YOUR SATURDAY SEVEN - Week 29
Compiled by: Rob Martinez, December 17, 2022
Your Saturday Seven is a hand-selection of seven articles from this week that will hopefully be a blessing to you. You can see more past articles here. Note: I do not necessarily fully endorse or agree with all content posted.
1. A FOOLPROOF DISCIPLING PROGRAM: CORPORATE WORSHIP.
By: John Sarver, 12.15 / 9Marks
“The biblical pattern for church ministry moves from the pulpit to the people, from the gathering to the scattering.1 Never the other way around. All other ministries should be subservient to and ordered around the church’s main gathering. It’s intended to be the roaring river that gives life and direction to all the other discipling tributaries of the church. The order is never reversed.”
2. WHAT CORPORATE LEADERSHIP BOOKS CAN’T TEACH PASTORS.
By: Bernie A. Cueto, 12.16 / TGC
“With great wisdom, Thomas makes clear that giftedness and followers aren’t enough to be a gospel leader. We don’t need corporate and celebrity models. To be ready for seasons in ministry when it feels like the ground is shifting, we need integrity and humility that bears fruit in missional alignment and deep relationships.”
3. MOST CHURCHES PLAN TO OPEN ON CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S DAY.
By: Aaron Earls, 12.13 / Lifeway
“This year, 60% plan to have church services on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and 25% will only have a Christmas Day service. Around 1 in 10 pastors (11%) plan to only have a Christmas Eve service, higher than the 8% in 2016.”
4. FIRST-PERSON: THE BEST AND WORST CHRISTMAS I’VE EVER HAD.
By: Bart Barber, 12.16 / Baptist Press
“And just like a switch flipped inside of her, she saw her son crying and stopped what she was doing, gained a clarity in her eyes, looked straight at him and said, “Don’t cry, Son. God will get us through this. It’ll be OK.”
5. THE JUSTICE OF GOD BRINGS HOPE IN HUMAN SUFFERING.
By: Paula Higuchi, 12.15 / ACBC
“Unlike the garden of Eden, the new heavens and new earth can never be penetrated by anything detestable. This is a glorious comfort as we look to our eternal reward. All that we long for right now to be made right in the world will completely and finally be made sight.”
6. WHAT IS CHRISTMAS?
By: Amy Whitfield, 12.14 / Thomas Nelson
“The promises are unfolding before us, even when we aren’t sure what it all means. The Lord is doing what Mary proclaimed even today, as His Kingdom comes. Her soul magnified the Lord because she believed. We stand in redemption history just like she did and remember that His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. And that is what makes every day of the year truly full of wonder.”
7. MY AI SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR.
By: Ian Harber & Patrick Miller, 12.15 / Mere Orthodoxy
“The information age has had an inflationary effect on the subjective value of information. The more information we have easy access to, the less valuable that information becomes — both monetarily and subjectively.”
