This Week’s Good Reads

Here are some articles I enjoyed reading this past week:

1) “Cry of Distress and Voice of Thanks: The Prayer of Jonah” by John Piper

In lieu of both my study of Jonah for the year and my own preparations to preach each week I found this sermon on Jonah by pastor John Piper very interesting. He didn’t take the approach to the chapter that I did, but it’s still a great read and an encouraging and uplifting sermon. Enjoy.

2) “Alienation and the Christian Ethic of Shopping at Threadless, Etsy, and Trades of Hope” by Alan Noble

In this thoughtful piece Alan Noble argues that the current market trend allows too many buyers the ability to isolate themselves off from workers. This, in turn, allows us to disregard the well-being of the worker and, while not necessarily a sin, may actually make us worse neighbors to our friends around the world. But instead of just bashing us with guilt, Noble offers three helpful companies that promote designer/worker awareness among its shoppers. I enjoyed this piece and think its content is worth considering.

3) “Interpreting General and Special Revelation: A Reformed Approach to Science and Scripture” by Keith Mathison

This insightful piece draws out a clear distinction between the Reformed belief in the infallibility of Scripture and the fallibility of interpretation. This is a thoughtful piece that interacts with some recent comments and older commentary of theologian R.C. Sproul. It’s worth your time to read if you struggle with how the Bible can be true in the face of evolutionary theory.

4) “Bleakness and Richness: Christopher Nolan on Human Nature” by Lauren Wilford

This was such a cool article to read. The author traces a theme across the body of film director Christopher Nolan’s work and sees a beautiful duality present. Nolan clearly affirms the depravity of humanity, without also losing the sense of its possibility for redemption. For those not familiar with Nolan’s body of work this does contain spoilers, but it’s so worth your time to read. This is what good film can do: make us think and write well about real life and philosophy.

5) “Marks of Revival” by J.I. Packer

Packer presents us with a helpful guide for contemplating some of the basic common elements found in Scriptural and other historical revivals. This has been a helpful little article to guide me as a I think particularly about the need for revival in my own community. Pray with me that God would send revival to Portsmouth, OH!