Goal for Weekly Once-Over

Weekly Once-Over is our weekly recap of some great blog posts that we've seen this past week that have been helpful. Our hope is that they would benefit you in someway. Each Thursday of every week you will see a post that has links to different blog posts. Enjoy!

Weekly Once-Over (08.22.13):

 7 Key Principles For Interpreting the Bible - How can we be sure to interpret the Bible correctly? Mark Driscoll give us his 7 key principles to interpreting the Bible.

How to Multiply a Gospel Community - What steps should we take to multiply a Gospel Community affectively? Todd Engstrom has some very helpful tips for leaders of GC's to multiply well.

How to Help Your Child Read with Discernment - "Selecting good books for our kids to read is important to their growth in faith as well as in their literacy, knowledge, and emotional life. Teaching them how to do it themselves is even better."

Why You Can Trust Your Bible - Critics who doubt the reliability and trustworthiness of the biblical accounts of Jesus' life have issued a make-or-break challenge to the church. They ask us: "How can we be sure the Bible can be trusted as accurate?" Here are some helpful reasons to trust your Bible.

H.E.L.P. How to Minister to Those Grieving - Doug Wolter offers a very helpful acronym for ministering to those who are grieving from the loss of a loved one.

Should You Talk About Your Giving Habits?

Goal for Weekly Once-Over

Weekly Once-Over is our weekly recap of some great blog posts that we've seen this past week that have been helpful. Our hope is that they would benefit you in someway. Each Thursday of every week you will see a post that has links to different blog posts. Enjoy!

Weekly Once-Over (08.15.13):

What Is the Unforgivable Sin?: What is the unforgivable sin that Jesus talks about? Have you ever wrestled with this question?

The Only String Attached to the Gospel: "Over the past decade, youth ministry has benefited from insightful analysis about the church's inability to raise lasting disciples of Christ. Amid the many factors contributing to teenage wandering from the faith, none is more critical than the absence of the full gospel in youth ministry. Simply put, too often our youth hear a gospel with strings attached."

Why Do We Need Physical Rest?: Matt Capps writes a great blog post on the importance of resting well.

The Problem with the Child free Life: "In her cover article Lauren Sandler offers a vivid glimpse into the fast-growing world of women "having it all without having children."

When Not to Multiply a Gospel Community: "In the last post, (Todd Engstrom) pointed out when you should multiply a missional community.  This time around, he will do the opposite of that – when you shouldn’t.  If you cast a vision for multiplication and value it, often times people and communities will want to multiply but they probably shouldn’t do it.  Below are a few common times when that may be the case."

The Beginners Guide to Interpreting Old Testament Law: The Old Testament law is much more than a list of dos and don’ts. How we interpret it makes a world of difference—it affects the entirety of our life. So, what Old Testament laws should Christians obey?

Watch Werner Herzog's Documentary on texting and driving(Below):

Goal for Weekly Once-Over

Weekly Once-Over is our weekly recap of some great blog posts that we've seen this past week that have been helpful. Our hope is that they would benefit you in someway. Each Thursday of every week you will see a post that has links to different blog posts. Enjoy!

Weekly Once-Over (08.08.13)

When to Multiply a Gospel Community: Last week we posted an article explaining why we should multiply Gospel Communities; now this week is the second blog post to that from Todd Engstrom. This blog will give GC's and GC Leaders a good understanding of when the right time is to multiply their groups and when not to multiply.

Redemption for the Scars: Here is a great blog post from Kendra Dahl, where she talks about the scars that have built up from her past and how the truth of the gospel is greater than those scars. Kendra shows us a great deal of how the gospel changes and transforms everything.

Are You a Part-Time Churchgoer? You May Be Surprised: Here is a blog post by Trevin Wax about how to desearn if you are a part-time churchgoer. You may be surprised at how Recent statistics show that an increasing number of evangelicals who are firm in their faith are flabby in their practice of actually gathering with their brothers and sisters in worship. It’s the part-time syndrome, and it can sneak up on any of us. Make sure you read to the end of the blog where Travin points us to the gospel even in the midst of these statistics.

Apologetic Sound Bites: 'How Can You Claim There's Only One True Religion?': "How can you claim there’s only one true religion?’ You may be asked this question as you’re at the photocopier at work or at the bar buying a round. Here’s the second part in the apologetics series that will give you some ideas of how to respond when you only have five minutes."

Living In Christ: “Be what we are, be what we are becoming, and be what we will be on the final day of Christ Jesus.” As a Christian our spiritual formation is grounded “in Christ.” This “in Christ” motif, especially in the Pauline letters, sets the spiritual trajectory for proper Christian growth. Yet, it might be the most overlooked aspect of our spiritual growth."

photo credit: d.a.n.n.y.c via photopin cc

Weekly Once-Over is our weekly recap of some great blog posts that we've seen this past week that have been helpful. Our hope is that they would benefit you in someway. Each Thursday of every week you will see a post that has links to different blog posts. 

Why Multiply a Gospel Community
If you have ever led a small community, regardless of what kind, then chances are good you have struggled with the reality of growing. Some communities close their doors and stick with the same people for years on end. Some groups burst at the seams.  Few groups tend to succeed when it comes time to multiply though. Here is some great insights on why the multiplication of our Gospel Communities is so important and needed.

 Outline of John Owen's Mortification of Sin 
This great blog post done by Bob Thune is his attempt to outline John Owen's book "Mortification of Sin." This is a great resource to read and know in regards to fighting sin that dwells deep within us.

 Is Your Child a Christian? 
As parents, we all wrestle with how to answer this question, and I've found there are usually two extremes that need to be avoided. This is a great blog post by Brian Croft on how to navigate this question as a parent.

 Raising Entrepreneurs 
Parents here is another blog about how to foster the entrepreneur spirit that is within your child.

 6 Ways Small Churches Can Love Their Communities 
Here is six tips given by Daniel Darling on how a small church can do outreach within their communities.

In Praise of the Low-Minded Christian 
Jared Wilson does a great job showing the pride of Christians when it comes to looking down on other Christians for what they do. Great blog post to bring conviction and heart change.

"In public and private, in sanctuary and home, may my life be steeped in prayer, filled with the spirit of grace and supplication" - Valley of Vision

Goal for Weekly Once-Over Weekly Once-Over is our weekly recap of some great blog posts that we've seen this past week that have been helpful. Our hope is that they would benefit you in someway. Each Thursday of every week you will see a post that has links to different blog posts. Enjoy!

Weekly Once-Over (7.25.13)

10 Basic Facts About the NT that Every Christian Should Memorize - Mike Kruger, author of Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books (Crossway, 2012) and the forthcoming The Question of Canon: Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate (IVP, 2013), has a helpful series on the New Testament canon, linked below, “designed to help Christians understand ten basic facts about its origins.  This series is designed for a lay-level audience and hopefully could prove helpful in a conversation one might have with a skeptical friend.”

Should I Make My Child Apologize? - "Parents frequently ask me if it is wrong to require their children to apologize when they are disrespectful or disobedient. Usually, they're concerned that they might be training their child to lie. Wouldn't it be better to wait for the child to apologize on his own when he feels genuine remorse, rather than to just repeat an apology he has been taught?"

Giving Your Child a Cellphone - Here are three tips to consider as you navigate through the process for deciding to give your child a cellphone.

Community In Gospel-Centered Discipleship - "What does community look like? What prevents us from experiencing it? What role does community play in discipleship? What keeps us from authentic community? We went through our archives and found these four articles that use scripture and the lense of the gospel to answer these questions."

Disciple-Making is Ordinary Christianity - "What is your job as a Christian? If God gave you a job description for the Christian life, what would he put on it? At the core of the Christian’s job is the task of discipleship." Eric Raymond gives helpful scenarios and examples of different opportunities to make disciples.

Goal for Weekly Once-Over Weekly Once-Over is our weekly recap of some great blog posts that we've seen this past week that have been helpful. Our hope is that they would benefit you in someway. Each Thursday of every week you will see a post that has links to different blog posts. Enjoy!

Weekly Once-Over (7.03.13)

Jesus Cancelled Your Mommy Guild Trip - I've noticed a common thread that threatens to unravel us all. Moms live with a sense of guilt that we'll never be or do enough. Here is a great post for them guilt creeps up on mom's and how to see God's grace in the midst of it all.

Fourth of July Reflection on a Changing America - For Christians, the issue of patriotism is always complicated by our citizenship in two realms, one earthly and one heavenly.  This blog posts give many great suggestions on how Christians are to live in this work but remember they are not of this world.

Family Ministry: How a Biblical Worldview Shapes the Way We Teach Our Children- "To have a biblical worldview is to interpret every aspect of our lives—including our relationships with children—within the framework of God’s story. At the center of God’s story stands this singular act: In Jesus Christ, God personally intersected human history and redeemed humanity at a particular time in a particular place. Yet this central act of redemption does not stand alone. It is bordered by God’s good creation and humanity’s fall into sin on the one hand and by the consummation of God’s kingdom on the other. This story of creation, fall and law, redemption, and consummation is the story that Christians have repeated to one another and to the world ever since Jesus ascended into the sky and sent his Spirit to dwell in his first followers’ lives. This age-old plot-line should frame every aspect of our lives—including how we treat and train children."

photo credit: lorenzo cuppini verducci via photopin cc