This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by The Good Book Company. They are giving away a bundle of books by Alistair Begg and a Luke for You Set to one winner!

This Book Bundle Includes…
The Christian Manifesto by Alistair Begg and The Christian Manifesto Study Guide
What does genuine Christian living look like in the 21st century, and how can we be motivated to live that way?
The answer comes from Jesus’ sermon in Luke 6 (sometimes known as the Sermon on the Plain), which starts, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,” and goes on to lay out God’s vision statement for the Christian life. It is a manifesto that transcends politics, culture and personality, detailing God’s intentions for his people.
Alistair Begg unpacks this sermon, encouraging Christians to live a radically different life that upends the world’s values and philosophies. It’s a lifestyle that is counterintuitive and countercultural, yet one that God blesses with true meaning and impact.
As we look at the kindness and compassion of Jesus and ask for the Holy Spirit’s help, we’ll grow in both the motivation and the ability to obey Jesus’ teaching and experience the blessing that comes from that.
This compelling book will remind you of God’s grace and what it means to follow him, helping you discover the ultimate blessing that is found in him.
The Study Guide features eight sessions to correspond with each of the eight chapters in The Christian Manifesto.
Luke For You Set by Mike McKinley 
Luke wrote his Gospel to offer his first readers, and his readers today, certainty over the truth of the gospel, and joy that God’s promises have been fulfilled with the coming of his King.
This two-volume set of expository Bible-study guides to Luke’s Gospel pays close attention to the text and has a focus on real-life application. Mike McKinley brings us face to face with Jesus in a compelling way for both experienced and new readers of this Gospel.
Truth for Life – Volume 1 (Gift Edition) by Alistair Begg
This imitation-leather edition of Alistair Begg’s best-selling one-year devotional, Truth For Life – Volume 1, makes a beautiful gift for a Christian brother or sister, encouraging them to start each day with the gospel.
Features of this edition include:

an imitation-leather debossed cover
a ribbon marker
a sleeve

Each daily devotion includes:

reflections from renowned Bible teacher Alistair Begg
prompts for real-life application
relevant Scripture passages
a yearly Bible-reading plan

Reflecting on a short passage each day, Alistair spans the Scriptures to show us the greatness and grace of God, and to thrill our hearts to live as His children. His clear, faithful exposition and thoughtful application mean that this resource will both engage your mind and stir your heart.
Pray Big
So many of us struggle with prayer. Many books have been written on the subject and there’s a reason for that. Prayer comes hard to most of us, in most seasons. And when we do pray, we often don’t know what to say. What is it that my Father loves to hear about? What are the best things I could pray for my family, my church, and myself?
This short book by renowned Bible teacher Alistair Begg combines warmth, clarity, humor, and practicality as he examines Paul’s prayers for his friends in the church in Ephesus.
Paul clearly enjoyed prayer, and was excited about it. He expected his Father in heaven to hear what he said, and to act in other people’s lives accordingly. The truths that underpin and shape his prayers will motivate us to pray and set us an example.
So be inspired by the Apostle Paul to pray bigger and better prayers as we look to our heavenly Father to do more than all we ask or imagine!
Giveaway Rules: You may enter one time. When you enter, you permit The Good Book Company to send you marketing emails which you may unsubscribe from at any time. The winner will be notified via email, and those who do not win will receive an email with the option to download a free e-copy of Extraordinary Hospitality by Carolyn Lacey. The giveaway closes on Friday, October 13th at noon, EST.

May has been another good month for Christian book releases. I sorted through the many options and arrived at this list of new and notables. In each case I’ve provided the editorial description to give you a sense of what it’s all about. I hope there’s something here that’s of interest to you!

A Concise Guide to the Life of Muhammad: Answering Thirty Key Questions Ayman Ibrahim. “What is so unique about Muhammad? What are the reasons for the strong devotion Muslims have for him? Did he really exist? What do Muslims say about him and his teaching? Did he perform miracles? What did he say about loving one’s neighbor and about those who abandon Islam? Did he teach on homosexuality and owning slaves? These are some of the thirty questions answered in this clear and concise guide to Muhammad’s life and religious significance. This companion volume to Ayman Ibrahim’s A Concise Guide to the Quran answers many of the key questions non-Muslims have about Muhammad, reveals the importance of Muhammad for Christian-Muslim and Jewish-Muslim interfaith relations, examines Muslim and non-Muslim primary sources, and engages classic and modern studies on the most important human figure for scores of Muslims.” (Buy it at Amazon or Westminster Books)
Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion by Herman Bavinck. “Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion is an introductory systematic theology by one of the foremost theologians of the past century. Alongside The Sacrifice of Praise, this is Bavinck at his best doing catechetical theology. To this end, Bavinck sets off to explain in a simplified manner the main contents of the Christian religion, even giving it a title that is a tip of the hat to John Calvin’s Institute of the Christian Religion. While Bavinck’s lengthy Reformed Dogmatics is an academic work, Guidebook for Instruction serves a more egalitarian aim. It is a theological guide for the everyday person in the pew. In this one—and much shorter—volume, Bavinck walks Christian readers through all the major topics covered in Reformed Dogmatics with theological depth and insight.” (Buy it at Amazon or Westminster Books)
The Lord’s Prayer: Learning from Jesus on What, Why, and How to Pray by Kevin DeYoung. “Christians know the importance of prayer, but the act of praying can be a real challenge. Some have the desire, but not always the will; others worry they don’t do it well. Books about prayer usually emphasize spiritual discipline, but that can foster more guilt than reassurance. So how can Christians improve their prayer life, embracing the privilege of communicating with God? In The Lord’s Prayer, Kevin DeYoung closely examines Christ’s model for prayer, giving readers a deeper understanding of its content and meaning, and how it works in the lives of God’s people. Walking through the Lord’s Prayer word by word, DeYoung helps believers gain the conviction to develop a stronger prayer life, and a sense of freedom to do so.” (Buy it at Amazon or Westminster Books)
What Is Saving Faith?: Reflections on Receiving Christ as a Treasure by John Piper. “What happens in the heart when it experiences real saving faith? John Piper argues that faith in Christ is not saving unless it includes an “affectional dimension of treasuring Christ.” Nor is God glorified as he ought to be unless he is treasured in being trusted. Saving faith in Jesus Christ welcomes him forever as our supreme and inexhaustible pleasure. What Is Saving Faith? explains that a Savior who is treasured for his all-satisfying worth is more glorified than a Savior who is only trusted for his all-forgiving competence. In this way, saving faith reaches its God-appointed goal: the perfections of Christ glorified by our being satisfied in him forever. (Buy it at Amazon)
Refreshed: Devotions For Your Time Away by John Hindley. “Vacations often give us an opportunity to rest and reflect. However, when our normal routines and habits are suspended, it can be hard to spend time with God. These 30 devotions have been specifically designed to help you to rest in the Lord’s goodness and glory during your time away so that you can return home feeling refreshed spiritually as well as physically. ‘I want to help you find rest, peace, joy, hope, and renewed zeal. We go away to be refreshed. Christ is the one who sets his Spirit in our hearts to cause streams of living water to well up within us and flow from us. Sometimes we rest away from Jesus, but how much better to rest with and in him? He is where our true refreshment is found.’ You can pick and choose which devotions to read depending on the type of vacation you are on (for example, city break or beach) and there are optional family activities and questions linked to each devotion giving other family members an opportunity to reflect alongside you.” (Buy it at Amazon)
Growing Downward: The Path of Christ-exalting Humility by Nick Thompson. “Author Nick Thompson recognizes that pride is our worst enemy. If pride is our chief foe, then humility is our chief friend, even though its company may be painful. But spiritual growth is a descent―we must grow downward. Defining humility as “the downward disposition of a Godward self-perception,” Thompson walks us through the practical implications of this definition, leading us to embrace a God-centered perspective on the self. With winsome illustration and warm pastoral instruction, Growing Downward shows us that the path of humility, though difficult, is the way to true meaning and fulfillment in Jesus Christ.” (Buy it at Amazon)
Pure: Why the Bible’s Plan for Sexuality Isn’t Outdated, Irrelevant, or Oppressive by Dean Inserra. “Few things bring more immediate scrutiny and impassioned angst among young adult Christians today than hearing the words ‘purity culture.’ Serious flaws from purity culture deserve to be scrutinized, especially given its lasting negative effects on some raised in the movement. Many Christians today reject the movement—and all that it stood for—wholesale. However, we can’t ignore the clear sexual ethics of the Bible. Pure dives into the big picture of God’s design for men and women regarding sexuality, and seeks to reclaim one of the clearest teaching in the scriptures: the call to sexual purity. While purity culture gets the truth right, the approach and gospel elements it espouses are often wrong. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water, but rather celebrate God’s great design for marriage and the loving boundaries he has put in place for our joy, protection, and flourishing.” (Buy it at Amazon)
The Gates of Hell: An Untold Story of Faith and Perseverance in the Early Soviet Union by Matthew Heise. “Decimated by war, revolution, and famine, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia was in critical condition in 1921. In The Gates of Hell, Matthew Heise recounts the bravery and suffering of German–Russian Lutherans during the period between the two great world wars. These stories tell of ordinary Christians who remained faithful to death in the face of state persecution. Christians in Russia had dark days characterized by defeat, but God preserved his church. Against all human odds, the church would outlast the man–made sandcastles of communist utopianism. The Gates of Hell is a wonderful testimony to the enduring power of God’s word, Christ’s church, and the Spirit’s faithfulness.” (Buy it at Amazon)
Retiring Well: Strategies for Finding Balance, Setting Priorities, and Glorifying God by John Dunlop, MD. “Preparation for retirement requires more than just financial planning. For most people, and especially for Christians, it comes with a host of other considerations—when to retire, where to live, and how to spend one’s time. Many find themselves asking, Is there a right way to retire? Drawing from his work with geriatric patients and his own retirement experience, Dr. John Dunlop shares practical strategies for Christians as they approach their retirement years. With Scripture as his guide, he promotes balance between rest and activity—encouraging intimacy with God, service to churches and communities, time with friends and family, and care for one’s health. (Buy it at Amazon or Westminster Books)
Everyday Holiness: Becoming Who You Were Made to Be by Josh Moody. “You don’t have to pick between being boring and being bad. There is a better way: a biblical understanding of holiness. David Brooks’ The Road to Character, and Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life, both in their own way underline our renewed interest in character and responsibility today. In the church too we sense the need for a fresh call to holiness. With moral scandals in the news, it is time is to listen to what the Bible says about becoming more like Jesus. What is holiness? Why should we be holy? What place does grace and the gospel play in the drama of becoming more like Christ? And, most practically, how do we become holy? Dr. Josh Moody leads us with clarity along a path to a simple biblical profundity: holiness is becoming who we are in Christ. Holiness isn’t about a drab or dreary lifestyle. It’s not about faking it, or being inauthentic. Holiness is becoming who you were made to be. There’s a sweetness, a joy, a freedom in pursuing Jesus. We were designed to live like this, so we find our fullest flourishing there.” (Buy it at Amazon or Westminster Books)
Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation by Nancy Guthrie. “Over 12 chapters, Blessed covers the full text of the book of Revelation, exploring its call to patient endurance as God’s sovereign plans for judgment and salvation are worked out in the world. In this book, Guthrie shows how Revelation is less about when Jesus will return and more about who we are to be, what we are to do, and what we can expect to endure as we wait for Jesus to return to establish his kingdom in the new creation. With a friendly and engaging tone, Blessed takes the fear, intimidation, and confusion away from studying Revelation, providing a solid and accessible resource that individuals and small groups can use to study this important yet often avoided book. (Buy it at Amazon or Westminster Books)

A number of weeks ago I shared an article titled 40 Random Pieces of Advice for the Christian Life. This isn’t something I intend to do often but did want to follow up at least once with a sequel of sorts. I hope there is something here you find helpful.

Be appropriately skeptical about new movements, new terminology, and new methods. If the church has gotten along pretty well without it for the past 2,000 years, it’s unlikely that it’s actually a key to success in the Christian life. This is as true of phenomena in the wider Christian context (e.g. The Prayer of Jabez, Purpose Driven) as in the narrower Reformed subculture (e.g. the terms “missional,” or “gospel-centered”).

One of the best ways to show love to your friends is to show love to your friends’ children. Take an interest in them, love them, and be a friend to them.

You can count on it as a general rule that what you gain from a church service will relate directly to your level of expectation and preparation. Expect little and you are likely to gain little. Prepare little and you are likely to benefit little.

Don’t put too much stock in parenting books written by parents who haven’t yet successfully launched their kids into independence. None of us really knows how we’ve done until our kids have moved beyond our oversight and authority.

Understand that if you will only follow those in positions of authority over you when they do the things you want them to do anyway, you’re not actually submitting to their leadership. Sometimes submission to our leaders means joyfully following their leadership even when we disagree with it. (Which is not the same as saying we should obey our leaders when they tell us to sin.)

In your personal devotions, try listening to the Bible if you typically read it, or try reading the Bible if you typically listen to it. Both are good and both are modeled in Scripture. Each engages the mind in different ways.

Remember that you may share the blame for your children’s sin. You may have exasperated them to such a degree that you bear at least part of the responsibility for their sinful response to your poor leadership. And because this is true of parenting, it’s true also of other positions of leadership. (See Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:21)

Be aware of the natural human tendency to consider what a given Bible text does not say before focusing on what it actually does say. Your first consideration should be “how do I obey this?” rather than “what are the exceptions?” This happens most often when it comes to passages about honoring parents, submitting to the government, waging total war against sin, being constant in prayer, and so on.

Be sparing in criticisms of the local church or its leaders in the presence of your children. Your grumbling could teach them that they ought to relate to the church as critics more than participants. It could turn them against the local church as an institution.

Distinguish between reading the Bible for depth and reading it for breadth. In other words, invest some effort in going deep into particular books, chapters, and verses, and also some effort into gaining an overview of the entire book. Read fast sometimes and slow other times; read huge passages on some occasions and small ones on others.

It is a wise habit to pray for your children with your children. It is a blessing to children to hear your heart for them. (Also, pray for your spouse with your spouse, for your church with your church, and so on.)

Embrace diversity in the local church, acknowledging the tendency to eschew it. Also, understand that diversity comes in many forms—racial, cultural, political, ideological, theological, and so on.

Relational problem-solving is almost always best done face-to-face. When that’s not possible, FaceTime or a phone call is second best. Email and social media are usually about as bad as it gets. Fight the tendency to attempt to solve problems at a distance instead of close-up.

When you are at your best, plan for your worst. In those times when you are spiritually healthy, make plans for the times when you may be spiritually weak or despondent. In those times when you are zealous, make plans for the times when you may face fierce temptations to sin.

It is good to train children to work. However, they will spend the rest of their lives working hard, so it’s not a bad thing to go a bit easy on them and let them enjoy their childhood. Life is long and it will only get more difficult.

Learn to say “I love you” to more people than merely family members.

When someone suffers a sore loss, grieve with them and offer them your condolences in a way that is appropriate to your relationship. But then also put the anniversary of that loss on your calendar and get in touch with them a month and a year later to say that you remember them and are praying for them.

One of the rare virtues in the workaday world is the ability to take things to completion. It takes little skill to begin something, but often takes great skill and perseverance to complete it well. Be known for finishing what you start.

Try to learn a good number of hymns by heart. They will serve you well throughout your life.

Pray through your church’s directory. Make it one of your ministries to the local church that you pray for each person specifically and by name. The directory is the perfect guide for this.

If wives are to submit to their own husbands, husbands are to live and lead in such a way that they make such submission natural and easy. If husbands are to love their wives, wives are to do all they can to make themselves easy to love.

Occasionally ask yourself, “If I was Satan how would I tempt me?”

It’s almost impossible to ruin a child when they are young, so don’t despair if you aren’t perfectly consistent or sometimes have to veer away from your philosophy of parenting. The kids will be alright—they are nothing if not resilient.

Before you visit a country or culture that is not your own, ask someone what customs you should practice and what customs you should avoid in order to prevent offense. What is polite in your culture may be downright insulting in another (and what is insulting in your culture may be courteous in another).

At least occasionally, visit a church in which you are a clear visible minority. This may help you better understand the challenges and discomforts people may face when they visit your church. Even better, you may learn how other traditions worship in ways that are different but no-less-faithful.

Pray with your spouse before you go sleep at night, even if only very briefly.

When you vacation far from home, and especially in other countries, don’t neglect attending church, even if the service is in a language you don’t speak. You may be surprised at how much you gain even if you can’t understand much of what is being said or sung.

Read biographies written for children or young adults. They will give you an easy-to-read, compact, nothing-but-the-essentials overview of a life. If you are intrigued, you can advance to a grown-up, full-length biography.

Every Sunday, try to speak to at least one child at church who is not your own. It’s generally best to get down on their level to do this, so be prepared to hit the floor.

Terms like “introvert” and “extrovert” may be helpful descriptors of personality types, but they should never be used as an excuse to neglect opportunities to love and serve others. Whether introverted or extroverted, be dutiful in all God calls you to, even when it cuts against the grain.

In all the duties and responsibilities that comes with raising children, don’t neglect to just plain enjoy your children.

If you find yourself struggling to pray in your times of personal devotion, try praying out loud. The car is an ideal place for this, perhaps especially if you have a commute.

Have an awareness of those times when emotion tends to overwhelm reason and determine that you will not attempt to have hard conversations in those times. This may mean instituting something like a “10 PM rule” in which you set issues aside at that time and pick them up again the next day.

Commend parents who are parenting well but who may not have a lot confidence in themselves. Few parents really believe they are carrying out their task well.

Less important than complimenting a fellow Christian is identifying evidences of God’s grace in that person’s life. It is always encouraging to hear how others see God working in us and through us.

Don’t whine about the “greet one another” time at church and don’t be anxious about it. Rather, embrace it and make the most of it, whether you naturally love it or dread it.

Read catechisms and confessions. You may be surprised to learn how many issues they speak to with thoughtfulness, clarity, and deep biblical grounding.

Embrace your finitude—the fact that you are limited and weak and in so many ways insufficient and incapable. This is a feature of your humanity rather than a bug.

If you begin each day asking “What is my God-given duty today?” and then do your best to carry it out, you will not go far wrong in life.

And, to end this time where I did before, always be certain to distinguish between what the Bible mandates and what a mere human suggests. Apply human wisdom only when it complements and applies what the Bible demands.