Category Archives: Laudable Linkage

Laudable Linkage

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Here are just a few good reads from the past week:

When Black Friday Becomes a Mission, good for the whole Christmas season.

Is God an Egotistical Maniac? Read this if you don’t read any of the others. This is a thought that is becoming more popular with unsaved, and Christians sometimes unwittingly fuel it by their responses.

A Blank Check. Quote: “A recent lesson talked about giving God a blank check with our lives. It’s a biblical concept. If God is God, and we owe everything to him, we must be willing to follow him wherever he leads. It’s picking up our crosses and dying to ourselves…We push the blank check across the counter to God, only to be miffed if he writes ‘nursery duty’ in the line.” Most of us are called to minister in small ways rather than the big, public ways.

Five Ways to Make the Holidays More Peaceful.

My Epiphany About the Books vs. Movies Question.

And a fun way to kick off the Christmas season:

Laudable Linkage

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Here are some noteworthy reads from the last week:

How Not to View Your Devotions, HT to Kim. Excellent.

The Value of a Long-Term Struggle.

A Slave in My Own Kingdom, something learned from a C. S. Lewis’s The Silver Chair.

5 Things to Do Before Leaving Your Church.

Gospel-Centered Sex?

Half a Century Since C. S. Lewis. I mentioned this yesterday but wanted to note it here as well.

Narnia Through the Ages, a photo essay of covers of C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe over the years, HT to Janet.

Blessing Mix, a neat idea to give out at Thanksgiving along with a little printable tag, HT to Julia.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Laudable Linkage

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I don’t usually do one of these every week, but the past few weeks have been filled with good reading. Here are some posts that spoke to me this week:

A “Good Girl” Wrestles With the Gospel. “My sin nature seems to be super glued to me. Being a good girl doesn’t dissolve its adhesive effect. Following the rules doesn’t make me righteous. Acting like Pollyanna isn’t the same as having a pure heart.”

Nowhere Else to Go. This really touched my heart.

What Seems to Be. “If the characters in the story could step back and see what the storyteller sees, they might not despair quite so keenly.  They would trust the twists and turns as part of the greater narrative.  May it be so for me, and for all of us.”

5 Churchy Phrases That Are Scaring Off Millennial. We shouldn’t throw out a true phrase just because someone objects to it, but we do need to make sure what we say  is truthful and appropriate.

Modesty Matters: The Heart of Modesty. I’ve read so much on modesty that I wasn’t terribly excited when I saw this title, but I appreciated the balance and the focus here. This is the first in a series.

The Silent Suffering of Miscarriage. Helpful and not so helpful things, from one who has been there.

Undercover: How book covers come to be. Thought this was fascinating.

Free ESV Online Study Bible, for a short time, to celebrate Crossway’s 75th year.

God's care

Laudable Linkage

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Here are some profitable reads from the last week or so:

Of Linen and Grace. “I am not their God. I am their mother.” For moms who feel they haven’t done enough.

Is All Sin Equal in God’s Eyes? Yes and no.

Whatever Happened to Bible Study? HT to Challies. Bible studies by others can be helpful, be we need to hear from the Word directly.

6 Reasons Not to Abandon Expository Preaching, HT to Bobbi. My favorite type of preaching for all the reasons mentioned.

Joy, or “Just Wait?” Do we encourage or discourage young moms by our throwaway comments?

10 Errors to Avoid When Talking About Sanctification and the Gospel. I am not of the Reformed faith and would prefer an appeal to Scripture rather than catechisms and confessions, but this gives some helpful perspective about sanctification.

Chasing Success (as a writer). When do you know you’ve got it, especially as a Christian?

5 Reasons you should write in your books.

This made me smile, HT to Kathie. The little boy and his accent are so cute. We were big Lego fans around here as the guys were growing up, and this brought back memories.

And you’ll need tissues for this one, HT to Susanne.

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Here are some good reads from the last couple of weeks:

The Hard Work of Getting Along. “If it’s hard work, it doesn’t mean you’re doing community wrong. In fact? The hard work might be a sign that you’re doing community as God designed.”

Parents, Require Obedience of Your Children.

Pray for the Persecuted Church, and not just for deliverance.

The Underrated Adventure of Coloring Inside the Lines. This one really resonated with me.

We Can Stop Apologizing For Who We Are.

Why I Am Against the Family.

How Do You Handle Public Tantrums: Part 1 and Part 2.

The Christian Traveler. Not just for traveling.

Help Wanted: Older Women to Serve as a Reliable Guide.

10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary, HT to Kim.

What you need to know about 6-foot trick-or-treaters.

Holiday Bake, Craft, and Sew-Along.

Writing Tip: When the Deadline Looms.

I admit I am not a math person. I probably did my share of “When am I ever going to use this?” lamenting while in high school algebra. I can add up the same list of numbers three times – WITH a calculator – and get a different answer every time. But I am glad there are people who like and “get” math, like my husband. It does affect our everyday lives in multitudes of ways, as this short video shows:

Have a great weekend! Don’t forget to set your clocks back tonight!

Laudable Linkage

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There has been a lot of good reading on the Web this week. Here are some posts and articles that stood out to me:

Worship with our lives, not just while singing on Sunday morning. Good exposition of what worship actually is.

Bible Study: Working With God on Your Goal, HT to my friend Kim,  who, by the way, is doing a 31 Day series on Scripture memory.

It’s Not Just a Guy Thing. Sometimes “the second glance has often already been decided long before the first.”

What If Knowing Your Spiritual Gift Doesn’t Matter? Sometimes we need to just step in to meet a need.

How do you train your children to manage their feelings? I think this is an sometimes an overlooked area of parenting.

When Your Friend Hurts. We need to weep with those who weep, not condemn them for hurting.

You can imagine that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood would be at odds with  A Year of Biblical Womanhood, but I thought this review was balanced and gracious, at least as far as the concerns I’ve had with the book just in the reviews I’ve read. I have it in my Kindle app to read myself some day.

Teaching Boys to Be Respectful.

The Philanthropists: John D. Rockefeller. Sometimes the rich are vilified just by virtue of being rich, but the Bible does not condemn riches: it does instruct us not to trust in them and how to use them. I found this short biography very interesting.

Put the book down. Much as I love books, some times they do get in the way.

The Ultimate Secret to Effective Writing and Preaching.

A Case For Cessationism. I’ve been enjoying Tim Challies’ live-blogging of the “Strange Fire” Conference John MacArthur is having concerning the charismatic movement.

Weight Loss Bible Study.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Laudable Linkage

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Here are a few noteworthy reads from the last week or two:

20 Tips for Personal devotions in the Digital Age, HT to Challies. I don’t agree entirely with #5 about not sharing what you’ve read on social media. Sometimes that’s a blessing to read, but I agree you shouldn’t have devotions with that in mind.

Do Not Depart has a series this month on Nameless Women in the Gospels. I especially enjoyed this one from Lisa: Gifts from a personal God.

Evangelism in the Workplace, especially as the culture becomes more hostile to Christianity, HT to Challies. A quote from it I especially liked: “While the Lord used Hunter to pursue me, I never felt like a project, just a friend.”

Jim Elliot’s Brother Bert: The Hero You Don’t Know, HT to Ann. Neat comparison of his being an everyday faithful star as opposed to Jim’s being a meteor. Neither is better or worse and God has places and purposes for both, and we can learn from and be inspired by both, but probably most Christians are more like Bert than Jim.

Flawed Heroes and Virtuous Villains. Even the best of men have flaws.

How the Christian Orphan Care Movement May Be Enabling Child Abandonment and alleviate both have some good thoughts about orphan care that may be more harmful than helpful.

National No Bra Day and Breast Cancer Awareness Month — OR — Please Put That Pink Can of Soup Down & Put Your Bra Back On. How breast cancer survivors really feel about some of the silly breast cancer “awareness” campaigns. (Warning: a little more explicit than what I usually post, but she makes excellent points.)

Julia is offering readers a cute free Thanksgiving Subway Art Printable.

And, though the government shutdown really is not funny – I know people personally who have been laid off or furloughed until the government gets its act together – I have to admit this did make me smile:

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Hopefully something will work soon!

Happy Saturday!

Laudable Linkage

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Here are some good reads from the last week:

On Homosexuality: It’s OK to Fight. Quote: “I had to believe either my feelings were lying to me or God was.”

She Yelled and Called Me Names. Neat story of one woman’s reaction to such a scenario.

Serving in Church: When Your Spiritual Gift Isn’t Changing Diapers.

A Beautiful Mess. God can use us despite our imperfections.

Caring For the Caregiver. All of these will not be needed by every caregiver, and definitely ask before jumping in, but there are some good ideas here.

The Case For Good Taste in Children’s Books.

She Chose Grace when a potential daughter-in-law wasn’t what she was expecting.

Pharisees and Fundamentalists. Are they the same? No, and Layton Talbert, whose books I have reviewed here, and whose scholarship, tact, and balance I greatly respect, points out the differences and the main problems of Phariseeism.

And a few on writing:

Be You.

Nurture the Heart of Your Story.

Squelch the Naysayers.

This is a neat story about someone who did the right thing when he didn’t realize anyone was watching:

And, for a couple of “Awwww” moments:

From the aptly named Cute Overload site, a baby panda meets its mom for the first time. The photos below the video of the baby panda are adorable.

And I saw this at Susanne‘s: a fireman rescues a kitten.

A news clip about it is here.

Happy Saturday!

Laudable Linkage

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Here are some great reads discovered in the last week or so:

Advice For Those Burned By the Church.

When Christians Mock Christians. Respectfully discussing issues where we differ is one thing, but unfortunately people on both sides of an issue can degenerate into mocking each other.

Putting an End to Spiritual Envy. I like this post not just for what it says, but how it is done: a wonderful example of Biblical exposition.

An Open Letter to an Older Woman. Sometimes it is hard to know how to be a Titus 2 older woman when younger women don’t seem to want our company and everyone wants things new and young and fresh. This is an encouragement to older women from a younger one along with some subtle, gentle suggestions as to the best ways to be a help.

Impatient With Grief.

A few posts on unanswered prayer for healing: Together Is A Beautiful Word, We Didn’t Get Healed…or Did We? and What If Your Healing Doesn’t Come? The last two are from a paralyzed wife and her husband.

10 Questions for Better Bible Study. Love this: simple and direct and unfluffy.

The Introverted Mother. Someone who recharges by time alone has a hard time when she’s never alone. Here is some encouragement.

The Science of What Makes an Introvert and an Extrovert.

The Holy Longings of Happily Ever After. Is a fairy-tale ending unrealistic or a beacon towards the ultimate best ending?

This Three Minute Commercial Puts Full Length Hollywood Films to Shame. I don’t know what country has three minute commercials – but this is a sweet short story in film. You could say it is about grace.

Hope you have a great weekend!

 

Laudable Linkage

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Here are some noteworthy reads from the last couple of weeks:

Two pieces on the historicity of the first Adam, a current hot topic: Our Make-Believe Parents: When Adam Becomes More Fiction Than Fact and 19 Resources on the Historicity of Adam.

Grace Incognito. “I may like the idea of portraying the strong Christian woman weathering adversity with a brave face, but I don’t get to choose the scene of my martyrdom that will show off my good side. But what if the point isn’t sprinting across the finish line in record time, but knowing God in every halting, baby step along the way?”

One Step. “One step — one cross-shaped, trusting step of faith in a loving, good, and sovereign God — gives purpose to pain, turns mourning into dancing, and transforms everything (yes, everything) into a gift…And I have a visual of grace that I will never, ever forget.”

Savor “Every” Moment? This humorous piece reminds us that young moms in the trenches need more from us than the admonition to savor every moment because it all passes so quickly. They need to know we remember the trenches and survived them.

How to Criticize a Preacher.

Distinguishing Between Truth and the Bearer of Truth. This kind of goes along with the one above. I’ve had a possible blog post percolating in the back of my mind along these lines, but no time to write it out.

A Concerned Mother’s Letter to Teen-age Girls.

Thinking Evangelically About Tim Tebow. “I fear that the Tebow-mania is just another manifestation of the way evangelicals think cultural cache and celebrity influence is vital to the cause of Christ. When I read the Bible, I see the opposite, actually, how God uses the low, the weak, the despised, the cultural cast-offs to further his kingdom. I am not against Christians in the entertainment or athletic spotlights, of course, but I am against the idolization of these people, which I think much of our fandom becomes. To be clear: The cause of Christ is not dependent on Tim Tebow’s success in the NFL. And, by the way, neither is his witness!”

Can Oyster, the “Netflix For Books,” Be Successful?

Hope you have a great Saturday!