Category: The Gospel Coalition

The Gospel Coalition

Blog can be found on:

http://theologica.blogspot.com/

By micoots
01/02/2017 0

5 Ways to Engage with News Media

Of all things to read, why read the news?

C. S. Lewis asked this question in both An Experiment in Criticism and Surprised by Joy. He described the person who reads only the news as “the most unliterary reader of all,” one step below the reader of the “lowest kinds of fiction.” As for news writers, Lewis deemed them unreliable because they tend to focus on stories of “vulgarity and sensationalism,” and rarely put facts in their proper context.

Lewis is onto something here. As a journalist, I h..

By micoots
31/01/2017 0

When God Feels Far Away

It’s one of the most common experiences of the Christian life. Godfeels far away, like he’s hiding himself, or at least withholding his reviving presence. You feel destitute, dry, and desperate for a sense that he is still there, still listening, still caring. But you can’t seem to eke out a prayer since even your prayers feel empty, and they seem to return with an echo of defeat.

Where are you, Lord? Why are you hiding yourself from me? I am your child, so why, Father, does it feel like you ar..

By micoots
31/01/2017 0

On My Shelf: Life and Books with Matthew Hall

On My Shelf helps you get to know various writers through a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their lives as readers.

I asked Matthew Hall—dean of Boyce College and assistant professor of church history at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary—about what’s on his nightstand, books that have shaped his view of Christian higher education, his favorite fiction, and more.

What’s on your nightstand right now?

There are four books sitting on my actual nightstand:

A Torch Kept Lit (a collection ..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

How to Respond to the Refugee Crisis

The scope of today’s refugee crisis is truly unprecedented, affecting nearly 60 million people. Never before have so many been displaced, put in danger, and forced from their homes. In Syria alone, more than half of 22 million people have either been displaced or killed. More than 4 million have fled to neighboring countries. I share these numbers to remind us of the sheer enormity of this crisis.

Much of our response to the refugee crisis seems to come from a foundation of fear, not faith. Muc..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

Can Grace Really Cut It in Sanctification?

Of the writing of “gospel-centered living” books there is no end. Or at least it seems that way. That’s not necessarily a complaint, though. As Augustine observed, “It’s useful to have several books by several authors, even on the same subjects, differing in style though not in faith, so that the matter itself may reach as many as possible.”

Besides, few questions require more continual revisiting than this: If salvation is entirely by grace, what incentive is there to stop sinning? How can som..

By micoots
28/01/2017 0

Imagine There’s a Heaven—It’s Easy If You Try

“Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try,” sang John Lennon, “no hell below us, above us only sky.” The famous song proceeds to imagine a world with no religion to divide or national borders to defend—with the assumption that unity and peace would result.

Though the desire for “the world to be as one” is good, imagining there’s a heaven is a much better place to start.

Place of Holy Happiness

If you could imagine heaven, what would it look like?

An ancient Hebrew prophet imagined a ..

By micoots
28/01/2017 0

3 Ways Pastors Fail to Be Jesus-Full

I’ve been and always will be doggedly suspicious of pastors who rarely (or never) mention Jesus.
John Piper says, “What we desperately need is help to enlarge our capacities to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ.”
We ministers of the gospel—and Christians at large—can fumble this commission in three main ways.

1. We speak in vague spiritual generalities.

Love. Hope. Peace. Joy. Harmony. Blessings. All disembodied from the specific atoning work of the incarnate Jesus and exalted Lo..

By micoots
27/01/2017 0

4 Reasons to Soak Yourself in the Psalms

Just before Thanksgiving in 2015, I was having lunch with a friend, and we were discussing how we teach our kids the gospel. He mentioned he was focusing on the Psalms since he realized the current generation of Christians might be the least “Psalms-literate” generation ever.

As I reflected later, his point hit home. For centuries faithful Israelites read, sung, and memorized the entire Psalter. Jesus likely knew all 150 Psalms by heart. For generations stretching back thousands of years, the ..

By micoots
27/01/2017 0

Today Is My Birthday Because My Mom Chose Life

Today is the 44th annual March for Life. It’s also my birthday. In a grand irony, the two coincide this year.

My birthday is a bittersweet day. I was born out of wedlock to a poor teenager in Eastern Europe. The terrified young woman who gave me life is my hero. She made a courageous choice to be my mother, even if it meant she could only remain in the role for a few days. The only tie she will ever have to me is her blood and her genes.

Another woman, equally heroic, stepped into my life. She..

By micoots
27/01/2017 0

Meet the Pro-Life Group Cracking Planned Parenthood’s Favorite Market

A business executive, a technology guru, and a CEO consultant all walked into the pro-life movement.

Using skills they’d honed in the for-profit business world, they began to do something no one else was doing: reach and influence what the industry calls “abortion-determined” women, those who have already decided to end their pregnancies.

Seven years later, they’re leaders of a pro-life nonprofit called Human Coalition.

“When you look at market penetration in the manufacturing world, you figu..