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Final Call

Final Call

Welcome to Final Call, a brief, hand-picked selection of news, articles, videos, and curiosities from the Internet and beyond.

Mini-Review: A Time for Confidence

It is clear that we are living at a time of seismic societal change. Things we recently considered the highest good are now considered the greatest evil; things we used to consider aberrant we now declare normal and noble. “Enormous pressure to cower, to capitulate, and to cave closes in on us like the unstoppable walls of a compactor. We see it. We sense it.” Into the fray steps Stephen Nichols with A Time for Confidence: Trusting God in a Post-Christian Society. “This is not a time to cower, cave, or capitulate. It is a time for confidence, and our confidence must be in the right place. Or, better to say, our confidence must be in the right person. Our confidence must be in God. All else will disappoint.”

Through five chapters, Nichols shows that our confidence must be in God, in the Bible, in Christ, in the gospel, and in hope. His book is meant to encourage Christians to take heart and to press on, to reaffirm their confidence in God, his character, his means, his gospel. It’s a quick read, but a powerful one and I gladly recommend it.

G3 Conference

The G3 Conference has begun to add the 2017 conferences talks and panels to YouTube. There are sessions from Voddie Baucham, D.A. Carson, Steve Lawson, Conrad Mbewe, Paul Washer, and others. I had the privilege of preaching on Colossians 3:16: “Let the Gospel Give You Your Song.” Here it is in case you’re interested.

Also, I should have gone with a double windsor knot. Next time.

Good Theologians with Informed Convictions

Enjoy this quote from Aimee Byrd’s No Little Women.

We are to recognize that women are created in the image of God as necessary allies to men in carrying out his mission. Because of this, women are to be good theologians with informed convictions. We are to take this call seriously and invest quality time in our theological growth and Bible study within the context of our local church as a foundation to our service and contributions to the church, our families, and society. The church is to recognize this and help to equip competent women as necessary allies. And as we uphold the headship roles in household management, we are to relate to one another on the basis of our unity in Christ. Elders are also to ensure that the mature women in the church can pass down their knowledge to the younger women in the faith, explaining how our doctrine relates to our everyday lives and roles. And yet we stumble as we try to faithfully work this out. We see this in Scripture, we see it in church history, and we are still stumbling about now.


  • Men in the Image of Women and Women in the Image of Men

    Men in the Image of Women and Women in the Image of Men

    God made men and God made women. God made men distinct from women and women distinct from men. God made men and women equal in worth and value while also making them distinct in some purpose and function. It’s all obvious stuff, this—obvious matters of differences between the sexes.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 14)

    A La Carte: The healing of that old ache / Grounds for everyday smiles / A “quiet revival” in the UK / When Scripture gets stale / Praying when it feels like God isn’t listening / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A Less Busy Heart

    In the midst of our busy lives, we can sometimes wonder whether we really have the time to pray. Won’t prayer hinder our productivity? Won’t prayer keep us from getting done all the things we need to do?

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (April 12)

    A La Carte: Designer babies / The dragon and the rooster / Leper Christianity / Theologians against nature / Faithful and small / The missing heart of AI sermons / Douglas Groothuis books / and more.

  • Good News Rock Bottom

    Good News at Rock Bottom

    Life most certainly brings its challenges. Some of these are just little ruts along the way, some are deep and dark valleys, and some are lower still—the kind of rock bottom experiences that are so dreadful we wonder if we will be able to endure them with our faith intact.