This weekend, at our church, Pastor Brian White preached on Daniel 1:1-21, and how Christians can take a stand for God’s way in the culture.

He suggested 4 ways to do so (though there are many more), in the forms of statements the Christian can make to the culture:

1. “Culture, I will not worship your gods.”
2. “I will not allow you to change the definition of truth.”
3. “I will not allow you to parent my children.”
4. “I will not allow you to take anyone with you down the wrong path.”

Listen to the whole sermon here.

Perhaps we have forgotten what happens to those who have not been born again. Before I made my commitment to follow Christ, I lived what I now call the “lie of the middle.”

Somehow I believed I wasn’t that bad, that I was in the “middle” and therefore deserved to go to heaven. That was a lie. The Bible states that either God is your father or Satan is your father. Either you are in a realtionship with Christ, or you’re not; either you are born again, or you’re not. You are either God’s child, or you are God’s enemy; you are either storing up wrath, or you are storing up mercy; you are either heaven-bound, or you are hell-bound. No one is in the middle. No one is “almost there.” Those who have chosen to reject Christ are condemned. It is wrong to believe a loving God will not send unbelievers to hell.

- William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, Share Jesus Without Fear

The Logos edition of the ESV Study Bible puts the Bible text in one resource and all of the other content in a second resource. This enables you to view the Bible and study Bible content side by side—and even scroll synchronously when both resources share the same link set. The ESV Study Bible Notes resource will function just like any other commentary and will show up in the Passage Guide along with your favorite study Bibles and commentaries. So no matter what passage you’re studying, the ESV Study Bible with all of its rich content is always just a click away.

via ESV Study Bible Coming to Logos – Logos Bible Software Blog.

The unspoken upshot of this is that you will be able to, in Logos, view the ESVSB notes along with other translations, including the ESV Reverse Interlinear, NKJV, KJV, NASB, etc.

Justin Taylor has gathered several bloggers’ reflections on the death of Michael Jackson:

Between Two Worlds: Reflections on Jackson, Death, and the Celebrity Culture.

Two outstanding deals via Fab Friday – Christianbook.com:

• Calvin’s Commentaries (22 volumes) for $99.99, including a bonus copy of Calvin’s Institutes. I have the commentary set (I think I paid $120 for mine and THAT was a great bargain) and it’s invaluable for research.
• Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps & Time Lines – Volume 1 for $17.99. I have this book, too, and it’s a great resource for various lists, and the maps and illustrations of things like The Tabernacle, Herod’s Temple, etc. are high quality.

A couple of months ago I traded my Kindle to a friend for a stack of old-fashioned ink-on-paper commentaries. This is now. I think I made a good trade. He is enjoying the Kindle and I am enjoying the commentaries. Win-win. Something changed between then and now—I came to see that all of the things that frustrated me about the Kindle were things that made it not like a book. It’s book-like qualities were it’s best qualities; it’s non-book-like qualities were the ones that got to me.

via The Perfect Technology :: books, reading :: A Reformed, Christian Blog.

…What guarantee do you have that you are headed towards an eternity of joy rather than an eternity of judgment?

Many professing Christians would answer that they have eternal security and will quickly cite the verse “once saved, always saved.” Can’t find that in your Bible? Neither can I. Properly understood this phrase is harmless. Yet there is the potential for an anemic Christianity to accompany this mindset.

What we do find in the Bible is a bit more sobering and a lot more comforting than “once saved, always saved”. We find real warnings of apostasy for presumptuous church members — Christians in name only (Heb. 6:4-8; Luke 6:46-49)…

via Federally Backed Security | Ligonier Ministries.

In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

via Defining Discernment.

He stumbles, and does not know why (John 11.9,10; Proverbs 4.19).

Sinners are ever and anon stumbling at Christ Jesus; they are offended at him, but cannot tell for what. They would complain of something, and find fault with it, if they knew what; but they seek faults where none are to be found. Yet rather than not be offended with Christ, this shall be his crime, that he is guilty of none. The reason why they find so much fault with God is because he finds out their faults, and finds fault with them. Man’s waspishness and touchiness, his being so captious and ready to take offence at God and godliness, are clear manifestations of his darkness. Did they know him, they would never crucify, nor be offended with the Lord of life, light and glory. Blessed is he that is not offended with Christ.

Ralph Venning, The Sinfulness of Sin. (Amazon)

When Jesus saved me, I became convinced from preaching and the Word that God desires expressive worship. But for me to raise my hands or shout to God or sing with gusto was like telling me to do an Irish step dance at an opera.

But I wanted to become more expressive in my worship. I only had to overcome my fear of man.

via How I Got Comfortable Shouting To God | The Blazing Center.