The aroma of Chrst in the mundane

For the first time in several weeks, I am caught up with my blog reading! Here are some posts that stood out to me:

Portrait of an Abortionist, HT to Challies. “Dr. Bernard Nathanson was one of the extraordinary few who, upon encountering the truth, decided to defect from the abortion movement that he had helped to found and spend his life defending the pre-born.”

How to Respond When Your Routine Is Disrupted. “When we’re waiting for life to return to some semblance of normalcy, what practical steps can we take to make our days a little easier (or perhaps a bit more bearable)? Although I don’t have many answers, here are a few suggestions drawn from my own experience.”

Hope When You’re Scorching Under Life’s Trials. “The refreshing and restorative power of shade isn’t new. David the psalmist/shepherd wrote about it in Psalm 121. He knew what it was like to sit for hours in the Judean sun, watching his sheep graze. He also knew the value of a well-placed shade tree or drifting cloud. Perhaps this is why he described God as ‘the shade at your right hand.'”

The Aroma of Christ in the Mundane. “Maybe, if you’re like me, it’s easy to understand how Christ’s life and death were a fragrant offering to God. God was pleased with His Son’s perfect life and sacrificial death. What is harder to grasp is that because I am united to Christ by grace through faith, God sees me clothed in Christ’s righteousness and is pleased with me. He not only accepts me because of Christ, but joyfully receives me as His daughter! Furthermore, God uses broken vessels like me to spread the knowledge of Christ to others.”

Virtue Signalling in the Church, HT to Challies. “Is it possible for a Christian to be more concerned about the appearance of godliness in their own lives, rather than the existence of it? To sound like they love God, but deep down actually fear man? To talk of virtuous deeds yet be substantially empty of them? I am living proof that the answer to those questions is yes.”

Nine Marks of a Healthy Paragraph: Suggestions for Improving a Pastor’s Writing, HT to Challies. And not just pastors! “We traffic in words because God has chosen to work through words. From creation to salvation, from his perfect Word to our fallible ones, God loves to turn the lights on through written truth. That’s why we care about words: because we care about souls.”