I’m the pastor of FBC Jackson in Jackson, Alabama. Each week, I post “Article Roundup: Helpful Reads,” sharing articles that I believe will benefit the saints who make up FBC Jackson and followers of Christ everywhere. Happy reading!

Stop and Marvel by Rachel Whisman

I love the local church. The healthiest Christians are those who revolve their entire lives around their local church. That said, I’m so thankful for how Rachel essentially stops and marvels at the beauty of it. “Only God could have come up with the idea of the local Church. A place where people from all walks of life can come together to worship our God because of Him.”

War of Stories: How Your Entertainment Shapes You by Greg Morse

I’ve come to the conclusion that I should read whatever Greg Morse writes. I may be mistaken, but I believe most people need the gentle correction and reproof that Greg provides in this article. “The point is not to never watch a movie or a show or a game. A play proved to be sweet to my soul this past year (David by Sight & Sound Theaters). The point is this: never be unthoughtful about your entertainments. Let the world turn its brain off and return to its stories; you cannot. Most programs, we admit, are probably not helping us much to heaven. Former generations of Christians seemed more aware of this and more ruthless against worldliness. They asked each other, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4).”

Five Spiritual Disciplines that Will Help Your Marriage by Chap Bettis

These five spiritual disciplines will help your marriage. More importantly, they’ll bring lots of glory to the Lord Jesus Christ! “I wanted to also talk about family spiritual disciplines or rhythms. Really these are personal habits that should flow over to each other and in the home. As you know The Disciple-Making Parent ministry is to help parents pass the gospel to their children. But that starts with bringing the gospel into our home with our spouse. Let me suggest five different spiritual habits or rhythms that you can bring into your home that will bring blessing.”

Why We Hope for More: Today’s Resurgence of Cultural Christianity Isn’t Nothing, But It Isn’t Enough by Joe Rigney

I appreciate Joe Rigney’s perspective here. “Nevertheless, Christians can be somewhat encouraged by signs of a resurgent cultural Christianity. Because while cultural Christianity never saved anyone, it does offer a touchstone of reality, and with it a renewed sense of sin and guilt. And in a nation like ours, there are still 7,000 that have not bowed the knee to Baal, and are ready to point our nation and its officials to the hope that is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

All Grace, No Nature: Evangelicalism Is Not Ready For The Culture’s Rightward Shift by Andrew Walker

The approval rating for the Democratic Party is tanking. People are pushing back against extreme progressivism and its antagonistic stance toward traditional values. We, as evangelicals, must be prepared to engage. “The culture’s rightward shift is not necessarily a revival—but it is an opportunity. A people grounded in creation and alive to grace could help give it form and direction. But a church that only speaks of grace as escape, not restoration, will fail to channel this moment toward the good. It will either surrender to secular nostalgia or react against it with progressive instincts in theological disguise. Evangelicals must relearn how to love the world—not in the worldly sense, but in the creational sense. Until then, we will not meet the culture’s shift with the wisdom and depth it demands. We will only speak half the gospel to people asking, at last, the right kinds of questions.”

View From the Second Row: Perspective of a Pastor’s Wife by Bethany Belue

Bethany is the wife of a local church pastor. In this article, she shares some of the joys and challenges of being a pastor’s wife. “Eight years later, I sit on the second row of our current church where he serves as the Assistant Pastor. We are still early in our ministry life, but over the years the Lord has begun to unfold this world of being a pastor’s wife and teach me what it means to follow my husband as he serves in the local church.”