Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Seven Reasons You Should Not Indulge in Pornography

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That’s the title of my article (PDF | web version) for the latest issue of Themelios.

From the introduction:

My goal is to motivate you to say no to pornography by God’s grace. This article does not comprehensively address how to deal with pornography. Other resources do that well, and I recommend several of them below. My burden in this article is to motivate you not to indulge in pornography. I am particularly burdened to motivate people who habitually indulge in pornography and who are not killing their sin of lust. If that describes you, then this article is a way of metaphorically taking you firmly by the shoulders, looking you directly in the eyes, and soberly warning you, “Wake up! Do you realize what the consequences are for indulging in pornography?!”

I argue that you should not indulge in pornography for at least seven reasons:

1. It will send you to hell.

2. It does not glorify God with your body.

3. It is a poisonous, fleeting pleasure. [Read more…] about Seven Reasons You Should Not Indulge in Pornography

Has God Called You to Vocational Christian Ministry?

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Two resources helped me answer that question when I was in high school and college:

  1. C. H. Spurgeon, “The Call to the Ministry,” in Lectures to My Students: A Selection from Addresses Delivered to the Students of the Pastors’ College, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Lectures to My Students 1 (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1875), 18–39.
  2. James M. George, “The Call to Pastoral Ministry,” in Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry, by John F. MacArthur Jr. and The Master’s Seminary Faculty (Dallas: Word, 1995), 102–15.

George suggests four criteria for evaluating whether God has called you to serve as a pastor, and you can remember them with the acrostic CALL: [Read more…] about Has God Called You to Vocational Christian Ministry?

Now What? Four Helpful Articles on President Trump

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Like most people who were following the presidential election, I was shocked that Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing as I watched The New York Times “Live Presidential Forecast.” Here’s how much the “chance of winning presidency” shifted last night from about 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. (I took this screenshot at 10:27 p.m. CT.)

nyt

Wow. [Read more…] about Now What? Four Helpful Articles on President Trump

How to Make My Favorite (Healthy) Snack: Popcorn

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File this under under “the things of earth.”

I don’t do much cooking, but I know how to make delicious popcorn. I’ve done this hundreds of times.

This popcorn is far healthier and tastier than microwave popcorn.

Tools and Ingredients

  1. Stove
  2. Popcorn popper (We use this one. It’s not heavy-duty—we’re on our third one—but it does the job.)
  3. Olive oil (We use this.)
  4. Popcorn kernels (We’ve used this for our last several rounds.)
  5. 1/2 measuring cup
  6. Popcorn salt (We use this.)
  7. Big bowl

whirleyoilpopcornsalt

Steps

[Read more…] about How to Make My Favorite (Healthy) Snack: Popcorn

Mohler before He Became President of Southern: “I Intend to Age”

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mohlerAlbert Mohler became president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in February 1993 when he was 33 years old.

To understand how unusual that is and what sort of challenges Mohler faced, listen to how he told the story ten years later in 2003 at a Sovereign Grace leadership conference: Part 1 | Part 2.

(See also my review of Gregory A. Wills, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1859–2009, Themelios 34 [2009]: 403–5.)

[Read more…] about Mohler before He Became President of Southern: “I Intend to Age”