Blogs of note for November 10, 2017
For today’s post we’d like to highlight a few blogs we noticed recently that are worth your time to read. Here are the headlines:
- Where Do Catholics Go When They Die?
- Review: Martin Luther – A Spiritual Biography
- Christian Taste in Entertainment
- Stop Looking for the Perfect Friend
See below for excerpts and links:
Ben Hicks at Pursuing the Pursuer: Where Do Catholics Go When They Die?
Knock. Knock. Knock. “Hi, my name is Ben and we’re out in the community inviting people to church.”
“Well, thanks but I already go to ______ Baptist Church.”
“Oh! Hey, is it alright if I ask you a question, too? If you were to die tonight, and God asked you, why should I let you into heaven, what would you say?”
“Well, I try to live right and obey the Bible.”
A few door later…Knock. Knock. Knock. “Hi, my name is Ben and we’re out in the community inviting people to church.”
“Well, thanks but I already go to ______ Catholic Church.”
“Oh! Hey, is it alright if I ask you a question, too? If you were to die tonight, and God asked you, why should I let you into heaven, what would you say?”
“I would say because of what Jesus Christ has done for me on the cross paying the debt of my sin!”Believe it or not, both these encounters actually happened to me on the same day. I can’t remember word-for-word what was said, but I had a Baptist tell me they were going to heaven because they were good and a Catholic tell me they were going to heaven because of Christ. So where will they end up in eternity?
Paul Henebury at Dr. Reluctant: Review: Martin Luther – A Spiritual Biography
Review of Martin Luther: A Spiritual Biography, by Herman Selderhuis, Wheaton; Crossway, 2017, 347 pages, hardback.
Quite rightly, in view of the historical and spiritual importance of the Reformation, there have been a spate of books about Martin Luther; this year, and indeed this day, being the five hundredth anniversary of the event that sparked the movement into flame – the nailing of Luther’s 95 theses onto the church door at Wittenberg on October 31st, 1517.
The author of the present book, Herman Selderhuis, has distinguished himself with his work on John Calvin, including a study of Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms and The Calvin Handbook. He has also written a similar biography to this on John Calvin.
The very first thing I want to say about this biography of Luther is that it is very well written.
Ken Casillas (Theology in 3D) in Christian Taste in Entertainment points us to a paper (link below) by Dr. Ron Horton:
I want to highlight the other presentation made at the symposium. With his permission, I’m posting the paper read by Dr. Ron Horton. Years ago I had Dr. Horton as a philosophy professor, and I’ve always appreciated his careful scholarship motivated by devotion to Christ. In his paper “Christian Taste and the Art Entertainment World,” Dr. Horton has given us much to ponder regarding the application of biblical principles to our entertainment choices. I assure you that Dr. Horton’s material is not technical, nor is his viewpoint legalistic.
Christa Threlfall at Brown Sugar Toast: Stop Looking for the Perfect Friend
“I think you have a skewed view of friendship.”
These words came from my husband after I had just bemoaned to him for the umpteenth time about my friendship struggles. I received his words in the best possible way, of course, and replied, “You don’t understand. You’ve always had a lot of good friends.”
I wanted friends like he had. People around my age and stage of life who had similar interests and desires. He kept telling me it seemed like I had this vision of “a perfect friend” in my head, along with a bunch of friendship rules this individual must follow.
Selected by Don Johnson, pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.