romance | Stray Thoughts

Here are some good reads for the first weekend in March.

The Great Danger is to Assume We Are All Headed for Heaven, HT to Challies. “For every American who believes they’re going to Hell, there are 120 who believe they’re going to Heaven. This optimism stands in stark contrast to Christ’s words in Matthew 7:13-14: ‘…wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’”

The Sacred Mundane, HT to Challies. “What about the ordinary and mundane tasks of the homemaker? Can they possibly be more than they are? the making of breakfasts, of lunches and dinners, the folding of laundry, wiping of counters, changing of diapers, the picking up, and the dropping off. Can these have meaning beyond the day after day ‘sameness?’”

All My Heroes Are Broken. “Disappointment. Once again, a Christian leader has fallen off the pedestal. Of course, I should never have placed them on it. But in my mind, they are not what they once were. Maybe they never were. I need good examples–role models who live out what it means to walk by faith and reflect God’s glory. My heart cries out for inspiration to live for God day by day. Can I really do what God made me and saved me to do? How have others done this before me?”

A Congregation Is a Voting Body. I share this because it never occurred to me anyone would think otherwise until a few years ago, when I heard someone say that they didn’t have the church vote on things because there was no instance of it in Scripture. But there is.

You Probably Won’t Get a Book Deal. But We Still Need You to Write, HT to Challies. “It’s difficult to be published. Unless you have a large following, or catch a break, you may face an uphill battle in getting your book published. And yet, I would argue, it’s still important for you to write for at least a couple of reasons.”

The Three Lost Pieces of a Good Romance, HT to Challies. “Today, I’ll be discussing the three essential elements of a good romance novel that have gradually been vanishing from mainstream romance tales, and why these three elements are necessary for a good story.”

“But tho’ there is much to be puzzled about, there is nothing to be worried about.”
–C. S. Lewis

Here are a few noteworthy reads from the last week:

How to keep Millennials in the church? Let’s keep church un-cool, written by a Millenial. “What I need is something bigger than me, older than me, bound by a truth that transcends me and a story that will outlast me; basically, something that doesn’t change to fit me and my whims, but changes me to be the Christ-like person I was created to be.”

Is Glory God’s Only Goal?

When you think your love story is boring. It’s not like in the movies: it’s better.

The Courage to Keep Going. Another benefit of stories. Especially like the third paragraph from the bottom.

A Fleshy Assessment: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself. Convicting.

And a couple of quotes that have inspired me:

Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess, but not more than is found in Thee, the divine treasury in whom all fullness dwells. To Thee I repair for grace upon grace, until every void made by sin be replenished and I am filled with all Thy fullness. ~Valley of Vision

“If, thinking of your frailty, you hold yourselves cheap, value yourselves by the price that was paid for you.” ~ Augustine

“Sometimes God doesn’t change your situation because He’s trying to change your heart.” Unknown

Have a great weekend!