Weekend Connection

Weekend time with the Lord ...

I regularly sit with my Bible open and grow under the teaching of David Guzik. Here is a gem of a message that you may enjoy, too. 

Weekend beauty ...

Weekend food for thought ...

6 Members Who Build Up the Church

"Every local church is comprised of a diverse group of people who have been radically transformed by the power of God through the person and work of Jesus Christ. These diverse people have no reason to live and work together, let alone care for each other—and yet, they choose to live in love and unity together, to the praise and glory of the Lord’s name.
Healthy local churches make a powerful and attractive testimony to a watching world. This means that every member has to be devoted to building others up."

The Religious and Philosophical Roots ​of the Climate Change Movement

Our own lovely Stephanie Potts presenting here! Fascinating food for thought.

Unbelievable? Peter J Williams and Bart Ehrman – Are the Gospels historically reliable?

"Arguably, no individual has influenced the course of history more than Jesus of Nazareth. But, can we trust the accounts of his life, death and resurrection?
​
In this latest episode of The Big Conversation from Unbelievable? leading sceptical New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman engages with noted Cambridge University Bible scholar Peter J Williams who defends the reliability of the accounts."

John Crist, Failure, and Warnings to Heed for Christian Leaders

"Disappointed yes, but unfortunately my ability to be surprised by these stories ran out long ago. Apparently, there is no end to the public failures of Christian leaders and influencers. Simultaneously, we can see that Jesus seems to be doing a good house cleaning of his church. For that part, I am glad."

Gratefulness and Entitlement

We do well to remember that the road to abiding gratefulness is often paved with hardship that rids our hearts of any sense of entitlement.

Reading Scores on National Exam Decline in Half the States

"The most recent research on reading, Mr. Afflerbach said, has undermined a long-held view that children learn to read until the fourth grade, and then “read to learn” in higher grades. Because of that view, too many schools have assigned elementary students short passages instead of challenging them with longer, thematically rich texts and books."

Weekend kitchen adventures ...

Crock Pot Butterscotch Apple Crisp

Weekend worship ...

Gorgeous worship from a very (very!) favorite worship leader of ours, Scott Cunningham (Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa). Take a listen and be blessed!

Weekend Scripture reflection ...

Weekend reading ...

Discounted Kindle books that may be of interest!

"To be human is to long for home. Home is our most fundamental human longing. And for many of us homesickness is a nagging place of grief. Jen Pollock Michel connects that desire and disappointment with the story of the Bible, helping us to see that there is a homemaking God with wide arms of welcome―and a church commissioned with this same work. Keeping Place offers hope to the wanderer, help to the stranded, and a new vision of what it means to live today with our longings for our eternal home."

"You only live once―if then. 

​Life is short, and it can be as easily wasted as lived to the full. In the midst of our harried modern world, how do we make the most of life and the time we have?
In these fast and superficial times, Os Guinness calls us to consequential living. In strong contrast to both Eastern and secularist views of time, he reorients our very notion of history, not as cyclical nor as meaningless, but as linear and purposeful. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, time and history are meaningful, and human beings have agency to live with freedom and consequence in partnership with God. Thus we can seek to serve God's purpose for our generation, read the times, and discern our call for this moment in history.

Our time on earth has significance. Live rightly, discern the times, and redeem the day."

"Throughout the centuries, so many traditions have woven themselves into the celebration of Christmas that it's difficult to understand just what the season of Christ's birth is all about. Now beloved writer Warren W. Wiersbe and his son, fellow pastor David W. Wiersbe give adults their very own A to Z Christmas primer, cutting through the wrapping paper and pretty bows to expose and explain the backgrounds and reasons for our various symbols and traditions. From angels and Bethlehem to yuletide and Zechariah, the information in this unique collection is sure to enlighten. Anyone who wants to have a deeper understanding of Christmas will love this insightful resource."

"The new atheists are on the warpath. They come armed with arguments to show that belief in God is absurd and dangerous. In the name of societal progress, they promote purging the world of all religious practice. And they claim that people of faith are mentally ill. Some of the new atheists openly declare their hatred for the Judeo-Christian God.

Christian apologists have been quick to respond to the new atheists’ arguments. But there is another dimension to the issue which begs to be addressed--the root causes of atheism. Where do atheists come from? How did such folks as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens become such ardent atheists? If we are to believe them, their flight from faith resulted from a dispassionate review of the evidence. Not enough rational grounds for belief in God, they tell us. But is this the whole story?

Could it be that their opposition to religious faith has more to do with passion than reason? What if, in the end, evidence has little to do with how atheists arrive at their anti-faith? That is precisely the claim in this book. Atheism is not at all a consequence of intellectual doubts. These are mere symptoms of the root cause--moral rebellion. For the atheist, the missing ingredient is not evidence but obedience.

The psalmist declares, “The fool says in his heart there is no God” (Ps. 14:1), and in the book of Romans, Paul makes it clear that lack of evidence is not the atheist’s problem. The Making of an Atheist confirms these biblical truths and describes the moral and psychological dynamics involved in the abandonment of faith."

Upcoming at Calvary ...