Wisdom For Your Weekend: your weekly installment of things we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web.
Upcoming Book of the Week
Do Ask, Do Tell, Let’s Talk: Why and How Christians Should Have Gay Friends, Brad Hambrick. This is a sorely needed book, and I [Chris] would trust only a handful of people to handle the topic well. Brad Hambrick is just one of those people. For Christians who want to know how to hold to their convictions while still loving their gay neighbors—how to be full of both grace and truth—this will be an indispensable little book.
Articles of the Week
Boredom: The Last Privilege of a Free Mind, Gayatri Devi. You probably don’t like boredom. It’s boring, after all. And there’s always that sneaking suspicion that only boring people get bored. So not only is boredom uncomfortable, but it takes on tones of guilt and shame as well. Devi offers a perspective that may help our perpetually active generation: boredom isn’t a curse; it’s actually a mark of freedom. So lean into it.
Three Things Not to Do After You Preach, Dave Harvey. Preparing to deliver a sermon is tough and draining work. But the biggest challenge, according to many pastors, is actually the let-down after the sermon is over. Whether the sermon went well or poorly, many preachers walk away from the pulpit in a position of weakness and discouragement. Harvey has three words of encouragement for those moments.
Persuading Others to Plant Churches, Joe Thorn. It turns out that being a sending church isn’t a new phenomenon after all. None other than Charles Spurgeon both preached about sending and made a habit of it at his Metropolitan Tabernacle. “We encourage our members to leave us to found other Churches,” Spurgeon says, “Nay, we seek to persuade them to do it.” And Spurgeon walked the talk: they planted more than 200 churches.
Ten Ways to Resolve Conflict with Your Pastor, Matthew Holst. What? Conflict with your pastor? Surely this is a mistake! you’re probably saying. Or, sadly, probably not. Pastors are fallen folks, too, and conflict with them is inevitable. But if more people reacted as Holst recommends, we’d see a lot fewer church splits. (And, as a bonus, nearly everything he says would be helpful in any conflict situation.)
On The Lighter Side
Survivors of Dad Jokes, John Smith. Nope, not sorry.
Wisdom For Your Weekend is presented to you by Chris Pappalardo, with occasional guidance from J.D. Greear. This is our attempt to reflect Proverbs 9:9: “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”
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