Just in case you are thinking of getting some books for Christmas (and who wouldn't be?), we're bringing you our eighth instalment of Cloak, Books, and Parchments (2Tim 4:13). There is no book like the Bible but we all learn from the ministry of others, including ministry that comes to us in written form. Mike & Matthew share brief reviews of 7 books for your reading pleasure, and also provide a heads up for the February Reading Challenge.- Let Earth Receive Her King by Allistair Begg (Good Book Co)- Elisabeth Elliot: A Life by Lucy S.R. Austen (Crossway)- One With My Lord, The Life Changing Reality of Being in Christ, by Sam Allberry (Crossway)- Remember Heaven: Meditations on the World to Come for Life in the Meantime by Matthew McCullough (Crossway)- I Am David by Anne Holm (Farshore)- Armada: The Spanish Enterprise and England’s Deliverance in 1588 by Colin Martin & Geoffrey Parker (Yale University Press)- Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway)



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If carnival mirrors distort our image and make us laugh, the gospel mirror corrects our image and shows us our true selves. And standing in front of this gospel mirror is a crucial part of enduring trials with joy. We're all haves or have-nots when it comes to things like money, looks, and romantic success, and so much of the pain we experience comes to us in these areas. Learn how seeing yourself in God's mirror of the gospel can make a world of difference.



Scriptures Referenced:James 1:9-12; Heb 10:34; Song of Sol 4:9Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes.

Now that I’m a Christian, I don’t need to fear punishment for my sins… right? So why does Scripture still speak of judgment for believers? Guest contributor Nathan Pratt joins Matthew to help us understand three judgments in relation to believers.



Scriptures Referenced:1Cor 3:10-15; 1Cor 9:29; 1Cor 11:27-32; Heb 12:3-15; 1Pet 2:24



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James invites us to take a new perspective on trials—to see them as occasions for joy. Yes, easier said than done. But to help us take this counterintuitive approach to life's hard stuff, James points us to something we need to know, pray, and see.



Scriptures Referenced: James 1:1-8



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In our concluding episode from the Book of Nehemiah, Mike & Matthew bring us the chapter's challenges to our heart convening our trust and our separation. What is Biblical separation? How is it a gospel issue? And how does it relate to Nehemiah pulling out people's hair?



Scriptures Referenced:Nehemiah 13; 2Corinthians 6:14-18



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Just because you're a Christian doesn't mean you're immune from doubting God's love. And an insufficient grasp of God's love for us can lead to a host of other problems in our walk with the Lord. Malachi 1:1-5 can help. There we discover God's burden to reassure us of his love, and to do so by giving us a pair of gospel contact lenses. Will you put in your gospel contacts?



Scriptures Referenced:Malachi 1:1-5; Eph 3:14-19; Romans 5:5-8



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Has God done some special things in your life, or in the life of your local church, that should be specially commemorated? Is there wisdom in marking milestones in your family? Matthew & Mike give us some more contemporary practical applications from the Book of Nehemiah.



Scriptures Referenced:Nehemiah 12



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A bully habitually insults, threatens, intimidates, or tries to manipulate another person. Have you ever encountered it? Nehemiah did, and in this episode we learn from his wisdom, righteousness, courage, and Christlike approach in dealing with bullies.



Scriptures Referenced: Psalm 112; Nehemiah 6



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Want to be wiser than your enemies and more insightful than your teachers? In this fifth back-to-school episode at Practicology, Mike and Matthew look at a Scripture passage that tells us how. And at the end of the episode, they demonstrate a simple method of daily Bible reading for busy students.



Scriptures Referenced:Psalm 119:97-100; John 1:1-3; Mark 7:20-23; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Luke 2:41-52Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes.

In Ephesians 2 the Holy Spirit gives us two sets of before and after pictures. The first set is taken in portrait mode; the second is taken in landscape mode. But both highlight the difference God's grace has made for us in Christ. As we look at these before and after pics together in this episode, may the Holy Spirit fill our hearts with joy, worship, and harmony with one another.



Scriptures Referenced:Ephesians 2:19-22



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In our generation, more than accumulated things, many people are craving special, personal experiences - like the all access pass. Well that is exactly what the Father gives us, through Christ, by the Spirit. "The highest and fullest achievement of the peacemaking Christ is the trinitarian access of the people of God, as through him and by one Spirit we come boldly to our Father," (John Stott).



Scriptures Referenced:Ephesians 2:16-18



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After the Lord Jesus was exalted to Heaven, he created something new and wonderful - the Church. And since Christ has torn down the wall of hostility between Jews & Gentiles, we should not be rebuilding walls based on racial and ethnic differences. Have you searched your own heart for this sin lately?



Scriptures Referenced:Epehsians 2:11-15



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In Christ we have the best seats in the house to the greatest show in the universe: God's eternal display of dazzling grace. Ephesians 2:6 teaches us the awesome truth that every believer in Christ is presently seated with him in the heavens. Join us as we try to wrap our minds around this amazing reality, and wrap our hearts in it too.



Scriptures Referenced:Ephesians 2:6-10



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Have you experienced a miracle? If you are a Christian, you have. And the phenomenal miracle of grace that God has worked in you, He can do for others too. Also, catch Mike & Matthew's discussion of human depravity and of the three enemies of the Christian and how they are instructively pictured together for us in the Old Testament.



Scriptures Referenced:Ephesians 2:1-5



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Whether you struggle with a sense of misalignment between your body and your inner self, or know others who do, the Bible is ready to help. It offers us direction when we have lost our way, clarity that cuts through our chaos, and hope when all other hopes have let us down.



Part I: The Bible gives us a map to reality



Part II: The Bible clears up confusion



(1) How many sexes?(2) How do our inner selves relate to our bodies?(3) What's the relationship between male and female?(4) What's the relationship between sex and gender?(5) What relationship does language have to reality?(6) Where did our sex and gender problems come from?



Part III: The Bible gives us hope



Part IV: Q&A



Some of the books referenced in this episode include- God and the Transgender Debate: What Does the Bible Actually Say About Gender Identity? by Andrew Walker- The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory by Abigail Favale- The Body God Gives: A Biblical Response to Transgender Theory by Robert Smith



Scriptures Referenced:Genesis 1-3; Matthew 19:1-6



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Some walls need to be torn down in our lives, but some walls need to be built up. There are walls that God wants us to build and rebuild for the spiritual protection of ourselves, our marriages, our families, and our local churches.



Scriptures Referenced: Nehemiah 4



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Announcing our FIFTH August Summer Challenge! Mike and Matthew talk everything you need to know for this year's memorization challenge in Ephesians 2.



Scriptures Referenced:Ephesians 2



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Nehemiah had a real passion to do a great work for God - but he couldn't do it on his own. What can we learn from him about how to share our passion with others and encourage them to share the burden with us in the work of the Lord?



Scriptures Referenced: Nehemiah 2-4



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Do you want the children and youth in your life to love reading? Everyone in the church should have a vested interest in raising readers. Mike and Matthew discuss 7 ways to help it happen.



(Bonus content: this episode was recorded while a mechanical contractor installed equipment in the background. House pets also feature.)



Scriptures Referenced: Eph 3:4; Ps 103:14



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Young believers often wonder whether they can really serve the Lord, and if so, how? Guest host Nathan Pratt is back to give us 8 excellent principles that help us in relation to using our spiritual gifts to serve the Lord.



Scriptures Referenced:1Pet 4:10-11



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