Blog Post Links

Isaiah 40:8 says that while, “the grass withers, flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.” For a friend of mine, that Scripture has been deeply personal.

Jonathan Ramsey, a member of my campus ministry and a good friend of mine, began having seizures about a year and a half ago due to a psychological condition called conversion syndrome. For many months, Jonathan struggled with depression, doubt and physical pain due to the recurring episodes. It has been awhile since his last seizure and since then he has been stepping up his blogging.

I’d encourage you to read some of his posts, especially one titled “The Valley of the Shadow of Death, Part 2″. My friend is honest about his responses to sin and his circumstances. But the common theme throughout his posts is grace, what got him through and what always gets us through.

From around the Internet, here are a few quick hitters to check out:

1. James Thayer pointed me to this article about a man who went from inmate to evangelist in South Carolina.
2. C.J. Mahaney explains the benefit of having a tone-deaf pastor lead worship.
3. Two more good things from Al Mohler. The first is at the SBTS website, a panel discussion on N.T. Wright and the doctrine of justification.  The second is on his blog, an post titled “Why Moralism Is Not the Gospel.”
4. Appropriate for this blog: Mike Plewniak asks if technology is beneficial to Christians.  An oldie, but a goodie.
5. Purgatorio blog does not just joke but asks a serious question about this church with a sign outside saying “Islam is of the Devil.”
6. Came up in Google search for Christianity: a girl who converted from Islam to Christianity flees home, then seeks mediation after her family threatens to kill her
7. Forbes.com listed the top 10 megachurches in the U.S.

Statistically, no.  But as Al Mohler writes in a post, this nation’s pluralism looks more like Hinduism than Christianity.

“Without doubt, Americans have been growing more and more accepting of plural and relative understandings of truth,” Mohler writes. ” A tragically large number of those who identify as Christians have been drinking from the same wells of thought (as Hindus).”

His post draws most of its material from Lisa Miller’s article in Newsweek.

Image taken from www.girltalkhome.com

Nicole Whitacre posted a new resource on Monday, an online edition of Matthew Henry’s “Method of Prayer.”

“His method, quite simply, is to ‘pray the Bible’ and so the website is full of prayers composed almost entirely of Scripture,” Whitacre wrote.

You can choose from eight different translations to read the Scripture quotations in, and in 2010, the site will be adding nine languages in additional to English for Henry’s writing, including Spanish, French, Portuguese and Arabic.

A funny video I found on Josh Harris‘ blog the other day.  Good application and funny illustration of Proverbs 3:7.

Jonathan Dodson over at TheResurgence is doing a great series on the church. He is intricately breaking down the the common misconception many have of the church, and he is offering a biblical solution centered around the gospel and community.

Part One

Part Two

Enjoy the posts, they may just stir up a little thinking. Peace and grace.