Laudable Linkage

Posted on February 8, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I haven’t had a lot of extra time at the computer, so I have just a short list of recommended reading:

How Honest Can I Be with God in Prayer? “Do you ever wonder how honest you can be with God in prayer? On the surface, this question probably seems silly. After all, God knows everything. How could we hide anything from the God who knows our hearts and can read our minds? Yet sometimes, we hold back in prayer. As if our thoughts, emotions, or words don’t really exist if we don’t speak them. Or perhaps that we won’t be held accountable for them if we don’t admit our thoughts.”

2 Reading Strategies to Get Wisdom From the Word. “The Bible won’t tell you who to date, which car to buy, where to go to college, or whether to accept the job offer on the West Coast. It does, however, offer principles to live by, guard rails to keep readers on the path of wisdom.”

Finding Joy in Bible Reading, HT to Knowable Word. “It will help if we consider what we are doing when we read the Bible. It is not like a textbook we have to wade through in order to pass an exam. It is not something we have to do out of expectation or duty. It is something we get to do; a privilege, a blessing. Countless people through history would have loved to have the access to God’s word that we enjoy today.”

Improving Our Listening to Sermons. “Sermons are not lectures; they are intended to persuade you of something. They should lead to action, not only to increased knowledge. We should always ask what to do in response to what we have heard.”

Thank You Gracious Church Members, HT to Challies. “A pastor’s heart is not his congregants’ responsibility. But there is an invitation to be a congregant who steps into church life with a heart of submission and care for your leaders.”

The Church’s Opportunity when “Gentle Parenting” Crashes, HT to Challies. Although “gentle parenting” seems attractive and has some good points, it doesn’t deal accurately with sin. “Diagnosing sin in our kids’ hearts doesn’t strip them of dignity. On the contrary, it dignifies and deepens them. We treat children as moral agents, respect them enough to discipline them in love, and then forgive and restore them.”

The Vibe Shift: What Does It Mean for the Gospel? HT to Challies. Though the “vibe shift” in America since the election and especially since the inauguration has been a welcome change more in line with Christian values, we’re reminded that the “vibe” is not the gospel and people still need the Lord.

If you wake up feeling fragile, remember that God is not,
and trust Him to be everything you need today. –C. S. Lewis

Laudable Linkage

Posted on February 1, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Here’s some of the good blogging found this week:

How Jesus Helps My Unbelief, HT to Challies. “If I’m honest, I have felt a bit like I need to be brought back to life. My spirit has been heavy, weighed down by depression that has returned after a long hiatus, and it has left me sad and discouraged and so very defeated. I must remind myself daily (sometimes hourly) that my life is a good life, that I am loved, that it will not always feel this way.”

Have You Considered? (10 Things to Think About), HT to Challies. Ten things the Bible tells us to “consider.”

I Know God’s a Writer, HT to Challies. “God is far more than any one description. We just tend to see more of his beauty down the avenues we love—the ones we know. My years spent writing has tuned my ear to catch the way the Lord demonstrates his own writing chops—how his poetry and beauty spill out of his world. In turn, my husband, who spends time problem solving, building, and dealing with the particulars of spreadsheets and numbers, notices the way the Lord orders every minute detail to perfect harmony.”

The Digital Allure of Being Attended To, HT to Challies. “I’ve been wrestling with the implications of people turning to AI Chatbots for friendship or, even more distressingly, romantic relationships, and what that means about our social fabric. I can’t help but feel that this is a bigger concern than we realize, or at least a more significant sign of the state of our society.” The last paragraph is especially good.

Small Injustices. “If we aren’t careful, we can allow the small injustices to make us spiritually blind. It’s like staring at the sun. If we focus on the small injustices, that’s all we’ll be able to see, and then pretty soon, we won’t see anything at all. We’ll live in the darkness of woe-is-me, and we will be completely incapable of thinking of others, being grateful, seeing God’s goodness in all that comes our way. We will forget the value in suffering, and we will quit our reliance on God.”

Five Things You Can Control, HT to Challies. “I had confided to my wise mother-in-law, who is now in her ninth decade of life, that I have felt at a loss some days over not having control over things that used to feel very controllable. This precious saint understands all too well the challenges of losing control over some of life’s circumstances.”

The Ministry of Small Things, HT to Challies. “Wanting to rise above the comfortable and predictable is far better than making an idol of our personal comfort and ease. But we don’t have to be notable or do notable things. In the pursuit of meaningful service for Christ, oftentimes the little things are the big things.”

How to Make Yourself at Home At (Almost) Any Church. HT to Challies. “The church is the gathering where the Word is preached, God is worshiped, the people serve one another and the community through their gifts, and the light of God’s salvation shines to the world. But how do you make the church home? Here are some recommendations:”

Parenting Is Hard, HT to Challies. “Yes, parenting is hard. I think parenting is supposed to be. Being an excellent parent, the kind we always thought we would be, is just…beyond…reach. Just…past…our outstretched finger tips. Oh, how this impossible task shows us our need for a Savior like nothing else we are called to do!”

Rubbing Shoulders Throughout Eternity, HT to Challies. This is a nice article about the people we’ll rub shoulders with in eternity. “Life is full of such encounters. You rub shoulders with a soul, perhaps only for a moment, and then your paths never again cross. And yet, just sometimes, there exists within these brief encounters a touch of some unknown and mysterious quality; a mingling between souls that cannot be put into words, though it is felt deeply.”

Christians are not so much in danger when they are persecuted as when they are admired
–C. H. Spurgeon

Laudable Linkage

Posted on January 25, 2025 by Barbara Harper

This is a good time for my occasional reminder that links here do not imply 100% endorsement of everything on a site I’ve linked to or from.

Why Don’t We Read the Bible More? Three Common Misunderstandings, HT to Challies. “That we should read the Bible is rarely questioned. Why we should read it is also fairly well-established. What we rarely do is examine why we, as confessing Christians, don’t read the Bible despite saying that we should. In my years of lay and vocational ministry, I’ve known the acceptable answers to this question and what we perceive to be ‘unacceptable’ answers.”

To (Almost) Die Is Gain, HT to Challies. A young wife and mom contemplates the gains she experienced after a dangerous brain surgery.

Biblical Theology Is for Nerds, HT to Challies. “When Marvel fans piece together the interconnected stories of the MCU across multiple films, they’re exercising the same muscles needed to trace biblical themes from Genesis to Revelation. The skills that make someone an expert in Star Wars lore or DC Comics continuity might be preparing him or her for something far more profound: biblical theology.”

What Does “Love Your Enemies” Not Mean? HT to Challies. “I recently preached on Jesus’s most revolutionary ethical teaching––love your enemies (Matt. 5:44). It stands as a Mount Everest among ethical instructions that both Christians and non-Christians respect. Yet, because we have a certain modern definition of love, it is easy to misunderstand Jesus’s teaching. What did Jesus actually mean by enemy love and how do we integrate it with Old Testament texts that seem to contradict it?”

The Sweet Honey of Forgiveness. “I’m thinking we make forgiveness way harder than it needs to be. It seems cumbersome, impossible … and somehow so wrong.”

How Are Children a Gift From the Lord? HT to the Story Warren. “If kids are a blessing and having a house full of them is a gift, we are going to have to structure our lives a little differently than the cultural norm.”

Our Answer to “Imagine.”Just before I stepped up to speak at the funeral of a professing believer, I had to endure the playing of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine.’ The opening words are ‘Imagine there’s no heaven!’ . . . I began to pray that the Lord would give me wisdom about what to say about this choice of music for a funeral.”

How to Pray for a Cancer Survivor. Much of what’s written here can be applied to other kinds of major illnesses as well. Sometimes the mental, emotional, or spiritual healing from trauma takes longer than the physical.

The Darkness of Winter, HT to Challies, subtitled, “It’s Not the Villain I Once Pegged it For: How the Lord uses Winter to Grow my Faith.” I share the author’s aversion to winter, though her winters are harder to deal with than mine. But she shares how God uses them.

When Everyone Else Is Getting the Blessings You Want. It’s easy to focus on the one thing we want that we don’t have. But God has poured out many blessings on all of us. Lois shares several.

Food (Allergies) and Fellowship. “Food plays an important part in corporate worship and the fellowship of God’s people. It did in Scripture, and it does so today. So, one of the issues we should perhaps consider is the challenge of food allergies. While food allergies may seem simply like a personal health issue for individuals, it can also impact that individual’s fellowship with other believers in a local assembly.” I can “amen” all of this as we have family members with gluten, dairy, nut, and other food issues. I’d especially highlight being careful of cross-contamination–sometimes people who mean well don’t realize this is a problem, too.

God’s presence is not the same as the feeling of God’s presence
and He may be doing most for us when we think He is doing least.
–C. S. Lewis

Laudable Linkage

Posted on January 18, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Some of the good blogging found this week:

Nearness Is Enough, HT to Challies. “For years, I thought the nearness of God would mean that everything would be okay or, at the very least, feel okay. I hoped that his nearness would mean some sort of tangible presence, some sort of relief from pain. I hoped that it would act as a shield and protection around me, that it would stop the fiery arrows of the enemy from penetrating my heart. But that was not the nearness of God.”

Trump, Trudeau, and the 51st State. The situation in Canada, from one who lives there.

Narcissus in Public, HT to Challies. “I took my family to downtown DC, ending the day with what we had envisioned as an idyllic skate at the ice rink in the National Gallery’s Sculpture Garden. Although it was lovely, as ice skating always is, the experience was marred by the presence, for most of our one-hour skate, of a cluster of young women for whom the rink’s only value was as background scenery for Instagram glamour shots.”

The Prosperity Gospel We Sometimes All Believe In. “There is a version of the prosperity gospel that we can all believe in and it goes something like this: ‘God, I gave my life to you, and in exchange I expect you to make my life easy. I may not need riches or opulence, perfect health or abundant wealth, but I would like ease. And if you take that ease from me, I may just assume that your feelings for me have altered or your love for me has waned. I may even regret following you. Please, just keep my life easy.’”

Please Don’t Sing “Imagine” at Funerals, HT to Challies. Or any time, really.

Will You Pass the Test of Praise? HT to Challies. “Generally, testing feels like something we want to avoid. But Scripture mentions a surprising test which looks, at first glance, like an exam we all want and could easily ace.”

The End of My Words. “‘The words of Job are ended.’ Have you ever come to the end of your words? I have. More than once, in my sanctification process, I’ve cried and wailed, and a time or two, I’ve even screamed my case before God until nothing was left. Dry bones. And at the end of my words, something miraculous took place.”

Hosting a Missionary Family. Tips and insights for churches and families hosting a visiting missionary.

I wish, my brothers and sisters, that during this year you may live nearer to Christ than you have ever done before. Depend upon it, it is when we think much of Christ that we think little of ourselves, little of our troubles, and little of the doubts and fears that surround us.
— Charles Spurgeon

Laudable Linkage

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I hope you are warm and snug this cold winter morning (if you’re in the northern hemisphere–if it’s summer where you are, stay cool!) Here are some good reads found this week:

Reading the Bible to Meet God, HT to Challies. “In my book Help My Unbelief: Why Doubt is Not the Enemy of Faith I wrote about how important it is to read the Bible to meet God, to read it relationally and as sustenance for the soul. Often we simply read it for information, to follow a rule, or as an academic pursuit. Reading to meet God sounds like a great idea and the ideal for a Christian, but how do we actually do it”

Life Beyond the Spiritual Shallows. “There is a depth to God’s character that cannot be assessed with quick glances and fleeting thoughts. We will never become the kind of women who face the lion’s den without a deep understanding of God’s character. We will never know that depth if we cannot find ways to circumnavigate our brain’s wiring and study God’s Word for longer than eight second bursts.”

Preparing for the Storm, HT to Challies. “We don’t acknowledge the likelihood of impending trials, so we don’t prepare for them. It’s only after the trial has passed, when we’re left trying to pick up the shards of hope and put our lives back together, that we realize we need to stockpile emergency supplies for the next time Sorrow comes knocking at our door. Having lived through one storm, we realize we’ll need a reservoir for the next one.”

Why Pray for Protection When Suffering Keeps Coming? John Piper answers a difficult question from a listener about praying for protection when it seems pointless, when God let bad things happen in the past.

Are You Your Spouse’s Biggest Cheerleader? HT to Challies. “It works both ways. Wives need their husbands to encourage and affirm and cheer for them as well. In healthy, thriving marriages, husbands and wives are cheerleaders for one another. Smart husbands and smart wives know that the Bible is right on target when it says, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue’ (Proverbs 18:21). Spoken words can destroy or empower.”

Little People with Big Emotions: 5 Strategies for Emotionally Healthy Kids. This is excellent, something I wish I’d had when mine were young. “I wish I had been better equipped to help my kids when they experienced big emotions. How can we help our children manage their feelings without stuffing them down, prettying them up, or feeling like there’s no room for them?”

Four Reasons Acts 2:38-39 Does Not Imply Infant Baptism. “Though this passage mentions both children and baptism, Acts 2:38–39 leaves no room for infant baptism. Here are four reasons why.”

Sin brings brief pleasures and lasting sorrow.
Repentance brings brief pain and eternal joy.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Laudable Linkage

Posted on January 4, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Have things settled down for you now that the holidays are over? Or has your new year started full tilt? We’re in resting/puttering mode–getting things done here and there but taking it slow after a lovely but busy couple of weeks.

There are several good reads found this week. I hope you’ll have time for some of them.

A Happy New Year Task for Writers. Though geared to writers, it’s good for us all. Before resolutions or goals or words for the year, we need to consecrate everything to the Lord.

How Healthy Is Your Soul? Six Questions for a New Year, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “Strewn throughout Scripture, prophets and apostles, wise men and the God-man all urge us to watch ourselves, pay attention to ourselves, and stay awake “lest we drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). Unless we keep our hearts ‘with all vigilance’ (Proverbs 4:23), they will not be kept.”

More Bible, Better Bible in 2024. This was written to preachers but is good for anyone who writes or speaks from the Word of God: we need to read and study it for our own souls, not just to find something to share with others. This was written by one of our former pastors.

The Good Shepherd Is the Lover of My Soul. Some good lessons from the life of Michal, David’s first wife.

What Happens When We Share the Gospel? Six Encouragements, HT to Challies. We may not know exactly what’s going on in hearts when we share the gospel. But there are a few things we do know.

Honor Your (Elderly) Parents: How Adult Children ‘Make Some Return,’ HT to Challies. “What can we tell adult children in the church to help prepare them for this call to honor aging parents and elders? As one in the thick of learning the lessons (and the blessings) of honoring, I would suggest three main messages for the adult children among us.”

Parental Regret: How to Move Forward When You’ve Let Your Kids Down, HT to Challies. “Rather than letting regrets anxiously swirl in our minds, we can take the off-ramp of reckoning honestly with what happened. Did you notice the pattern? It’s relational. Let your regrets move you toward the Lord, toward other Christians, and toward your kids.”

God’s Power Is Made Perfect In Weakness, HT to Challies. “He’s not saying God gives me his power and I feel powerful. This isn’t a shot of divine Red Bull that makes Paul powerful in his own right. No, God’s power is at work even as Paul is weak.”

Finally, just for fun, (Southern) Pride and Prejudice–Jane Austen’s book read in an “American Southern” accent.

Maybe the circumstances you most fear will contain treasures you least expect.
Sarah P. Walton

Laudable Linkage

Posted on December 28, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I’m sorry there was no Laudable Linkage last week. I had not been on the computer much at all and only had two links saved. I’ve done a little catching up this week and have many more to share. The first several pertain to Christmas but are still relatable reading.

Multiple Miracles of Christmas. “There were so many miracles in Christ becoming a man and making possible man’s salvation. Our Christmas celebration focuses on that incomparable miraculous event we call ‘The Incarnation.’ Note just a few of the miracles recorded in the Gospel accounts that were all part of the purpose and plan of God in Christ coming into our world.”

What Did Mary Know? Maybe More Than You Know. “You’ve heard the song. You’ve felt the angst. What did Mary know when she gave birth to Jesus Christ? Well, we have Mary’s song, the Magnificat, in Luke 1:46-55. In it, she reveals what she knew. The depth of her understanding as a teen-aged girl in the first century surpasses all expectations.”

Guard Your Heart from the Christmas Bandits. “In a familiar parable, Jesus described four types of soil that show how our heart condition determines whether the gospel will bear fruit (Matthew 13:1-23). He also identified the bandits that steal the good news. Let’s apply His teaching to Christmas and protect ourselves from the Christmas bandits.” This is good beyond Christmas.

We Three Kings . . .. HT to Challies. This was interesting and informative not only for who they were, but why they were included in Matthew’s gospel.

Making the Most of the Holidays with Your Adult Children, HT to Challies. “While we trust and pray for God to work, there are many things we can do to make the most of the holidays with our adult children”

Have You Lost the Ability to Think Deeply? HT to Challies. “While entertainment isn’t sinful, we need to ask ourselves if it’s affecting our spiritual growth. Jesus commands us in Mark 12:30, ‘Love the Lord your God . . . with all your mind’—our minds are connected to our affections. When we limit mindless entertainment and replace it with deeper content and conversations, our relationship with God and others will benefit.”

Finally Transformed: From Transgender to Christian, HT to Challies. “Christianity bears the brunt of modern criticism. It was oppressive to me—too limiting and too judgmental. I strived to resist it at all costs, believing ‘Bible thumpers’ the most viciously opposed to my identity as Andrea, even more so than the strangers shouting mean comments in the streets. But then I was transformed.”

Creativity in Devotional Time with God. “Reading the Bible straight through as it is printed from Genesis to Revelation can easily become old, even too predictable. Prayer through an unchanging prayer list day in and day out can be quite dry. I would like to help us stir our creative juices a bit and offer some practical ideas for keeping our devotional time fresh.”

The Reality of Edmund, HT to the Story Warren. Kelly Keller writes that in her childhood, she loved Lucy in the Narnia stories. But returning to the series as an adult, she found much to identify with in Edmund. She brought out some things about him that I had forgotten.

9 Ways to Help Those Who Are Suffering, HT to Challies. “While we feel compassion, we often find ourselves at a loss for what to do. Whether it’s a struggling spouse, a grieving friend, or a hurting member in our church, we want to help, but we’re unsure of the best approach. We walk a fine line between giving people space and showing up, between speaking truth and offering a listening ear. We fear doing or saying the wrong thing. It’s difficult to navigate. So, how do we help those who are suffering? How can we grow in showing up with love and wisdom?”

What? You Don’t? HT to Challies. “C.S. Lewis famously once said that friendship is birthed when the one says to the other, ‘What! You too?’1 The thought holds much truth, but the older I get, the more I learn it doesn’t always have to be.”

Teach Your Teen About Christian Freedom, HT to Challies. “When kids are young, we work hard to train their consciences, to teach them God’s commands and how to choose between right and wrong. But as kids get older, they must learn to navigate issues that aren’t black and white. They need wisdom to discern between good choices and those that are best.”

How (Not to Use AI: Three Principles, HT to Challies. “Along with technologies of writing, currency, transportation, and food production, AI confronts us with this quandary: how can we use this and not be corrupted by it?”

“Welcome, New Year,” said Captain Jim . . . “I wish you all the best year of your lives, mates. I reckon that whatever the New Year brings us will be the best the Great Captain has for us.”
–L. M. Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams

Laudable Linkage

Posted on December 14, 2024 by Barbara Harper

This is a busy time of year, but here are a few good reads you might find thought-provoking when you have a moment:

Uncomfortable Christmases, HT to Challies. I saw this last year after Christmas and saved it for this year. “But for some of us, going to a holiday gathering (or hosting one) can be fraught with spiritual tension when few (or none) share our Christian faith. And given numerous trends in our society, the tension may only get worse in the days ahead.”

Eleven Hindrances to Answered Prayer. HT to Challies.

Thinking About Bruce Willis and Jesus, HT to Challies. “We often talk as Christians about the suddenness of death. We talk to unbelievers about how important it is to not put off a decision for Jesus until later, because what if death comes calling when you don’t expect it. I wonder though have often we talk about or think about for ourselves, the suddenness of debilitation or disablement; how fast we can go from a fully functioning person, to our arms not working, our legs not working, our kidneys not working or even our mind not working.”

Keep This in Mind When There Is “Too Much to Do,” HT to Challies. This is written to pastors but has good advice for all.

Proverbs 31 Is Not Just for Women. Marli has an interesting perspective on this chapter that I’d not heard before.

How to Read and Remember, HT to Challies. “Someone recently asked me how to stay focused and retain what they read. It’s an important question, especially for anyone devoted to a life of profitable reading and learning.”

The Almighty Bean: When God’s Good Gift Becomes an Idol. “Maybe you own the t-shirt that says, ‘I need a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus.’ In truth, we just need Jesus—coffee optional.”

Wrap Up Some Stuff this Christmas, HT to Challies. “Our consumer-driven mentality is out of control, and we feel it everyday as more and more waste piles up around us. Sometimes a good answer is to slow down, cut back, and remove the unused things in our lives. But sometimes it’s not. Because you and I were created for a world full of things.”

More Than a Feeling: Be Ruled by Peace. “I’ve often fallen into the trap of thinking that peace is primarily a feeling. So when circumstances outside my control arise—my kids’ health situations, strained relationships, or some other crisis—peace feels elusive . . . drowned out by anxiety, sadness, anger, or overwhelm. This is why it’s important to understand peace as a reality that does not change when we encounter trials and suffering. Peace originates in the unchanging person of Jesus, and it never runs dry, regardless of what we’re facing or what our emotions might tell us. “

I sometimes think of changing the name of my “Laudable Linkage” posts, and one reason is that it seems weird to include links back to my own posts under such a title. But there are two that I think might be helpful this time of year:

Christmas Grief, Christmas Hope, Christmas Joy. Both of my parents and my grandmother all died in December, in different years. It seems every year I know of someone with a fresh loss during the holiday season. Even “old” grief can flare this time of year.

You Don’t Have to Choose a Word for the Year. Some do this rather than New Year’s resolutions and find great benefit in it. If it’s helpful, great. But it’s not a must. “What’s more vital than a word for the year is daily seeking God in His Word.”

Christmas is gloriously out of step with the times, for it outlasts the times. It champions obscurity over visibility. Humility over hubris. Divine mercy over human effort.
–G. K. Chesterton

Laudable Linkage

Posted on December 7, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Some of the good reads found this week:

How to Have a Perfect Christmas. “The longer I live, the more I realize perfect Christmases only appear in movies. No surprise, really, because real Christmases are never perfect.”

The Other Christmas Story. “We all love the Christmas story in Matthew’s gospel. . . . What we seldom notice, however, is that there is another Christmas story in Matthew, another version of how Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph. This overlooked account is squeezed between a list of Jesus’ ancestors and the familiar story.”

8 Proofs that the Bible Is One Story. “Does the Bible sometimes seem random to you? What does Hezekiah have to do with Philemon? How is Enoch connected to Ruth? What do battles in ancient Mesopotamia have to do with the church? Is the Bible really all one story?”

5 Tips to Reinforce Your Bible Study and Prayer Routine, HT to Knowable Word. “No church leader wants to admit it, but for many of us it’s true: we still don’t have a sustainable habit for personal Bible study and prayer. Here are five ways forward—true for anyone, church leader or not.”

You Can Read the Bible to Your Kids. “And one day, out of the blue, she asks me an innocent question that cuts me deeply. ‘Papa, how can I tell people about Jesus when I grow up, unless you first read the whole Bible to me?’”

Re: Is God Calling Me to Obscurity or Influence? I loved this post. Christa makes good points about both obscurity and influence.

Modesty Requires Looking Away. “When we talk about modesty we usually speak about the way people present themselves in public with their dress or demeanor, with their words or their actions. We speak about the immodest ways people may draw attention to themselves, whether to their bodies, their wealth, their power, or any other attribute. But no sin has just one side. If one side of modesty is refusing to display what should remain private, the other side is refusing to pay attention to what is not our concern.”

13 Ways to Redeem Small Pockets of Time. “Too often, however, we overlook the potential of small pockets of time. They seem too short to get anything meaningful done in them. But with a pinch of discipline and a dash of strategy, you can train yourself to redeem these little bits of time for the glory of God.”

This Christian message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity — hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory — because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. –J. I. Packer

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