Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 24, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I have several good reads to share today:

Hope In Hindsight: Navigating Unexpected Journeys, HT to the Story Warren. “Just as Stephen looked to the stories of Scripture to remind him of who God is and what he has done, we can do the same when we face uncertainty in our futures. When plans are interrupted, when hardship comes, and when we’re confronted with the reality of sin and death in a fallen world, we can look to the story of Scripture and the story of our life and see the goodness of God woven throughout.”

Maybe You Don’t Need a Therapist, HT to Challies. “I’ve found that for a growing number of people there is an assumption that to be a human is to need therapy. We’re all maladjusted, and the purpose of therapy is to adjust us so that we’re high-functioning members of society, living flourishing, mentally healthy lives. In this model, therapy is something like a weekly medicine we all need to mentally survive a hostile world.” But such an approach raises concerns, which the author discusses.

When Spiritual Disciplines Took Over My Life, HT to Challies. “Scrupulosity can be jaw-droppingly deceptive. Spiritual disciplines are essential for growth, and we want to encourage one another to practice them. But there’s a difference between healthy spiritual practice and someone who’s struggling with OCD. Since the outward behaviors may be the same, we need to look below the surface to identify scrupulosity.”

On Biblical Mandates and Cultural Expectations, Part 3. “Once we’ve invested the time and effort it takes to be informed about what the Scripture says, and what the law requires, and what the culture expects, we need to get down to the business of making decisions about how we respond to specific demands from those authorities.”

The Rise of Hyperpleasures, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “If humans experience pain and pleasure on a 1-10 scale, then hyperpleasures are those activities which take us ‘off the scale,’ so to speak. They give us experiences that make us feel like a 20, 30, 100, 1,000, and so on. The particular number is arbitrary, of course, but the principle remains — these are pleasures that go far beyond the ordinary range of enjoyment, principally by removing those discomforts we experience in our ordinary pleasures.”

It Takes Years to Grow, HT to Challies. “We think transformation will be quick, and sometimes it is. But generally speaking, God isn’t in a rush. There’s a certain kind of holiness and beauty that develops only after decades of walking with God. You can’t microwave it. But when you see it, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Mom and Dad: Show Your Need, HT to Challies. ““I have one regret of how I parented . . . I wish I would’ve shown my kids my need for Christ more. I worked so hard to show them my godliness that I didn’t show them my need. I should have been more transparent. I should have shown them just how much I needed Jesus.”

To Everything in Motherhood, There Is a Season. “It would have been impossible for me to explain my grief in that moment. I was missing something. Not people necessarily, but a time of life with those people. . . Yet, each new season brings new joys.”

People Who Were Bookworms As Children Often Display These Seven Unique Traits, HT to Linda. “Many of us were those so-called bookworms as kids, and it’s fascinating to see how this early love for reading has shaped us into the adults we are today. You see, spending all that time with our heads buried in books did more than just help us ace our English tests. It subtly carved out traits within us that are not only unique but pretty advantageous, too.”

Do Quests, Not Goals, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “The conventional term for this sort of personal campaign is a ‘short-term goal.’ But I suggested to OBW participants that they drop the G-word in favor of something more fanciful: the quest. If that sounds a bit whimsical, hear me out. Whereas ‘goal’ has become a tired and bloodless descriptor for the (supposed) intention to do something great, the word quest instills the right mentality for achieving a real-life personal victory.” I’ve never thought of a “goal” as tired and dull, but the quest mentality does have some good points.

This is a good time for my occasional reminder that linking to a site doesn’t mean 100% endorsement of everything on that site.

Any theology that minimizes God’s holiness and tolerates people’s deliberate sinfulness
is a false theology. — Warren W. Wiersbe,
from Be Decisive (Jeremiah): Taking a Stand for the Truth

Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 17, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I have not done as much blog reading this week with family here, but I have found a few thought-provoking posts:

How Can Christians Fight the War on Lies, HT to Challies. “This post-truth age poses profound challenges for Jesus followers. How does the church proclaim the gospel in a world where all truth claims are viewed with suspicion? How do we engage in meaningful dialogue when emotional resonance often trumps logical argument? And perhaps most critically, how do we maintain the integrity of our witness when the very concept of objective truth is under assault?”

Is Modern Tolerance an Aspect of Love? “What is the role of government? According to scripture, it is to protect us from evil, not protect evil.”

Impossibly, Gradually, Miraculously Changed, HT to Challies. “The apostle Paul talked about our slow path to holiness. We are, he said, being transformed (that’s the certain part) from one degree of glory to another (that’s the slow part) into the image of the Lord (that’s the beautiful part). More miraculous than an ocean of polished shell and glass, more changed than a river full of rocks is the transformation of a human heart by the Holy Spirit.”

Don’t Forget to Remember: Lessons from a King and the Pride That Hides. “Asa didn’t fall into overt, obvious pride. The Scripture doesn’t say anything about his rebellion or foolishness, arrogance or selfishness. His was a sin harder to detect: the pride that hides. It hides behind Bible readings and worship songs, formal prayers and spiritual disciplines.”

Seven Encouragements for Parents of Prodigals, HT to Challies. “I don’t think we or anybody has ever gotten to the bottom of it and its amazing portrait of the gracious heart of God.”

I Do Not Know This Year, Lord, HT to Challies. This poem about trusting God for the year ahead was apropos for me since my birthday is coming up next week.

Better a brief warfare and eternal rest, than false peace and everlasting torment.
—C. H. Spurgeon

Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 10, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the good reads found this week:

Everything Short of Hell Is a Mercy, HT to Challies. “Everything short of hell is mercy. This one truth should change the way we view our hardships and frustrations, no matter how terrible they may be. If we, as sinners, are not facing the wrath of the infinitely Holy God at this moment, our life is better than we deserve. That is true for every Christian and non-Christian alive right now.”

What to Say to Dave About Regular Bible Reading, HT to Challies. “Few of us have it fully sorted, and so we don’t feel qualified to tell others what they should be doing. I certainly don’t feel like I can speak from anything other than the wisdom that comes from regular failure. But failure is a good teacher, even if I’m not a good student, so here are five tips I might give to Dave.”

Should You Send Your Kids to Catholic School? HT to Challies. Some considerations.

In a Day’s Work: God’s Pattern for Productivity. “I’ve been studying the book of Genesis in depth, and something struck me recently about how God structured the days of creation. I think there may be something in this pattern that we can imitate in our own work.”

How Vocational Stewardship Leads to Human Flourishing, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “By ‘vocational stewardship,’ I mean the intentional and strategic use of one’s vocational power (skills, knowledge, network, position, platform) to advance human flourishing.” I would add that those things can be done on a smaller scale with neighbors, relatives, and church members.

The Porcelain Room. “Do I worry so much that I’ll forget to give them something they’ll need that I forget to point them toward the Lord who knows what they’ll need—and who will make sure they have it? Am I so preoccupied with the thorns and thistles of life that I allow them to crowd out the good growth of the gospel in our family?”

The Best a Man Can Get, HT to Challies. I enjoyed watching the American men’s gymnastics team win their bronze medal, the first US men’s team to medal in some time. This article about the team was great, too. “It’s a quintessentially American success story about a quintessentially American team, made up of distinct, memorable characters. The phrase ‘Diversity is our strength’ has become a cheap leftist nothing, but there are times and places when it actually means something, and the Olympics is one of them.”

The Curse of Knowledge, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “Have you ever had a teacher who was very smart but terrible at teaching? An expert who used so much jargon you could not follow their explanation? This is called the ‘curse of knowledge.'” The author shares ways to bridge the gap.

The Quiet Grief of Caregiving: Four Balms for the Overburdened, HT to Challies. “I forced a smile, swallowed down the tightness in my throat, and struggled against the tide of grief that’s become as familiar and worn as a tattered coat. It’s a mantle common to many who walk beside the hurting — the heaviness that presses upon the heart when we’ve witnessed others’ suffering over and over and over.”

Church Skills: Use Them or Lose Them, HT to Challies. “You might not think you have church skills, but you almost certainly do. You will have developed ways of making conversation, showing interest in people, caring for them, serving in all sorts of ways and lots of other such things. But as with anything we have learnt to do, if you don’t keep using it, you will lose it.”

I’ve experienced His presence in the deepest darkness hell that men can create. I’ve tested the promises of the Bible, and believe me, you can count on them.” — Corrie ten Boom, survivor of Ravensbruck concentration camp after helping hide Jewish people during WWII

Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 3, 2024 by Barbara Harper

It turned out to be a busy week, but here are a few good reads I saw online:

How Can a Writer Survive When Chaos Is All Around? “Some days I’m not certain living unruffled is a possibility for someone as flawed as me. Anytime life throws me a curve, I begin reacting to the busyness instead of concentrating on walking with God through the chaos.” Good thoughts, not just for writers.

The World Tells Us How It Really Feels. “What should we say, then, to the world which so regularly mocks Christianity, blasphemes Christ, and hates Christians, especially if they dare preach the gospel?”

Driven by Fear to the God Who Casts Out Fear. “Whether it’s a career goal, a desire for a child, or an avenue of service to God, it’s easy to allow the sheer size of the dream to overwhelm us with fear. By grace, may we let our fear drive us to the One who casts out all fear.”

The False Identity of Vanity, HT to Challies. “Vanity is often defined as someone who has an excessive love of themself—an over-the-top, prideful attitude that thinks, “I am the fairest.” Vanity is certainly not less than this. There are many who live in self-admiration of the way they look or in excessive pride over their gifts and talents. . . . But there is another aspect to vanity that is equally harmful.”

The Crooked Apple Tree, HT to Challies. “There’s no way that tree could ever hide the fact that it has seen terrible trouble. And yet, for all that, the tree still fills up with apples every year. The old crooked apple tree beside my friend’s home in a restored ruin encourages me. Living in this broken world brings trouble to humans, too.”

Words That are Fitting, HT to the Story Warren. “Suffering is uncomfortable—certainly for the person enduring it, but also for those who witness it. We can feel uncomfortable with a friend’s expressions of grief or anger or agony, so we may say things to her to cheer her up or calm her down that does the opposite of what we intend—our words hurt rather than heal. We may even say things that are ultimately true but said at the wrong time.”

Seasons of a Reading Life, HT to the Story Warren. “In some seasons, reading happens as easily as breathing. It is the thing I will prioritize and order my free time around. In other seasons, reading is more work. I find myself giving way to other demands on my time, to other things that take higher precedence.”

The Issue of Wealth in the Bible, HT to Challies. “We examined every case in the Bible where an individual was identified as having substantial material possessions and the means of acquiring these goods was disclosed. We found that in the twenty-one cases meeting these criteria, the means of acquisition was a reliable indicator of whether a person received approval or disapproval”

Mom, Will You Hold This? Just as kids ask us to hold their stuff while they play, so we hold their imaginations. Sarah Dixon Young shares ways to both guard and foster children’s imaginations.

My quote for today is longer than usual, but it was so good, I wanted to share it. I heard it on Chuck Swindoll’s Insight for Living program on BBN Radio on August 1. I had trouble getting such a large quote to fit with the program I use (WordSwag).

“I may, I suppose, regard myself, or pass for being, as a relatively successful man.
People occasionally stare at me in the streets–that’s fame. I can fairly easily earn enough to qualify for admission to the higher slopes of the Internal Revenue–that’s success.
Furnished with money and a little fame even the elderly, if they care to,
may partake of trendy diversions– that’s pleasure.
It might happen once in a while that something I said or wrote was sufficiently heeded for me to persuade myself that it represented a serious impact on our time–that’s fulfillment.
Yet I say to you — and I beg you to believe me–multiply these tiny triumphs by a million, add them all together, and they are nothing–less than nothing, a positive impediment–measured against one draught of that living water Christ offers to the spiritually thirsty,
irrespective of who or what they are.”
– Malcolm Muggeridge

Laudable Linkage

Posted on July 27, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I found quite a few good reads this week:

Yes, God Really Does Desire Your Happiness, HT to Challies. “I have heard that exact line so many times (“God wants us holy, not happy”), and I agree that it contributes to untold, unnecessary suffering in the lives of Christians.“

When Suffering Shakes Your Faith. “For the last decade, I’ve wanted to write to her: the woman overwhelmed by suffering, who feels herself crumbling under the weight of all that’s on her shoulders. But recently, I’ve been paying more and more attention to the woman watching from the other side of the television and the other side of the table. Her faith is also formed as she witnesses someone else’s suffering—her faith will either be forged by the reality of a sovereign and good God or be weakened one storm at a time.“

Maybe We Make Meditation Too Difficult. “What is meditation? Meditation is pondering the words of the Bible with the goal of better understanding and sharper application. Ideally, meditation leads us to understand the words we have read and to know how God may call us to work them out in our lives. It is one of the ways that we output wisdom after inputting knowledge.” Tim points out that we usually think of meditation as something done in solitude and silence, but that may not always be the case.

Cultivating Christlike Compassion on Social Media. “As followers of Jesus, we should be known for our Christlike compassion, but the anonymity of social media can make it easy for us to forget that there’s a person created in the image of God on the other side of the screen. This sometimes leads us to forget our call to be different from the world and causes us to abandon the compassionate ways of our Lord.”

Confessions of a Chronic Yeller. “I didn’t set out to be a yeller. There were many aspects of my childhood I vowed not to repeat in my own family, but yelling somehow didn’t make the list. I was Portuguese Italian, after all. Portuguese Italians had dark hair, ate pasta, and yelled. Then I became a Christian. And strange things began to happen.”

A Mother to Me, Too, HT to Challies. “Mothering well does not depend on having Instagram-worthy kitchens or the laundry neatly folded and put away. Instead, it is about welcoming and nurturing the ones within our circle, caring for their hearts and their hurts through the tender love of Jesus. And then opening that circle to include those hungering outside the door.”

‘Never Look Your Age’: Shiny Lies We Often Buy, HT to Challies. “In Christ, the physical signs of aging are not marks to despise, but signs of how God has worked through your circumstances to turn you into the person you are today. Seen this way, they can encourage you to trust him with your future, whatever your fears.”

What Does It Mean to Die with Dignity? HT to Challies. Clue: it’s not what those who advocate euthanasia say it is.

If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed.
If you look within, you’ll be depressed.
If you look at God you’ll be at rest.

— Corrie ten Boom

Laudable Linkage

Posted on July 20, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the good reads found this week:

Contentment Isn’t Only for Hard Times, HT to Challies. “I was about as happy as a person could be. I say ‘about’ because one unwelcome thought intruded: It’s not going to last. I was only visiting for a couple of weeks, and then I’d be back to the daily grind of work and responsibilities. In that moment, amid deep joy, the grace of contentment was just as essential as it is when my life is falling apart. I need contentment to receive God’s immense blessings gratefully, even knowing they’re temporary.”

It’s OK to Be OK, HT to Challies. “We need to fight two battles at once. We need to keep telling people that life is hard, the world is fallen, and we all fall short in sin. It’s OK to struggle, and when we do, we need to ask for help . . . However, we don’t need to equate authenticity with struggle. We need to leave room for people to be authentically happy—for life to go well sometimes.”

On Magic. “What is magic, in essence? It’s an attempt to get the gods to do what you want. And that is to turn the universe upside down and inside out. God is not our servant; he is not here to do what we want. We are here to do what he wants. If I do this or this or that, God will do what I want. That’s, ironically, godless thinking.”

Don’t Be Proud of What You Had No Say In, HT to Challies. “Many of the things that people tend to be proud of are things that we have no say in at all,” like height, natural beauty and abilities. “There is a difference between a gift and a talent. A gift is something you receive that you did not earn. A talent is something that you have developed over time, often based on a gift you have received.”

15 Resolves for Maintaining Spiritual Balance in Severe Interpersonal Conflicts, HT to Challies. I’d add one that has been a help to me: remembering the other person is beloved by God, and God wants the highest and best for that person, too.

Beware the Instagram Bible. I think I shared this a few years ago, but I needed to look it up again this week. “Beware the Instagram Bible, my daughters—those filtered frames festooned with feathered verses, adorned in all manner of loops and tails, bedecked with blossoms, saturated with sunsets, culled and curated just for you. Beware lest it become for you your source of daily bread. It’s telling a partial truth.”

When You Can’t Forgive Yourself After an Abortion, HT to Challies. Although the context is about abortion, the truths here are good for anyone who feels they can’t forgive themselves for something they have done.

Updated to add: I stay away from politics here on the blog, but I wanted to say I was saddened and shocked by the events of last weekend. Violence is not the answer no matter what party one is in.

D. L. Moody quote about what God can do with a nobody

Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody; 40 years learning he was nobody,
and 40 discovering what God can do with a nobody. — D.L. Moody

Laudable Linkage

Posted on July 13, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I have just a short list to share with you today:

The Living and Abiding Word of God, HT to Challies. “A farmer doesn’t cause seeds to grow but faithfully plants and waters them. Despite his careful tending, the seeds he sows sometimes lay dormant for a long time—which is Peter’s point. It’s not our cleverly devised arguments or our life’s example that brings about new life but the powerful life-producing work of God’s imperishable and never-fading Word.”

Look Up In Faith, HT to the Story Warren. “On my way to school, I drove with my eyes fixed on the road, praying I would be ready to meet my twenty-six early morning students in just a few minutes. And then I saw it, a pinkish orange hue highlighting a sky full of cotton puffs. I couldn’t believe it. How many years had I been making this drive and I just now noticed? If I’m honest, I’ve always had a hard time looking up.”

Does the Bible Blame Women for Rape? HT to Challies. Wendy Alsup thinks through a difficult passage in Deuteronomy.

Why Is Proverbs So Negative About Women? “So a fairly new believer asked me a simple question afterward. ‘Why is the Bible so hard on women?’ I am glad she felt the freedom to ask the question. I would much rather get it out in the open than have women wonder silently. Let’s tackle the question for a moment.”

How to Identify a Great Deacon, HT to Challies. Churches have different ways of choosing deacons: some appoint them, others have the congregation vote on them. If you’re in the position of nominating or voting on deacons, this article has great points to consider.

Before you use God’s Word as a sword, use it first as a mirror.
J. C. Ryle

Laudable Linkage

Posted on July 6, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here’s my latest round of good blogging links:

Why Can’t an Unbeliever’s Good Works Please God? HT to Challies. “But when people find it difficult to grasp why God doesn’t accept their good deeds, I like to offer a few illustrations to help them better understand their standing with God and the nature of the good works. One illustration I like to use involves an estranged neighbor and my front lawn.”

Read the Bible a Lot, HT to Knowable Word. “One sure sign that someone hasn’t read their Bible for very long, is that they are arrogant. That might seem surprising, but it is almost universally true that someone who has spent a little time in God’s word always seems to have the answer for any situation.”

Taking a Hard Look, HT to Challies. Commenting on Paul’s telling people to imitate him in Philippians 3:17: “It’s not that I think Paul’s being arrogant. He’s not saying, ‘You don’t need to imitate Jesus; just imitate me.’ He’s imitating Jesus, so if they imitating him, they are imitating Jesus. This passage makes me twitchy because how can you possibly feel comfortable telling people to imitate you? But Paul did. So why don’t I?” Very convicting!

Beauty Is Found In the Most Unexpected Places, HT to Challies. “The stars shine brightest against the blackened sky. Oak trees gain their stability and strength by enduring fierce storms. Pearls are found hidden within the depths of the sea. Diamonds are formed under intense pressure and heat under the earth’s crust. In God’s world, beauty is often found in the most unexpected places. And our faith often deepens and flourishes when everything is against us.”

Dear Little One, HT to Challies. This is a sweet letter from an aunt to her toddler nephew. It echoes what many parents and grandparent feel.

Made to Rest, HT to Challies. “Two kinds of rest—physical and spiritual — are critical for human flourishing and survival. We often conflate the two, but they are very different.” This is probably one of the best explanations of spiritual rest that I have read.

Why Did the Purity Movement Die? I don’t agree with every detail or characterization here, but overall the article shares many reasons why a movement that meant well ultimately died out.

Learning to Embrace the Counsel of Godly Older Women. “I’ve realized just how much my heart craves this kind of input—input that is quite priceless and rare today. From my study of Scripture, I’ve gained a deep conviction that I long for it because we’re supposed to have teaching from godly older women. Their counsel increases our wisdom and discernment—when we’re willing to heed it.”

Completely Unsolicited, Totally Anecdotal, But Perhaps Marginally Helpful Thoughts on Being a Christian Writer, HT to Challies. “For better or worse, I have a unique angle on this conversation. I’ve spent the last 7 years in the Christian publishing industry. Last year I published my first trade book. And the whole time, I’ve been as active as I know how to be in Christian shortform, maintaining a blog/newsletter for several years and writing articles for a variety of other places. This doesn’t make me wise, just experienced. So what I’d like to do in this post is offer a fistful of thoughts on the craft and business of Christian writing.”

We must allow the Word of God to correct us the same way we allow it to encourage us.
A. W. Tozer

Laudable Linkage

Posted on June 29, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here’s my last list of links for this month:

How Can the Command to “Honor Your Father” Apply to Good and Bad Fathers Alike? HT to Challies. “Think about it, the biblical command to honour your dad cannot be a licence for dads to be horrible knowing that their christian children have to suck it up and honour them. You are called to honour your dad. But the type of dad your dad is shapes the ways and the extent that you honour him.”

Till He Was Strong, HT to Challies. “Did you know that it is not only the weak who are in danger of a spiritual fall? There are those who think, ‘if only I were stronger, then I wouldn’t be so (fill in the blank).’ But this isn’t true. Over and over again in God’s word, it is the strong who find themselves in the worst predicaments. Uzziah is one example. He was famous. He was helped by God. ‘Till he was strong.’ Do you feel the warning?”

The Golden Rule for Hard Conversations, HT to Challies. “The question of when or how to have hard conversations is one that requires wisdom. As believers in Christ, we are commanded to get involved when we see a brother or sister wondering from the truth (Galatians 6:1-2; Matthew 18:15; Ephesians 4:25). The Proverbs remind us that ‘a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver’ (25:11). ‘Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy’ (Proverbs 27:5-6). We recognize even in those instructions that we are responsible for making sure our rebuke is ‘a word fitly spoken,’ meaning appropriate. I’m sure we’ve all seen the harm in overzealousness in this area.”

A Thousand Wheels of Providence, HT to Challies. “In a situation like this, Jeremiah Burroughs points out that when we consider God’s work in Providence, we can only see things in pieces. We cannot see or understand many things that God does. Burroughs then compares it to the wheels in a watch.”

One of the Best Ways We Can Love Our Loved Ones. “In waiting rooms and living rooms, bedrooms and examination rooms. In the garden, the shower, the pickup line, the checkout line. Love prays.“

Writing (and Reading!) as Hospitality, HT to the Story Warren. “As a long-time member of The Habit, a community of writers, I’ve heard many bits of advice from authors of all stripes, but one idea that has profoundly impacted me over the years is Jonathan Rogers’ assertion that writing is a form of hospitality.”

The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. A. W. Tozer

Laudable Linkage

Posted on June 22, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I’m still behind on my blog reading, but found some great posts in what I did read:

8 Ways We Normalize the Abnormal by Paul Tripp, HT to Proclaim and Defend. “God has made it clear that the norm for his children should be love. It is the thing that the listening and watching world should know us for. We should be recognized not only for the purity of our theology but also for the consistency of our love. This love is the new commandment that Jesus left with his disciples in his final days with them: ‘that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another’ (John 13:34).” Because love should be our normal response, Tripp lists eight responses that should not be normal for us: those that are driven by emotional, anger, disrespect, and more.

Do You Really Know How to Live by the Golden Rule? “The Golden Rule as Jesus has phrased it is one more example of Jesus’s rejection of bare-minimum obedience. Jesus has called us to a deeper obedience whose focus is character and motive—not simply actions.”

Does Bach’s Music Prove the Existence of God? HT to Challies. “Music isn’t just something physical and material. There’s something beyond the notes on the page. In great works of art, we touch the edges of the transcendent because the best of our human creations are consciously or unconsciously reaching for the true, good, and beautiful.” Interesting to think about! I have been moved to thank and worship God by the beauty and artistry of secular music, whether the artist believes in Him or not.

The Awesome Privilege of Praying to God as a Father. “In Matthew 5–7 the Lord Jesus introduced the ‘platform’ of His kingdom. He didn’t speak of defense, or taxation, or healthcare. He spoke against hypocrisy (‘be not as the hypocrites’) and in favor of private piety (‘go into your closet’). He spoke against religious formalism (‘you have heard’) and in favor of heart righteousness (‘but I say unto you’). He spoke against materialism (‘you cannot serve God and money’) and in favor of spiritual investment (‘seek first the kingdom of God’). All the while, again and again and again (sixteen times in the three chapters), He pointed His hearers to God as their heavenly Father, especially in His instructions about prayer.”

Let’s Stop Hyper-Spiritualising Christian Counseling, HT to Challies. “When Christians really struggle—and all of us will, at different times—it seems that it’s automatically assumed the fundamental problem is a spiritual one. We conclude that something must be wrong in our relationship with God. Our Christian counselling tends to be over-spiritualised. Thus our solutions are merely spiritual, believing the struggles to be spiritual. But that’s hopelessly reductionistic. It’s also dangerously simplistic.”

Why Hardship May Show God’s Love. “I’ve noticed that God didn’t shelter His young heroes from hardship. Neither did He wrap His own Son in bubble wrap.” We try to make things easy on our kids, but God trains us through hardship.

How to Become a Better Reader, HT to Steve Laube. “Anyone can be a good reader, even in the Internet Age. Reading better means reading more slowly. The Net tells us to consume words in small, easy bites, as we dart from one webpage to another. But slow reading demands time and practice.”

I mentioned this yesterday, but for those who didn’t see it, I had a radio interview earlier this week with Kurt and Kate Mornings on Moody Radio Florida to discuss my blog post Life Doesn’t Always Turn Out Like We Thought It Would. My son recorded that interview for me and made it linkable. You can listen to it here if you’re interested.

My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, He is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is now doing for me.
From the September 25 reading from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon