Do You Get Offended Easily?

Kevin DeYoung has a great post about being easily offended. He writes:

We live in an emotionally fragile culture. We are in touch with every hurt past, present, and perceived. We are the walking wounded and we want everyone to know. Which is too bad, because when people are genuine victims–profoundly, egregiously wronged–they deserve not to be lumped in the same category with those who got picked last for kickball or turned down for their church’s “special music.”

I encourage you to read the rest of the post, as it should come as a challenge to us all.

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DeYoung's Modest Proposal

Kevin DeYoung makes a modest proposal for all Christians that I think is desperately needed amidst the culture which surrounds us. He begins:

I’d like to make a modest proposal for Christians of all theological and political persuasions: don’t use the term “social justice” without explanation.

The term is unassailable to some and arouses suspicion in others. For many Christians, social justice encompasses everything good we should be doing in the world, from hunger relief to serving the poor to combating sex trafficking. But the phrase is also used to support more debatable matters like specific health care legislation, minimum wage increases, or reducing carbon emissions. If something can be included as a “social justice” issue then no one can oppose said issue, because who in their right mind favors social injustice?

Read his whole proposal here.

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Upholding the Old and True Gospel

Kevin DeYoung has a great post regarding the "New Gospel" circulating and it's implications on truly reaching people for Christ. He ends with a plea stating:

Please, please, please, if you are enamored with the New Gospel or anything like it, consider if you are really being fair with your fellow Christians in always throwing them under the bus. Consider if you are preaching like Jesus did, who called people, not first of all to a way of life, but to repent and believe (Mark 1:15). And as me and my friends consider if we lack the necessary patience and humility to speak tenderly with non-Christians, consider if your God is a lopsided cartoon God who never takes offense at sin (because sin is more than just un-neighborliness) and never pours out wrath (except for the occasional judgment against the judgmental). Consider if you are giving due attention to the cross and the Lamb of God who died there to take away the sin of the world. Consider if your explanation of the Christian message sounds anything like what we hear from the Apostles in the book of Acts when they engage the world.

This is no small issue. And it is not just a matter of emphasis. The New Gospel will not sustain the church. It cannot change the heart. And it does not save.

I encourage you to read the rest of the post and I hope it challenges and encourages your heart to remain steadfast to the Gospel as much as it did mine.

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the Word of our God stands forever

In remembering John Calvin on the 500th anniversary of his birth, Kevin DeYoung puts all focus where focus is due: God's glory and His everlasting Word. DeYoung writes:

The truly significant people in this world know that God is everything and they’re nothing. Fads and fashions will rise and fall, but the word will keep on accomplishing its purposes. It will outlast us all. So let our reading, memorizing, catechizing, and preaching be saturated with the word. Let our songs, ministries and mission submit to the word. May all of our theological questions, relationship questions, family questions look to the word. May every new doctrine, new movement, new church, and new book be tested against the word. May all our living and dying be undertaken with the firm conviction that God is true though everyone were a liar (Rom. 3:4).

This is by far one of the best posts I've read (and there have been many) celebrating the life and work of John Calvin. I encourage you to read the whole thing.

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Kevin DeYoung on Governor Mark Sanford

Kevin DeYoung has a great post entitled, What We Can Learn from the Latest Political Sex Scandal. He writes as his first point:

The best of men are men at best. I don’t know if politicians are always (or often) the best of men, but they certainly are among the most powerful. We look to them for leadership. We want them to voice our ideas and ideals. We want them to be strong, yet humble, personal, yet unaffected by the common stuff of life. We expect a lot from our leaders. They rarely deliver. They often fail miserably. Both parties have had their share of sex scandals in recent years. Neither one has a monopoly on holiness. I don’t think many of our politicians have even passed GO. And I’m sure there is plenty of infidelity we don’t even hear about, not to mention the back room deals, lies, slander, pride, and greed that take place all the time. Some trust in presidents and some in governors, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Follow the link above to read the whole post.

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Kevin DeYoung on Liking What the Bible Teaches

Kevin DeYoung has a powerful post on our attitude towards God's Holy Word. He writes:

This also means that we should do away with the pseudo-spiritual language of "I don't like what the Bible says about this, but I still believe it." Poppycock. While I suppose, all things considered, its better that someone embrace complementarianism kicking and screaming rather than not at all, why are you kicking and screaming at God's word in the first place? I understand that we may all have periods of struggle where we wrestle to fully understand and embrace some element of biblical teaching. But as an indefinite attitude, begrudging acceptance is not a good option. Don't we trust that God is good? Is not the law of the Lord our delight?

Read the whole thing here.

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Why We Love The Church

Here is a great sample from Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck's new book Why We Love The Church. I am very excited about this book and look VERY forward to reading it. Their last book, Why We're Not Emergent, was one of the best books I've ever read and perhaps the best book I've read on the subject of the Emergent Church. Kevin's blog shares this excerpt from one of Ted's chapters:

Church isn’t a magic pill that you take, that punches your ticket for heaven. Nor is it a glorified social/country club you attend to be around people who talk/think/look/act like you do. It’s a place to go each week to hear the Word of God spoken, taught, and affirmed. It’s a place to sing praises to our God, even if those songs do sometimes feel a bit awkward. It’s a place to serve others. It’s a place to be challenged. Sometimes you’ll feel uncomfortable with those challenges, because sometimes your life will need to change. This has been the case with me.

Read the whole excerpt Kevin offers here.

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Who Is Your Jesus?

Kevin DeYoung has a great post entitled "Who Do You Say That I Am?" adapted from his message entitled "Christ's Life" at the NEXT Conference. In the post he describes the many different ways our culture views Jesus (which I find both incredibly sad and somewhat humorous at the same time). He concludes by saying this:

This Christ is not a reflection of the current mood or the projection of our own desires. He is our Lord and God. He is the Father’s Son, Savior of the world, and substitute for our sins–more loving, more holy, and more wonderfully terrifying than we ever thought possible.

I encourage you to read the whole post. Trust me, it's very much worth your time.

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Kevin DeYoung: Defining Discourse Down

Kevin DeYoung has a great article entitled Defining Discourse Down. I read it a few weeks back and was deeply challenged. In it he shares a powerful quote by A.W. Tozer which says:

The kingdom of God, has suffered a great deal of harm from fighters--men who would rather fight than pray; but the kingdom of God has also been done great harm by men who would rather be nice than right.

I encourage you all to go read the whole thing and hopefully be challenged as I have.

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DeYoung on Leviticus

Kevin DeYoung has a great series of posts from a sermon from Leviticus regarding sexual sin. The following are the links to the four parts:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

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Don't Let Good Friday Pass By...

Kevin DeYoung writes regarding Good Friday:

Do not let Good Friday pass you by like a set of airline instructions. Fix your eyes on the cross. Not as the place to show us our worth, but to show us the weight of our sin. Not as the place where Jesus simply felt our pain, but where he bore our penalty. Not as the place where God overturned divine justice, but where God in mercy fulfilled his justice. Not as the place where love died, but where love reigned supreme. Pay careful attention to the cross. Here we see a great salvation, delivering us from a great wrath, revealing to us a great Savior who was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities, that by his stripes we might be healed.

Let us all take this day to dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard. However, let us not just take this day to look at the cross. Let us not just this day meditate on the Cross. Let us dwell there everyday so that we may never for one day forget the sacrifice that was paid for our sins. But especially this day, let us reflect deeply upon the work Christ did in our place. For in our place, condemned He stood.

Read Kevin's whole post here.

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Just Do Something

Tim Challies reviews Kevin DeYoung's book entitled Just Do Something. In his review he writes:

The author who seeks to add something to this genre is entering into a very crowded field and is going to need a unique angle. Kevin DeYoung takes on this challenge and succeeds admirably, crafting a short but powerful book that really packs a punch. His unique angle is reflected in the title: Just Do Something! “My goal,” he says, “is not as much to tell you how to hear God’s voice in making decisions as it is to hear God telling you to get off the long road to nowhere and finally make a decision, get a job, and perhaps, get married.”

I purchased this book last week and am eagerly anticipating its arrival tomorrow. A great subject by a great author, I believe that this book is going to be a must buy and a must read for those who constantly question what God's will is.

Read more of Challies' review here.
Read the forward by Joshua Harris here.

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