Archive for the Recommended Link Category


Oct 27

Theology and Technology

2011 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Recommended Link

Many of you have iPhones. Many of you who don’t have an iPhone will get an iPhone. Many of you who don’t have an iPhone and don’t plan to get an iPhone probably have some roughly equivalent device to help you with life, play, communication, and work. Some of you will be offended that I said, “rough equivalent.” And, of course, some of you don’t care. All of us, though, leverage multiple technologies in a given day to do whatever we do.

Ten years ago our cell phones allowed us to talk. Then they allowed us to text. Now, if you can think it up, there’s probably an app for that. As Christians, we want to think christianly about all of life, including the tools we use to go about doing life.

Mike Cosper, Pastor of Worship and Arts at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY, has written a nice reflection on the meaning of technology over at The Gospel Coalition Blog in his article, “The iPhone as Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe.” Cosper’s closing paragraph sums up his reflection well:

Sometimes, Christians with a sympathetic view of culture (like myself) have a tendency to treat it all—including technology—as though it were neutral, but this isn’t the case. Like all of creation, the technological world bears witness to God’s glory and goodness with its undoubted helpfulness, its moments of beauty, and its occasional ability to inspire awe. But also like all of creation, it bears the stain and destructive power of sin, introducing us to whole new ways to destroy relationships, disrupt our lives, and distract from the glory we were created to behold.

Mike does a good job of helping us consider how the Christian worldview intersects with a part of life whose positive and negative effects are difficulty to discern or taken for granted.

Read the rest of Cosper’s article here.

Aug 1

Audio for August: “90 Days Through the New Testament”

2011 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Recommended Link

We’ve been listening through the New Testament together for two months now. Below is a list of links for the month of August. In addition, we will continue to post links to audio daily at the DSC Facebook page.

By way of reminder, DSC’s audio sermon archive is searchable by series and topic. This could be helpful should  you come across an issue in your reading that peaks your interest.

Audio for August

August 1 Catch-up Day
August 2 1 Corinthians 16 – 2 Corinthians 4
August 3 2 Corinthians 5-8
August 4 2 Corinthians 9-12
August 5 2 Corinthians 13 – Galatians 3
August 6 Galatians 4 – Ephesians 1
August 7 Ephesians 2-5
August 8 Ephesians 6 – Philippians 3
August 9 Philippians 4 – Colossians 2
August 10 Colossians 3 – 1 Thessalonians 3
August 11 1 Thessalonians 4 – 2 Thessalonians 3
August 12 1 Timothy 1-5
August 13 1 Timothy 6 – 2 Timothy 3
August 14 2 Timothy 4 – Philemon
August 15 Hebrews 1-5
August 16 Hebrews 6-9
August 17 Hebrews 10-11
August 18 Hebrews 12 – James 1
August 19 James 2-5
August 20 1 Peter 1-3
August 21 1 Peter 4 – 2 Peter 2
August 22 2 Peter 3 – 1 John 2
August 23 1 John 3-5
August 24 2 John – Revelation 1
August 25 Revelation 2-3
August 26 Revelation 4-6
August 27 Revelation 7-11
August 28 Revelation 12-14
August 29 Revelation 15-17
August 30 Revelation 18-19
August 31 Revelation 20-22

For an overview of the plan, visit the landing page or download the brochure.

Jul 14

Good Reasons for Leaving a Church

2011 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Recommended Link

The question of whether to leave one church for another is a tricky one, usually involving multiple dynamics personal, theological, preferential, geographical sometimes, and missiological. Of course, there are others. Some reasons are God honoring, but not all reasons honor the Chief Shepherd of the church. The genuine Christian who desires to glorify God in all of life’s decisions will want to honor Him in this one. The whole question is wrapped up in our view of God, the nature of the church, and the nature of the Christian life.

Of course, our own membership here at DSC is comprised of a number of people who came to us from other churches around town, and our membership process includes learning about the circumstances of those moves. And, of course, a number of our members have left over the years for other churches.

So how are we to think about “switching” chuches? When is it right, when is it wrong, and how do we know?

Jason Helopoulous has organized a number of legitimate and illegitimate reasons under three helpful headings in a post, Good Reasons for Moving On, published to Kevin DeYoung’s blog about a year ago now. I found it helpful and commend  his wisdom to you.

In brief, here’s his outline:

Good Reasons for Moving On – The Four P’s
1. Providential moving
2. Planting another church
3. Purity has been lost
4. Peace of the church is in jeopardy due to my presence

Possible Reasons for Moving On – The Three S’s
1. Spouse
2. Special Needs
3. Special Gifts

Reasons Often Used Which are Insufficient
1. Children’s Ministry
2. Buzz
3. Youth Group
4. Church has changed
5. New Pastor
6. I’m Not Being Ministered to
7. Music
8. There are others…

Read the whole article here.

Also, over the years a number of sermons have been preached at DSC on the subject of the church. Three message topic categories are worth highlighting: The Nature of the Church, Church Issues, and Church Membership. Specifically related to the shape and priorities of DSC, Ryan preached a three part series at the start of 2011, Worship, Community, Mission.

Jul 8

Thriving at College

2011 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Recommended Link,Recommended Resources

Summers are a time of transition for many of us. This is especially true for those families with high school students on their way to college. This means new places. It mens new responsibilities. It means new opportunities in the service of Christ. It means new temptations.

In his article, “Learning to Thrive at College,” Alex Chediak offers some simple but wise advice for college students:

College should be a temporary season of academic preparation and personal growth to propel a lifetime of effective service to God and neighbor. It should be a launching pad into all that goes with responsible Christian adulthood. Yet for some, it’s a time when they abandon the Christian faith, displaying that they never really belonged to Christ (1 John 2:19). For others, their faith remains intact, but they waste their college lives with video games, partying, and other frivolities—an expensive vacation funded by Mom, Dad, and debilitating student loans.

…I’m convinced that you should not just survive college but thrive at college. Don’t just maintain your faith, but really come to own it — growing thick, strong roots (1 Timothy 4:12). Don’t just squeak by classes with as little effort as possible, but strive to discover your calling — what God uniquely wired you to do — and to love God with all your mind by giving it your very best (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

Socially, college is a season for making life-long friendships — not just the kind you have a great time with (good as that is) but the kind that spur you on to love, trust, and follow God. Pursue relationships that help you put away childishness, grow in maturity, increasingly make wise choices, and “expect great things from God and attempt great things for God.” And who knows? Maybe one of these friends will become a fabulous husband or wife.

College is a time for assuming responsibility, for becoming a disciplined steward of time and money, for recognizing that recreation is a gift of God to be enjoyed in measure but never to dominate our lives. Rather, when properly pursued, recreation empowers us for our work rather than distracting us from our work.

As a student, remember that your work is learning (studying) so that you can, for a lifetime, increasingly love God with a well-trained mind, a mind that can identify key questions, pursue understanding, dissect arguments, discover logical fallacies, and communicate effectively.

Let’s be sure to pray for our college students – both those who are away at college, those who are in town for college, and those who have moved to town and are a part of our church.

Alex is the author of, Thriving at College: Make Great Friends, Keep Your Faith, and Get Ready for the Real World!. If you are headed to college or know someone who is, order a copy from Amazon. While we aren’t carrying this book at the Resource Center, we are featuring a number of other books on the theme of parenting through the rest of this month.

Jul 1

For Parents of Young Children: Recommendations from Fred Zaspel

2011 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Recommended Link,Recommended Resources

During Dr. Fred Zaspel’s recent visit to DSC for our parenting weekend, he mentioned a list of book recommendations for parents. We’ll post audio when it is available, but we wanted to make his recommendations available to you now.

But first, in terms of parenting counsel, Fred’s own practice and recommendation to us is to devote ourselves to mastering Scripture’s teaching on the subject. Then, the next best thing we can do is pursue input from families who appear to be parenting well. The only book he went out of his way to recommend on the subject of parenting itself is a short $2 book by J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents. And in all of our parenting, as he made clear in Sunday’s sermon, “Marriage: Finding its Original Perfection,” one of the most important ways for a mother and a father to love their children is to love one another first.

In the list below, you’ll notice some overlap with the list we published last week of books available at our Resource Center. I’ve gone ahead and put an asterisk next to those books we’re carrying. If there’s a book we’re not carrying here, though, it’s not for a lack of endorsement but space.

These recommendations are for parents of younger children to read with their children. In last week’s post we included several books with instructions on parenting for parents in a broader range of stages. For each title we’ve provided links to Amazon and brief publisher descriptions.

*The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name, Sally Lloyd Jones

Containing forty-six Bible stories from creation to Revelation with beautiful, rich, and vibrant artwork, The Jesus Storybook Bible invites children to join in the greatest of all adventures and discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story of salvation – and at the center of their story, too.

*The Big Picture Story Bible, David Helm

No child is too young to begin learning about the greatest love story of all—God’s love for his people, as portrayed in the Bible. David Helm and Gail Schoonmaker have together created a colorful book of Bible stories written especially for children ages 2–7. Rather than simply retelling portions of the Bible, this book presents the big picture—the unified story running through the Old and New Testaments. Twenty-six stories together form parts of this big picture.

Simply written and beautifully illustrated, this book teaches children the Bible’s whole story so they can begin to appreciate the fulfillment of God’s promise to his people. The Big Picture Story Bible is perfect for parents to read to their children and for older children to read on their own.

Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers: The Gospel, Joey Allen

The Gospel relates a gospel message of salvation to children, at their level of understanding, planting seeds that will hopefully blossom into a Christian life of dedication to our Savior and Lord.

The Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers series introduces children ages four to eight to the fundamental teachings about God based on the Bible. The most foundational teachings of the Christian faith are presented in this four-book set at a level preschool and elementary children can understand. Colorful illustrations compliment every page of orthodox Christian doctrine, creating an enjoyable learning experience for the child. In contrast to self-centered theology and watered-down Bible storybooks, the Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers series promotes God-centered theology with simple and precise teaching while offering stability and a strong, lasting connection with the faith.

Big Thoughts For Little Thinkers: The Trinity, Joey Allen

The Trinity teaches the doctrine that there is one God who exists in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This teaching is foundational for a child’s understanding of God; a fact about the Trinity is presented on each page, leading the child to a stronger faith.

Big Truths for Little Kids: Teaching Your Children to Live for God, Susan Hunt

This wonderful book, with its easy-to-use story format, can help you teach the basic truths of the Christian faith to your children. They’ll learn right along with Caleb and Cassie that God’s ways are best – and that even as kids, they can live for His glory every day.

Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God, Marty Machowski

Christian parents know the importance of passing the gospel story on to their children, yet we live in a busy world filled with distractions. Schedules collide, there is homework and yard work and dishes and laundry, the car’s oil should be changed, there are phone calls to make…and before you know it, everyone is getting to bed late again.

The Bible can seem like a long story for an active family to read, but when you break it down into short sections, as Marty Machowski does, family devotions are easy to do. Long Story Short will help busy parents share with their children how every story in the Old Testament points forward to God’s story of salvation through Jesus Christ. You won’t find a more important focus for a family devotional than a daily highlighting of the gospel of grace. Clever stories and good moral lessons may entertain and even help children, but the gospel will transform children. The gospel is deep enough to keep the oldest and wisest parents learning and growing all their lives, yet simple enough to transform the heart of the first grader who has just begun to read.

Ten minutes a day, five days a week is enough time to pass on the most valuable treasure the world has ever known. Long Story Short is a family devotional program designed to explain God’s plan of salvation through the Old Testament and is suitable for children from preschool through high school.

Who Will be King?, Tony Payne

This presentation of the gospel, carefully written and illustrated for young readers (roughly ages 7-11), is based on the Two ways to live outline and illustrations. With simple, clear language, but concern for the sensitivity of younger children, it is ideal for Scripture classes in schools, Sunday School lessons, beach missions, camps or just to give to young friends and family members.

The Church History ABCs: Augustine and 25 Other Heroes of the Faith, Stephen Nichols

Dramatically converted on the stormy seas, a slave-trader-turned-abolitionist penned the best-loved hymn of the Christian faith. A church father was arrested and martyred for teaching the truth about Christ’s incarnation. Captured by pirates and shipped off to Ireland, a priest baptized thousands of pagans, from paupers to princes. Now who ever said church history was boring?

The Church History ABCs is a fun way for kids to learn about great figures in Christian history. Twenty-six heroes of the faith march through the alphabet, boldly telling their stories in language children can understand. This wide range of characters—men and women from across the centuries, from all over the globe—reflects the breadth of church history and reminds children that these great figures of the past were living, breathing people who lived and died for the glory of God.

*Mighty Acts of God: A Family Bible Story Book, Starr Meade

“Do as David did. Don’t do as Saul did. Follow this Old Testament person, but not that New Testament person.” That’s what you may find in many Bible story books. In Mighty Acts of God Starr Meade takes a new approach to teaching the Bible to elementary school aged children: she focuses not on characters in Scripture, but on God. Each of the ninety Bible stories included focus on a particular character trait or truth about God, emphasizing that God is the main character in every Bible story.

Each story in Mighty Acts of God is retold in lively, modern-day language from a Reformed perspective, and is followed by an application section with several discussion-sparking questions and prayer points. By moving chronologically through both the Old and New Testaments, parents and children glimpse the person of God as one of consistency, vibrancy, passion, and love.

My 1st Book: 7 Book Set, Carine Mackenzie and Philip Ross

*Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God, Bruce Ware

Sure, it’s easy to teach your children the essentials of Christian theology when you’re a theology professor. But what about the rest of us? With Big Truths for Little Hearts, Bruce Ware, (you guessed it!) a theology professor, encourages and enables parents of children 6-14 years of age to teach through the whole of systematic theology at a level their children can understand. Parents can teach their children the great truths of the faith and shape their worldviews early, based on these truths. The book covers ten topics of systematic theology, devoting several brief chapters to each subject, making it possible for parents to read one chapter per day with their children. With this non-intimidating format, parents will be emboldened to be their children’s primary faith trainers and perhaps learn a few things themselves along the way.

Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress, Oliver Hunkin

The world-famous, much-loved classic Pilgrim’s Progress is here retold for children. This abridged version uses the original words of John Bunyan as selected by Oliver Hunkin to present a gripping narrative. Filled with intricately detailed illustrations, this handsome, large-format book makes an ideal gift.