Credo’s Cache

Each week we will be highlighting important resources. Check back each Friday to see what we have dug up for you. From this week’s cache:

1. How to Kill Sinful Anger: Jon Bloom – Bloom says, “Killing sinful anger that feels justifiable is hard. It’s an insidious lie disguised in a robe of justice. And it is spiritually malignant. When it is metastasizing, it feels deceptively life-giving to indulge and humbling ourselves feels like death. But the opposite is true.”

2. Be Grateful Without Comparing: Barnabas Piper – Piper notes, “Gratefulness for something lends itself to comparison. But gratitude for something to someone changes the equation. All of a sudden our focus is on the goodness of the giver, and often on our dependence on him or on the undeservedness of the gift. And this is where we want our children to be: focused on the giver’s goodness.”

3. Is Speaking Your Mind a Christian Virtue? Ten Thoughts from Scripture: Daniel Darling – Darling says, “Faithful, the Proverbs says, are the wounds of a friend (Proverbs 27:6). Flattery is the tool, not of someone looking to deepen a relationship but to leverage proximity for personal gain (Proverbs 29:5). God used the courage of the prophet Nathan to confront David over his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:17). Jesus in Matthew 18 gives instructions on redemptive confrontation designed to restore a sinful brother into loving community (Matthew 18). Paul considers this a sign of love, from one brother or sister, to another (Galatians 6:1).”

4. God’s Goodness in the Vineyard: Erik Raymond – Raymond says, “It starts out like a love song but then it abruptly takes a turn to a sharp rebuke. God’s poem for Israel in chapter 5 of Isaiah serves to remind us of his goodness. It may seem surprising to say goodness in the midst of threatenings for judgment, but I assure you it is here.”

5. The Serious Joy of Loving Communion: Michael Allen – Allen notes, “While unrepentant members of churches should be cared for pastorally, we have tools at our disposal and means of grace other than the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.”

Matt Manry is the Assistant Pastor at Life Bible Church in Canton, Georgia. He writes at matthewwmanry.com.