Each week we will highlight your favorite posts from RAANetwork’s blog and other great posts across the web. Check back each Saturday in case you missed something.
Top 3 Posts (RAAN):
1. Pridefully Reformed? by Cyril Chavis, Jr.
The largely white, reformed circles, with their theological and cultural traditions, have much to teach the world and the black community. But never despise or be ashamed of your cultural lens and background as a black person. The black experiences in America and the black church circles, with their own theological and cultural traditions, also have a message for the world and reformed circles.
2. How To Be a Radical Sender by Jemar Tisby
Maybe you’ve never given serious thought to your role as a “sender” of missionaries. If not, I encourage you to search the Scriptures. The message to preach Christ to the nations resounds throughout all of Scripture.
3. Church Membership: Who Needs It Anyway? by Ekemini Uwan
This individualistic approach to Christianity is not supported anywhere in Scripture. It is an unbiblical phenomenon that is wholly rooted and perpetuated in individualistic American culture. The pervasiveness of this message cannot and should not be underestimated. Pursuing Church membership over individualistic Christian living demonstrates a clear understanding of the critical function that the church plays in the life of the believer.
Across the Web:
1. How Do I Help a Friend Under False Teaching? by Cameron Triggs
Many of us have them. Friends. Dear friends. Friends we love and adore. Good people who are great to have in your corner. Except there is one problem; their pastor and their church in general are not following the Bible or relying on the Gospel.
2. The Actual Accomplishment of Racial Reconciliation by Jarvis J. Williams, Ph.D
In this third and final blog on racial reconciliation, I will propose that Jesus’ death for all sins and his resurrection from the dead actually (not hypothetically) accomplished reconciliation for all who trust in him by faith. This post will also suggest that racial reconciliation can be experienced and must be intentionally pursued by Christians.
3. 5 Ways Christian Hip Hop Can Serve the Church by Cameron Triggs
The debates around the purity, usefulness, and integrity of Christian Hip Hop have been circulating since its conception. Interestingly, many of these public debates happen within the blogospheres of “white” evangelicalism. Still, tension over this genre remains amongst the Black Church as well.
4. Interview: How to Start and Persevere with Inner-City Ministry by John Starke
It began with the conviction that God commands us, the gospel compels us, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to go, show, and proclaim the love of God among the poor and vulnerable.
5. Don’t Let Your Mind Go to Pot by John Piper
Marijuana is ordinarily used as a mood-altering, mind-altering drug. The aim is to create a kind of euphoria. The effects vary widely from person to person. All you have to do is Google, “What does Marijuana feel like?” People don’t smoke it to get unhappy. It produces a temporary state that is felt to be better than ordinary life.
What did we miss? Let us know in the comment section!