gentle parenting | Stray Thoughts

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

Here are some of the good reads discovered this week:

Remember His Faithfulness. “When we look back at what God has done in the past, He fills us with hope for today and the days to come.”

Three Reasons Christians Should Oppose Abortion, HT to Challies. “We live in a highly charged political environment, and many Christians view abortion as more of a political issue than a theological and spiritual issue. This perspective often leads to prioritizing political solutions even at the expense of theological truth and spiritual power.”

Listening Well to Domestic Abuse Survivors, HT to Challies. “Domestic abuse (DA) is likely the most complex and difficult problem most counselors will ever face. Perhaps one reason for this is that these issues can be extremely counterintuitive.”

An Ordinary, Everyday Life, HT to Challies. We’re “Bought by His death and resurrection, yes. But also by His everyday, ordinary, sinless life.”

Lead Your Heart, HT to Challies. “We are to incline our hearts to God. I’m not sure if you know this, but your heart will not naturally incline itself that direction. We must posture our hearts towards God. And we must cry out to God for this inclination. Just as the Psalmist prays, ‘Incline my heart to your testimonies’” (Psa 119:36).”

Is ‘Gentle Parenting’ Biblical? HT to Challies. “If gentle parenting were just a mood board for solving parenting difficulties in nonconfrontational ways, I’d have nothing to say against it. But when you dig more deeply into the underlying concepts of gentle parenting, you find at least two that stand opposed to the Bible’s teaching about parenting.”

Confessions of a Secretly Introverted Mom, HT to The Story Warren.

Our winters shall not frown for ever; summer shall soon smile. The tide will not eternally ebb out; the floods retrace their march. The night shall not hang its darkness for ever over our souls; the sun shall yet arise with healing beneath his wings. – ‘The Lord turned again to the captivity of Job.’ Our sorrows shall have an end when God has gotten his end in them.
—C. H. Spurgeon