Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week:

• You may have made a resolution this week about your Bible reading for this year.  Here is some good counsel for “How to read the whole Bible in 2014” (including a variety of Bible reading plans) by Justin Taylor.  I’ve also posted several plans for our church here.  And Joe Carter adds some encouragement about Bible reading that will help you to change your mind.
• Don Whitney provides 10 questions to start your new year (and 21 more to “consider your ways”).
• The Anchored Conference (June 20-23) looks like something beneficial for college students.  Registration ($150 through Feb. 1) is now open.
• Most of us plan on reading more books in the new year.  Al Mohler gives “Some Thoughts on the Reading of Books.” I particularly appreciated his counsel about reading a variety of different categories of books.  And if you want to read something new, here is a new (free!) ebook from John Piper:  Captive to Glory: Celebrating the Vision and Influence of Jonathan Edwards.
• Last week the Cross Conference was held for the first time.  I’ve seen several encouraging posts about the conference online and was pleased to read the mission statement:  “CROSS aims to mobilize students for the most dangerous and loving cause in the universe: rescuing people from eternal suffering and bringing them into the everlasting joy of friendship with Jesus.”  I haven’t seen the audio posted yet, but Justin Taylor did post several videos and summaries of the conference.
• The reason for such a conference is the reality of Hell.  We don’t like to talk about it, but it is essential that we both think about and talk about Hell.  Todd Pruitt has accumulated some helpful resources about Hell.

And to conclude in a slightly less serious note:  in case you are struggling already to maintain your resolutions, here are some suggestions for attainable resolutions for the coming year.