“Gospel Links for Gospel Culture” is a weekly round-up of content to encourage you in your faith and ministry.
Quit Asking God to Join Your Side
Eric Geiger:One of the most famous stories in the Bible is the story of God bringing down the walls of Jericho and giving the city to His people, just as He promised He would. I have heard people teach the story in a way that sounds like we can get God to tear down the walls that our holding us back from our plans. Sermons that essentially sound like, “What are your plans? What walls are in the way? God can tear them down.” But the story is not about God joining our plans. Before the people marched around the city, Joshua had an incredible interaction with the Commander of the Lord’s army. This interaction helps us understand the story.
Your Joy Comes From Christ, Not Your Performance
Gloria Furman:Are We Allergic to Insignificance?
Erik Raymond:As we learn by how Jesus answers the question, they had a misunderstanding about what the kingdom was. And when I think of how Jesus responds to their argument, I’m rebuked by a warped sense of kingdom values. I think we might be allergic to humility and insignificance. Perhaps you can identify.
How Books Humanize Us
Daniel Darling:My love of reading, words, and books has helped my own career. I’ve been writing professionally for almost two decades, but I’ve been creating words of my own for even longer. Ever since a junior high teacher reviewed a composition I wrote and said to me, almost nonchalantly, “Dan, I think you have writing talent,” I’ve been on this wild and wonderful ride, using my fingers to create prose that, hopefully, helps point others to Jesus.
Book review: Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been
If you’re curious about this book, this review will (hopefully) be a help to you.Fighting for Hope
Trevin Wax:The woes of turmoil stem from many different sources. Some people may be more inclined to these trials because of their temperament. For others, it may be brought on by unrelenting physical pain. For some, it is grief that leads us to this state, a feeling of numbness after a trauma or tragedy. For others, it may be that we’ve been on a spiritual mountaintop, and the Lord has now led us to the valley. Whatever the cause—in these seasons, we must fight for hope. Psalm 42 instructs us how.
Dumbed Down? Why Reading the Bible Is so Elusive—Yet so Vitally Important
Ed Stetzer:Despite the fact that most Americans could likely walk around their homes and count more than a few Bibles dispersed throughout, only one in five Americans have actually read the Bible in its entirety and more than half of Americans (53%) have read merely a smattering of passages to none at all. This begs the question: Why are people choosing not to engage with Scripture?
The Gospel Project’s editorial team contributed to this post. Photo: Pixabay
