This Week’s Good Reads

Here’s this week’s collection of interesting articles from around the web:

1. “Will God Hurt Me and Call It Good?” by John Piper

Piper responds to this heartbreaking question by pointing to the unity within the diversity of God’s attributes. He notes that while God is sovereign, He is not arbitrary, and the best way to answer this question is to consider God’s sovereignty in relation to the rest of his attributes.

2. “Does Hebrews 6 Teach You Can Lose Your Salvation?” by Ardel Caneday

This text is a tough and confusing one for all who read it. What exactly is the author of Hebrews saying? How does it relate to the rest of his message, indeed to rest of Biblical soteriology? Caneday offers an explanation that argues Hebrews 6 is a means of preserving us in the faith. If I am honest, I struggle with the interpretation, thought I know of no better explanation.

3. “Reading the Psalms with the Reformers” by Timothy George

A unique look at the new IVP Reformation Commentary on Scripture on Psalms 1-72. George notes the diversity of voices speaking about the Psalm’s the surprising unity and yet obvious diversity that exists among the various scholars, theologians, and pastors. A commentary worth checking out, says George, because of the importance of the Psalms both in the period of the Reformation and indeed in all of church history.

4. “Taking Every Thought Captive” by Joshau Waulk

A helpful piece on counseling those who struggle with specific types of depression, by means of confronting their thinking with the truths of God’s character and promises.

5. “Listening to Women” by Rachael Starke

This is a great piece that presses on male leaders, especially among Complimentarians, to listen to the female voices among their congregations. Starke writes:

What’s significant about the complementarian model CBMW is promoting, and groups like Together for the Gospel, Acts 29, SGM and others have been operating under, is that it emphasizes male leadership, but not male listening; womanly submission, but not womanly speaking.  It has viewed women as helpers, but not as necessary allies.  And in choosing to lead alone, leader after leader after leader has instead fallen in to sin, and ministries that have served so many so well are now left vulnerable.

I love this and cannot agree more. Women have such a vital role to play in the church and male leaders need their voices. We need to heed and hear from godly, wise women in our churches if we are to lead well.

6. “Many Middle-Class Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck” by Neal Gabler

This surprising reveal in a recent Federal Reserve Board study is not surprising to 47% of Americans who are barely making ends meet. This long-form essay is insightful and depressing. The middle-class in America has a real problem.