Here’s another round of good reads found this week.

There’s No Growth Without Death, HT to Challies. “I’m sure you’ve heard good Christians say things like I want to know God more this year. I want to be more prayerful. To read my Bible more regularly. To be more committed at church. Perhaps even give more. The problem is like with many new year resolutions they don’t see beyond February. Why? Because with most good intentions we don’t really think they have a cost.”

What to Say to Someone Suffering Like Job, HT to Challies. “The book of Job does not directly tell us how to address Job-like suffering. But I think we can sketch what a helpful answer would be, if we take an approach exactly opposite from his friends.”

How to Be Gracious When Haters Gonna Hate, HT to Challies. “If indeed I have anything valuable to say about graciousness, it’s because I have the best Teacher. Let me just take you through three Bible passages I go to when I realize that there are theological critics under my skin and normal tweezers aren’t getting them out.”

Praying in Public, HT to Challies. Lisa offers some good tips for getting beyond the awkwardness of being asked to pray in public.

Getting America’s Most Famous (or Infamous) Sermon Right, HT to Challies. “Edwards expounded the mercy, grace, and goodness of God to an equal degree with the wrath of God. Therefore, contrary to popular understanding, being in the hands of an angry God isn’t strangulation, it’s mercy. God’s hands are full of grace. They are the only force keeping you out of hell this very second. Every moment in his hands is an opportunity to turn to him and live.”

The Need for Roots, HT to Challies. “A few years ago I noticed how many of my favourite authors were writing during or immediately after World War II. It had not occurred to me before, and I wondered why it might be the case.” It had not occurred to me, either. Some interesting observations.

The Birth of Narnia and Why Tolkien Hated It, HT to Challies. I had heard a little about this, but I was glad to read more. I’m glad Lewis persevered!

I love the hymn “What God Ordains” by Samuel Rodigast. This is the first stanza: