Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I haven’t been online much this week, but here are a few good reads I’ve found:

The News Media Is Broken. What Now? HT to Challies. “I explained to my friend that I’d spent the last few years consuming news from both sides of the aisle, hoping to figure out what was going on. I complained that it hadn’t worked. ‘Instead of just being confused,’ I said, ‘I’m also exhausted and angry. Who can I trust to report the truth?’ I didn’t expect his response. ‘Mike, it’s worse than you think, and I’m more frustrated than you are.'”

Ashamed of the Gospel, HT to Challies. “I trusted in Jesus and his payment for my sins, but the thought of approaching a stranger (or anyone really) to evangelize left my stomach queasy. I read stories of people who unnerved passersby and their loved ones with constant questions like, ‘Where will you spend eternity?’ I could not relate. Besides writing about my Christian faith on social media, my evangelism was non-existent.”

5 Ways to Be Sincerely Kind to Someone You Disagree With, HT to Challies. “Kindness in dialogue is powerful, especially when we are speaking with someone we disagree with. Kindness opens up not only relational doors but intellectual doors. In other words, it helps us not only to like each other more but to understand each other better.”

What Does the Bible Say About Manifestation and the Law of Attraction? “Many Christians don’t recognize that these seemingly harmless exercises usually rest upon a philosophy that has permeated the world of self-development. It is a philosophy that runs contrary to what God’s Word says and contains spiritually dangerous teachings. Still, many believers seeking to pursue self-development have adopted its practices without realizing what they are getting into. I’m talking about the philosophy manifestation”

What To Do Before You Read the Bible, HT to Knowable Word. “There is one aspect that I find myself attending to with more focus than I have before: the pre-workout warmup. . . . As I have grown in Christ and sought to challenge myself to embody Paul’s charge not just to train my body, but, more importantly, to “train yourself for godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7), I have learned that in my spiritual training, I need a warmup routine as well.”

Praying for Daniels, HT to Challies. “Since the election, I’ve been convicted to pray for God to raise up “Daniels”- men who understand the times and know what our country should do- on both sides of the aisle. We need to pray for gifted men and women with character who are capable, competent, and able to solve difficult problems.”

Unless humility precede, accompany, and follow every good action which we perform, being at once the object which we keep before our eyes, the support to which we cling, and the monitor by which we are restrained, pride wrests wholly from our hand any good work on which we are congratulating ourselves. All other vices are to be apprehended when we are doing wrong; but pride is to be feared even when we do right actions, lest those things which are done in a praiseworthy manner be spoiled by the desire for praise itself.–Augustine

Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I came across quite a few good reads this week:

What Would Happen if You Became a Christian? A Thought Experiment, HT to Challies. “Let me invite you into a thought experiment. What if you became a Christian? What would change? I’m talking about an actual disciple of Jesus, not a Christian in name only. What would be different if you became a Christian?”

He No Longer Sleeps. “Do you remember that Jesus is in your boat? He’s with you. He sees you. And He’s not asleep or unaware or busy with someone else.” (This post has Mendelssohn’s “He, Watching Over Israel” from Elijah in my thoughts this week.)

When You Long for Justice, HT to Challies. Mixed emotions after a sexual assault.

When Offenses Come: How to Forgive and Move On, HT to Challies. “The air of our Father’s home is grace — grace from basement to attic and floor to ceiling, grace in every room. He crowns us with grace, clothes us with grace, sings over us with grace (Romans 5:2). Far be it from us, then, as the children of this God, to replace his grace with malice, gossip, passive-aggressive paybacks, or bitter distancing from a brother or sister whom God has forgiven.”

Do Children Need to Consent to Puberty? HT to Challies. I am continually amazed at the world’s warped thought processes. This article explains why the answer to the title question is “No.”

On Winning the War: The World. This is the second in a series of fighting against a Christian’s enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil.

On the Other Side of the Wall. A lovely tribute and a great way to think about loved ones who have passed on.

The Messages We Receive, HT to Challies. “Messages about who we are—our identity—are powerful. They can shape how we see ourselves, how we see the world, and how we see God. It is a matter that regularly comes up in counseling conversations. When people have hard experiences in their lives or have been mistreated by others, it always proves valuable to explore what messages those experiences have communicated about who they are.” I especially like her examples of reframing messages with God’s truth about us.

What Is My Spiritual Gift? Maybe You’re Asking the Wrong Question, HT to Challies. “In view of the ink spilt and bytes downloaded on the matter of discovering one’s spiritual gift, you might be surprised to learn that such introspection is completely absent in all these passages. Either Paul and Peter failed to answer such a vital question . . . or we are asking the wrong question. I think the latter is the case.”

The Plimsoll Line, HT to Challies. “’The Plimsoll line is a reference mark located on a ship’s hull that indicates the maximum depth to which the vessel may be safely immersed when loaded with cargo.’ . . . . Years ago I decided to include the Plimsoll line in my marriage.” In this case, the Plimsoll line has to do with one being an extrovert and one being an introvert.

10 Correctable Mistakes We Make When Preaching and Teaching, HT to Challies. Some of these would apply to writing as well.

67 Screen-Free Activities for Kids, HT to Redeeming Productivity.

“Better to be disappointed a thousand times—yes, and be deceived—than once miss a chance to help a soul. The love of God suffices for any disappointment, for any defeat. And in that love is the energy of faith and the very sap of hope.” Amy Carmichael

Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 16, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I hope you’ll find something of interest in this collection of good reads.

Love the Church Like Jesus, HT to Challies. “Imagine you see a bride early on the morning of her wedding day — and she is a mess.” But she’ll look very different at the wedding, and it would be wrong and foolish to tell others how awful she looked that morning. The author provides an interesting comparison to the imperfections of the church and what it will be someday, and how we look at it as Jesus does.

Why Am I So Spiritually Dry? HT to Challies. “As I crunched my way through my neighborhood and watched the clouds for rain, I realized that dry seasons can be for our good. Sometimes spiritual dry spells come with a diagnosis and sometimes they don’t, but the only way through them is through them.”

Do You Feel Overwhelmed When You Pray? 3 Reasons not to Lose Heart. “Take heart, weary prayer warrior. When our feelings overwhelm us and the trials of life threaten to drown us, we can look to the unchanging truths of the Bible for strength and hope.”

Responding When Those We Respect Disappoint Us, HT to Challies. “While we understand intellectually that every person we meet is fallen and desperately needs God’s grace, that knowledge gets tested when someone we deeply respect disappoints us.”

The Spiritual Gift Inventory I Believe In. “In many churches, it is standard practice to have Christians take some kind of a spiritual gift inventory. Through a series of questions that probe an individual’s interests, passions, and successes, these tests claim to help people discover the ways the Holy Spirit has gifted them to better love and serve his people. Much has been written about such inventories and many people have expressed a degree of skepticism about their usefulness or accuracy.”

Marriage Happy, Marriage Holy. I really don’t like the saying that marriage is to make us holy, not happy. Scripture depicts marriage as happy. Yet when two sinners live together, they are bound to have differences and irritations. Tim Challies shares some of the surprising ways marriage can help sanctify us.

God’s Good Gift of Hobbies, HT to Redeeming Productivity. Steve Lindsey discusses many valuable benefits of hobbies. .

Why I’m Grateful to Live in 2024. Though there’s a lot wrong in the world, we’re also immeasurably blessed.

The Criticized Leader, HT to Challies. Good advice even for followers.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago Ciara Dierking, who lost all four limbs after a near-fatal illness. Revive Our Hearts has two episodes of a podcast with her. You can listen to or read the transcript of Part 1: What Did I Do to Deserve This? here, and Part 2: More Grateful Than Before, here.

He makes us wait. He keeps us on purpose in the dark. He makes us walk when we want to run, sit still when we want to walk, for He has things to do in our souls that we are not interested in. –Elisabeth Elliot, Secure in the Everlasting Arms

Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 9, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are the latest good reads I’ve discovered:

If You Want to Be Like God. “At the root of every sin is some desire for godlikeness. . . . But. Satan didn’t invent this desire. Instead, he hijacked a desire that God had already wired into His creatures. God’s intention for us has always been for us to be like Him – just in a very different way.“

The School of Faith: When God’s Ways Are a Mystery, HT to Challies. “But what about those seasons when God remains silent to prayers? What about that time when you prayed for protection and the very thing you feared and prayed against became a reality? What about that moment when you took a step of faith and followed God’s difficult leading, only to be met with more difficulty and nothing but confusion? Where is God’s love and goodness in those moments?”

A Call to Christian Unity in a Divided Country. “Today, and going forward, may people look at us and know more about the God we serve, than the man or woman we voted for. Shaming, blaming, gloating, laughing, wishing harm, or questioning people’s salvation over their voting choices is not reflective of the One who laid down his life for us.”

A Warning About Having Children. “The surgeon general recently issued a new public health advisory. Forget pandemics or toxic substances; this time the source of this warning is likely sleeping under the same roof as you. The culprit: your own kids. According to the surgeon general’s report, the mental toll of raising children is ‘an urgent public health issue.’ As the mother of a larger-than-average family—we have five children ages 18 months to 18 years—I’d like to think I have a little credibility on this topic.” I’d been mulling over posting about the benefits of children, since so much of society seems to view them as a bother and inconvenience. Jessica Burke does this well and shows the joy and positivity of being around little people.

On Parenting: Are You Bribing Your Way Through? “While our heavenly Father does use the promise of reward as a facet of the motivation He gives believers, it is only a part of the entire diamond that is the relationship we enjoy as His children. We too, can make use of measured, deserved, and appropriate rewards. However, the bribing system, which uses them perpetually to calm situations or direct behavior, deprives children of the biblical wisdom parents are commanded to impart.”

Design: Does Evolution Care About You? “It constantly amazes me to hear those committed to an evolutionary worldview talking about design. They can’t help themselves. Everything is so intricately designed.”

What Cheap Comfort Will Cost You. “What He has spent this year exposing is that I don’t have a shopping problem; I have a comfort problem. All my life, I have been seeking comfort in all the wrong places. The question God’s Word asks is: where do you turn for comfort?”

Toward. “Depending on your opinion and vote, you are either feeling elated or disappointed. And now we each have a choice to make – will we let the outcome continue to be divisive and cause arguments; or will we let it bring us toward one another to encourage one another?

10 Ways Your Pastor Wishes You Would Pray for Him. “I emailed the senior pastor at my church and asked him for his practical input. He responded by telling me that prayer is the most important way that church members can encourage their pastors. This prompted another email and another question: how do you want your congregation to pray for you?“

The Church’s Unsung Hero: The Persevering Sunday School Teacher, HT to Challies. “The most significant contributions to the kingdom often come from those who never stand in the spotlight.”

Announcing Our 10th Annual Bible Reading Challenge. Knowable Word has a challenge to read the Bible in 90 days. I’ve never tried this, but I’ve heard from friends who have that they’ve seen overarching themes and connections that way that they never noticed before. KW is offering some nice prizes as incentive.

I’ve seen recommendations for Advent devotionals popping up this week from Michele Morin and Tim Challies. I’ve not read any on either list except Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, compiled by Nancy Guthrie–and how fun that it was on both lists! It was on my list of recommendations last year, too.

Take heed that we hear, what we hear, and how we hear. Warren Wiersbe

Jesus admonishes us to take heed that we hear (Matt. 13: 9),
take heed what we hear (Mark 4: 24), and
take heed how we hear (Luke 8: 18).
–Warren Wiersbe

Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Comfort and Joy: How God Used the Loss of a Loved One to Save the Life of Another, HT to Challies. “Grief is painful, angry, messy, and real. But God does not abandon us in the midst of it. In fact, from soil soaked by tears, He can cultivate healing, goodness, and beauty—even if our broken hearts can’t see it right away.”

Christianity Is not Colonial: An Autobiographical Account, HT to Challies. “According to this ‘Christianity is colonial’ narrative, Christianity is the ‘white,’ ‘western’ religion which permitted all the above. Therefore, the Christian God is himself a racist colonialist who deserves, not to be worshiped, but to be denounced. This association of Christianity with colonialism is so out of step with reality as to be literally ridiculous.”

COVID’s Gift: The Gem We Should Now See We Were Missing. “If I asked you to make a list of the ten two-word phrases most common in the New Testament, the phrase ‘in Christ’ wouldn’t make it on most of our lists. Yet that phrase and its variants occur more times in the New Testament than the phrases ‘the cross,’ ‘eternal life,’ or even ‘Jesus Christ.'” The author posits that understanding our unity in Christ would reignite our love and understanding of the church. The best part of the article is under the heading “How are believers unified with Jesus?”

I’m Fine! “How are you today? No, I mean really, how are you today? I know you know the socially, western culturally correct response is that you are fine, however, that’s not what we’re about here, in this space.”

Purposes of Predictive Prophecy. “Certainly prophecy is intended to have a present impact on the believer’s faith and practice. No one should dispute that. But some posit that viewing eschatological prophecy as a detailed prediction of specific events short-circuits the ethical intention of such prophecy. I am positing that God tells us about the future because He actually wants us to know what is going to happen and expects us to believe that it is going to happen just as He says.”

We Need to Sing More Than Songs of Praise, HT to Challies. I agree, though I think singing does more than express emotion.

Sanctification and Sexual Purity: God’s Will for Your Life, HT to Challies. “There is a direct link between our holiness and our sexual purity. There’s a direct link between your body which is united to Christ and what you do with your body. And that my friends is not popular.”

Finally, I don’t know David and Ciara Dierking, but evidently many of my friends do, because I started seeing requests for prayer all over Facebook back in December when Ciara and her young son Colton became ill. Colton had COVID and strep, I believe, and two abscesses of infection in his neck. Once he had surgery to drain those, he was well on the road to recovery. Ciara had influenza B, group A strep, severe pneumonia, which sent her into toxic shock (sepsis). She nearly died. The medicine to treat the sepsis narrowed her blood vessels to the point that her extremities couldn’t get enough oxygen. She ended up having both arms and both legs amputated.

You can imagine how devastating that would be, especially for a young wife and mother. As I have prayed over and ached with this sweet family these last several months, there have been so many signs of God’s hand on them.

Ciara was rereading Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s book, Choosing Gratitude, when all of this happened. As her family put excerpts from the book that Ciara had underlined on their Facebook page, somehow Nancy learned of it and asked if she could interview Ciara and David. That episode will air November 11 and 12 on the Revive Our Hearts app or website or podcast. But as part of that interview, ROH made this video. I encourage you to watch, be encouraged, and pray for this family. They’ve all overcome many challenges, but still have many more ahead. I’m going to leave this here in place of my usual Saturday morning graphic.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 26, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the good reads found this week:

Why, My Soul, Are You Dejected? HT to the Story Warren. “Some people beat themselves up for feeling sad. Recently, an older Christian shared with me the many ways they do this. They said, ‘I know it’s bad, I should be happier if I have faith in God, right?’ They treated their sorrow with gut punches of shame. Some medicate it with distractions. Some do all they can to avoid it. Sadness surprises and embarrasses them. It shouldn’t.”

God Brings Us Bad to Give Us Best, HT to Challies. “When God lobs a hand grenade into life and rattles our faith to the core, we wonder how he’ll work the pieces of shrapnel together for our good. What does good mean, anyway?”

Why We Should Expect Witnesses to Disagree, HT to Knowable Word. “No two people are alike, so no two people experience an event in precisely the same way. If you’ve got three witnesses in a murder case, expect three slightly different versions of the event. Don’t panic, that’s normal. In fact, when three different witnesses tell me the exact same thing, I start to get suspicious.” J. Warner Wallace then applies this to the gospels and explains why variations between them don’t make them unreliable.

Helping Husbands After a Miscarriage, HT to Challies. This is part of a series from Biblical Counseling Coalition on reproductive loss.

Are You Scattering Bad Seed? “Every day good seeds are being sown into the lives of the people around us, the people we love and are called to serve. And every day we are tempted to plant thorns among them, to sow weeds among the wheat and tares among the crops.”

The Trouble with Competitiveness, , HT to Challies. “Competitiveness comes in many forms, which is part of its sneakiness. And because of its prevalence in our culture, we can easily deceive ourselves into thinking that it’s really not such a big deal. Author Jerry Bridges names competitiveness as one of our ‘respectable sins.’ And this respectable sin may seem fun for the moment, but it’s anything but harmless.”

The Procrastination Spiral. How procrastination becomes cyclic, discussion about whether or not it is a sin, and tips for breaking the cycle.

What Pastoral Productivity Can and Cannot Do For You, HT to Redeeming Productivity. Even though this article is aimed at pastors, I found the principles helpful as well. “Although the benefits of productivity can change your life and maybe your ministry, life in a fallen world means the benefits of productivity are limited. . . Although productivity can help you fulfill your purpose, productivity should not be your purpose.”

When you think of what you are, and despair;
think also of what He is, and take heart.
–Charles H. Spurgeon

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I have a fairly long list of good online articles discovered this week. Perhaps a few will be of interest to you.

Gone Are the Dark Clouds, HT to Challies. “If communicating the gospel appears daunting, remember that Christ commissions and accompanies us. Through Jesus’s work on the cross we are reconciled to God, not abandoned. We can talk about this with genuine care and love for people.”

Why Does God Say No to Good Things, HT to Challies. “We understand why God would reject requests contrary to his revealed will (e.g., for provisions to rob a bank successfully) or purely materialistic requests (e.g., to win the lottery). But why would God say no to something good—seemingly consistent with his desires?”

Satan Loves Social Media. “Every other video on the internet seems to be trying to convince women to be dissatisfied with their lives. I’m not just talking about people displaying gorgeous homes and inspiring jealousy. I’m not even talking about the vast array of ads and influencer posts that convince us we aren’t allowed to age or sport any type of physical imperfections. I’m talking about reel after reel of men and women explaining to women specifically and in great detail why we should be unhappy.”

Great Gifts but Little Faithfulness. “I have known Christians who have great gifts but low faithfulness. God has given them much and it is apparent that they are making little of it. . . . I have also known men who have few gifts but great faithfulness. God has given them little and it is apparent that they are making much of it.”

No Little People. No Little Places, HT to Challies. “As Francis Schaeffer would say, ‘No little people, no little places.’ Everything God gives us to do is big and beautiful and of eternal significance. So let’s not miss out on the chances God gives us every single day to make a difference to someone.”

I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow, but He doesn’t always answer in the ways we expected. HT to Challies.

A Key Discipline: Observe Without Judgment. “It can be jarring to worship in a church that adheres to an unfamiliar tradition. Customs may be strange and patterns may differ from what I am accustomed to. And it is at the point of such differences that I immediately find myself tempted to pass judgment.”

Stretching Joy: 10 Ways to Notice God’s Everyday Mercies, HT to Challies. “I’ve been considering lately how to amplify singular moments of joy or beauty that God gives me. I want them to be longer-lasting, more durable experiences of thanksgiving that coexist with ongoing hardship, sorrow, or struggle with sin.”

The Glory of Good Work, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “Watching someone do good work brings joy. So does hearing someone talk about how they do something difficult that’s worth doing for the good and enjoyment of others. Proverbs 22:29 says, “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” God made us to enjoy seeing people who are good at their work.”

Grace and Peace in an Election Year. “In an election year, loving our politically-other neighbor may feel more costly than airfare with an extra baggage fee! Our toughest cross-cultural assignment may be extending grace to a colleague or fellow church member whose opinions seem incomprehensible to us.”

“If we really want God’s will to be done and His kingdom to come, the chances are pretty good that my will is going to have to be undone every once in a while.” –Elisabeth Elliot

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I haven’t been online as much as usual this week, but I have a short list of good reads discovered.

Count It All Joy: How to Grow and Mature in Trials. “I have a confession to make: Sometimes I revert to thinking like I’m in a fairytale. This one meets that one, and they live happily ever after. This happens and that happens and . . . they live happily ever after.”

Let’s Stop the Kid Jokes, HT to Challies. “While joking about kids may seem inconsequential in the moment, this sort of talk points to a larger cultural trend toward devaluing children by depicting them as burdensome and annoying. As Christians, we need to pause and reflect on how we speak about our children. Do our comments about parenting and our children’s struggles reflect Christ’s heart or the hot takes of our culture?”

The Measure of a Mom: How Women Combat Comparison. “Even in the local church, conflict flares unseen in the minds of mothers who allow their choices to become their identity. And with so many choices available, there are infinite ways for us to be divided.”

I Don’t Want to Be Taught! “While the rest of us are trying to white-knuckle a disciplined outward appearance, my youngest daughter’s disdain for being taught was in full display. It caused me to consider the state of my own heart, how often I might resent being shown my lack of wisdom and knowledge in matters more weighty than chess. Despite following Christ for most of my life, I find I am often still trying to go it alone, trying to prove I know the rules (or can make my own) and can safely play by them.”

How I Read Ten Books at Once. My own routine has some similarities, except I’m in five to seven books at any given time. I shared some of that several years ago in Finding Time to Read.

You Can’t Afford to Sit Out the 2024 Election. “There is no perfect party or candidate. But some support policies that do a better job of honoring biblical values. I pray for protection for those who do.” I don’t say much about politics here, but I believe we need to be good stewards of this right we’ve been given to have a voice in our elected officials.

Unbelief puts our circumstances between us and God,
but faith puts God between us and our circumstances.
—F. B. Meyer

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 5, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here is some of the thought-provoking writing I found online this week:

The Corner of Sanity. “The Corner of Sanity has ended up being the most graciously extended metaphor for my life as a Mom; I’ve willingly handed over my sleep schedule, my to-do list, and certainly my standards of cleanliness each time a new baby comes along. But from the beginning, I’ve learned the vital importance of holding fast to morning time with God to get me through. Many other priorities can be downgraded or abandoned entirely, but going without time in the Word and in prayer has been akin to spiritual starvation. Trying to love and tend young life while starving is impossible to sustain—at some point, I will just run dry.”

When You Fear Your Best Days Are Behind You. “We notice how our struggles have changed us and fear we may never be able to do anything significant again. We look at how we are now, compare ourselves to how we used to be, and think our most fruitful years are behind us.”

Complaining to God. “In the book of Numbers the people of Israel are judged for moaning and groaning about not having enough food. Then why are there so many Psalms of lament, suggesting that complaining to God is okay?”

How Hannah Found Peace in the Middle of Pain. “Sometimes I’ve told myself, ‘When I get past this, then I’ll quit fretting.’ However, if my peace depends on my circumstances or other people, then peace is fragile and illusive. The story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1-2 shows sorrow and challenges can either rob our peace or push us toward the Source of peace.”

Proverbs Purpose #4: To Transform People. “He desires nothing less than the transformation of the simple person (‘the youth’) into a wise person (who has ‘prudence’), and of a wise person (‘one who understands’) into a wiser person (one who will ‘increase in learning’).”

Guard Your Heart When Suffering, HT to Challies. “In an effort to pull us away from fellowship with the Lord and our effectiveness in the kingdom of God, Satan is always looking for weak spots to target his assaults on God’s children. His long experience with humans has taught him that we are especially vulnerable in times of physical weakness. This is why he delights in or taking advantage of times of physical suffering.”

What If He’s Faithful? HT to Challies.”I’d like to pose another question when life is hard and you’re fearful of the future. What if He’s faithful? Instead of immediately defaulting to all the potential disasters, what if we take our thoughts captive and force them to settle down in front of the 100% likelihood of who God will be to us no matter how hard life gets?”

He’s Still Working on Me. “As he and I don’t go away by ourselves very often, I had a verrrry hard time with this turn of events. Since I’m a Christian and believe in the sovereignty of God, I knew God could have changed the timing of this sickness or just not allowed it to happen in the first place. But he didn’t. And though it wasn’t a life-threatening illness, I was still less than pleased.”

Clearing Up Confusion About Humility, HT to Challies.”Here’s the simple guideline: To develop humility, don’t put yourself up relative to others, and don’t put others down relative to you. Instead, do the opposite.”

“The only thing that keeps me stable and settled in these days of uncertainty
is the absolute dependability of God’s Word.” — Elisabeth Elliot

Laudable Linkage

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some good reads found this week:

Living with Hope in Mental Illness, HT to Challies. “In this day and age, people are easily and haphazardly diagnosed with mental illnesses. There are times that sin (e.g. anxiety) is labeled as mental illness. But I believe that there are also times when mental illness proves to be real. Mental illness is a normal and natural part of the brokenness of this world.”

The Uncarnation of Christ? HT to Challies. “Doctrine is vital to the Christian life. I must state that upfront for the sake of everything else I’m about to say, lest I’m misread. We can never diminish or dilute the importance of sound doctrine. My concern is when our theology never rises above the ink set on the page. I want to warn us about doing theology in a way that depersonalizes our Lord. Any approach to doctrine that dehumanizes Jesus of Nazareth is deadly to our spirituality.”

Rome’s Seven Deadly Errors, HT to Challies. “Let me lay out again the reasons we should be seriously concerned with Roman Catholic teaching — and that, at numerous levels, its contradictory stance toward Scripture produces, I think, a kind of religion that I fear has led many people astray, even into destruction. And I do not mean that Roman Catholicism has a corner on that kind of misleading teaching. There are lots of brands of so-called ‘Christian’ tradition that have damaged people by the errors that they represent.”

Leading Children Into a Wider, Deeper Love of Jesus.”‘Jesus loves me, this I know.‘ What a sweet sound it is when words about Jesus flow by memory out of even the youngest child. Simple truths like these help kids start to see the beauty of the gospel. But a common pitfall is to stop there. When we teach our kids about Jesus only in simple, general terms, they may come to know Jesus only vaguely or even wrongly. The love of Christ is broad, long, high, and deep (Eph. 3:18). How can we help our children to know Him more fully? One way is to help them see Him in all of Scripture. Here are four questions to keep asking as you open the Bible with your family.”

The Calling of Motherhood, HT to Challies. “It had been a good day. A day of errands, laundry, reading books together, playing, and caring for my children. I tucked my 3 and 2-year-olds into bed, came downstairs and sat my tired body on the couch. I opened social media for a few minutes before cleaning up from the day. In a matter of moments, I felt my heart go from thankful and satisfied to longing for more and dissatisfied with what I hadn’t accomplished that day.”

Exposed to Hope: The Evangelism of Welcome, HT to Challies. “I have long admired bold and courageous people who aren’t afraid to share the gospel with strangers. But for many years, I felt ashamed that I would rather eat a hundred stuffed peppers than “evangelize.” What kind of a Christian wasn’t eager to share the Good News with others? I wondered. I never considered that evangelism could also be a way of living, rather than a frightening obligation.”

Slow and Costly in a World of Fast and Cheap, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “I’m worried about a world in which A.I. and algorithms are in control, and we’re reduced to passive consumers. There’s a solution. . . . ‘People are seeking things that are rare and valuable right now. In a world of cheap and fast, people desire slow and well-crafted.'”

A Letter to Mentors with lots of ideas of what such a letter could include.

When I looked at that person who had offended me through the “spiritual eye,” I saw in him one of God’s instruments to teach me, instead of one of the devil’s to torment me. I saw something more. I saw a person God loves, and whom He wants to love through me. — Elisabeth Elliot