Good morning. May the Lord bless and keep you throughout this day.

There’s a small but still good list of Kindle deals today.
(Yesterday on the blog: We Are Never Without Beauty)
Do You Know Where You’re At?  
Sylvia Schroeder reflects on her father-in-law’s confusion. “‘I don’t know where we’re at,’ Phil’s dad used to say from the front seat of his handicapped van. In his later days my father-in-law, sweet and intelligent seemed to live in an anxious state of lost. He leaned far forward against the taut seatbelt, and peered with squinted eyes at the road ahead. The road he’d traveled many times had not changed. Then he turned toward his son, my husband at the wheel. ‘I have no idea where we’re at. Do you know where we’re at?’”
Where We Draw the Line
Alistair Begg: “For centuries in the West, and perhaps particularly in the United States, Christians have enjoyed being in the rooms where things happen. But now the wind of society is less at our backs and more in our faces. For the first time, perhaps, we need to learn how to live well in Babylon.”
Deepfakes and the Degradation of Truth
Jason Thacker looks at what I’m sure will soon prove to be an extremely important issue: deepfakes and the degradation of truth.
The Take Trap
Samuel James coins and explains a term: the take trap. “A take trap is a situation in which the perceived benefits of forming an opinion on something quickly and sharing that opinion outweigh both the learnedness of the opinion and even the heartfelt sense of the opinion’s importance.”
Unsatisfying Endings
“We’ve all experienced the disappointment—you come to the end of a good book, or you reach the conclusion of a great series, or you sit somewhat sorrowfully as the credits begin to roll. There is something inherently disappointing with endings. Okay, so there are occasions they are immensely satisfying—but more often than not that satisfaction does not last. When matters draw to a close, we are strangely left wanting. Why is that?”
A New and Quiet Type of Suffering
This article looks at transgenderism from an important perspective–the perspective of the parents.
Flashback: There Is No Better Life
God is glorified in your holiness, not in your sin. Do you grow in holiness so that God can be glorified? God is glorified in your selfless deeds, not your selfish ones. Do you love and serve others?

Before a sin, Satan tempts you to believe repentance will be easy. After a sin, Satan tempts you to believe repentance is impossible. —Garrett Kell

This week the blog is sponsored by Zondervan Academic, and is adapted from the preface to Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grudem.

Knowing and understanding basic Christian beliefs is important for every Christian. People who don’t know what the Bible teaches will have no ability to distinguish truth from error, and they will be like “children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). But Christians who have a solid foundation will be maturer, will not be easily led astray, will have better judgment, and will “have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14).
This new revised edition of Christian Beliefs will help Christians from every walk of life learn these basic teachings so they can live faithfully and fruitfully. This book is a summary of twenty basic beliefs that every Christian should know. It is a condensed version of my book Bible Doctrine, and that itself is a condensed version of my Systematic Theology. Christian Beliefs takes the most essential sections from those earlier books, condensing long discussions into a key sentence or two, and revising the wording to make it understandable even for people who are brand-new to the Christian faith.
Christian Beliefs has a strong focus on the Bible as the source for what Christians believe. Instead of just citing references to Bible verses, we have frequently quoted actual verses from the Bible, because God’s very words are “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). The words of the Bible nourish us spiritually. Paul says that the Word of God is “able to build you up” (Acts 20:32), and Jesus says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
The two comments I hear most frequently from people who have read Systematic Theology or Bible Doctrine are “Thank you for writing a theology book that I can understand” and “This book is helping my Christian life.” We have attempted to preserve those two qualities—clarity and application to life—in Christian Beliefs as well.
I hope this shorter book will be useful for new Christians, for new members’ classes in churches, for home and college, Bible study groups, and even for Sunday school classes for children from about age thirteen on up. It should also be helpful for non-Christians looking for a brief summary of basic Christian teachings.
The Christian Beliefs Study Guide is also now available for use alongside the main book to help readers reflect on and deeply internalize the core teachings of Christianity.
Go here to find out more about Christian Beliefs.

May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

It’s a banner day for Kindle deals today. There are tons of good options to pick from (including Seasons of Sorrow, this time below $5).
I’ve also been tracking deals at Christianbook and here are some 2022 hardcover or softcover books at good prices: Reactivity by Paul Tripp; The Men We Need by Brent Hansen; Strange New World by Carl Trueman; Heaven Rules by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth; Tell Me the Stories of Jesus by Al Mohler; Confronting Jesus by Rebecca McLaughlin. Also, lots of ESVs on sale.
The Shadowy Nature of the Theocracy
“With a burgeoning interest in the idea of Christian Nationalism, the Christian Church in America has seen a renewed interest in modified versions of theonomy.” Nick Batzig explains his concerns with some increasingly popular theology.
Life Is Beautiful
“Don’t let the fact that babies are born all the time dull your awareness of the glory and beauty of it. If it is a wonder and marvel that fruit can grow from a seed that came from a fruit (and it is), then how much more significant it is that a living creature can generate another just like it.”
316 Publishing’s Children’s Resources
316 is home to the comic book format Power Bible and classic Adam Raccoon series. These great resources plus the NASB and LSB Children’s Bibles are all on sale. Save an extra 10% on all Bella Paper stationery too with code CHALLIES. (Sponsored Link)
10 Things You Should Know about Islam
A.S. Ibrahim offers 10 things that it would be helpful for you to know about Islam.
Protecting Your Teenagers Online
This is a tough but relevant issue. “As a dad, I would jump to defend my children from a ‘bad guy’ trying to hurt them physically. I’m sure you would do the same. Does that same intensity translate into protecting the minds and hearts of our children online?”
Shepherding in the Age of Self
There are new challenges to shepherding in this, the age of self, as an article at 9Marks explains.
Evangelism Isn’t Disrespectful
“I was recently told that Christians are disrespectful because they evangelize. The reason is that evangelism requires the Christian to assume he is right and the other person is wrong.” That’s wrong, of course, and here’s why.
Flashback: Have I Sinned Against You?
God is good to instruct us in conflict resolution. We need the instruction and the church needs the peace it brings. But unless an offense can be described in biblical terminology, it is probably not a sin at all.

It’s boring to adapt the Christian faith to better fit people; what’s exciting is to adapt people to better fit the Christian faith. —Trevin Wax