Laudable Linkage

Posted on March 16, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the posts that caught my attention this week:

Hard-Pressed: The Soul Anguish of Christ. “Gethsemane. The word comes from a Hebrew term that means ‘oil press’—appropriately named, because that night, among the olive trees, the Son of God would be ‘pressed’ beyond anything we can fathom.”

How to Do an Inductive Bible Study, HT to Knowable Word. “Learning to read and study Scripture is an important part of the Christian life. And while pastors and teachers are essential gifts of Christ to his church, individual Christians should also be able to pick up any passage and read it with basic understanding and application. How do you do that? The inductive Bible study method is one reliable way.”

We Who Have Few Talents and Sparse Gifts. “The fact is, the God who used spit and dust to cure a man of his blindness can most certainly make use of you. And I assure you that if you had great talents, you would simply compare yourself to those who have more still.”

Six Simple Ways to Handle False Guilt. “God has given each of us a conscience, and this conscience guides us in doing right. When we become a child of God, we are gifted with the Holy Spirit, which fine tunes our consciences to align with the will and view of God. If we choose to ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we’ll be chided. This is true guilt. . . . False guilt is the opposite. It’s what we feel for imagined wrongs or for past wrongs for which we’ve been forgiven.”

My Body Reminds Me. “Every day as I live within my body, care for it, and consider my reflection in the mirror, I am faced with a series of undeniable realities.”

Am I the Quarrelsome Wife? HT to Challies. “Rather than being a haven in the storm, the contentious woman is the storm. She is, herself, the poor weather conditions; her presence is an inhospitable place.”

Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. C. S. Lewis

Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Laudable Linkage

Posted on March 9, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are a few thought-provoking posts from the last week:

7 Blessings Older Saints Offer the Church, HT to Challies. “My grandparents, with their godly example, aren’t alone. Their example of faithfulness is afforded to every saint who lingers on this earth into old age. In fact, older Christians have some of the most important lessons to teach the local church today.”

Be the Church Member You Want Your Church to Have. HT to Challies. “Paul addresses the Romans who are having some disputes, and he starts with this glorious phrase: ‘so far as it depends on you’ (Rom 12:18). In other words, he deflects the attention away from ‘those people’ and shines the light on ‘you’. Paul knows that focusing on ‘those people’ is a dead end street. You can’t do anything, not really, about anyone else. But do you know who you can affect? YOU!”

Visible Grace in Disagreements, HT to Challies. “Here are three things we should strive for: Christians who are willing to confront but aren’t eager for controversy. Christians who pursue a gentle revival, not a holy war. Christians who eavesdrop on Jesus’ intercession instead of joining Satan’s accusations.”

Do You Want My Opinion? HT to Challies. “In the past week, I’ve had two experiences that confirm a need to get a better grip on how I share what I think about current events.”

Elisabeth Elliot, My Dear Mother. This was a blog by Elisabeth Elliot’s daughter, Valerie, and this particular post was written just after Elisabeth passed away in 2015. I don’t remember if I have seen it before, but it was shared this week on the Elisabeth Elliot Quotes Facebook page.

Doesn’t a Library-Themed Hotel sound ideal for a book-lover’s vacation? It’s expensive, and it’s located in NYC, not a place I have any desire to go to. But maybe this idea will catch on with more accessible places and prices. HT to Dan Balow.

“A saint in this life is like gold in the ore, much dross of infirmity cleaves to him, yet we love him for the grace that is in him. A saint is like a fair face with a scar: we love the beautiful face of holiness, though there be a scar in it. The best emerald has its blemishes, the brightest stars their twinklings, and the best of the saints have their failings. You that cannot love another because of his infirmities, how would you have God love you?” Thomas Watson

Laudable Linkage

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the noteworthy reads found this week:

Was It All a Waste? HT to Challies. “Maybe you know the crush of rejection, the feel of wasted effort and time. Possibly, you know the sting of unappreciated labor.”

What Makes for a Rich and Meaningful Devotional Life? “One of the most frequent questions I’ve been asked over the years (and one I struggled with myself as a young woman) is this: ’I know I’m supposed to be having a devotional time with God every day. What does that look like?’ The short answer is that there’s no short answer to that question!”

How Not to Apply the Bible, HT to Challies. “Here are four questions that will help you arrive at reliable applications of any section of the Bible.”

On the same topic, Examples of Wrestling through the Prescriptive/Descriptive Debate. “Is this passage prescribing something we should imitate (or avoid), or is it simply describing what the characters did in their setting? I proposed that we can often eliminate the need for such a debate if we focus on applying the passage’s main point.”

Wherever He Leads, He’ll Go, HT to Challies. “I nearly invited him to test me, telling him in a long, journaled prayer that wherever he led, I would most certainly go. I banked on my obedience. I would be stalwart, no matter what came. But life came. And the Lord led me to places I longed to escape from.”

5 Ways to Personalize the Lord’s Prayer. “Prayer can feel difficult sometimes—knowing how and when to do it or what and how to say it. We can find comfort in knowing we aren’t alone with our uncertainties and questions. Even Jesus’ disciples asked Him how to pray and He provides a direct answer—what we know as the Lord’s prayer.”

7 Parenting Errors That Can Influence Adult Children to Leave the Faith, HT to Challies. “When we married back in the 1980s, we dreamed of imparting a lifelong faith to our children and thus helping sustain Christ’s kingdom for the next generation. But it didn’t work out that way.” This is a multi-faceted issue. Children have their own will, and no parent is free of mistakes. But the errors mentioned here are worthy of consideration.

Order, Preparation, and the Spirit’s Leading, HT to Challies. I’ve heard exaltation of spontaneity over preparation as more spiritual in activities besides preaching and worship as well. I appreciate what Jacob says here. “Why don’t we see that a pastor’s careful pouring over the Scriptures in prayer and quiet meditation as just as much the Spirit’s leading as a passion-filled moment in the pulpit? How do we think the depths of Scripture are plumbed? ‘These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God’ (1 Cor 2:10). Planning and preparation are not enemies of the Spirit.”

Such changes are for us decreed;
Believers have their winters too;
But spring shall certainly succeed,
And all their former life renew.
–From the hymn “Though Cloudy Skies and Northern Blasts”
by John Newton

Laudable Linkage

Posted on February 24, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the good posts found this week. The list is a little longer since I’ve had a chance to catch up on blog reading.

When You Don’t Want to Read the Word. “Remember when you couldn’t get enough of the Bible? Lately though, you make your coffee and start your morning; you’ve missed a few days of devotional reading. It’s not that you don’t love God’s Word—it’s just that in the busyness of life it doesn’t seem to have the same hold on you it once did. The craving isn’t there. The desire has dried up.”

Tunawa Leah. “Friends, another year has passed, and my heart remains burdened for this precious child of God. I first shared Leah Sharibu’s story of faith in the face of extreme persecution with you in January 2020. This year marks the sixth anniversary of this young lady’s captivity and enslavement at hands of ISIS-WA (aka Boko Haram) in Nigeria.”

4 Lesser-Known Women of the Bible {And What They Can Teach Us Today} “Sometimes in our day-to-day lives, in the struggles, we can feel unseen and underappreciated. More like those in the Bible who are not as well-known. Today I’d like to look at several of those lesser-known women in the Bible: Jehosheba, Abigail, Lois, and Eunice. You may not even recognize their names right off, which makes them perfect to discuss today.”

The Evangelist on the Titanic. “While the story of the Titanic is one of disaster, it is also a story of great heroism and of great faith. Numbered among those who drowned in the tragedy was a Scottish Baptist evangelist named John Harper.”

Worse Than Any Affliction: Why I Refuse to Grumble, HT to Challies. “My flesh is wasting away, and who would blame me if I complained? Certainly not the world — it’s natural for them to expect an old lady in a wheelchair to grumble over her losses. But followers of Jesus Christ should expect more from me. Much more.”

When the Walk Becomes a Crawl, HT to Challies. “The key to getting a long view of sanctification is to understand direction. What matters most is not the distance you’ve covered. It’s not the speed you’re going. It’s not how long you’ve been a Christian. It’s the direction you’re heading.”

Jesus Didn’t Diss the Poor: Making Sense of Matthew 26:11, HT to Challies. “In perhaps one of the oddest moments of the passion narrative, Jesus seemingly sets himself at odds with his disciples’ concern for the poor. Breaking ranks with the twelve, Jesus did not think Mary should have ‘given to the poor’ the money that she had used to purchase the oil needed to anoint Jesus’s feet.”

Westminster Abbey and the Danger of Inhospitality, HT to Challies. “Biblical hospitality forefronts our neighbor, not ourselves. Hospitality is about making someone else feel honored, loved, and comfortable.”

Applying Paul’s Great Commission Lifestyle Principles. “As we observe Paul’s life and teachings, especially 1 Corinthians 9, we see that he willingly laid aside ‘rights’ to his preferred lifestyle to be a more effective servant of Christ.” The context here is cross-cultural missions, but this is how we should be thinking and praying in all our interactions.

Why We Always Need More Books on Every Subject, HT to Challies. “‘Because we already have several good books on subject X, we do not need more books on subject X,’ the logic goes. I will push back on this logic for the following reasons below. You may not agree with all my reasons, but hopefully, they will deeper your appreciation for books.”

The Neurodivergent Believer, HT to Challies. “As believers, we acknowledge that God created each brain uniquely. The Apostle Paul describes this diversity within the body of Christ, emphasizing that each member has a distinct role (1 Cor. 12:12–27). Despite this diversity, being neurodivergent in a predominately neurotypical world can present unique challenges.”

Elisabeth Elliot The Secret is Christ in Me

The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.
–Elisabeth Elliot

Laudable Linkage

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Due to a busy week and not much blog reading time, I have just a short but good list of reads to share:

An Unexpected Love Calls You to Rise and Follow. Though this was written for Valentine’s Day, I think it’s good for any time of year. I’m often wary of Biblical fiction, but I loved Michele’s look into what Abigail in the Old Testament might have been thinking and feeling during her marriage to a fool and her quick thinking in intercepting David.

The Moral Perfection of Christ. “They followed Him without question because no matter what His appearance, His beauty was unmistakable. He possessed every grace, every virtue, in perfect tension and balance. Not one of them was missing. Think of that. We’ve never seen what sheer perfection looks like in a person. Perfect symmetry between the inner and the outer. Perfect alignment of heart and character. It’s almost impossible to envision such perfection. But there it is in Jesus.”

Bible Study Leaders Must Be Flexible. “Leading real Bible studies means that the Bible comes into contact with real people, and the lives of real people are often messy and difficult. But these difficulties are not interruptions to our plans—this is what it means to lead people and help them apply the Bible in their lives.”

Eleven Expressions of Gastronomic Humility, HT to Challies. “Keeping up with our kids’ ever-shifting food preferences, on top of their health issues, has been a difficult dynamic of this season. We talk a lot about food at this stage of our family life.”

The Ones Who Cook, HT to Challies. “We admire our preachers, for they way they teach us God’s words. We look up to our worship leaders, who inspire us to praise. Or the leaders who teach or administrate or organize or make plain spaces beautiful. But I’d like to suggest that one of the greatest gifts that God gives a church are the people who cook.”

Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. — Shakespeare

Laudable Linkage

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the good posts seen this week:

How Do I Find the Main Point of a Psalm (or a larger passage of Scripture), HT to Knowable Word. John Piper likens understanding larger passages of Scripture to working a jigsaw puzzle. Great illustration.

How to Prepare for a Great Morning Routine. “I’ve had the unique privilege of helping thousands of Christians refine their own Christ-honoring morning routines. And there are certain patterns that show up again and again with those who are struggling to stick with a routine like this. They all boil down to one thing: Lack of preparation.”

Be a Woman Hidden in the Church. “We live in a culture captivated by the idea of ‘making a name for yourself.’ From pop culture celebrities to Christian influencers, the world around us seems to say that in order to make any real difference you first need to have a large sphere of influence and a certain number of followers. And your name on the cover of a book doesn’t hurt. This is not the path to significance that Jesus taught.”

What to Do When You Long for Encouragement. “When it comes to my own reactions to perceived slights, I’m inclined to bypass the Golden Rule and proceed straight to feeling sorry for myself.“

Why We Cannot Cast Them Aside. “As I’ve watched my precious mom deteriorate from the devastating effects of early onset Alzheimer’s, I’ve also had to face our world’s deeply entrenched beliefs about what gives people value.“

Repairing Old Books by Deconstructing Them, HT to Steve Laube. This is a ten-minute video about a woman who restores old books by taking them apart, repairing them, and putting them back together. I worked at the university library while in college. One lady there did book repair, but not as extensive as this. I found it fascinating.

True love ennobles and dignifies the material labors of life; and homely services rendered for love’s sake have in them a poetry that is immortal. ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

Laudable Linkage

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the good reads discovered this week:

Remember His Faithfulness. “When we look back at what God has done in the past, He fills us with hope for today and the days to come.”

Three Reasons Christians Should Oppose Abortion, HT to Challies. “We live in a highly charged political environment, and many Christians view abortion as more of a political issue than a theological and spiritual issue. This perspective often leads to prioritizing political solutions even at the expense of theological truth and spiritual power.”

Listening Well to Domestic Abuse Survivors, HT to Challies. “Domestic abuse (DA) is likely the most complex and difficult problem most counselors will ever face. Perhaps one reason for this is that these issues can be extremely counterintuitive.”

An Ordinary, Everyday Life, HT to Challies. We’re “Bought by His death and resurrection, yes. But also by His everyday, ordinary, sinless life.”

Lead Your Heart, HT to Challies. “We are to incline our hearts to God. I’m not sure if you know this, but your heart will not naturally incline itself that direction. We must posture our hearts towards God. And we must cry out to God for this inclination. Just as the Psalmist prays, ‘Incline my heart to your testimonies’” (Psa 119:36).”

Is ‘Gentle Parenting’ Biblical? HT to Challies. “If gentle parenting were just a mood board for solving parenting difficulties in nonconfrontational ways, I’d have nothing to say against it. But when you dig more deeply into the underlying concepts of gentle parenting, you find at least two that stand opposed to the Bible’s teaching about parenting.”

Confessions of a Secretly Introverted Mom, HT to The Story Warren.

Our winters shall not frown for ever; summer shall soon smile. The tide will not eternally ebb out; the floods retrace their march. The night shall not hang its darkness for ever over our souls; the sun shall yet arise with healing beneath his wings. – ‘The Lord turned again to the captivity of Job.’ Our sorrows shall have an end when God has gotten his end in them.
—C. H. Spurgeon

Laudable Linkage

Posted on January 27, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the blog posts that spoke to me over the last few weeks:

Will Following my Heart Set Me Free? HT to Challies. “I think that summarises a story that our culture loves to tell: that success in the world means presenting your truest self, pushing off what society tells you to be, to be you. It’s almost like that’s the meaning of life. You are free to be yourself.”

Life Without Romans 8:28. “I have often heard it said that Romans 8:28 is the wrong verse to bring to the attention of those who are grieving, that while it is true in our especially difficult moments, it does not necessarily become helpful until some time has passed. And while I can only speak for myself, it has been my experience that in my lowest moments I have feasted on Romans 8:28, I have run to it like a starving man runs to a meal and I have drunk from it like a parched man drinks from an oasis. I have needed Romans 8:28 and it has both comforted my soul and directed my grief.”

The Irreplaceable Encouragement of Intergenerational Relationships, HT to the Story Warren. “I took a seat at my assigned table for my first Bible study at our new church and was surprised to see a number of gray and white heads dotted among the tables. I wondered, what would it be like to study alongside women who were 20, 30, or more years older than I? Up until this point, my close friendships consisted of almost exclusively people in or near my stage of life.”

3 Verses for Your Work. “If you are reading this right now, you have work to do. I’m not only talking about a paid job but any work you do—paid or unpaid, noticed or behind the scenes. I spend my days working on many things; most of my tasks do not result in a paycheck. Payment does not validate work; God does. Here are three truths and verses that have absolutely transformed my work.”

Can You Be Too Productive? “There seems to be a tension in the way people view productivity these days. On the one side, there is the push to do more, be more efficient, work harder. But in the last few years, another view has grown in popularity. On this side is the pull to slow down, do less, and get more rest.”

On Being an Ambassador: Walking the Tightrope of cultural differences. “As Christians, we get our instruction from the Scripture. We find there early examples of how Christians crossed cultural boundaries in taking the gospel to ends of their world. One instructive example is the preaching of the Apostle Paul. Since God called him to be the apostle to the Gentiles, we should expect that he would deal with widely diverse cultures—and he does.”

The Dress, HT to Challies. A touching meditation on a daughter’s upcoming marriage.

Consider Your Attitude Toward the Local Church, HT to Challies. “We can notice all the problems with our local church on some days and rejoice at God’s goodness to our local church on others. As many people consider the big issues in their lives during January, make sure you are thinking rightly about church this year.”

Why I’m a Better Pastor (for you) than . . . HT to Challies. “Not only do we have unfettered access to the Bible, but we have almost limitless access to some of the very best Bible teaching. What a gift we have. And yet, that begs a question: how is a normal pastor like myself supposed to compete? Why should you even bother with attending your local church?”

Sent to Need. HT to Challies. This is such a good perspective on missions. “I’m not saying that prayerfully planning, dreaming, and casting vision with expectation of what God can do is wrong. I am only asking if it strikes anyone else as odd that we get ‘sent to serve’ before being ‘sent to learn.’ I wish it was more like this: ‘Hi. I am sent to need.‘”

Afflictions sanctified prepare the soul for glory. Richard Sibbes

Laudable Linkage

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the good reads found this week:

Resolutions. “Jesus does not need your resolutions, your recommitments, or your promises to try harder this year. If your resolve to obey God last year did not help you to be faithful, it will not make you successful this year. Jesus asks for your love.”

Christmas Is Over. Now What Do We Do with Jesus? “Celebrating the birth of that baby with the beautiful story of the stable and the manger is easy. But once the nativity sets are packed away (ok, ALL of my decorations aren’t put away yet), do we still think about Him?”

Leaving Christianity: How an Old Man Helped Save My Faith, HT to Challies. “If He was so good and so kind, why, despite my greatest efforts and consistent faith, was nothing working out? I was the kid who always kept his nose clean, had his act together, and tried to do the right thing. Why wasn’t I prospering?”

Prayer for My Heart This Election Year, HT to Challies. “Whether we’re interested in political science or not, this year with all of its candidates and craziness, will bring with it a raft of temptations. As I consider the year ahead, I know I need to guard my heart against the enemy’s attacks. Will you join with me in preparing your heart for whatever might happen in the months leading up to November 5?”

A Little Story about Worship. Dan Olinger shares a neat story about a worship experience in the Kenyan bush. It didn’t take place during the singing, but the offering time.

Back to School Prayer Retreat: A Guaranteed Blessing. This is a neat idea and could easily be adapted or simplified.

Chasity as Worship, HT to Challies. “I heard the message loud and clear: girls don’t struggle like boys do. So when I discovered that I had a sex-drive, I felt nothing but shame. I have carried that shame throughout most of my life and still, to this day, have to wrestle it down sometimes and triple-punch it with the truth of the Imago Dei, the God-created goodness of sexuality, and the full forgiveness in Christ for all our sins. But I want more for my daughter.”

Laudable Linkage

Posted on January 6, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I’m almost caught up after being several weeks behind with blog reading. So I have a longer than usual list of good reads to recommend. Perhaps one or two will pique your interest.

The Boy at the Front Desk. “I think I will always remember those ten minutes—that conversation that I wasn’t even part of—as a shining example both of what pain children are capable of feeling and of what hope and comfort we adults are capable of offering them.”

Tasting Heaven Now, HT to Challies. “‘If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?’ I once completed an evangelism training course that taught us to initiate spiritual conversations with strangers by asking that question. . . . The promise of eternal life is a powerful motivator for faith and a precious promise of hope and comfort for God’s people. However, I fear that the church has so emphasized ‘going to heaven when you die’ that we sometimes give the impression that’s all faith is good for.” I’ve often thought that might not be the best question to start with, for reasons mentioned here.

20 Benefits of Being in God’s Word According to Psalm 119. “The Word of God is my anchor. It tethers my mind to the truth when the lies of the enemy are readily available. It wraps me with security when my future is uncertain. It pulls me back into the presence of God when I’ve sought the company of lesser pursuits.”

On Being a Heroic Man. “Rather than waiting and pining for an opportunity to display your heroism on a world stage, be willing and eager to display it on a small stage. Be heroic before your wife. Be heroic before your children. Be heroic before the few people God has called you to serve.”

Counseling Troubled Dreams, HT to Challies. “What do we make of these nighttime mini-movies that we can’t really control; are they just random neural impulses, strung together in some semblance of a narrative by our cerebellum, or are they messages from the “other side” to be painstakingly studied and interpreted? Or might there be some middle-of-the-road understanding that has practical importance in our Christian and counseling lives.”

Time Out: Do Clocks Keep Ticking in Eternity? This was so interesting to consider. I’d always heard that time as we know it will cease in eternity. It turns out that’s not the case.

It Is Bible Reading Time! Ways to keep a Bible Reading Journal plus various Bible reading plans.

When We Hurt Those Who Are Hurting, HT to Challies. “Those who hear these words might overlook the offense yet resolve to never again share their hearts with the perpetrators. Others assume that the comments are representative of the culture of God’s people, in which Christians should always be thankful and never complain. Either way, we isolate those who already feel alone, and we misrepresent the kingdom of God.”

Plan to Grow, HT to Challies. “In no area of my life have I ‘arrived’. I am being sanctified more and more, but there is a long way to Christlikeness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hopeless. God has given me His great and precious promises that He has predestined to conform me to the image of Jesus (Rom 8:29). But even still, I’ve learned that if I don’t plan to grow, I’ll be less like Jesus than I could be.”

7 Practical Areas of Christian Stewardship. “The topic that’s been on my mind is a big one: stewardship. Now if you’ve grown up in the church, you may be tempted to roll your eyes, groan, and/or be filled with a general sense of dread. You probably associate this word with a request to open your already tight wallet, since many churches devote one or two months a year to what they call “stewardship” where the main topic is giving to the local church. But there is more to stewardship than money. Yes, it’s part of it, but there is so much more. As Christians, we are stewards of all that God has given us.”

God With Us on the Escalator, HT to Challies. Though this is a Christmas remembrance, it’s excellent reading for any time of year.

Not Neurotypical: A Love Story, HT to Challies. “With my firstborn, I learned that my child was not a problem to be solved or fixed, but a person to be loved and understood as God made him. I came to believe in my heart that this child was given to us for a reason—because God knew that we were exactly the parents and the family that he needed.”

This Is a Gift You Can Give, HT to Challies. On a family visiting a nursing home at Christmas, but true not just at Christmas: “I want you to know how much kindness and presence means to people. It may be awkward to sing carols or visit with people you don’t know, but this is a gift we can give . . .Our time, our love, our kindness, ourselves. Jesus gave us everything, His very life. His life for ours.”