Unsplash/Andrew Guan
Two pastors have offered practical advice for combating smartphone addiction â an issue they said is permeating the Church at an unprecedented rate.Â
Smartphone addiction is one of the âmajor pastoral issuesâ of today, Joe Rigney, an author, seminary professor, and pastor at Cities Church, said in a video posted on the Gospel Coalition website, yet it only emerged in recent years.Â
âI think anytime when weâre preaching at our church and we make an application to technology and smartphones . you can feel it palpably from our people that thereâs a hunger for, âYes, we feel like thereâs something wrong here, and we just donât know exactly what to do.â Because we feel like theyâre so âessentialâ to living. Theyâre so useful in so many ways, yet it feels like thereâs something thatâs off,â he said.Â
Staff writer, desiringGod.org
One day, as Jesus was teaching, a man in the crowd shouted out, âTeacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with meâ (Luke 12:13). Now, if we had been in that crowd, after cringing over such an awkward issue raised in public, what would we have assumed most likely prompted this manâs request? Probably a family injustice.
But what did Jesus hear? Covetousness. And we might have cringed over Jesusâs response more than the manâs request. Surprisingly, Jesus used the manâs plea for justice not to rebuke unjust oppressors, but to warn not only the man but all his hearers (present and future) of the greater danger earthly wealth poses to every soul that craves it: âTake care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for oneâs life does not consist in the abundance of his possessionsâ (Luke 12:15).
Unsplash/Andrew Guan
Two pastors have offered practical advice for combating smartphone addiction â an issue they said is permeating the Church at an unprecedented rate.Â
Smartphone addiction is one of the âmajor pastoral issuesâ of today, Joe Rigney, an author, seminary professor, and pastor at Cities Church, said in a video posted on the Gospel Coalition website, yet it only emerged in recent years.Â
âI think anytime when weâre preaching at our church and we make an application to technology and smartphones . you can feel it palpably from our people that thereâs a hunger for, âYes, we feel like thereâs something wrong here, and we just donât know exactly what to do.â Because we feel like theyâre so âessentialâ to living. Theyâre so useful in so many ways, yet it feels like thereâs something thatâs off,â he said.Â
Unsplash/Andrew Guan
Two pastors have offered practical advice for combating smartphone addiction an issue they said is permeating the Church at an unprecedented rate.
Smartphone addiction is one of the “major pastoral issues” of today, Joe Rigney, an author, seminary professor, and pastor at Cities Church, said in a video posted on the Gospel Coalition website, yet it only emerged in recent years.
“I think anytime when we’re preaching at our church and we make an application to technology and smartphones . you can feel it palpably from our people that there’s a hunger for, ‘Yes, we feel like there’s something wrong here, and we just don’t know exactly what to do.’ Because we feel like they’re so ‘essential’ to living. They’re so useful in so many ways, yet it feels like there’s something that’s off,” he said.
John Piper’s Magnum Opus on the Providence of God
More By Justin
Providence, a volume over 700 pages that is a culmination of his life study and work.
If you order the book from WTS, you get the hardcover for 50% off and the eBook immediately for free.
An overview:
From Genesis to Revelation, the providence of God directs the entire course of redemptive history. Providence is “God’s
purposeful sovereignty.” Its extent reaches down to the flight of electrons, up to the movements of galaxies, and into the heart of man. Its nature is wise and just and good. And its goal is the Christ-exalting glorification of God through the gladness of a redeemed people in a new world.