Set an Example in Your Purity

~ Challies

There is a lot to love about the Bible. I could go on for hours about just how amazing, just how unique it is. The Bible offers us something so different from what we get anywhere else, something so opposed to our all-too-human expectations. When we live by the Bible, we live lives that are completely, radically counter-cultural.

Today I am wrapping up a little series I’ve written with younger Christians in mind—people in their teens or twenties, people in high school, college, or just getting started in life. I’ve been challenging you to see a glimpse of yourself in Timothy, in the young man the Apostle Paul mentored into ministry. Specifically, we’ve been looking at 1 Timothy 4:12 where Paul tells him, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” We’ve looked at speech and conduct, we’ve looked at love and faith, and we are left today with the simple word purity. Timothy is to be exemplary in his purity.

LOW EXPECTATIONS

Continue: http://www.challies.com/articles/set-an-example-in-your-purity

Do You Set an Example in Your Conduct?

~ Tim Challies

Today I want to scare you a little. At the very least I want to intimidate you. Actually, I want the Bible to scare and intimidate you, to set a challenge so difficult that you’ll know you can’t possibly meet it on your own. This is a challenge for any Christian, but I’m directing it particularly at younger Christians, at people in their teens or twenties.

I’ve been working on a series of articles that takes a look at some words Paul wrote to Timothy—the older mentor writing a letter to his younger protégé: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). We’ve already seen that Paul wants Timothy to make his life a work of art that other people will be able to see and imitate. Even as a young man, Timothy is to be exemplary, to be worthy of imitation. Last week we saw what it means for Timothy to set an example in his speech and today we want to see what it means for him to set an example in his conduct.

SET AN EXAMPLE IN YOUR CONDUCT

Read more: http://www.challies.com/articles/do-you-set-an-example-in-your-conduct

Sexual Morality in a Christless World

http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/sexual-morality-in-a-christless-world

The Songs We Sing (That You Probably Don’t)

http://www.challies.com/articles/the-songs-we-sing-that-you-probably-dont

3 Quick Questions Before Quitting Your Church

http://www.challies.com/articles/3-quick-questions-before-quitting-your-church

Why Does the Universe Look So Old?

Interesting, but not convincing

http://www.challies.com/articles/why-does-the-universe-look-so-old

Is Your Church Messy Enough?

I love my church. I love the people I gather with week-by-week. They are fun and safe and easy to be with. But who said church should be safe and easy? What if one of the marks of a good church, a blessed church, is that it’s a messy church?

I’m sure you know of the parable of The Lost Sheep in Luke 15. We call it “The Parable of The Lost Sheep” but it is actually “The Parable of the Kind and Loving Shepherd.” The sheep aren’t the point of the story. Like so many of Jesus’ parables, this parable was told in the presence of two groups of people—people who were convinced of their own badness and people who were convinced of their own goodness. And in this case Jesus was speaking primarily to those good and religious people.

http://www.challies.com/articles/is-your-church-messy-enough

Give Up the Ghost

There are all kinds of phrases and idioms we use day to day even though we have lost their origins. We know what they mean, we know when to use them, but we don’t know where we got them. In so many cases they come to us by way of the Bible, and especially the King James Bible. This is exactly the case with the common little phrase “Give up the ghost.”

Read Tim’s comments at: http://www.challies.com/articles/give-up-the-ghost

Fall From Grace

~ Tim Challies

You’ve heard of people who have experienced a fall from grace. The celebrity said something foolish, the media ran with it, and she never quite recovered. “You like me. You really like me.” The athlete was found to have used substances that enhanced his performance, earning him stolen medals, records, and victories. He lied about it, the truth came out, he became a punchline. “I have been on my deathbed, and I’m not stupid. I can emphatically say I am not on drugs.” We’ve all seen these dramatic plunges, these falls from grace.

THE EXPRESSION

Continue: http://www.challies.com/articles/fall-from-grace

The Beginner’s Guide to Conflict Resolution

http://www.challies.com/articles/the-beginner%E2%80%99s-guide-to-conflict-resolution