Here’s my last list of links for this month:

How Can the Command to “Honor Your Father” Apply to Good and Bad Fathers Alike? HT to Challies. “Think about it, the biblical command to honour your dad cannot be a licence for dads to be horrible knowing that their christian children have to suck it up and honour them. You are called to honour your dad. But the type of dad your dad is shapes the ways and the extent that you honour him.”

Till He Was Strong, HT to Challies. “Did you know that it is not only the weak who are in danger of a spiritual fall? There are those who think, ‘if only I were stronger, then I wouldn’t be so (fill in the blank).’ But this isn’t true. Over and over again in God’s word, it is the strong who find themselves in the worst predicaments. Uzziah is one example. He was famous. He was helped by God. ‘Till he was strong.’ Do you feel the warning?”

The Golden Rule for Hard Conversations, HT to Challies. “The question of when or how to have hard conversations is one that requires wisdom. As believers in Christ, we are commanded to get involved when we see a brother or sister wondering from the truth (Galatians 6:1-2; Matthew 18:15; Ephesians 4:25). The Proverbs remind us that ‘a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver’ (25:11). ‘Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy’ (Proverbs 27:5-6). We recognize even in those instructions that we are responsible for making sure our rebuke is ‘a word fitly spoken,’ meaning appropriate. I’m sure we’ve all seen the harm in overzealousness in this area.”

A Thousand Wheels of Providence, HT to Challies. “In a situation like this, Jeremiah Burroughs points out that when we consider God’s work in Providence, we can only see things in pieces. We cannot see or understand many things that God does. Burroughs then compares it to the wheels in a watch.”

One of the Best Ways We Can Love Our Loved Ones. “In waiting rooms and living rooms, bedrooms and examination rooms. In the garden, the shower, the pickup line, the checkout line. Love prays.“

Writing (and Reading!) as Hospitality, HT to the Story Warren. “As a long-time member of The Habit, a community of writers, I’ve heard many bits of advice from authors of all stripes, but one idea that has profoundly impacted me over the years is Jonathan Rogers’ assertion that writing is a form of hospitality.”

The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. A. W. Tozer