MattPerman.com

Made to Flourish: A Pastor's Network for the Common Good

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This is a guest post by Ben Stafford, a program associate at the Kern Foundation. Ben has an incredible understanding of the relationship between faith, work, and economics, and the role pastors need to play in helping build up the church more fully in a robust biblical view of vocation. How might pastors affirm the […]

MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail: Do We Still Believe These Things Today?

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A few weeks ago I read Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It’s reputation is deserved. His understanding of justice, and ability to articulate it, is absolutely incredible. Here are a few of its key portions, summarized with some headings. And then at the end I have a few reflections on whether those who […]

Sam Storms on Insecurity in the Pastorate

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Sam Storms, from his post What I Wish I’d Known: Reflections on Nearly 40 Years of Pastoral Ministry: 10. I wish I’d known about the destructive effects of insecurity in a pastor. This is less because I’ve struggled with it and more due to its effect I’ve seen in others. Why is insecurity so damaging? […]

Generous Justice

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Tiim Keller speaking on his book, Generous Justice.  In my view, this is one of the most important books anyone can read this year. This message gives a good summary of the content in 30 minutes. I love the way he starts, pointing out how “many who are concerned about justice are not concerned about justification […]

The Overstatement of NT Wright

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In the upcoming book The Lost World of Adam and Eve, NT Wright has a chapter called “Paul’s Use of Adam [in Romans 5; 1 Cor 15] is More Interested in the Effect of Sin on the Cosmos Than in the Effect of Sin on Humanity and Has Nothing to Say About Human Origins: Excursus on Paul’s […]

Resources for the New Year

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Here are a few resources to help you get the new year off to a great start. What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done. Of course I’ll be recommending my book here! The beginning of the year is a good time to refine your mission, vision, roles and goals. What’s […]

Christmas: A Time to Turn To God

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It doesn’t make much sense to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world without acknowledging the very reason he came. He came to earth to save us from our sins and give us eternal life. It would be a tragedy to enjoy the presents, food, time with family and friends, and everything else and […]

Understanding Christian Freedom

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It is incredibly important for Christians to understand the doctrine of Christian freedom. John Calvin said that if you don’t understand the doctrine of Christian freedom, it shows that you don’t understand the doctrine of justification either. For the doctrine of justification necessarily leads to the doctrine of Christian freedom. Here is a great initial summary […]