This is our weekly roundup of links for 10/16/2017-10/21/2017 from around the web. We hope you find the following articles helpful to your growth in godliness.
Your Church Can Be A Gospel Culture: Words by Dr. Ray Ortlund:
If a church’s leaders will hold themselves to the high standard of #1, their influence will be conducive to a gospel culture. Not that we leaders will always live up to this standard. But defining it clearly and winsomely will help make a church into a safety zone where sinners can get real with Jesus and one another and start growing.
Porn Is Not Harmless. It’s Cruel. by Justin Holcomb
Everyone in the supply chain, from production to consumption, is participating in the economic juggernaut that is the porn industry, whether they realize it or not. And many of them are unaware of the harm being done to themselves and others. This industry fuels the global sex trade, builds the demand for exploitation, severely distorts sexuality, exploits abuse victims, and normalizes the degradation of women and children.
Remembering the Reformation: Sola Scriptura by Dr. Jason Allen:
Yet, at the root of it all is sola Scriptura, the formal principle of the Protestant Reformation. If we must focus our attention on one sola, as we will do here on the blog this month, I believe sola Scriptura is the lynchpin. Submit your life and doctrine to sola Scriptura and the rest of the solas will naturally follow.
Sola Scriptura Demands Inerrancy by Dr. Matthew Barrett:
While popes and councils err, Scripture does not. For Rome, Scripture and tradition were inerrant authorities. For Luther, Scripture alone is inerrant. What distinguished Luther and the rest of the reformers from church leaders in Rome, then, was their claim that as important as tradition is (and they thought it was extremely important), tradition is not without error. That honor goes to Scripture alone. Because Scripture is inspired by God and therefore inerrant, the reformers believed it alone is the church’s final authority, sufficient for faith and practice.
Our Contributors Articles from Around the Web
Each week we will be featuring articles our writers write at a variety of places like TGC, Desiring God, For the Church, ERLC, and more.
Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves by Dave Jenkins over at For the Church.
The Thief and I by Christy Britton over at Intersect.
Top Articles on Servants of Grace this week.
The top ten most read articles on our website this past week.
- Three Marks Of a True Christian by Josh Buice https://servantsofgrace.org/three-marks-true-christian
- Should Younger Women Instruct Older Women? by Gaye Clark https://servantsofgrace.org/younger-women-instruct-older-women/
- Seven Questions about Books Life, and Ministry with Stacy Reaoch https://servantsofgrace.org/seven-questions-books-life-ministry-stacy-reaoch/
- Waiting: The Challenge of Trusting and Resting in the Sovereignty of God by Dave Jenkins https://servantsofgrace.org/waiting-the-challenge-of-trusting-and-resting-in-the-sovereignty-of-god/
- In the Company of Sinners: How God Creates Trophies of Grace from Portraits of Pain by Michael Milton https://servantsofgrace.org/company-sinners-god-creates-trophies-grace-portraits-pain/
- Episode 118: Solus Christus: The Glory of God in Christ with Host Dave Jenkins https://servantsofgrace.org/episode-118-solus-christus-glory-god-christ-alone/
- Six Tips for Reading the Bible with Your Kids by David Murray https://servantsofgrace.org/six-tips-reading-bible-kids/
- Training in Righteousness by Justin Huffman https://servantsofgrace.org/training-in-righteousness/
- When Community Hurts by Christina Fox https://servantsofgrace.org/when-community-hurts/
- The Reformation: A Return to the Biblical Gospel by James Williams https://servantsofgrace.org/reformation-return-biblical-gospel/
Quote: “The way to be anxious about nothing is to be prayerful about everything.” D.A. Carson
Dave Jenkins is happily married to his wife, Sarah. He is a writer, editor, and speaker living in beautiful Southern Oregon. Dave is a lover of Christ, His people, the Church, and sound theology. He serves as the Executive Director of Servants of Grace Ministries, the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine, the Host and Producer of Equipping You in Grace Podcast, and is a contributor to and producer of Contending for the Word. He is the author of The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do About It (House to House, 2021), The Word Matters: Defending Biblical Authority Against the Spirit of the Age (G3 Press, 2022), and Contentment: The Journey of a Lifetime (Theology for Life, 2024). You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, or read his newsletter. Dave loves to spend time with his wife, going to movies, eating at a nice restaurant, or going out for a round of golf with a good friend. He is also a voracious reader, in particular of Reformed theology, and the Puritans. You will often find him when he’s not busy with ministry reading a pile of the latest books from a wide variety of Christian publishers. Dave received his M.A.R. and M.Div through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.