Blessings to you today.

We once again have a good number of Kindle deals to look through.
Yesterday on the blog: Ask Me Anything (Habitual Sin, Women Taking the Initiative, Drag Shows, Escaping Laziness)
How J. K. Rowling Played, then Lost, the Polarization Game
Samuel James: “Rowling, more so than almost any other author, leveraged the expressive individualism intrinsic to the social media age to craft, and sell, a narrative about herself and her stories. In an age in which activists will cancel and decry pop culture artifacts for being insufficiently political, Rowling’s history illustrates the danger of pandering to this phenomenon and the way both art and political discourse suffer accordingly.”
God Wants Us to Serve the Undeserving
Dave tries to address a common misunderstanding among Christians: That “while the Bible teaches that we are to serve and help the weak and poor, we should only serve and help those who deserve it.”
Join John MacArthur, Costi Hinn, Aubrey Sequeira, and Others @ TRC23 *EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT ENDS APRIL 3OTH*
CLEAR GOSPEL. TRUE GOSPEL. Clear Gospel Proclamation is Necessary for True Gospel Understanding. June 28-29, 2023 @ Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA. (Sponsored Link)
When I Was Losing My Marriage, Jesus Taught Me to Forgive
“Seven months pregnant with our second son, I sat at the desk in our living room, devastated by the letter I had just read. My husband didn’t want to be married anymore.” Sheila Dougal tells how she learned to forgive, even in such a difficult circumstance.
Caring for Families with Cross-Dressing Children
John Piper takes on a very urgent question. “We have a young couple in our local church congregation that lets their small son wear dresses. They seem to let him choose most of what he wants to do. We, of course, see a lot of danger in this parenting method. They were asked to leave a previous church over this issue. What would be your approach to helping these parents with Scripture on this issue?”
Exalted above all things
“In this climate of deconstruction, deconversion, and apostasy I can be tempted to downplay the importance of God’s word. Am I elevating God’s word too much? I can feel my heart desiring the praise of men, and I can elevate the wisdom of men as a replacement for the wisdom that comes from the mouth of God.”
Were the Apostles converted before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost?
Sinclair Ferguson and Derek Thomas provide good answers.
Flashback: Why Do Billionaires Want to Live Forever?
Why is it that billionaires always seem to want to live forever? I am convinced it isn’t because their lives are so satisfying but because their lives are so very dissatisfying. I am convinced it isn’t because their hearts are so full but because their hearts are so very empty.

No one spoke about hell more than Jesus . . . because he, more than anyone, saw the true frightfulness of it. —Dane Ortlund

Blessings to you on this fine day!

(Yesterday on the blog: Idolatry is Futility)
What Are the Charismatic Gifts?
This is a respectful and charitable (yet also distinctly cessationist) perspective on the charismatic gifts.
Why Do Christians Make Such a Big Deal about Sex?
“Whenever people ask me why Christians are so weird about sex, I first point out that we’re weirder than they think.” Rebecca McLaughlin explains.
The Bitter Splinters of Marburg
Michael Haykin: “When we think of the issues debated during the German Reformation, we think of matters such as justification and the authority of the Scriptures. But as contentious as these primary issues were, the nature of the Lord’s Supper was also heavily debated. Is Christ present at the Table? And if so, how? That’s what Luther and Zwingli came to debate.”
People Pleasing is a Shapeshifter
“Several years ago, it dawned on me that I was no longer obsessed with other people’s approval. I had grown strong enough in my identity as an image-bearer of God that I no longer craved constant affirmation. Of course, it was still nice when I got it, but I didn’t need it to validate my worth. I had attained the unattainable: I was no longer a People Pleaser. It felt freeing. I must be a pretty mature Christian. To God be the glory and all that good stuff.” However…
What Job Titles Should Churches Use? Two Simple Rules
Jonathan Leeman: “In case you missed it, the Southern Baptist Convention got into a bit of a tussle at this year’s annual meeting over the definition of the word ‘pastor.’ What provoked the tussle was the fact that in recent years Saddleback Community Church, a SBC church, installed several women as pastors. This seems to contradict the SBC’s statement of faith, The Baptist Faith & Message 2000.”
A Savior Who Knows What It Is to Weep
Colin Smith wants to assure you that “God is always intimately involved in the grief of His people.”
Flashback: It’s All About the Conscience
Our task as spiritual physicians is to treat bad consciences, continually delivering the healing balm of the living word of God and his life-giving sacraments.

I have given God countless reasons not to love me. None of them have been strong enough to change Him. —Paul Washer

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 
Westminster Books has a sale on the third volume of Jonathan Gibson’s devotional trilogy that follows the liturgical calendar.
There is yet again a small collection of Kindle deals for you.

This is very troubling. Hopefully you have one of your four monthly articles from World to read it. “Pornhub is coming for our children and our men.  A recent undercover investigation reveals the nation’s largest pornography distributor welcomes pre-teens and attempts to sway straight men toward LGBTQ pornography through gradual integration of unorthodox material.”

Ashley Kim asks some thought-provoking questions about ChatGPT and the potential cost of committing ourselves to use it. “I want to address Christians who have a casual relationship with ChatGPT―Christians like you, perhaps, who might not have any grand ambitions beyond maximizing the efficiency of drafting emails or curating search results. No big deal, right?”

T.M. Suffield looks at Revelation’s strange description of the New Jerusalem (e.g. the fact that it’s said to be a giant cube) and digs into its beautiful symbolism.

Shane Rosenthal offers a perfect answer to a big question. “What do you think every Christian should place at the very top of their list? What biblical idea should be considered the thing of first importance?”

I can’t deny that I’ve become skeptical that anyone successfully lives by such principles for long. Still, I appreciate what Seth Troutt says in this article and what he prescribes. “For Christians to thrive in the modern era, there are two spiritual disciplines we must adopt: Digital Detox (fasting from screens) and Intentional Ignorance (fasting from information).”
Burial vs Cremation
A couple of days ago, TGC published an article by Justin Dillehay that made the case that, while the Bible does not forbid cremation, burial better represents the Christian view of death and resurrection. See “Cremation or Burial: Does Our Choice Matter?” Stephen Kneale countered this with his perspective that the Bible offers us freedom on the matter. See “Cremation or burial: why I’m not convinced it matters nearly as much as some think.” This is a helpful pair of articles when considering an issue we all need to face.

… though we know perfection is impossible, don’t we all sometimes still grow frustrated at the sheer messiness of Christian individuals and Christian churches? Don’t we all sometimes face the temptation to pack up and move on when our fellow believers act like the sinners they are?

Alas! for those who while trying to prove that Jonah was never swallowed of a whale, themselves get swallowed of the whale of unbelief, which digests but never ejects its victims.
—De Witt Talmage