Wisdom For Your (Thanksgiving) Weekend: your weekly installment of things we’ve been reading around the web.
W4YW comes early this week, courtesy of that great autumnal holiday—Thanksgiving. Enjoy time with your family, as we will with ours, and we’ll catch you in December!
Articles of the Week – On Ferguson
News of the grand jury’s decision not to indict a Ferguson police officer for killing African-American teenager Michael Brown has once again exposed the tragic wounds surrounding that case. We continue to pray for healing to these national wounds, and encourage all of you (especially those in the majority culture), to be “swift to hear and slow to speak.” This is a time, as our Chapel Hill campus pastor Chris Green puts it, for “empathy and not apathy.” We need to see one another, especially in the church, through gospel eyes. To that end, here are a few readings you may find helpful in processing how to think through this painful situation from a gospel perspective. You will notice some variance in some aspects of these perspectives, but this provides at least a starting point for those of you wondering how to even think about the issues:
Ferguson and the Path to Peace, Russell Moore.
#Ferguson and the Cross, Derwin Gray.
Two Pastors—One White, One Black—Reflect Together on Ferguson, Chris Green and J.D. Greear. (Originally posted August 24, 2014)
Articles of the Week – The Rest
Give Me the Doubly Offensive Jesus, Please, Trevin Wax. “The Jesus of the Gospels is offensive because of how inclusive He is. The Jesus of the Gospels is offensive because of how exclusive He is. The church is offended by His inclusivity, and the world is offended by His exclusivity. Thus we are inclined to weaken the offense, either by minimizing His inclusive call or by downplaying His exclusive claims. Unfortunately, whenever we lop off one side or the other, we wind up with a Jesus in our own image.”
Five Mistakes People Make When Reading the Bible, Mike Query. If you stop by this blog with any regularity, chances are you know that reading the Bible is a good and fruitful endeavor. And that’s a good start. But if you have a hard time getting anything out of it, you may be falling into one of these five common blunders.
How to Increase Your Thanksgiving Appetite, Jon Bloom. “When it comes to cultivating gratitude, we need all the help we can get. Thanksgiving does not come naturally to sinful people. Grumbling and disputing comes natural (Philippians 2:14). Gratitude is the heart’s response to seeing and experiencing grace. And we must intentionally look for grace. It’s all around us. But selfishness distorts the lenses of our heart-eyes. So we need Scriptural prescription lenses to see right. If we (Americans) rush into Thursday’s celebration having barely reflected on gratitude, we will fill our stomachs but leave our souls hungry. So here are some resources that will help increase your thanksgiving appetite.”
On The Lighter Side
Dad Joke Month #3, The Doghouse Diaries. Warning: not suitable for those allergic to nerdy jokes. (And for those of you who may have trouble with the last punch line, here’s a hint.)
Wisdom For Your Weekend is presented to you by Chris Pappalardo, with occasional guidance from J.D. Greear. This is our attempt to reflect Proverbs 9:9, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”
