The Sunday Refill – 7 Links for Your Weekend (18/2/18)

Seven up…

1) I Was Addicted to Heroin – Encouraging story of someone finding Jesus more satisfying than the fleeting pleasures of substance abuse.

2) New report is critical of the term ‘Spiritual Abuse’ as well intended, but not fit for purpose – This seems an important and careful response from EA’s Theological Advisory Group on the increasing use of the language of ‘spiritual abuse’, exploring the negative – even if unintended – consequences of proliferating the term. It also offers some helpful alternatives, in line with the existing legal terminology of other forms of abuse.

3) Why Hospitality Is Vital to Church Planting – Good reminder and some inspiring examples.

4) Guides to Flourishing? The Five Guiding Principles were brought in by the Church of England after the 2014 vote to introduce female bishops, in order to apparently safeguard the mutual flourishing of those men and women who hold to a complementarian view of gender roles in the church. After some high-profile examples that seem to call into question whether such ‘mutual flourishing’ is practiced, the CoE have published a theological commentary on the principles. In this short article Chris Kilgour reflects both on what’s encouraging and concerning about the report.

5) Four Ways to Stop the Sibling Fights – Ha! If this grabbed your attention, then I know how you feel because it grabbed mine too! Some good stuff for Christian parents to think through here.

6) A Prayer for a Gospel-saturated Grace-inundated Lent – Scotty Smith’s prayers are wonderful. I’m praying this through for Lent…

7) Too Much Netflix, Not Enough Chill: Why Young Americans Are Having Less Sex – For something a bit different, this is fascinating, and yet perhaps not that surprising when you think about it.

On the Blog this Week:

“We Need to Fight for Faith in a Fallen World”: An Interview with Dan DeWitt

From the Archives:

Chester & Timmis on Making the Everyday More Missional