Say what you will about social networking, but God is using these tools to remind me of His abundant grace. Each and every day we have access to incredible minds and hearts. Even with a limit of 140 characters, truths from God’s Word and God’s people are being delivered to me each and every day via Twitter. This is simply and utterly the grace of God and I’m thankful for it. So here’s some top picks from this week. Follow them, learn from them, retweet, share, etc.
I’ve been seriously contemplating a major swing in the content of my blog. Mainly due to convictions in my heart in regards to narcissism and pride, I want to continue to post and re-post helpful and encouraging reading when I can.
Today I give you a snippet from J.C. Ryle’s Thoughts For Young Men, originally posted on the “J.C. Ryle Quotes” blog titled “Five Dangers For Young Men”. Danger #3 is “Thoughtlessness”:
“Not thinking is one simple reason why thousands of souls are thrown away forever into the Lake of Fire. Men will not consider, will not look ahead, will not look around them, will not reflect on the end of their present course, and the sure consequences of their present days, and wake up to find they are damned for a lack of thinking. Young men, none are in more danger of this than yourselves. You know little of the perils around you, and so you are careless how you walk. You hate the trouble of serious, quiet thinking, and so you make wrong decisions and bring upon yourselves much sorrow.†- J.C. Ryle
*Correction: An earlier version of this post had a photo of my friends doing silly things. This image has been replaced with the photo of J.C. Ryle to protect the innocent and hopefully not lead people to think I’m bashing my friends, which was never my intention. I too am quite thoughtless at times.
I forget sometimes things I’ve come across or read that I want to share with people, but today I remembered a fantastic resource that you need to be aware of. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) has a great, updated website with some wonderful resources for Christians. Specifically they have put together digital booklets for free download which I highly recommend. Though I haven’t read them all, I have read the “From Boy To Man: The Marks of Manhood” and thought it was a very helpful resource on the topic of Biblical manhood. Obviously I have a vested interest in the topic as a man myself and with a son that is quickly growing, but I’m sure the other topics (counseling, modesty, homosexuality, and pastoral ministry) would be of interest to you.
You can download all of the booklets for free by visiting “Southern Resources” or by clicking the specific links below (all links are direct to the PDFs):
From Boy to Man: The Marks of Manhood
Counseling and the Authority of Christ
Homosexuality and the Bible
Modeling Modesty
The Pastor as Theologian