What Does the Sovereignty of God Mean? | John Whittaker

What Does the Sovereignty of God Mean? | John Whittaker

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-sovereignty-of-god/ [https://renew.org/the-sovereignty-of-god/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] The best way to frame up our discussion of God’s sovereignty is to ask this question: Are there things that happen in the world that are contrary to the will of God? Most of us would instinctively say yes. Jesus’ model prayer, what we call the Lord’s Prayer, seems to indicate that there are. Otherwise why would he teach us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10b)? But Calvinism answers the question of whether anything happens contrary to God’s will with an emphatic no. Everything that happens in the world is ordained by God and part of his sovereign will. Here’s the way the Westminster Confession puts it: “God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.”[1] [https://renew.org/the-sovereignty-of-god/#_ftn1] In answer to question 7, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, says, “The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.” Notice that all things are ordained by God and are therefore according to his will. Everything that happens is what he planned and decided would happen. A. W. Pink explains that God “has determined in Himself from all eternity everything which will be.”[2] [https://renew.org/the-sovereignty-of-god/#_ftn2] So, everything that happens in the world is according to God’s will, and there is nothing therefore that is not according to his will. This perspective is essential to how Calvinism understands God’s sovereignty. According to Calvinism, anything less than this would mean God is not sovereign. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew.org/app-download/ [https://renew.org/app-download/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]

3 Ways to Support a Missionary Well | Jay Greer

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/3-ways-to-support-a-missionary-well/ [https://renew.org/3-ways-to-support-a-missionary-well/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] “Hey, we’re supporting a missionary. How can we help? What are ways that we could support you?” I love that over the 18 years I’ve been living cross-culturally, so many people have wanted to support us and have asked how they could help. Anyone who has been on the mission field for any amount of time knows there are things people do that are really helpful—and some things that are not so helpful. Let me just give you three ways to support a missionary that I promise will be helpful no matter what. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/ [https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]

Courage in a Secular World | Virgil Hurley

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/courage-in-a-secular-world/ [https://renew.org/courage-in-a-secular-world/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] In a span of thirty-five years that Congress spent six trillion taxpayer dollars in a failed attempt to upgrade American economic life, an astonishing decline occurred in our social life. In the time U.S. population increased by 41 percent, violent crime leaped by 560 percent and welfare spending by 630 percent. While spending on education increased 225 percent, SAT scores dropped 76 points. And a generation of sex education, designed to prevent unwanted pregnancies, staggers in disgrace under a 419 percent increase in out-of-wedlock births![1] [https://renew.org/courage-in-a-secular-world/#_ftn1] An unsettling anxiety besieges our future. For the record, Americans have often felt gloomy about the future. By 1736, settlers in Dedham, Massachusetts had hit the wall. What would become of them, the settlers worried? Kenneth Lockridge, in The First Hundred Years of a New England Town, noted that a limited amount of land in the town’s grant, communities breaking away from the original grant, and improvident farming methods were three of several more reasons for the negative feelings. John Quincy Adams also expressed doubt about America’s future in 1839, a mere fifty years after Washington’s inauguration. In 1901, his grandson Henry Adams gave America 50 years to live. Then, in 1914, he noted that “no one anywhere expects a future.” In 1963, with Camelot awhirl with the superficialities of the Kennedy years, 59 percent of Americans said they were “dissatisfied with the honesty and standards of behavior of our people.” That was before JFK’s amorous sexual appetite became widely known. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/ [https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]

Get ‘Em in the River—But How Do They Stay There? | Richard Jett

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/get-em-in-the-river-but-how-do-they-stay-there/ [https://renew.org/get-em-in-the-river-but-how-do-they-stay-there/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] We say we want people to follow Jesus. But are our lives actually making them want Him? “You can guide a horse to a well, but you can’t force it to drink. However, you can add salt to its oats.” That line sits in my grandpa’s journal, and I keep coming back to one question: How salty is my life? Sometimes you don’t realize the weight of something until after the fact. I wrote the article “Get ‘Em in the River”  [https://renew.org/get-em-in-the-river/]before leading our current seniors on a mission trip back to Puerto Rico. But it was on that trip that I actually saw what happens when people step into the river. Before going into a tourist area to pray with people, we gathered in the van. We took time to be still and ask God for a name, an image—anything that might help us know whom He wanted us to approach. What came to my mind was Hebrews 11:6 (NLT): “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” Not exactly inspiring…more like convicting. I knew it was a gentle rebuke. God was about to expose my lack of faith in His power at work in these students. We say we want people to follow Jesus. But are our lives actually making them want Him? “You can guide a horse to a well, but you can’t force it to drink. However, you can add salt to its oats.” That line sits in my grandpa’s journal, and I keep coming back to one question: How salty is my life? Sometimes you don’t realize the weight of something until after the fact. I wrote the article “Get ‘Em in the River”  [https://renew.org/get-em-in-the-river/]before leading our current seniors on a mission trip back to Puerto Rico. But it was on that trip that I actually saw what happens when people step into the river. Before going into a tourist area to pray with people, we gathered in the van. We took time to be still and ask God for a name, an image—anything that might help us know whom He wanted us to approach. What came to my mind was Hebrews 11:6 (NLT): “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” Not exactly inspiring…more like convicting. I knew it was a gentle rebuke. God was about to expose my lack of faith in His power at work in these students. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/ [https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]

There’s No Such Thing as Luck | David Young

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/theres-no-such-thing-as-luck/ [https://renew.org/theres-no-such-thing-as-luck/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] On Good Friday in 2009, I went for a run on the local greenway in Murfreesboro, Tennessee—my hometown. There were tornado watches that day, but in Murfreesboro tornado watches are common. It’s easy to ignore them. As I did that day. The first two miles along the wooded greenway were uneventful. But when I turned around to head back to the car, it began to rain. No worries, I thought. I was wearing a new rain jacket. I’d be fine. Then, halfway back to the car, lightning began to strike around me. I knew it was serious, but I assumed I could wait it out. I crouched down the slope beside the trail, near the river. After a moment or two, I heard a rumble in the distance. At first, I didn’t recognize it. It sounded like a train—but something about it was different. The hairs on my arms began to stand up. My gut churned with a sudden sense of dread, even as my mind tried to make sense of the deep, rolling sound. Whatever it was, it was getting louder—and it was moving fast. There’s no way that’s a tornado, my head said. But it was. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/ [https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]