Delivered by Grace – Michelle Lesley

Here are a few of my favorite recent online Christmas finds…

Christmas might be the easiest time of the year to get a foot in the door to share the gospel with unsaved friends, loved ones and strangers. That’s why I love this article by Allen Nelson over at Things Above Us called A Christmas Gift for You. You can share it around on your social media pages to help others understand what Christ did to save us. And if you’d like to use it as a devotion at a Christmas party, tuck it into your Christmas cards, use it as a bulletin insert at church, or something like that, you can contact Allen for permission to reprint it.

If you love Handel’s Messiah, check out Messiah: The Podcast Series Advent Calendar. “It took George Frideric Handel 24 days to complete the musical score of Messiah – the most famous oratorio ever written. This podcast advent calendar tells all the stories about the people, the places, the music, the drama and the gossip that is connected to the maiden performance in Dublin 275 years ago.” (I think this is more of a history website than a Christian website.)

Wonder why some Christmas songs are so ear-catchingly popular? Music nerds can tell you, and here’s one to do just that. Vox gives us Adam Ragusea explaining The Secret Chord that Makes Christmas Music Sound So Christmasy.

And speaking of Christmas music…need some to listen to? Amazon has several Christmas songs and albums you can download for free! (Listen discerningly.) And if you’re shopping at Amazon, be sure to check out Amazon Smile and donate part of your purchase to the Christian ministry, organization, or church of your choice!

When Christians think “Christmas” we usually think Luke 2, and maybe Matthew 1-2. But…John? My friend and fellow LSU alum, Nicholas Maricle, shares this lovely article on the Incarnation: John 1, the Word, and Jesus over at his blog Thinking Theologically. Do yourself a favor and give him a follow!

Josh Buice has another awesome quiz for us at his blog, Delivered by Grace. Test your knowledge with: Christmas Quiz: How much do you know?

And last of all, an early Christmas present for me (thanks to reader and contributor, Laura!). Phil Johnson and Todd Friel discussed part of my article Women and False Teachers: Why Men Don’t Get It, and Why It’s Imperative That They Do on the December 10 episode of the Too Wretched for Radio podcast (around the 15:42 mark). I’ve mentioned that Todd was the first to introduce me to the idea of biblical discernment when I “accidentally stumbled across” the Wretched TV show one night while flipping through the channels. And I listen to Phil often, love his preaching, and have a great deal of respect for him on a number of different levels. So while this brief mention on a podcast that the majority of the world has never heard of wouldn’t mean much to most people, it was a real honor for me.

Favorite Finds

Favorite Finds ~ July 10, 2018

July 10, 2018June 26, 2021 Michelle Lesley

Here are a few of my favorite recent online finds…

Want to memorize Scripture, but you need a little help or don’t know where to start? Check out the Scripture Typer Bible Memory System. Use verses you’ve already decided you want to memorize, or get some suggestions from Scripture Typer. Type in and practice your verses until you have them memorized, and Scripture Typer will keep everything nice, neat, and organized for you. Scripture Typer is available online, or in an app for Android, Kindle, iPad, or iPhone.

“Among English Baptists of the eighteenth-century, Anne Dutton was known as ‘the most theologically capable and influential Baptist woman of her day’.” I had never heard of Anne before, but I found this little piece about her, Lessons from the Life and Ministry of Anne Dutton by Joshua Mills over at Servants of Grace to be charming and encouraging. Take a moment to read about one of our foremothers in the faith.

Being a “1689er” myself, I just loved this modern English version of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith, put together by Dr. Stan Reeves of Founders Ministries. Dr. Reeves has stayed true to the original LBC as much as possible, only clarifying and updating archaic verbiage when necessary. (You can compare with the original 1689 version here.) Give The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in Modern English a read. You might even want to study the Scriptures it references during your Bible study time.

For regular readers, it’s no secret I’m a big fan of Josh Buice and his blog, Delivered by Grace. A few months ago, Josh started adding quizzes to his stellar lineup of blog articles, and I hope he keeps them coming. Quizzes can be a fun and helpful way to get us thinking through various issues and pointing out areas in which we need to study more. Take Josh’s most recent quiz, Biblical People—How Much Do You Know?, and find out how much you know about the people of the Bible. (And click here to check out any previous quizzes you might have missed!)

Favorite Finds

Favorite Finds ~ March 27, 2018

March 27, 2018April 4, 2018 Michelle Lesley

Here are a few of my favorite recent online finds…

Thanks to my sweet friend Kesha over at Bible Thinking Woman for giving me a heads up on all the great t-shirts and other products available at her online boutique, Eternal Gift Store! The BTW shirt she kindly sent me is super soft with an eye-catching design. Check out all their products and give BTW a follow on Facebook or Twitter.

Does your church collect Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes at Christmas time? Amy Medina and her husband Gil are missionaries in Tanzania, and she has written two startling articles at Everyone Needs a Little Grace in Their Lives about being on the receiving end of OCC shoe boxes. There’s corruption, evangelism dilemmas for missionaries, and often, no gospel. I urge you to read Opening Up Christmas Shoe Boxes: What Do They Look Like On the Other Side? and Sometimes the Starfish Story Doesn’t Work, and maybe pass them along to your pastor now, while there’s still plenty of time to decide whether or not your church should participate in OCC this year.

Who doesn’t love an online quiz? Here’s a Simple Bible Doctrine Quiz from Josh Buice at Delivered by Grace that will test your knowledge of basic theology.

If you’re a Sunday School or Bible study teacher, or even just for your personal daily Bible study time, The Hero of the Story is a really helpful new podcast from The Gospel Project featuring my friend Aaron Armstrong and co-host Brian Dembowczyk that will help train you to teach and/or study the Bible better. (So far, it is not specific to The Gospel Project Sunday School curriculum, so your church doesn’t have to use that literature in order for the podcast to make sense.) You can listen on line as well as get all the appropriate podcast links at the link above.

My Sunday School class has a breakfast rotation. Last week it was my turn to bring breakfast, so I made a doughnut bread pudding. When I mentioned it on Twitter, a lot of people seemed interested in the recipe, so I thought I’d share it here. I use this bread pudding recipe, substituting glazed doughnuts for the bread. I leave out the raisins, cut the sugar a little (since the doughnuts are glazed), and top it off with a a cream cheese buttercream icing drizzle (melt a little butter and cream cheese, add a dash of vanilla and a spritz of water, stir in powdered sugar until it’s the right consistency) when it’s done.

Christmas

7 “Stocking Stuffers”

December 5, 2017June 26, 2021 Michelle Lesley

I’m filling the stockings early, but no lumps of coal for my awesome readers! Here are some great little miscellaneous Christian goodies I’ve come across recently. Enjoy!

Crossway has a Bible reading challenge for the holiday season called Simply Read. It will take you through the books of Luke and Acts in 8 days.

Is your church perfect and problem-free? No? Then be sure to give this article a read. Maybe even print it out and stick it on the fridge or in your Bible. The Cripplegate’s When Your Church Disappoints by Eric Davis offers godly counsel on how to biblically think about and approach problems at your church. It was very helpful for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.

The Gospel Project wants to give you a Christmas present! A FREE e-book! “A Christmas Question is Charles Spurgeon’s famous Christmas-day sermon from Exeter Hall in 1859.”

Another FREEBIE? Why not? Beautiful Eulogy is offering their album Worthy for you to download at no cost. Rap isn’t really your thing? Mine either. Check out tracks 5 (a lovely instrumental), 9 (a fantastic devotional from Art Azurdia), and 11 (a slower paced spoken word piece).

Can Christian parents do Santa Claus with their children? My answer in yesterday’s edition of The Mailbag was, yes, as long as Santa keeps his sleigh parked inside biblical parameters. Pastor Josh Buice made a different decision for his children and explains Why My Family Doesn’t Do Santa.

Want to send Christmas cards with an eternal impact? “Each Gideon Christmas card you send this Christmas will provide a New Testament for someone in the world. At the same time, your card will share a message of faith, hope, and joy in Jesus with friends and loved ones.”

Discernment, Doctrinally Sound Teachers, Word of Faith Movement

Josh Buice – Justin Peters Interview

October 10, 2017May 13, 2019 Michelle Lesley

(Photos courtesy of twitter)

One of my favorite blogs is pastor Josh Buice’s Delivered by Grace. Josh is pastor of Pray’s Mill Baptist Church in Douglasville, Georgia, near Atlanta, and also coordinates the annual G3 Conference (gospel, grace, and glory) there. I’d highly recommend anything Josh is in charge of, so read the blog, go to the conference, and visit his church next time you’re in the area.

Josh recently interviewed another favorite of mine, Justin Peters. Justin is perhaps best known for his teaching and discernment ministry exposing the Word of Faith movement. You’ll definitely want to visit Justin’s web site to read his amazing testimony and view an excerpt from his discernment seminar.

In the interview, Justin touched on his testimony, discussed the Word of Faith movement, talked about false teachers Todd White, Joseph Prince, Beth Moore (more information here, including Josh’s article referred to in the interview and more from Justin on Beth), and Joyce Meyer, and explained the problems with heavenly tourism books and movies like Heaven Is for Real. The interview is both informative and edifying, and I encourage you to give it a listen.