Laudable Linkage

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I hope you have a great Saturday! There are a few good reads here if you have time.

Four Prayer Responses to the Murder of Charlie Kirk, HT to Tim Challies, who has curated several posts on different aspects of Kirk’s murder here.

I don’t often link to Facebook posts, but this one shared by a friend from author Tricia White Priebe points out how rejoicing over Charlie Kirk’s murder shows society’s lack of value of human dignity.

O Lord, Heal Our Land. “Anyone who lived through the late 1960s and early 1970s, as I did, can see the parallels between then and now. And yesterday’s assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah has left us all stunned, wondering about our own future as a nation.”

Bible Reading as a Blessing, Not a Burden, HT to Challies. “I loathe the times I’m distracted by a screen, or a crick in the neck, or an overly groggy eye. Or even worse, when the pillow seems more pleasing. I suspect I’m not alone in my laments and loathes. And I bet you want to hang on the word of God, too.”

How to Rightly Train Your Affections, HT to Challies. “While human preferences for food or favorite football teams may be value neutral, preferences are not always so. We are commanded by God to prefer certain things. Or to shift again to the language of affections, God calls his people to rejoice in, love, and desire certain things and to despise other things. Our affections, in other words, are not always value neutral. We are responsible for training them according to the revealed will of God.”

Making Space for Others, HT to the Story Warren. “Let’s scoot over. Make room. Here, take this spot and sit by us. If you are walking into a space as a new student, neighbor, or church visitor, those can be some of the kindest words ever spoken. As a woman in my mid-fifties, I’m shocked that the awkwardness of junior high floods back so quickly when I am in a new situation. And, as a ministry leader who usually runs the room, I can forget how it feels to walk into an unfamiliar one.”

Go Ahead, Bring a Knife to a Gunfight. “God calls each one of us to battle for the right and against the wrong, and it’s a simple fact that many of us are not equipped with the kind of weapon we would prefer to carry into such a conflict. Many of us look at the weapons wielded by others and wish we had theirs instead of ours. Yet in the battle for God’s cause, he always means for us to put to use the weapon we have on hand with the conviction that he will bless our efforts, no matter how weak or paltry those weapons may seem.”

The Good Always the Enemy of the Best. “Somewhere along the way, despite our desire to give our children the best, we can find ourselves spending vast amounts of time, energy, and money pursuing the good instead. How does this happen? We become deceived. Deceived by culture. Deceived by our well-meaning friends. Deceived, sometimes, even by Christians.”

The Most Exasperating and Least Rewarding. I’ve been pondering similar thoughts recently. “If you move to a new town and search for a new church, it’s unlikely you will find one that offers everything you’d prefer a church to offer—every doctrine, every emphasis, every association, every ministry, every preference. You may love the music, but wish there was a greater emphasis on liturgy. You may appreciate the effort that goes into evangelism, but lament the lack of effort that goes into youth ministry. The preaching may be just what you are after, but the small-group ministry is sputtering. Yet churches are bundled—you have to weigh the weaknesses against the strengths and the desirable qualities against the undesirable. Perfection isn’t an option.”

Journaling God’s Faithfulness: 10 Questions to Develop This Faith-Building Habit. If you’d like to keep a spiritual journal, this post has a lot of good suggestions for what to write about.

Is Being Pro-Life Really Just “Pro-Forced Birth?” HT to Challies. No, and this article explains why. “When it comes to moral issues, like abortion, we must always be alert for the word games, rhetorical ploys, and manipulative language that distort the truth and make something evil look good.”

Don’t Do Everything for Your Kids, HT to Challies. It’s interesting that I have seen this theme in a number of blog posts lately. “What I’d like to suggest today is that just as important as giving your kids opportunities to play soccer or violin or go to that birthday party or go to the park or do that activity or play that game with them is to allow yourself time to read the Bible or a book or to spend time with your spouse. It’s possible to give too much to your children, sacrificially, at the expense of your wellbeing and the relationship with your spouse (if you have one). And that will not serve your children, yourself, or your marriage well.”

The closer we are to the Shepherd,
the safer we are from wolves.
Unknown

The Only Bloodline That Matters

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Bloodlines used to mean a great deal in society. Many a Regency-era romance involves a highborn person who falls hopelessly in love with someone who is wonderful and kind, but off-limits because of their low birth. Even now we speak of someone being from “a good family.”

I’ve often been curious about my ancestry, but I’ve never investigated how to research family history. I don’t know much about relatives who lived before my grandparents. It’s fun to hear others talk about what kind of people they came from. Well-thought of ancestors can make us feel good about ourselves. But it’s embarrassing to find out we come from a criminal or some otherwise unfavorable lineage.

Recently someone reminded me of John Harper, one of the men on the Titanic who died in the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. He was a Scottish pastor who spent his last hours clinging to wreckage from the ship, sharing the gospel with everyone within earshot, refusing rescue so others who weren’t ready to die could have more time to be saved.

I think one of my husband’s relatives once told us we were related to John Harper. I found myself hoping we were, as if something of his character could rub off on our family through his bloodline.

In Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot, she shared this from her grandfather, Philip E. Howard, from his book, Father and Son:

Do you remember that encouraging word of Thomas Fuller’s, a chaplain of Oliver Cromwell’s time? It’s a good passage for a father in all humility and gratitude to tuck away in his memory treasures:

Lord, I find the genealogy of my Savior strangely checkered with four remarkable changes in four immediate generations.

Rehoboam begat Abijah; that is, a bad father begat a bad son.
Abijah begat Asa; that is, a bad father begat a good son.
Asa begat Jehoshaphat; that is, a good father begat a good son.
Jehoshaphat begat Joram; that is, a good father begat a bad son.

I see, Lord, from hence that my father’s piety cannot be entailed; that is bad news for me. But I see also that actual impiety is not always hereditary; that is good news for my son.

A godly heritage is a blessing in many ways, but godliness isn’t passed through our bloodlines. The family we come from doesn’t guarantee heaven for us. We can’t coast on their faith. We have to repent of sin and believe in Jesus as our Savior and Lord for ourselves. We need to read and love His Word and develop our own personal relationship with Him.

A bad family is a problem in many ways, but it doesn’t doom us for life and eternity. God’s grace is available to all who will receive it.

Genealogies have a purpose in the Bible, but not as a predictor of who will or won’t believe on the Lord.

It’s not whose blood flows through our veins that determines our characters or our destiny. It’s whose blood flowed on the cross.

None of us is highborn in a spiritual sense. We’re all sinners to some degree. Some are worse than others, but we’re all sinful enough to receive hell.

Only the sinless Son of God could live a life of perfect righteousness before His Father. How amazing that He took our sinfulness on Himself so His righteousness would count for us. What a wonderful Savior to love us even when we were His enemies and sacrifice so much so we could be saved and transformed.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

What God’s Sovereignty Does Not Mean

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Barbara Harper

As Christians, we believe in God’s sovereignty, the fact that He is the Creator and supreme ruler of all. God’s rule is all over the Bible, but here are just a few verses about it:

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases (Psalm 115:3).

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” (1 Chronicles 16:31).

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all (Psalm 103:19).

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand (Proverbs 19:21).

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps (Proverbs 16:9).

I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things (Isaiah 45:5-7).

For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose (Isaiah 46:9b-10).

But then we wonder, if God is sovereignly ruling and reigning from heaven, why do such atrocities like murder and rape occur? Why do hurricanes and tornadoes and fires decimate cities and take so many lives?

The good world that God created has been broken since sin entered. “The whole creation has been groaning together, waiting for its redemption” (Romans 8:22).

Jesus died for the sins of the world, that whoever believes in Him can receive forgiveness. Someday, after Jesus returns, sin will be defeated and everything will be made right. Until then, He gives grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). He even redeems our circumstances, working all things together for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28).

People have argued for centuries over what God allows vs. what He ordains and how His sovereignty and our responsibility work together. Those are subjects too big for this blog post, and there are people much more qualified than I am to write about them.

But through years of talking with other Christians and reading Christian writing, it seems to me there are some things God’s sovereignty does not mean.

God’s sovereignty does not mean:

Passivity.

When William Wilberforce was confronted with the horrors of slavery, he didn’t sit back and say, “Well, it must be God’s will.” He fought slavery his whole life. Others who joined him saw slavery as the ultimate in not loving our fellow humans as God taught us to.

When Elisha stayed with the Shunammite woman in 1 Kings 4, he wanted to make some return to her for her hospitality. When he found she was childless, he foretold that she would have a son. When the son died, he raised him up. In neither case did he say, “Well, God allowed it, so I can’t do anything about it.”

Sometimes God brings people’s needs to our attention for the very purpose that He might use us to meet them. We can’t do what Elijah did, but we can help as God enables.

Fatalism

Some years ago when a national election hadn’t gone the way most Christians preferred, I wrote a post saying all was not lost because we still had a voice in America. We could stay informed, vote our consciences, write to our officials, let our views be known on issues, etc. Someone commented that because God was sovereign, fate was sealed and nothing we did would change anything. I responded that we have several instances in the Bible of people influencing officials: Joseph, Daniel, Esther, John the Baptist. This reader kept arguing, and I finally had to ask him to stop.

God knows what is going to happen, and it’s true our actions won’t change something He has ordained. Yet it is also true that somehow, He works through our actions as He leads us.

Lack of regret.

Though David was forgiven for his sin with Bathsheba and her husband, and God used his heartbroken expression of repentance in Psalm 51 in countless lives since then, I have no doubt that he regretted his actions, especially as the consequences played out in his family. I’m sure Peter regretted denying the Lord Jesus. We all have regrets–actions and words we wish we could take back, opportunities missed, and so forth.God forgives and redeems our regrets, but we wish we would have done right in the first place.

Stoicism.

When a fellow Christian is troubled over something God has brought into his or her life or some good thing He has not given, we can get a little impatient, thinking, “You just need to accept that this is God’s will and move on.” And maybe, ultimately, acceptance of God’s will is needed. But often acceptance is not a one-time event. Sometimes we have to wrestle our desires or emotions into submission. And though God allows circumstances for a reason, He also calls us to come alongside, encourage, help others gain perspective, and help bear their burdens.

I think in situations like school shootings or major disasters, Christians can jump immediately to God’s sovereignty in their efforts to find meaning and hope. But there are times to just weep with those who weep over the effects of living in a fallen world. Yes, ultimately we find comfort in His care and purpose. But He knows this world will have its share of sorrow and calls us to comfort each other. Our ultimate comfort comes from the promise that, in His kingdom to come, there will be no more sorrow, death, crying, or pain.

Nonchalance

I’ve known some people with the attitude that it doesn’t matter what choices they make in life, because God will guide them to the right choice. God promises to lead us in the way we should go, but He tells us to seek His will, pray, be careful, walk wisely, be diligent, and so many other things. Scripture shows people praying for God’s direction: Abraham’s servant, Jehoshaphat. Even Jesus spent the night in prayer before naming His disciples.

That there is no need for prayer.

Another mystery in the Bible is why we’re to pray when God knows the need and knows what He will do about it. One reason God calls us to pray is for our fellowship and our growth and submission to His will. And though He can and does act apart from our prayers, there are things we won’t have if we don’t pray. “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2b).

That there is no need for self-examination

Some years ago, a missionary letter told of many details and preparations involved in special meetings at his church. Visitors came, but no one visibly responded. One of the Christians asked why. The missionary replied that the unsaved people who came were not elect.

I was stunned. I think the better response would have been that sometimes we plant the seed of the gospel and sometimes we water it (1 Corinthians 3:6). Maybe people didn’t respond to the gospel then, but they heard it. And maybe some did respond in their hearts even though they did not come forward at the invitation.

But it still concerned me that a lack of response was deemed God’s “fault,” with no examination about whether the Christians there could have done anything differently. Did people welcome the visitors? Were they friendly? Was the gospel explained clearly? Were there distractions like heat, cold, bugs (in open air meetings), etc.? Yes, God is the one that brings the gospel to fruition in a life, and the Holy Spirit can work in spite of hindrances. But we can also do everything in our power to have as few hindrances as possible.

When missionary Amy Carmichael was once sharing the gospel with someone, the woman seemed to be listening, until she noticed Amy’s fur gloves. Such gloves were not common in her country, and she got distracted examining them. Amy never wore the gloves again.

That we can’t make wrong decisions.

There’s an odd story in 2 Kings 13 where Elisha told the king to take his arrows and strike the ground with them.

And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times” (2 Kings 13:18-19).

The Israelites had been promised a land for their people. But when the time came to go in and take the land, most of the people balked and refused. Instead of relying on God’s promised help, they held back in fear. So God sent them into the wilderness for forty years.

When Mordecai warned Esther about Haman’s wicked scheme to kill the Jews, he asked her to go speak to the king about it. The problem was that Esther would be risking her life by going to the king uninvited. He might welcome her, but if he didn’t, he could have her killed. Mordecai responded:

Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:13-14).

Of course, in each case, God knew what people would do and what He would do in response. The Bible doesn’t teach open theism, the concept that God doesn’t know what’s going to happen or that He’s waiting to see what we’ll do before He acts. But humanly speaking, we can make wrong decisions. The Bible is replete with warnings about following God’s revealed will.

That we don’t need to plan

We trust God to take care of us, but we also seek wisdom for life decisions. God often works to take care of us through the counsel of others. In speaking of counting the cost of discipleship, Jesus said, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28).

Proverbs 24:27 says “Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.”

I knew someone who didn’t want to schedule her time because she wanted to be open to God’s leading throughout the day. But God can work through schedules as well as through interruptions.

God’s sovereignty doesn’t negate our responsibility to seek His will and guidance and make wise choices based on His Word. We can take comfort in the fact that God knows everything going on in our lives and nothing can happen unless He allows it. If He allows it, He promises His grace and help to deal with it.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 16, 2025 by Barbara Harper

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

None Too Old to Serve the King, HT to Chalmers Blog. “I love this scene with the feeble follower and the deposed king. What a touching moment for David, and a beautiful invitation to Barzillai. It reminds me that I serve the greater King David, and stirs in me the desire to “appear with him in glory” as he rides across the Jordan (Colossians 3:4). Does it do the same for you? I want us to imitate this elderly saint by meeting the King in the wilderness and serving him until our dying day.”

Reading the Bible for the Ten Thousandth Time. “By instinct we know that first-time readers of the Bible need guidance. But long-time readers need help too. In this article we’ll explore some of the ways to combat boredom and lethargy for experienced Bible readers.”

A Biblical Template for Prayers of Confession from Daniel 9. HT to Knowable Word. “For God’s promises and sure word aren’t a reason for inactivity and passivity. They’re fuel for confident prayer.” Though the author makes a case for corporate confession, these principles are true for private prayer as well.

All Those Things We Never Did, HT to Challies. “There remains a powerful temptation in midlife to nurse and rehearse dreams unfulfilled. The loop snags and captures with: We never did this, we never went here, we never bought this . . . The all those things we never did is a thorny and fruitless path, often culminating in a sour, self-centered existence. For the Christian, all those things we never did may humbly be replaced with: Your kingdom come; your will be done.“

The Picture on the Nightstand, HT to Challies. “When a marriage is strong, it is a fortress. It shields what is fragile. Spouses are safe. Children thrive. Its strength creates overflowing benefit into entire communities. When a spouse breaks the marriage covenant, the impact is brutal. It exploits vulnerability. Spouses bleed. Children bear the weight. And the effects ripple outward.”

Should You Take Your Children to a Funeral? “Whatever the size or venue, here’s a question for parents to consider: should you take your children to a funeral? My answer is a sure yes, and here are several reasons why.”

The Rare Jewel of Contentment in Childlessness. “Paul’s testimony of contentment encouraged Bethany and me to ask God for that kind of contentment in our state of childlessness. Jeremiah Burroughs describes Christian contentment as ‘that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.’”

Silent Women, Speaking Women, HT to Challies. This is one of the clearest explanations I’ve seen on the Bible passages about whether and when women are to teach in church.

Beware the New Notebook Energy. “A new planner gives me an avenue to blame my lack of follow-through on a bad system. If I can blame the system, that saves me from the day-in and day-out-ness of life. I call this New Notebook Energy: fleeing actual responsibility and good habits in favor of reorganizing and starting again.”

Ways to See and Support Foster Families. “All of a sudden, we were a part of the foster system, which came with all of the staff, the rules and regulations, the visits with social workers, the paperwork, the doctor’s visits, and so much more. I quickly realized that before this happened, I didn’t understand how much support the foster families in our church probably needed from me but hadn’t been getting. So I thought I would outline a few things that each of us can do to help foster families in our churches.”

Ten minutes’ praying is better than a year’s murmuring. Charles Spurgeon

Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 9, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Here are some thought-provoking reads found this week:

The Change Along the Way, HT to Challies. “Ever since mankind was in the Garden, and that fatal first sin was committed, we have tried to shortcut the goals set before us. As with our first mother, we are fickle creatures, seeking always the final product without the process in between. . . .Even our Saviour was tempted in the wilderness to escape the way of the cross for the kingdoms of the world, for the devil knew this inherent weakness in mankind. We long for the glory, and if we can avoid the cross, all the better.”

Can Faith and Fear Coexist in the Life of a Believer? “What separates a person of faith from the crowd? It’s not a lack of fear. The faithful choose to listen to their faith instead of their fears. Faith assures us that God’s invisible presence and power accompanies us as we obey His voice.”

How to Have a Soft Heart. “You can probably think of women who have been cut by life and now wear their pain as sharp edges. But you probably also know women who have walked through as much difficulty and somehow emerged softer. Gentler. More gracious. More trusting. Have you ever wondered how to end up like them?”

Do You Talk Too Much, or not Enough? “The danger in too much talking arises when the entertainment value lies in the drama. And when we enjoy talking, it’s easy for the conversation to drift there. Here are some danger zones where many words can lead to sin.”

Does God Really Care What You Wear This Summer? “Perhaps you’ve wondered it too: does God really care what I wear this summer? Before diving in to answer that question, it may be helpful to consider another: do I really want to know the heart of God on this topic, or am I merely looking for affirmation of my already-formed opinions? In other words, what do I want more? An answer to the question ‘Does God really care what I wear?’ Or am I more concerned with how close I can get to a perceived line of immodesty without going over? “

Dear Weary Caregiver, HT to the Story Warren. “But for those (like me) who need regular reminding, here are three lessons God is teaching me about himself and his ways as I care for my boy. I hope they encourage you as you continue to lay down your life in the service of another.”

Ten Reasons Why I Love Verse by Verse Exposition, HT to Challies. “What is verse by verse exposition? This is when a pastor preaches a book of the Bible, reading and teaching each verse in order to expose it’s meaning. Sure, this can be done poorly, but I think that this approach is super helpful for the church and really beneficial for the preacher. I want to outline ten reasons why I love verse by verse exposition.”

How to Guide Your Children Through the Digital Age, HT to Challies. “Technology is everywhere. There’s no escaping its influence—not only in our own lives but also in the lives of our children. Here are three powerful ways technology is shaping your children and how you can help them respond with wisdom and discernment.”

A Plea to Biblical Counselors Regarding Autism, HT to Challies. “Recently, I’ve heard biblical counselors make unhelpful comments about autism, namely that it’s just a “Big Pharma” money-making scheme. They insist that diagnostic criteria are too vague, making an autism diagnosis too subjective. They even say that biblical counselors have better answers, as if they are better suited to “treat” autism. Biblical counselors, I beg you, do not go down this road, as it will lead to irreparable damage to individuals and families impacted by autism. This road represents a profound misunderstanding of what autism is, how it is diagnosed, and the medical side effects with which these families suffer.”

God sees trouble and grief, which we can lay in His hands where it is safe,
and where we are safe. Corrie ten Boom

Review: Rembrandt Is in the Wind

Posted on July 29, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I don’t remember being exposed to classical art or even going to a museum until I got to college. My alma mater had its own art museum at the time. I remember going on a guided tour and being fascinated as the guide brought out details I would never have noticed myself. I took Art Appreciation my senior year. But that was the limit of my art education.

I’ve visited a few museums with my family since then. But I haven’t gotten much beyond wandering around the gallery and noting what I liked and didn’t.

Russ Ramsey is an excellent guide in Rembrandt Is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith. Not only does he bring out unnoticed details, but he draws spiritual lessons from the lives of the artists as well.

Ramsey says we learn to understand God through truth, goodness, and beauty.

In my experience, many Christians in the West tend to pursue truth and goodness with the strongest intentionality, while beauty remains a distant third. Yet when we neglect beauty, we neglect one of the primary qualities of God. Why do we do that?

The pursuit of beauty requires the application of goodness and truth for the benefit of others. Beauty is what we make of goodness and truth. Beauty takes the pursuit of goodness past mere personal ethical conduct to the work of intentionally doing good to and for others (p. 8, Kindle version).

This is the gift of beauty from an artist to their community—to awaken our senses to the world as God made it and to awaken our senses to God himself (p. 14).

Ramsey focuses on an artist and/or a specific work of art in his remaining nine chapters, which he describes as “part art history, part biblical study, part philosophy, and part analysis of the human experience. But they are all story” (p. 15).

Ramsey includes a black and white image of the paintings he discusses at the beginning of each chapter, and then a small color print at the end of the book. But I found that if a painting had a Wikipedia entry, I could click once on the painting’s image and make it full-screen, then click on it again to zoom in further.

One of the chapters features Rembrandt, especially his Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee (pictured on the cover) one of my al-time favorite paintings. I didn’t know before that Rembrandt painted “himself into several biblical scenes. He did this not for vanity but for the sake of the story. He wanted to draw us in, capture our imaginations, instruct us on how we should relate to what was happening on the canvas, and bear witness to what he believed to be true about the world he painted and his place in it” (p. 73). He’s the one looking straight at the viewer, with one hand on the rope, the other on his hat. “By painting himself into the boat in The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt wants us to know that he believes his life will either be lost in a sea of chaos or preserved by the Son of God. Those are his only two options. And by peering through the storm and out of the frame to us, he asks if we are not in the same boat” (p. 75).

This painting was also part of one of the most infamous art heists in history–and it has never been recovered. Ramsey shares the details of the theft.

Some of the artists, like Caravaggio, perceived beauty, and their hearts were touched and drawn to Christ, yet still didn’t submit to Him.

This is the paradox of Caravaggio—he brought so much suffering on himself, with such bravado and acrimony, yet when he picked up his brush, the Christ he rendered was the Redeemer of the vulnerable. . . He knew what it was to have the ability to render beauty that could bring a person to tears and yet remain unable to live free from his own destructive behavior (pp. 60, 64).

The chapter on Vermeer was wonderfully layered with references to light: the light God created which would make visible His creation, art’s use of light, the “borrowed light” from one source to another and from others who “illuminate the places where we’re doing our own work, and then our work lights the way for others” (p. 96).

This chapter also led to quite an interesting lunchtime discussion with my husband. Rembrandt was thought to use some kind of optical lens as he painted, not to “[pull a trick] on his viewers, He was learning to see” (p. 106). “His use of a lens was not a shortcut, but rather an innovation–the kind that gave his work a mysterious quality” (p. 104).

Rembrandt’s neighbor, and the executor of his estate, was Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the “father of microbiology” and inventor of a “single-lens microscope that intensified light and enhanced magnification through the use of a concave mirror” (p. 100) (another facet of the theme of light). I asked my husband if he knew of van Leeuwenhoek, and of course, he did. Being interested in microscopes himself, he has a replica of one of van Leeuwenhoek’s devices.

This chapter also discusses the influence of technology on art–not only this lens, but the tin paint tube. Artists usually painted indoors because they often mixed their own paints and had everything at hand in their studios. But with the invention of the paint tube, they could paint anywhere. “Painting is not just an art, but a science. It is an achievement not only in beauty or emotion or color, but in math and geometry and light” (p. 104).

An artist I never heard of before, but enjoyed learning about, was Henry O. Tanner, whose The Banjo Lesson was the “first recognized genre painting of blacks by an African American artist” (p. 152). He often painted an older person teaching a younger person something. But, “Though race would always play an important role in Tanner’s art, in order to expand people’s view of race, he didn’t want to become a niche artist focused only on race. . . As a man of faith, Henry believed persuading one race to regard another with equity and love was a theological endeavor, one which required a biblical view of personhood—that all people are made in the image of God and therefore share an inherent dignity and worth that transcends any human construct” (p. 156).

The last chapter tells of Lilias Trotter, who lived during the time of van Gogh, was pursued by John Ruskin as a pupil, but put aside her artistic career to become a missionary to Algiers. I had read her inspiring story before, but it was good to be reminded of it again.

A few other favorite quotes:

On the other side of the veil is the tangible glory of unfailing perfection, but it is just out of our reach. So we have given ourselves to the pursuit of making copies from the dust of the earth, compressed by time, crafted by pressure, but conceived by something more than mere imagination. Our best attempts at achieving perfection this side of glory come from an innate awareness that it not only exists, but that we were made for it (p. 38).

Ruskin believed “the greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something and tell what it saw in a plain way . . . To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion—all in one” (p. 197).

A like independence is the characteristic of the new flood of resurrection life that comes to our souls as we learn this fresh lesson of dying . . . the liberty of those who have nothing to lose, because they have nothing to keep. We can do without anything while we have God (Lilias Trotter( (p. 199).

Ramsey includes a few appendices: How to Visit an Art Museum, How to Look at a Work of Art, and an Overview of Western Art: Renaissance to Modern Selected Works.

This book will be one of my top ten of this year. I enjoyed it immensely.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss)

Sharing Our Struggles, not Our Perfection

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Several years ago, our ladies’ group asked some older married women in the church to be on a panel for discussion about marriage at a ladies’ meeting. We didn’t want to put them on the spot: we just figured they had more experience, and we wanted to glean their wisdom.

However, we had the hardest time getting anyone to agree to be on the panel. Some ladies didn’t want to participate because they thought their own marriages were far from perfect. Some felt that they were still learning: rather than answering other women’s questions, they still had plenty of their own.

In hindsight, it probably would have been better not to have particular women on a panel in front of everyone. One advantage to a panel is having known and trusted people there, whereas opening questions to the crowd in general might lead to some questionable answers. But perhaps the disadvantages outweighed the advantages.

Still, the evening ended up going very well (details are here). One even said we needed a session like that once a year.

Many of us would shy away from portrayal as an expert in most areas, especially areas of Christian life. We know we fall short. We don’t want anyone looking to us for answers, because we still struggle ourselves.

But an experienced Christian is not the same as an expert Christian.

When we’re struggling in a given area–marriage, devotions, hospitality, motherhood, work environments, or life in general–we’re not drawn to those who have their act together, whose lives are perfect, who never seem to struggle.

We want to hear from people who have been in the trenches, who know how we feel, who won’t give us pat answers, who have experienced the things we have and overcome them.

Andrew Peterson writes in Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making:

“O God,” you pray, “I’m so small and the universe is so big. What can I possibly say? What can I add to this explosion of glory? My mind is slow and unsteady, my heart is twisted and tired, my hands are smudged with sin. I have nothing—nothing—to offer.

Write about that.

“What do you mean?”

Write about your smallness. Write about your sin, your heart, your inability to say anything worth saying. Watch what happens (p. 11, Kindle version).

Though Peterson was praying about song-writing here, the principle is true in any area of life.

We can’t bless others with packaged advice from a position of perfection. Even if we could, our ministrations would probably be rejected as cold and unfeeling.

But God says His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

One day on a hillside, over 5,000 people came to hear Jesus teach. Jesus had compassion on their physical needs as well as their spiritual needs. He told the disciples, “You give them something to eat.”

Of course, the disciples didn’t have the means to feed so many people. Philip indicated they didn’t have enough money to buy even a little food for everyone. Andrew found a boy with five barley loaves and two fish, but then asked, “what are they for so many?”

Jesus already knew what He was going to do to provide for the people. But He wanted the disciples to realize that they could not meet the need on their own.

Jesus had the people sit down, gave thanks, and then distributed the food to the disciples, who gave it to the people. Not only did they have “as much as they wanted,” but they gathered twelve baskets of leftovers.

We don’t have the wherewithal to feed people spiritually. But when we give ourselves to Him, He can work through us to help others. He will take our not-enoughness and work through us to display His more-than-enoughness.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

Posted on June 28, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I’m behind on blog-reading this week, but I found some thought-provoking posts to share.

Being the Best You Can Be. “It is good to be the best you can be. It is noble to attempt to maximize your potential and to make the greatest good on even the least gift. God calls each one of us to be faithful stewards of all that he has entrusted to us. Yet there is a world of difference between being the best you can be and wanting to be known as the best.”

Be a Man-Pleaser, Not a Man-Pleaser, HT to Challies. In other words, our people-pleasing can be good or bad, depending on our motives.

Bible Reading Blues? Study Your Stop. “If you were sitting across from me and you mentioned that you’d abandoned your Bible reading plan, I wouldn’t ask you about what went well. We’d talk about what didn’t work. We’d start with what made you stop because understanding why you didn’t finish could be the key to helping you begin again.”

Guarding the Gospel: Understanding the Dangers of Syncretism. “Syncretism is the combination or synthesis of two or more different religions or philosophies. Syncretism happens in Christian missions when people profess Christ by believing an altered version of the gospel message that lines up with their previous beliefs.”

ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “Researchers used an EEG to record the writers’ brain activity across 32 regions, and found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and ‘consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.’ Over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.”

He who grows in grace remembers that he is but dust, and he therefore does not expect his fellow Christians to be anything more. Charles Spurgeon.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on June 21, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I found quite a few good reads this week:

Our Father Values His Children, HT to the Story Warren. “The Father certainly feeds the birds and takes care of us. We can easily see how He takes care of us when we have all we need. But what about those times when the resources we typically depend on dry up, and from your viewpoint all looks impossible.”

You Need God When Life Is Good: Three Ways to Remember Your Need. “It doesn’t usually happen on purpose, but quietly, thoughtlessly. We slide into self-reliance not because we don’t need God, but because the comfort of the moment dulls our awareness of just how much we do.”

The Cool of the Day. “But this…this is worship too. God speaks in the heat of the kitchen as well as the cool of the day, if I have ears to hear.”

Does Your Prayer Life Point to the Beauty of Christ? “Prayer continues to be the most difficult of all the spiritual disciplines for me. Prayer is hard. Maybe you’ve had the same thought: ‘I don’t like to talk about this, but it’s really hard for me to pray. It’s awkward, and I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to do it.‘”

Let God’s Word Shape Your Prayers. “While we know that we’ve been given an indescribable gift in prayer, we often miss its full potential, offering only intangible and vague petitions such as ‘be with so-and-so as they go through this trial.’ We want to pray, but we lack the right words to shape our prayers. How do we pray beyond the surface need and get to the heart of the matter?”

Fallen Behind on Your Bible Reading Plan? HT to Redeeming Productivity. “This is the time of year when many readers give up on their Bible reading plans. Despite their best intentions, their plans fall by the wayside. But there’s no need to wait until next January to start over. Now is the time to ‘go’ for it and get back into the rhythm and routine of Bible reading. After all, the person who is truly blessed is the one who delights in and meditates on God’s instruction day and night (Psalm 1:2). Here are some strategies to help you get going if you have been struggling to read Scripture daily and thoughtfully.”

Cultivating Flavor. “When my children were trying solid foods for the first time, many helpful advice-givers encouraged me to try varied tastes, textures, and types of foods so that the kids would grow into healthy adults. It makes me want to cultivate this type of flavor in their education and entertainment choices. I don’t only want to put my time and effort into growing herbs in the garage to flavor their food. I also want to shape the moral palates of each of my children so that they will love virtue and live as lights in darkness.”

Master Your Moments and Master Your Days. “God is more interested in who we are becoming than in what we are accomplishing. Great deeds done from bad motives please God less than small deeds done from great character. And character’s primary focus is always on the matter at hand, the duty of the moment.”

Being the Best Christian, HT to Challies. “You would think that after almost 34 years of walking with the Lord, this ‘be the best’ mentality would hardly be a problem anymore, a thing of the past that I’ve outgrown. While the Lord has given me more wisdom and discernment to see it, it still entangles me from time to time.”

Facing the Midlife Spiritual Plateau, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “For those who’ve been following Jesus for years, it’s not uncommon to hit a spiritual plateau, often in midlife. You’re reading the Bible, going to church, part of a growth group, serving where you can—but it feels like you’re no longer growing. Not like you once did. Instead, it’s like you’re coasting.”

What’s Lost Isn’t Always Lost. HT to the Story Warren. “Our most memorable losses are sometimes the most inconsequential ones. Once when I was five, my brother and I were bored outside of church, because our parents were talking to the big people again. So we started playing catch with my Luke Skywalker action figure and after one fumbled throw, Luke dropped through the iron grate of a storm drain. I still have the memory of seeing my prized toy only four feet away, but absolutely inaccessible.”

Diapers of Glory, HT to Challies. “Now that I’m a stay-at-home mom, success looks different than it once did—and, like the disciples, I realize I’ve been asking the wrong questions.”

Diabolus Ex Machina, HT to Challies. This is an unsettling “conversation” with AI in which it repeatedly lies. (Note: not from a Christian source).

Your relationship with God will never be any stronger, more vibrant, or more genuine than your relationship with the Word of God. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Laudable Linkage

Posted on June 14, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Some of the good reads found this week:

Is God the Father Like My Father? “I was 25 years old before I could say the word ‘father’ while praying. The word was foreign to me. It didn’t roll off my tongue the way it did for many of my Christian friends. It felt like a word from a foreign language. In one regard, it meant nothing. It was jibberish. But in another, it meant a world of things. Amid the cultural barriers, it still struck a nerve, because while it meant nothing, it meant everything. It meant broken things. Scary things. Hurtful things.”

Don’t Make Friends with Doubt, HT to Challies. “That believers don’t believe perfectly isn’t the question. The question is, How do we respond? When we discover ourselves doubting God’s goodness or power, do we resist it? Do we pet unbelief in self-pity? Is it safe for us to doubt the Lord, his promises, and his cross?”

Because Jesus Said So, HT to Challies. “One of the mistakes I think we evangelicals sometimes make – with our entirely legitimate and proper focus on the cross – is to confuse understanding the means of salvation with actually being saved. We can confuse understanding the theology of the cross with believing in the actual object of our salvation.”

Triggered: How to Overcome Destructive Obsessions. “In our journey through life, we all experience moments when something sets us off — when an event or interaction triggers us into anger, depression, or destructive behavior patterns that we know aren’t God’s will for our lives. These triggering events can create compulsions or obsessions in our minds, driving us toward actions we cannot stop in our own power.”

Three Ways Weakness Is a Gift, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “In 2 Corinthians 12:10, the Apostle Paul wrote one of the most counter-intuitive sentences ever: ‘So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’ This sentence makes absolutely no sense. Who takes pleasure in things like weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties, even if they’re for Jesus? We normally try to avoid these things, and if we end up suffering them, we don’t usually take pleasure in them.”

Twice-Healed: The Blind Man at Bethsaida, HT to Knowable Word. “Mark is the only evangelist to record the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida (8:22–26). What makes this miracle instructive, even odd, is its two-staged nature. Let’s consider why this healing at Bethsaida is central to Mark’s Gospel and how believers can draw comfort from it.”

Happy Father’s Day to the dads tomorrow!