Even though I’m a little behind on my blog-reading, I found some great articles in the time I did read:

God . . . the Father? “As a dad, I don’t want my presentation of fatherhood to hurt my kids’ ability to see God as their heavenly Father. But it’s perhaps more important that we help our children recognize the foundational truth here: that God, in all His power and glory, is best understood as a loving, intimate Father.”

Don’t Give Up Dad. “‘Don’t give up dad.’ I remember looking into the mirror and saying those words to myself one dark Father’s Day, years ago. And I was about to give up.”

Fighting for Faith When Doubts Abound, HT to Challies. “There’s a pervasive belief that subtly infiltrates my thought life. One that, deep down, still believes God would keep me from harm and rescue me from pain if he truly loved me. And if he’s truly in control, and a good, loving Father, why does he answer other’s prayers, but continue to seem silent to ours?”

God’s Heart for the Elderly and Infirm Reminds us of the Sanctity of Senior Life. “One of the many problems facing Western society is that we worship youth and make the elderly disposable. Euthanasia, which is legal in my home state of Oregon, is simply abortion of the elderly, disabled, and terminally ill. The same logic and arguments and appeals to ‘compassion’ and quality of life and financial concerns are used for both. God’s perspective on the elderly is vastly different.”

The Incredible Blessing of My Father’s Difficult Final Months, HT to Challies. “The agony of watching Dad suffer like that was unbearable. I begged God to give him a quick end. But Dad was otherwise robust and exhibited a fierce will to live. The doctor said that death did not look imminent. I absolutely did not want to hear that. How could someone live in such a state? But God had an important lesson in store for me. Dad lived for nine more months, and we would have missed an incredible blessing had he died when I wanted.”

Antihistamines for Your Soul. “You don’t HAVE to memorize or read this much to follow Jesus. It’s also true that you can be in the Word every day and still not be anything like Jesus. But the subtle lie underneath is that you can ever have ‘too much’ Scripture in your life. Friends, you CANNOT overdo it on God’s Word and fellowship with him.”

Observation: The First Step in Bible Study. “The first step in studying God’s Word is to carefully observe what the passage is saying. In the observation stage, we give our complete attention to the text to find out what’s there. We must investigate the passage in the same way that a detective investigates a crime scene. How do we do that? Get the “big picture” and then discover the little details. Ask questions… lots of them! Look for certain key clues to discover meaning. See how the little details relate to the big picture.”

Use Discretion (& a Bucket). We’re told to be discerning and compare what is taught with Scripture. But no writer or speaker will be completely without sin. God works through fallen people, and we miss a lot of goodness if all we can see are the flaws.

Paul’s Shocking Ideas About Marriage. “In the typically patriarchal culture of Paul’s day, what he says to wives may not sound that new except for the key point he emphasizes—the motivation and means for being a wife is centered on Christ. Everything Paul says to husbands, however, is very different from what they would have heard from their society. So Paul needs extra time to impress these differences on them.”

A Christian perspective on the new Twitter / X adult content policy changes, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “In May 2024, there was a policy change on adult content, making it acceptable to share adult content. . . . So, with these recent Twitter policy changes, what should we do as Christians?”

Happy Father’s Day to the dads tomorrow!

“To be popular at home is a great achievement. The man who is loved by the house cat, by the dog, by the neighbor’s children, and by his own wife, is a great man, even if he has never had his name in Who’s Who.” Thomas Dreier