jacob Edson at Biblegateway has taken my chart even deeper!

T.M. Moore has vital counsel for pastors, “Jesus must increase in us, and we must decrease. But that doesn’t just happen by carrying out whatever our ‘spiritual work’ requires of us week-in and week-out. Our ‘natural gifts’ cannot replace spiritual ones, and ‘mental powers’ are no match for the mind of Christ. It is a shepherd’s ‘duty’ to attend to the care and nurture of his soul, for unless we are diligent in this, we will not be able to lead the Lord’s sheep into a greater experience of our great salvation or a fuller realization of His Kingdom.”