Bible

As much as I still prefer a Bible with pages, a cover, space to write in, and the whole pre-modern deal, I appreciate the benefits of a good Bible app. Here are some recommended by various people at SGC.

Last Sunday I looked at John 8 in the sermon and made some comments on 7:53-8:11. I wanted to follow up with a few more details on this issue, because some things about it are a little complex to bring into a Sunday morning. My view here is not the only one, but I'll lay it out for your consideration.

It seems that one of the cultural phenomenon of our day is the "selfie." In fact, it's amazing the internet doesn't simply collapse under the weight of billions of selfies added to it on a daily basis. But what about your "spiritual selfie"?

It was Christmas Eve in Decatur, Georgia, and my brothers and I had been tucked into bed. In the darkness of my room I opened the curtains on the window next to my bed and peered out into the dark night, my eyes scanning the skies expectantly. But I wasn’t looking for a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. I was hoping to see the star of Bethlehem appear.

For the Advent season this year we are doing something special. First, we are providing a set of Bible readings to go along with each day of Advent (December 1-25). Second, someone from the church will be providing a reflection on each day's reading. Our intention is to have these posted first thing each morning, maybe even the night before if things go extremely well. Here are the readings and authors for each day of Advent.

This Sunday we begin a new sermon series, Wisdom for Suffering. The idea of this series is to take four books in the Wisdom Literature of the Bible and approach them with this question, "What does this have to tell me about suffering?" The sermons will look at the book of Job (Aug. 2), the book of Psalms (Aug. 9, 16), the book of Proverbs (Aug. 23), and the book of Ecclesiastes (Aug. 30).

The issue of suffering is a massive and complex one. This is true at a personal level, because my suffering has unique elements to it that…

Last Sunday we finished our 1 Thessalonians series and looked at 5:23 in that letter, "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." The main burden of this text is assuring us that God will indeed finish his work of making us holy. He will not fail in that!

But this verse also presents us with a question: When it says "spirit and soul and body," is it assuming that we have three distinct parts in us—that…

This week we begin a short series out of 2 Thessalonians. Read the book if you can. It's only three chapters. For extra-credit look again at Acts 17:1-9 to recall what the church plant in Thessalonica looked like. Here are five things to know as we approach these sermons:

1. THE ORIGINAL CHURCH PLANT

In Acts 17 a group of apostles went to the city of Thessalonica to plant a church, estimated to be in 49 A.D. This was the team sent out by the Jerusalem church to deliver the letter written in Acts 15. Paul and Barnabas were originally…

Justin Taylor on his blog gave a great summary of Donald Whitney's seventeen ways to mediate on Scripture. The list comes from Whitney's book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (pp. 56-68). It seemed like a great post to pass along to you. Whitney says,

Meditation is not folding your arms, leaning back in your chair, and staring at the ceiling. That’s daydreaming, not meditation. Daydreaming isn’t always a waste of time; it can be a much-needed, well-deserved respite for the mind as important as relaxation often is for the body. Our gracious Father is…

This is a third post from guest blogger, Josh Blount, our friend from the Appalachians who pastors in Franklin, WV.