Laudable Linkage

Posted on December 16, 2023 by Barbara Harper

I have not had much time for blog reading this week. I’m trying to get the gift-wrapping, card-making, and housecleaning done before my oldest son comes next week. But here are a few thought-provoking and helpful posts seen this week:

Encouragement for Moms During the Busy Holiday Season, HT to the Story Warren. “The holidays. The smell of cinnamon wafts through the air. Families gather around our tables. Smiles, laughter, and music. Our hearts fill with excitement and, and…. Oh, let’s just admit it! Our hearts fill with a sense of panic!”

You Better Believe in Certain Vengeance. “He’s talking about the same thing he talked about in Hebrews 6. He’s talking about those who give up on Jesus. Those who decide it’s not worth it to keep going with him. Those who believe they can find something better than Jesus in this world and in the acceptance of those who are in this world.”

Don’t Lose Hope—God’s Writing a Story of Redemption in Your Life, HT to Challies. “Ever since the plan of redemption through Christ was set into motion, we have all been on the continuum of that redemption at work. And redemption in this life will often not look like our problems going away, our desires being made a reality, or our kingdoms being built. It may look like being hidden by the Lord, stripped of that which hinders us from truly experiencing peace, rest, and joy in him.”

The Virgin Birth of Christ in Matthew 1. “Matthew is writing to Jews. They are reading the genealogy of their Messiah. Any of those who had read carefully would have noted this aberration. That’s why Matthew then says, ‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise’ (1:18). He is going to do something he didn’t do with anyone else in the genealogy. Matthew will explain this one. In verses 18 through 24 Matthew gives six indications that this was definitely a virgin conception.”

Immanuel: The Dramatic Backstory to This Name of Jesus. “Every Bible-savvy Christian knows the prophecy of Immanuel. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “’Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23). We all understand that the virgin was Mary, and the Son was Jesus. But few know the dramatic backstory to this descriptive name of our Savior—Immanuel.”

You Don’t Have to Choose a Word for the Year. This is one of mine from last year. I don’t want to “laud” my own links, but this time of year, we start seeing posts about choosing one particular word for the next. There’s nothing wrong with the practice, and many find it beneficial. But we’re not obligated to do it just because “everybody” seems to be. There’s nothing in the Bible or church history about it. “What’s more vital than a word for the year is daily seeking God in His Word. Whether or not one chooses a word for a year, it’s good to read the Word of God every day.”

"The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable." Ralph W. Stockman

Laudable Linkage

Posted on December 9, 2023 by Barbara Harper

I don’t want to “laud” my own links here, but I did want to call attention to an older post titled “Christmas Hope, Christmas Grief, Christmas Joy.” Both of my parents, my grandmother, a college friend, and even our only family dog all died in December, though in different years. Every year, someone I know is facing a first Christmas without a loved one who passed away that year. Grief may cast a shadow over Christmas, but Christmas gives us hope and joy to carry on.

All We Have to Do Is Turn. “It’s comforting that it’s all we’re asked to do, no matter how far we may have wandered from God. We’re not called to find our own way back. We’re not called to fix it all ourselves, which is reassuring as there is no way we could ever fix it by ourselves.”

Is There a Place for Ambition in the Life of a Christian Woman? “I began to think carefully about ambition—my own aspirations as well as the place ambition might play in the life of a Christian woman, a servant of God. Was it wrong for me to long for more opportunities for service—wrong for me to long for a broader reach?”

I Need Sundays, HT to Challies. “Jesus loves his Church. It was His idea. The abuses and failures of the church do not negate the commands of Scripture to gather as a body of believers. We will not always get it right, that’s for sure. But that doesn’t mean that we can toss the proverbial baby out with the bath water. The commands of Scripture are still ultimately for our good, our growth, our sanctification. If one of God’s very means of grace for our endurance in the Christian life is the church, then Christians will struggle to flourish in faith apart from it.”

When Going Through the Motions Is the Best Way Forward. “I feel like I’m just going through the motions. Perhaps you’ve heard people say this about a relationship, their work or their spiritual lives. Perhaps you’ve even said it yourself. Chances are, it was presented as a negative. If you’re going through the motions, something is wrong, right? Not necessarily.”

Pain Needs Interpreting, HT to Challies. “Rather than just react to pain, the Bible calls us to act towards it. We’re not to just be subject to our pain, blown about in every direction by it. Rather we’re to respond to it, and subject it to the light of God’s word.”

It’s So Easy, HT to Challies. “The world can be a hard place. We are all the walking wounded at times. The voices around us are not always kind, and many of us can find ourselves on the margins, overlooked. It is these times when even the smallest word of encouragement can turn our hearts from sadness to hope.”

Stop Calling Them Names, HT to Challies. “[T]he Bible teaches us to directly confront theological error. It even has a category for using harsh speech with wolves who pervert a church’s fidelity or lead people into eternal destruction (cf. Acts 13:8–11). But neither should Christians engage in the worldly practice of name-calling or employing theological slurs, especially when speaking of brothers and sisters in Christ.”

This is really cool: a graphic showing where things in the Bible are mentioned in more than one place. The bottom line lists the chapters from Genesis to Revelation, with Psalm 119 in the middle. Though the Bible was written over hundreds of year by several authors, it’s a coherent whole

Occasionally someone will ask me what the “HT” in some of my listings means. I used to see that abbreviation frequently, but not so much any more. It means “hat tip,” meaning I saw that link at someone else’s site that I want to acknowledge.

Once in our world, a Stable had something in it
that was bigger than our whole world.
C. S. Lewis

Laudable Linkage

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Barbara Harper

I didn’t think I’d have a Laudable Linkage this morning. It’s been a busy week, and I am way behind on blog reading. But I had a little free time yesterday afternoon and found these good reads.

Picture Perfect Christmas. “Every time I look awful, I run into my most together friend. HER. That altogether all together friend. I try not to let it, but it surely can make me cranky. And angsty. Crangsty.”

Victim Blaming and the Rich Young Ruler, HT to Challies. “The way that Jesus responded to the rich young ruler is so different from what comes naturally to me. When I see someone suffering, my mind often seeks to figure out how they are at fault for their own suffering. And that response is wrong for two main reasons.”

Grace in Afflictions. “I have been meditating for several weeks on 2 Cor. 4:15-18. The expression “light affliction” has been returning to my mind as I deal with daily, nagging physical conditions that are burdensome and uncomfortable. I’m seeking relief, improvement, and help from any source available. Even though I’m plagued by real challenges and wearing out, I’m still striving for healing and personal progress in my body and my soul. To respond I’m fleeing regularly to my study of God’s grace as revealed in scripture.” I especially love the last paragraph here.

Repeat Forever. “Can we linger just a little longer on thanksgiving before we move onto Christmas? ‘I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.‘ (Psalm 34:1, NASB). One of the definitions of ‘continually’ is ‘without an intermission’ (dictionary.com). In other words, ongoing.”

Though we are keenly aware of the abuses that have grown up around the holiday season,
we are still not willing to surrender this ancient and loved Christmas Day to the enemy.
– A. W. Tozer

Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Barbara Harper

Here are some thought-provoking posts discovered this week:

God’s Amazing Rescue Out of War-Torn Israel. Amazing is right. Debbie shares how her friends in Israel were able to get out with some unusual help.

A More Spontaneous and Genuine Evangelism, HT to Challies. I especially like the second point.

How to Prevent a Spiritually Dry December. “Busy days mean our schedules get squeezed. Work and school hours don’t change, so this means there’s a competition for our time at the margins. And, if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you know that devotional time is often a casualty in this battle.”

I’m Adopted, HT to Challies.. “For me, those heavy questions needed to be asked, then answered, before I would be able to see my adoption for the gift it is.”

Am I a Good Mom? HT to Challies. “Every day, I am faced with opportunities to fail or succeed but there is no one other than my three kids under three to see. For the last three years, I have constantly strived to be the best and most God-honoring mother I can be. In my striving, I have never, ever felt more like a failure.”

Before You Go On the Attack. “A classic strategy in times of warfare is to dehumanize the enemy. No sooner has a conflict broken out than the two sides begin to refer to one another as animals rather than men, as mere creatures rather than human beings.” I had been thinking of writing a post along these lines: now I don’t have to.

Alexander Maclaren quote: "Seek, as a plain duty, to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life."

Seek, as a plain duty, to cultivate a buoyant,
joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life.
– Alexander Maclaren

Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 18, 2023 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the posts that stood out to me this week:

Why I am now a Christian, HT to Proclaim and Defend, from a former Muslim and atheist.

In the Middle of the Greatest Story, HT to Challies. “Veterans Day has me thinking of a time I stood in the middle of a story and felt like an imposter there, an imposter in someone else’s story.”

Benefits of Memorizing the Book of Romans, HT to Knowable Word. Some of the benefits would be applicable to memorizing any book or large portion of Scripture rather than isolated verses.

Widows: The Untapped Resource in Your Church, HT to Challies. “Widows aren’t delicate knick-knacks to put on a shelf and dust every now and then; they’re vital ministers to be deployed in the life of the church. They can teach the church a great deal about faith, devotion, service, and prayer.”

The Church: A Family of Redemption, HT to Challies. “The local church paints a picture of a greater reality: God takes broken people and makes them whole through the family of God. He has sent his son Jesus Christ to redeem a people—his people—to himself that they might enjoy him forever. This is an eternal and unfading family, but it’s also a family for the not-yet season that we live in.”

From Shadow to Substance: Aaronic Priesthood’s Transformation, HT to Challies. Some OT practices were declared to be “perpetual.” But we don’t practice them today. Why not? Randy Alcorn deals with some specific OT practices to show that we don’t just pick and choose what OT passages to follow and demonstrates how they are fulfilled in Christ. This is an excellent demonstration in interpreting the OT in the light of the NT.

Will We Know Everything in Heaven, or Will We Learn, also from Randy Alcorn, HT to Challies. “Paul, in Ephesians 2:6-7, writes, ‘God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace.’ The word translated show means ‘to reveal.’ The phrase in the coming ages clearly indicates that this will be a progressive, ongoing revelation, in which we learn more and more about God’s grace.”

The purpose of prayer is not to get man’s will done in heaven
but to get God’s will done on earth. Warren W. Wiersbe

Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 11, 2023 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the posts that resonated with me this week:

Don’t Forget the Gospel During Bible Study. “We tend to hear this exhortation about remembering the gospel and think immediately of our moral behaviors—our successes or failures in the realms of pride, anger, lust, jealousy, and the like. But we need reminders about God’s love, Jesus’s work, and our new identities throughout our lives, and we need to connect these truths to our every endeavor, including studying the Bible.”

The Unexpected Blessing of a Rural Church, HT to Challies. “Though the preaching of the Word changed my heart, the people drew me in to hear it. The love of these Christians made this outcast feel welcome and enabled me to let my guard down and Christ in.”

Scripture Over Systems. “While these various systems can be helpful, I would suggest that adherents to them should not be so anchored to their system that they ignore or misrepresent Scripture that seems to challenge or contradict their systematic understanding. They must be wrestled with and humbly acknowledged.”

Avoiding Quick Repairs in Counseling, HT to Challies. “We all wrestle with the challenge of wanting to fix anything and everything. That’s true not just in terms of our broken ‘stuff’ but also in our broken lives and relationships. If we are honest with ourselves, we can probably admit to times when we have crudely applied spiritual duct tape to situations that needed more skill, love, patience, and grace.” Though this was written to professional counselors, we can all benefit from it.

Merciless in the Name of Mercy, HT to Challies. “It’s a mark of the church to embody a fierce commitment to welcoming sinners and exalting the Father who lavishes grace on the prodigal. But what form should mercy take? What does mercy look like? What does it require?”

Dare to Be a Daniel, HT to Challies. “Maybe you’ve been exposed to the kind of teaching from the Old Testament that uses its stories to highlight moral examples. Is that kind of teaching bad? Should we do such a thing? Should it be avoided for the sake of christological interpretation?”

Ambitious for the Quiet Life. “I find myself thinking a lot about 1 Thessalonians 4:11, ‘make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you.’ I love the juxtaposition of ‘ambition’ with ‘quiet life’ in how the NIV renders it. It almost feels oxymoronic. How can you be ambitious for a quiet life? But notice that it doesn’t say to be ambitious for a lazy life, though; just a quiet one.”

When You Feel Cast Aside. I love this account of Gideon’s army from the viewpoint of a rejected soldier.

Christ is the way to Holiness. Spurgeon quote

Holiness is not the way to Christ;
Christ is the way to holiness.
– C. H. Spurgeon

Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 4, 2023 by Barbara Harper

For those of you who enjoy the Friday’s Fave Fives, I’m sorry I missed posting yesterday! I usually write those posts on Thursday, but this past Thursday I was in atrial fibrillation most of the day. Then Friday was very busy. But I’ll catch up next week.

These linkage posts, however, I add to throughout the week as I read here and there. Perhaps you’ll find some of these interesting and beneficial.

Eternal Security: Fives Reasons God’s Gift of Salvation is Secure. “Can you lose your salvation? Some teach that you can. Others feel like they have. But what does the Word of God promise regarding the eternal security of those who have truly trusted Christ as their Savior?”

Quiet Time and Evangelism: How Much Is Enough? HT to Challies. “Spiritual disciplines are great (and necessary) when the goal is to know God better. Spiritual disciplines are soul-crushing when the aim is to get our metaphysical workout in each day, knowing that we could always exercise more if we were better Christians.”

Meditate on Scripture by Breaking it Down Into Phrases. “One of the best ways to meditate on Scripture is to break it down into phrases and detail the meaning. This can help you to better understand the text and to apply it to your own life.”

How to Mo u rn Over Your Sins, HT to Challies. “‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’ (Matthew 5:4). Spiritual mourning is laden with blessing, and we are to go after it and get as much of it in our lives as we possibly can. The more you know of this mourning, the more joy you will experience in your life.”

What My Wife Taught Me About Life. “Last month, just about a year after my wife Phyllis died, I reread her book Handbook for Caring People, now out of print. I once again saw how this book reflected her own life of being deeply attuned to the needs of people—emotionally, physically, spiritually. I wasn’t the only one who thought she was perhaps the most caring person they’d ever known. So did dozens and hundreds of others.” Andrew Le Peau is the author of Write Better: A Lifelong Editor on Craft, Art, and Spirituality (linked to my review).

Reflections on the Reformation. I liked this balanced perspective.

Three Encouragements for Difficult Projects. “If you’ve ever been in the midst of a long, challenging project, you know the war you experience with regret, frustration, and self-flagellation.”

Aged Care Ministry: 3 Challenges and 5 Responses, HT to Challies. “I lost count over the past three years of how many Christians said to me: ‘Those old people must be very open to the gospel, as close to death as they are.’ It’s a plausible idea, but not at all true to my experience. I did not at all find nursing home residents more open to the gospel, but generally less so than those younger in years with more years of life ahead of them. I begin by describing three challenges to bringing the gospel to the frail elderly, and five possible responses to those challenges. I conclude with a word about how all people serve God, no matter how frail and incapacitated they are.”

Joni Eareckson Tada quote about abiding in Christ

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Barbara Harper

Once again, I have not had much time at the computer this week. But here are some of the thought-provoking reads I found.

The Real War, HT to Challies. “Evil is real and it is staring us in the face. It cannot be legislated or medicated or rationalized away. It is a force that exists in every corner of the world; among all peoples, for all of human history. And we either surrender to its power, or we resist it; a cosmic conflict where neutrality is not an option.”

Prayer Requests from a Church in Israel, HT to Challies. “There is no one in Israel who doesn’t know someone impacted by this war. The state of Israel is devastated and in mourning, with funerals happening non-stop. Never before have so many Jewish citizens been murdered in one day since the Holocaust, and the rockets are still being fired into Israel, over 6,300 up till now. In the midst of all the atrocities, there are miracles that are taking place every day.“

Silly Putty Bible Study, HT to Knowable Word. “Sadly, many Christians use their Bibles like Silly Putty®. Just add the Spirit, and the Bible becomes putty in their hands, able to be molded into almost anything at all. Rather than approaching the Scripture as a treasure of truth for all Christians, some evangelicals have the dangerous habit of searching the text for a personal “promise” or “word” of guidance from the Spirit that is unrelated to the text’s original meaning.”

Navel-Gazing Won’t Help You Grow, HT to Challies. “For years I spent my Christian life spiraling into hopelessness over my shortcomings. Whether they were fleeting thoughts, sinful words, or hurtful actions, they weighed me down into ineffectiveness. They stole away the joy of my salvation, replacing it with fear. Instead of looking to Christ, I had my eyes fixed on me.”

A Word to My Inner Perfectionist, HT to Linda. “Then one day, a Truth dropped into my consciousness: Amy, you are finite. It was one of those realizations I’d always known was true but hadn’t really digested. Oh, right. I actually have limits. So that means I can be responsible and still forget things sometimes.”

How Should Christians Handle Disappointment? “Jobs, finances, health, people, and relationships all have the power to disappoint us. How should we—believers in Christ—handle the disappointments that hurt our hearts and weary our souls?”

Bookish Believers. “I had always believed fiction was nothing more than entertainment; reading theology was a better use of my time. However, I realized that fiction can do something mere theology can’t, which makes it especially valuable to the Christian’s intellectual and spiritual transformation.”

The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us. C. S. Lewis

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Barbara Harper

I didn’t think I’d have a Laudable Linkage since dealing with my husband’s surgery this week and not having much time on the computer. But I did have a draft started and a couple of links to add, so here we are!

You Are not Invisible to God. HT to Challies. “My daughter, in her power chair changes how I look at others. People once invisible to me, catch my eye now. I can see them with my heart.” I love the example shared here.

The Joy of Knowledge, HT to Challies. “The more we learn about God, the more we can appreciate what we see of him in the scriptures and in the world. Becoming more and more familiar with the details of his personality, his character, his likes and dislikes will allow us to see him more clearly and love him more deeply. Some may object that this is just head knowledge and relationships are more than that. That’s true. But they’re not less than that.”

5 Simple Ways to Teach Faith to Your Children. “Thankfully, long before Sunday school and professional Christian workers, God provided simple guidelines to help parents raise their children in the faith. This model has worked for centuries—even millennia—as Old Testament believers passed on their faith to their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, down through the ages and into today.”

10 Ways Your Pastor Wishes You Would Pray for Him. This is good any time, but especially now since October is Pastor Appreciation Month.

Book Club for Kids: No Stress Fun with Stories and Friends. “Since my student teaching days many moons ago, book club has been my favorite way of engaging kids with others and with story. The benefits include the schoolish things you would expect (comprehension, vocabulary, ability to articulate opinion, etc.), but they also reach far beyond that. A call to responsibility, a sense of belonging, and a stirring of compassion are all wrapped up in the wonderful package deal that is book club. I’ve seen these benefits come to fruition in both classroom and homeschool settings, with peers, with mixed aged groups, and even with multi-generational groups.” Love these ideas!

An Update o n Lars Gren, Elisabeth Elliot’s third husband. That article also referenced Forget Me Not: Loving God’s Aging Children, a pamphlet Elisabeth wrote when her mother faced dementia.

If you like Christian fiction set in WW2, I’m giving away a couple of books in that category here.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 14, 2023 by Barbara Harper

These are some of the posts that stood out to me this week:

Israel at War: Prayers, Hope, and Heartache. Some good prayer points during this time of upheaval.

A Well-Stocked Pantry, HT to Challies. “It’s not a question of if storms will come—storms will come for us, and we need to be ready with a soul packed tightly with God’s Word so we can draw on it in a time of need.”

Add a Little Extra Beauty. “God loves to add a little extra beauty. God could have made every time of day the same, but he gives sunrises—he adds a little extra beauty.”

The Secret to Abundant Life: Expressing Self-Love through Service. I’m not fond of the title, but the article is good.

How to Be a Growing Christian. This was a good message by Adrian Rogers I heard part of while making a late breakfast one morning. I was especially struck by the part about the middle of the sermon discussing the apostle John–what he was as an early disciple compared to what he was later as a gospel and epistle writer. The link goes to the overview, outline, and then transcript of the message, but if you’d rather listen than read, you can do that here.

The Transforming Power of Hopeful Love in Marriage, HT to Challies. Thoughts on what 1 Corinthians 13 means when it says love “hopes all things.” Good for any relationships, not just marriage.

Biblical Hope When It’s Time to Consider Residential Care. “You’ve got a decision to make about someone you love. You want to serve sacrificially. You want to do the ‘right thing.’ You want to honor God. As you move forward, let God’s Word illuminate your path, one tender and needy step at a time.”

We tend to use prayer as a last resort,
but God wants it to be our first line of defense.
We pray when there’s nothing else we can do,
but God wants us to pray
before we do anything at all.
—Oswald Chambers