You are formed by what you read

Here are some of the good reads found this week:

When Imperfect Faith Meets a Perfect Savior. “Sometimes we come to Jesus with strong faith. Other times, our faith is trembling, confused, and imperfect. We may even wonder whether we have enough faith to approach Him. The story of the woman with the issue of blood reminds us of a wonderful truth: We do not come to a perfect Savior because our faith is perfect, we come because He is perfect.”

I’m Rich! (in Hope). “Somehow I ran across a post on social media in a group for ‘unhinged’ homeschool moms. The atheist poster was lamenting that another child told her six year old that there is a Heaven. She said her child doesn’t need an ‘eternal security blanket’ because ‘his life is so wonderfully built for his well-being that he has nothing to seek eternal comfort from.’ When I saw her words I was struck by how pitifully inexperienced this woman is in some of the harder realities of life, and I wondered how long she might be able to maintain the illusion that she has this much power over her child’s existence.”

Joseph, Daniel, and the Secret to Changing the World. “According to the Bible, God often works through the weak, unimpressive work of people the elite of the world write off. But is this always the case? The Old Testament in particular gives us two somewhat surprising stories that buck this trend.”

When You Can’t Say, “I’m Sorry”: Finding Freedom from Regret. “When you can’t say ‘I’m sorry’ to someone who has died, how do you find peace with your regrets? God offers a way forward through His forgiveness.”

This Is Why Your Marriage Conflicts Never Get Resolved, HT to Challies. “People enter marriage because they love each other. But if they don’t learn how to navigate their differences and handle conflicts well, they end up tearing down the very person they committed their lives to. And because marriage is so intimate, words said in anger and conflicts that turn ugly hurt more than in any other relationship. If your conflicts don’t get resolved, there may be one or more of these three problems getting in the way.”

You Become What You Listen To; You Are Formed by What You Read, HT to Challies. “Podcasts are like information fast food. Hosts ask questions and are given answers that are rarely cited. Each answer is given out of context by the very nature of fast consumption. What I mean is that you don’t really have time, as you do with a book, to think through and process a claim. Instead, you are forced to either accept the information or forget it. Rarely does one hear something on a podcast and dig into the historical record to verify it.”

Your Life Will Slip Through Your Fingers, , HT to Challies. “Your family, your health, your work, your wealth – all of these are good gifts from the Lord. And if you live long enough, you will likely have to watch some (or all) of them fade away in slow-motion. The Lord will ask you to let go your hold on many of the things that made your life your life. Yet he does not do this out of cruelty, but out of love. The losses we face in our aging, though worth grieving, though they are a real form of suffering, are opportunities to taste Christ as our greatest treasure. And they are opportunities to let go of that which we cannot keep so that we will more deeply desire and anticipate and dream of that which we can: treasures in heaven.”

When Journalism Crosses a Moral Line, HT to Challies. I’ll say it sure did here. It’s hard to fathom that Christianity Today published an article positing that Elisabeth Elliot might have been bisexual. Denny Burke discusses the article and what’s wrong with its reasoning. “In spite of Austen’s historical caveats and theological error about same-sex attraction, her article ends up giving oxygen to the idea that Elliot was a bisexual. But this claim goes far beyond anything supported by the evidence she provides. Readers would do well to leave this salacious theory behind.”

Help Your Children Understand AI’s Place: 3 Foundational Truths for AI Use, HT to Challies. “AI is an amazing tool. As a teacher, I have used it to compile research, format communications, and spark creative output and interaction for students. It has saved me hours and headaches creating review games and practice standardized tests. However, as a parent and a teacher, I have an important, overarching concern about AI. I regularly witness AI strangle creativity and critical thinking skills.”

Why I Don’t Like Smartwatch “Sleep Scores,” HT to Zak Mellgren. “I have a Garmin smartwatch, but I hate the sleep score feature. So much so that I take my watch off before I go to bed so it records no data at all on my sleep. Why am I against it? Here are four reasons.”