One of the great things about studying missionaries from the past is the treasury of public domain books to be had free online either at Archive.org or Google Books written by those very missionaries. Recently while reading John G. Paton’s autobiography, I was struck by an account from his years as an inner city missionary […]
Author Archives: Chad Ashby
What If I Miss the Rapture?
So, I did a bad thing this past week. I googled “what if I miss the rapture?” For those who are not familiar with what I’m talking about, “the rapture” is a central piece of a dispensational reading of Revelation. The idea goes that when Jesus returns, he will come back secretly first and take […]
God Is Fair
My children are the fairness police in our home–and most violations have to do with snacks. Here’s how it plays out. One child comes to me and asks for an apple or a string cheese or a cookie, and if they get it, what do they do? Immediately, they go into the other room and […]
The Blessing of “And”
Preparing a new sermon on 2 Thessalonians last week, I carried a photocopy of the Greek text into the gym with me (as I often do). For about an hour, I couldn’t make it past the first two words of the letter: “Paul and…” 2 Thessalonians 1:1 And. Such a seemingly insignificant word. The ESV […]
2.6 — David Brainerd and Power in Weakness
On March 20, 1747, a twenty-nine year old David Brainerd said goodbye to his congregation of Delaware Indians for the last time. His long battle with tuberculosis ended in Northhampton, Massachusetts, on a bed in the home of Jonathan Edwards. He passed away October 9, 1747. Brainerd had been a missionary for only four years. […]
New Posts @ TGC and Southern Equip: ‘Chiasms’ and ‘Hope’
I’ve got a couple of articles up at The Gospel Coalition and Southern Seminary’s blog Southern Equip on two totally different topics, with two totally different tones. The first explores chiasm and symmetry in Scripture. The second shares personal testimony about my own struggles in the early years of ministry and the hope I found […]
2.5 — Hudson Taylor and A Heart for the Lost
In 1861, Hudson Taylor contracted a serious illness, forcing him to leave behind a fledging church of 21 believers in Ningpo, China, and return to England in hope of recovery. While away, the lost souls of inland China plagued Hudson’s conscience: “The feeling of blood guiltiness became more and more intense…every day tens of thousands […]
