Laudable Linkage

Posted on September 23, 2023 by Barbara Harper

Here’s some of the good blogging that particularly resonated with me this week:

The One Thing We All Need Right Now. “Never mind for a minute about platforms and hashtags, soap boxes and sides, movements and slogans. There’s really only one solution, one remedy, one antidote to the sickness that plagues our world today.”

Fighting for Faith When Doubts Abound, HT to Challies. “If my child is in danger, I would do whatever I could to rescue him or protect him from it. If I were to sit idly by and do nothing, I certainly wouldn’t be a very good and loving parent. But I’ve learned that I too often come to conclusions about who God is by interpreting a circumstance through the limited understanding of my humanity.”

A Hope-Filled Message for the Tired, Worn, and Overwhelmed. “It’s been a tough season, hasn’t it? I don’t know your specifics, but the effect those circumstances are having on your heart, body and mind? I think I can make some experience-informed guesses about that, and here’s what I want to say about it. Don’t equate how you feel today with your worth, your usefulness, your attractiveness or your future fruit-bearing potential.“

Contentment Doesn’t Mean You Must Stay in the Same Circumstance Forever, HT to Challies. I wondered about this in the past: if we’re to be content in all things, should we not try to change our circumstances? This gives a valid answer.

Treasures in Jars of Clay, HT to Challies. “As a missionary, I often feel like family members, friends, and supporters put us on a pedestal. That my sacrifice and calling as a missionary in Uganda are far beyond what any “normal” Christian would be able to manage. 2 Corinthians 4 gives a beautiful description of reality though. I am only a clay jar. A plain, fragile clay jar.”

Rescuing Abraham, HT to Challies. A different and interesting take on the two situations in which Abraham said Sarah was his sister rather than his wife.

Three Powerful Reasons You Should Tell Your Story. “The way you live your days will be, when all is said and done, the sum total of your story. Your story puts the gospel in context, demonstrates God’s generosity, and proves His faithfulness.”

God keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat of affliction.

The quote above is from Be Exultant (Psalms 90-150): Praising God for His Mighty Works by Warren W. Wiersbe, p. 126.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on September 16, 2023 by Barbara Harper

I found a lot of good reading this week:

A Comforting Resource for People Who Have Lost Parents. My friend, Lois, lost both parents within five weeks of each other a few year ago. Some of her blog posts since then have been about processing their loss and working through grief. She found a lot of resources for losing a child or a spouse, but not much on losing parents. That seemed to be treated as just a normal part of life. Though the death of one’s parents is inevitable, grief still runs deep. Lois has just pulled these posts together in one resource page. She tells about it and links to the Help for Parent Loss page there.

How Can I Cultivate a Listening Life in a Noisy World? “Do we demonstrate through our choices that we truly believe that we NEED God’s Word? Are we still ‘the people of the Book?'”

Can a Christian Have Mental Illness? HT to Challies. “Some Christians believe that Christians cannot have mental illness. If a professing Christian is depressed, anxious, or bipolar, they think it’s because they are not a real Christian, or that there is some terrible sin they haven’t repented of, or that they need to repent of the depression or whatever the problem is. Nearly half (48 percent) of evangelicals believe that serious mental illness can be overcome with prayer and Bible study alone. The result of this condemnation of mental illness as sin is that many Christians do not admit they have a mental illness, they don’t talk about it, and they don’t reach out for help.”

We Need Every Word, HT to Challies. “I want to feast on the Bible passages I love, the ones that make me feel some note of pleasure or comfort. I want the reminders that I’m loved, the encouragements to hold fast, and the songs of praise that remind me of God’s faithfulness. I don’t always want the lists or the history or the stories that don’t seem to affect me.”

Why We Are Tempted not to Pray, HT to Challies. “Prayer should stupefy us. ‘You mean, this all-powerful God who keeps galaxies spinning is interested in you telling him about your day and might alter the course of the entire cosmos because you asked him if you could have a parking space?’”

Being Involved in Church as a Teen, HT to Challies. “But being born into a church as a baby, and then growing up through Sunday school and youth group, can often make it hard to be taken seriously. Even older Christians with the best intentions can miss the mark. It can feel a bit awkward when they ask you the same questions every time they see you in church. It takes time and effort from both sides to help and encourage one another, and ultimately, have more meaningful relationships.”

Is the Lord’s Day the Christian Sabbath? HT to Challies. “At the outset, I need to say that this issue is one that I think Christians should not divide over. The view I present below is not the one I grew up with, but I have no particular ambition to convert people to my view — except that, with regard to those who have the duty to teach God’s word, it is important to do so properly, ‘rightly handling the word of truth’, preaching the full counsel of God with all His authority, but never giving human ideas that same authority.”

The Ritual of Rearranging Books, HT to Linda. “Taking all the books down was a chance to organize and cull, but primarily, it was an experience in simply remembering what was there, how it got there, and why. You can look at shelved books until the cows come home, but it’s not the same as actually taking them off the shelves.”

Seeing the Light on Religious Fiction, HT to Linda. “As I complete my 40th year working with books, I’ve changed my mind about an entire publishing genre that I once held at arm’s length at best, and treated with something akin to critical dismissal at worst. I feel like the proverbial old dog who has suddenly learned a new trick. The genre? Religious fiction.” I especially loved this one!

Routine leads to devotion, especially in Bible study.

The quote here is from “Just Not Feeling It”: How Routine Awakens Devotion.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Barbara Harper

Some good reads found this week:

“Just Not Feeling It”: How Routine Awakens Devotion. “To some, the word routine carries the stiffness of stale bread and the rot of dead plants, the stuffiness of library books never opened and attics dusty with age. The very thought of routine spirituality — planned, scheduled, disciplined — seems to undermine the ministry of the life-giving, freedom-bestowing Spirit. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ (2 Corinthians 3:17) — and where the spirit of routine is (we may think), there is bondage. The dichotomy, however, is self-imposed, self-imagined. If routine smells stale to us, the problem lies in our own sniffer.”

Delays Are as Much a Part of God’s Plan as Answered Prayers. “At times, we may find ourselves in situations where we are eagerly waiting for answers to our prayers, hoping for our dreams, goals, and aspirations to come to fruition. However, it’s during these moments of uncertainty and delay that we may become overwhelmed with frustration, anxiety, and even a sense of disillusionment.”

2 Ways Anxiety Affects Parents, HT to Story Warren. “In my thirty-plus years of counseling, I’ve never seen parents feel as much pressure or as much like failures as they do today. I’ve never had as many parents in tears in my office. And I’ve certainly never seen as many parents who live in a perpetual state of worry.”

5 Lies Teenagers Believe & Biblical Truth to Set Them Free. “I sometimes fear this generation of young people is stuck in a giant game of Where’s Waldo? They only see the things they are looking for. When you fear rejection, you see it on every face in the crowd. When you want to escape your responsibilities, you spot exits everywhere. When you crave affirmation, you will find it in all the wrong places. 1 Peter 5:8 HCSB says, ‘Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.’ Sadly, teens are primary targets in the enemy’s strategy to dismantle the kingdom of God.”

Purposes of Predicative Prophecy. “Why has God given revelation in the form of prophecy? And why so much? What is the goal of prophecy? Or are there multiple intended effects? A number of passages answer these questions. The answers are surprisingly diverse.”

Lists are Menus, HT to Linda. I don’t have the negative feelings this writer has about working through a list. But there is something appealing about looking at a list like a menu. “These menus also help clarify a critical way a menu differs from a to-do list: picking just one or two items from a menu is something you get to do, not something you have to do. The myriad things you could order – so far in excess of your capacity to consume them – don’t constitute a problem.”

The Bible has to go through our head to affect our heart and life.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the good reads found this week:

Jesus Said More About Hell Than Anyone in the Bible, HT to Challies. “What a wonderful thing it is that Jesus warns us. He does not leave us ignorant of the wrath to come. He not only warns. He rescues. This is the best effect of fear: it wakens us to our need for help and points us to the all-sufficient Redeemer, Jesus. Let it have this effect on you.”

Truth to Cling to When Nothing Makes Sense, HT to Challies. “Though there have been many precious years of walking with my Savior, the past several years has shaken my confidence as the road has continued to be dark, long, and painful. Though God has been faithful in so many ways (far more than we can probably see) I have been increasingly perplexed and unsettled by his ways.”

What’s the Temperature of Your Love Relationship with the Lord? “Whether you’re teaching, planning events, cleaning the church, or filling your days with service to your family, your love for what you do and for the people you are serving is an overflow of your love for God. In protecting and preserving that vertical relationship, there’s no substitute for time spent in his presence, soaking in the truth of his Word.”

Don’t Think About Elephants! HT to Challies. “There is more to the answer than saying, ‘don’t be anxious’. That doesn’t work; we then become anxious about whether we are doing a good job of not being anxious! Let me prove it to you. I want you to not think about elephants. Whatever you do, I don’t want the thought of an elephant to enter your mind. Don’t think about their size or their ears or their trunks. How are you going? What are you thinking about right now? I think I can guess!”

7 Meaningful Ways and Reasons to Be Kind to Yourself. We can beat ourselves up unmercifully when we make mistakes, but that’s destructive. Jeanne shares better ways to respond.

On Short-Term Missions, Part 4: Semper Gumby. “When you’re ministering cross-culturally, you’re dealing with people who are different from you all day long. They think differently, they do things differently; they’re offended by different things, they laugh at different things. In that kind of environment, it’s possible for you to be highly offensive, even with the best of intentions. So you need to adjust your thinking.” This is good advice even in business or other situations where we interact with people from another culture.

Greet with a Holy Kiss? Applying an Uncomfortable Command, HT to Challies. Some good ways to think about and apply the passages referring to a “holy kiss.”

The Blessings of Boredom. “Anytime we feel the slightest hint of boredom, we look for the closest novelty to alleviate that feeling. That usually means grabbing our phones, checking social media, playing a game, reading the news, or otherwise finding something to occupy our minds. The result, however, is that we find ourselves dashing from room to hallway, room to hallway, never fully pacifying that feeling of boredom and never very much enjoying the distraction either. The sad thing is that this is a form of self-sabotage.”

God does not waste suffering, nor does He discipline out of caprice.
If He plough, it is because He purposes a crop. — J. Oswald Sanders

Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 26, 2023 by Barbara Harper

Here are some good reads discovered this week:

On Short-Term Missions, Part 3: More Than Good Intentions. “One of the first things that students on my teams would learn is that the African Christians with whom they were working 1) were their spiritual superiors in nearly every way, and 2) were absolutely necessary to their ministry success. We weren’t there to ‘help the poor Africans’; we were there to labor alongside them and learn a lot in the process.”

Glorifying God and Glorifying Mountains. “A friend recently asked, ‘What does it mean to glorify God?’ It is a phrase we know and a phrase we often repeat. But what does it actually mean? How do we go about it? And in what ways may we do the very opposite?”

Give Humble Counsel, HT to Challies. “As a childless, unmarried, single man with no money, I was brimming with counsel about raising children, marriage, and money. And I didn’t just have counsel, I had the conclusive word from God. I had Bible verses; therefore I had the answer. But the interesting thing about God’s word is that it can be twisted (2 Peter 3:16), taken out of context (Matt 4), and must be rightly divided (2 Tim 2:15). I was very good at reading and applying the Bible, but I lacked discernment, wisdom, and humility.”

When to Seek Justice or Bear Injustice, HT to Challies. “What do we do about injustice? Options range from setting up campaigns and waging unrelenting war against it right the way through to actively encouraging it ourselves. But what should be our response as believers? I think there is a time to pus back against injustice and there is a time to wear it. The big question is, how do we know when to do either?”

How the Bible Talks About Corporate Responsibility and Repentance, HT to Challies. “Christian obedience becomes impossible when, instead of the basics of putting off the works of the flesh and putting on the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:16–24; Col. 3:5–14), we are called to account for every unpopular ism, every broken system, and every bad thing we see too much of in the culture.”

Let God Prove Himself, in this case, but trusting and obeying Him in regard to money.

You’re Only Human, HT to Challies. “God’s grace in that moment finally pierced my self-berating accusations and I was reminded: I’m human and in the process of sanctification as I seek to raise these sinful, imperfect, ‘in the process of sanctification’ little humans. God has given me circumstances as a mom that demand my attention, carry immense weight, and drain me physically, emotionally, and often spiritually. And he knows that.”

For the Mom Dropping Her Student Off at College, HT to Challies. “When you feel the temptation to hold on tighter, to micromanage, to over-protect, or to succumb to despair as your student moves into the dorm, remember Whose they are. They belong to the Lord. This is a new opportunity to practice trusting the One who loves both you and your son or daughter.”

A Hand on My Shoulder, HT to Challies. This is a sweet and touching story of one’s man’s influence coming full circle in another’s life.

Excerpt from "Thy Will Be Done" hymn by Charlotte Elliott

Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Barbara Harper

I have not been online much this week with all the family here. But I did come across a few good articles.

A Liturgy for When the House Feels Too Full of Children. Lovely poem for an overwhelmed parent.

A Home Is Not Our Hope: Resting in the Promise of a Place to Belong. “All of this moving has often left me longing for a home. Our home. A place we know and where we belong. A place with the perfect view from our many windows, with solid construction, a clean (mold-free) HVAC, and a beautiful piece of wooded land outside. Of course, we have no idea what settling down might look like, but all of these transitions stir in us a desire to have a home that is ours.”

Legalism, License, and the Tightrope of Bible Application. “Legalism, License, and the Tightrope of Bible Application. “Sometimes people warn of the danger of creating behavioral rules to either attain or maintain God’s favor. And at other times, people warn of cheap grace, where the gospel’s freedom is misunderstood to mean repentance is unnecessary. The tug-of-war between these perspectives may cause Bible application to feel like crossing a lava pit on a tightrope. Both sets of warnings are on to something; the dangers on either side are real. And both sets of dangers may have the same solution: holding fast to the main points of biblical texts.”

Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Barbara Harper

I have just a short list today, as I’ve been busy preparing for my oldest son’s visit.

Helping My Child Deal with Anxiety, HT to the Story Warren. “No mother wants to watch their kids suffer. We want them to have it better than we did, to skip the painful parts we suffered through. But we cannot control the world around them. We cannot control their brain chemistry or DNA. We cannot spare them the struggle of anxiety or depression.”

The Audacity of Disability, HT to Challies. “You might have gotten the diagnosis beforehand, when the beautiful process of growth in the womb turned fearful. Or maybe it happened like it did for us, entering the hospital with excitement, only to discover something terribly wrong in the delivery room. Or perhaps it was a few years later, when you began to notice that something wasn’t quite right. However it happened, however you learned of it, disability entered your world, unexpected and unwelcome.”

Songs Are Discipleship, HT to Challies. “How does this song build up the body of Christ? How does this song edify a seasoned saint? How does this jingle build up the newly-born believer? How does this worship leader understand his role and responsibility? We must take seriously the theological development of the individuals we call worship leaders because they are disciples too.”

Q&A with Tim Challies: Wisdom to Bolster Writers.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 5, 2023 by Barbara Harper

There is so much good reading online. Here are a few that stood out to me. It’s probably a good time for my occasional reminder that linking to any source does not imply 100% endorsement of everything on that site.

Why’d the Pigs Have to Die? HT to Challies. I’ve often wondered about this, from when Jesus cast a legion of demons out of one man, and the demons went into a herd of pigs and destroyed them. I appreciate the answer.

The Secret Meaning of YHWH, HT to Knowable Word. “I think God is not pleased by the herculean efforts some people go to look so hard for hidden meanings—whether linguistic or allegorical or what have you—that they miss the simple point of what he said.”

What Does It Look Like to Serve as Others as Jesus Served? “What does it look like to be a servant to my family, to say ‘My life for yours’? As a person of faith, I look to Jesus as my example of a servant’s heart.”

One of the Weirdest Articles I’ve Ever Written. Mike Leake uses and absurd example to illustrate the point that “Just because a word means something somewhere doesn’t mean it carries that same meaning elsewhere.” We can end up with this kind of extreme interpretation in Bible word studies when we “find all the uses of that word and then you shove each of those passages and all of their meaning into the Scripture you’re studying.”

Ambassadors for Marriage, HT to Challies. “It’s one thing for me, a 50-something, Christian mother of four, grandmother of two, to say, ‘Yes, get married! Don’t wait for the ‘perfect’ person or perfect timing! Don’t wait to get the whole rest of your life in order first! Marriage is great—it’s totally worth it!’ But it’s another thing entirely coming from someone who is under the age of 30.”

What It Feels Like, HT to Challies. A pastor’s experience with depression.

Shepherding Children Through Exposure to Pornography, HT to Challies. It’s sad that such an article is necessary, but these days, it’s too easy to come across pornography unexpectedly and then be drawn in.

God is Near: Certain Comforts for Moms, HT to Challies. “In my role as the Director of Children’s Ministries at my church, I’m privy to the thoughts of many mothers. As moms think about ‘back to school,’ one emotion keeps bubbling to the surface over and over. I hear it in their voices, in the questions they ask, and the conversations they have. It’s not a pretty emotion. It’s one that can sometimes paralyze us. Fear.”

Your Rights as a Christian in a Public School in 2023, HT to Challies.

The most recent newsletter from the Elisabeth Elliot Foundation shared that the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C is hosting an exhibit called Through Gates of Splendor: The Elisabeth Elliot Story through the end of 2023. I’d love to see it, but I doubt I’ll get to D.C. before the end of this year. Thankfully, this article says they’re working on a traveling exhibit. The newsletter shared this video of opening day:

Laudable Linkage

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Barbara Harper

I have a question for those of you who receive my blog posts via email. Have you had any problems receiving them lately? Of course, if you have, you might not be seeing this. 🙂 I ask because a long-time reader just told me this week she hasn’t received my blog posts via email for some time now. I am trying to discern whether this is a widespread problem. I see them both via email and Feedly so I can make sure they’re coming through, and I have not had any problem with either venue. WordPress handles the sending, so I can let them know about it. But it helps to have as much information as I can when I report a problem to them. How long has it been since the emails stopped coming? If you try to subscribe, do you get any error messages? If so, what do they say? Thanks so much for your help.

Now on to this week’s links. I hope you see something that sparks your interest.

Come, HT to Challies. “He came to the dead; the bleeding; the hopeless. To the ones on the side of life’s roads, passed over. To the grieving and the outcast. To the ones desperate to be seen; those hungry to belong.”

Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit. “What does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit? My initial reaction to the word grieve in reference to the Holy Spirit was a negative one: Surely the Spirit of God does not actually grieve, does he? Perhaps this is a poor translation. Isn’t sorrow a too-human reaction to ascribe to the holy God? Doesn’t it diminish the Spirit to suggest that my sin can make him feel genuine sorrow?”

How Were the Books of the Bible “Chosen,” HT to Challies. “The earliest Christians did not view themselves as choosing books, nor did they view themselves as having the right/power to do such a thing. Instead, they viewed themselves as receiving the books that had been handed down to them by the apostles.”

A Light to My Path, HT to Challies. “When the sun streams into my kitchen window, it cheers my soul. Everything literally seems brighter. Its brilliance however, illuminates more than just the room. Particles of dust flicker through its rays, grandchildren’s sticky handprints on the window pane bother me, and tiny bits of red dirt speckle the floor. When the light shines into my room, I see things otherwise hidden.”

Are You Satisfied with Your Prayer Life or Is Prayer Simply a Means to an End? “In the Pie Chart that is your life, how big is the slice devoted to prayer? “I don’t ask to induce guilt or to point the finger of condemnation. It’s actually a question I’m asking myself, and it’s been prompted by a statistic I just bumped into once again.”

When You Feel Powerless to Influence Your Children. “More important, they revealed the lie I had believed—that my children were safe as long as I was nearby. And that I had the ultimate power to protect them from harm, bad influences, and spiritual apostasy. Without intending to, I had usurped God’s role, at least in my mind, as their guardian and protector.”

Jesus can understand your prayer despite feebleness or poor language.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the latest links to helpful reads:

Be Careful When Defending or Opposing Christian Nationalism. Different people mean different things by the term.

Not Brave, HT to Challies. “I don’t know about you, but I am not brave. I dread criticism and judgment. I’d rather work behind the scenes than live in the spotlight and be open to the critique of others. The world is hostile and people can be harsh. Let someone who likes the attention rise up and be the focus. Have you ever uttered these sentiments? If so, you are not alone.”

Raising Little Image-Bearers, HT to the Story Warren. “I think my early parenting was often shaped by the unexamined thought, ‘Look at this small person I have made and will shape into my perfect-parenting-book-inspired image!’ . . . We long for the Bible to give us clear steps on how to produce wonderful children. But what if instead of looking for step-by-step instructions, we zoomed out to the bigger picture from Genesis 1:26-28 of what God has crafted.”

Use Your Comfort Zone to the Glory of God, HT to Challies. “‘Get out of your comfort zone.’ We hear it all the time, from friends, family, business leaders, church leaders, and actually, the whole rest of the world, it seems. But I’m going to encourage you here to do just the opposite: to find your comfort zone and stay in it.”

Should Our Joy Depend on Our Circumstances? HT to Challies. “Instead of saying, ‘My circumstances don’t matter; they’re not the source of my joy,’ we’d be better off saying: ‘God uses my best circumstances to encourage me, and He can use my worst circumstances to enrich me.'” Yes! I’ve often been frustrated by the dichotomy many see between happiness and joy. I usually see it in the saying, “God wants you to be holy, not happy”—as if we can’t be both.

How Can I Lead a Quiet Life When My Job Requires Self-Promotion? HT to Challies. “First Thessalonians 4:11–12 talks about making it your ambition to lead a quiet life. As a commercial real estate broker, I’m told to advertise and promote myself to attract new clients. How should I reconcile these apparently opposing positions?”

Stop Calling Them Names, HT to Challies. “If you’re prone to use name-calling with theological opponents, consider three passages in Scripture and how they address our unhealthy culture in evangelicalism of pejorative labeling.”

The Goal of Scripture Memorization is not Recitation, HT to Challies. “As I’ve grown up in the faith and studied God’s Word, though, I’ve realized that the goal of Scripture memorization is never to recite it for the applause of men or to win a competition. Though the programs of my childhood smartly utilized games and competitions to encourage us to memorize, the goal was to store up God’s Word like a treasure so that when we needed to remember the gospel or God’s character or how to live as His people, the words of the Bible would already be buried deep within us. The point of Scripture memorization, I realized, was to remember.”

Help for Family Devotions, HT to Challies. “Many families attempt to practice family devotions but end up falling off the bandwagon for various reasons. If you’ve ever been discouraged about family devotions, here are five encouragements to help your family navigate the frustrations.”

Ten Reasons the Old Testament Matters for Christians, HT to Challies. “Should I as a believer in the twenty-first century claim Old Testament promises as mine? Does the Mosaic law still matter today for followers of Jesus? Is the Old Testament Christian Scripture, and if so, how should we approach it?”

12 Axioms for Young Missionaries, HT to Challies. Though aimed at missionaries, these “business proverbs” are useful when involved in any kind of ministry.

Introducing “Remembering Our Parents.” My friend Lois has created an Instagram community “for all of us with moms and dads who are gone but definitely not forgotten.” Readers can share a memory or story and photo of their parents. This post tells how it came about and suggests prompts for what to share.