Good morning to you!

This has been a good week for Kindle deals—and there are more to be had today.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Worst Defeat in All of Human History)
The Case for Ditching Your Smartphone (from Someone Who Has Never Owned One)
I really enjoyed this article and was challenged by it (though I am very unlikely to do all it recommends)! “I turn 40 years old later this year and I’ve never owned a smartphone. I am a technological anachronism: a living, breathing social experiment in 2023 America.”
Attention, Affection, Authority
Bob and Julie Kauflin have some wisdom here for parents. “In these years far removed from the daily pressures of raising little ones, Julie and I have identified at least three ways God calls us to reflect his fatherly heart in the way we raise our children.”
Faithful Truth + Literary Grace
William Burkitt’s Expository Notes, with Practical Observations, on the New Testament is a forgotten classic, available soon in a beautiful reprint, that “is not only faithful to biblical truth; it expresses that truth with literary grace.” (Sponsored)
Believe it or Not: One Day Drag Queen Story Hour Will Be a Drag
This is true: that even for those who find Drag Queen Story Hour so thrilling right now, it will eventually prove to be a big letdown.
The Spider-Man Fallacy Fallacy
This article shows that the so-called Spider-Man fallacy is itself a kind of fallacy.
What Is Christian Science?
Ligonier has a nice little primer on Christian Science (which, of course, is neither Christian nor scientific).
Finding Rest on the Road
I appreciate Kody’s call here to make it your habit to find a local church on your vacations.
Flashback: The Dead Seriousness of Careless Words
Words can strengthen the weak or crush them, comfort the sorrowful or grieve them, relieve the burdened or weigh them down all the more. Words can be a taste of life or a savor of death, a scent of heaven or a whiff of hell. They can do the work of God or of the devil, serve the cause of Christ or of his enemies.

The more times we are in narrow straits, and we see God bring us through, the more peace and courage we will have as time goes on. —Tim Keller

Here is your occasional reminder of two matters. The first is that all of the quote graphics I have ever posted are available for free at SquareQuotes.church. The second is that much of my content is available in Spanish at Volvamos al Evangelio.
Westminster Books has an Easter-related resource discounted for cheap and easy distribution.

This is tragic and stirring writing from Madelyn.

Here is a really thought-provoking (and slightly contrarian) article from Steve Kneale. He levels a challenge for culture warriors and social justice warriors alike. “There will be ways in which Jesus’ teaching on civil engagement challenges all of us. Submission to government, and seeking to live peaceful and quiet lives, will necessarily mean that we submit to all manner of laws that we simply don’t like. Some of them we may even find egregious impositions on us. There were, after all, few laws more galling to the Jews than paying a poll tax to an occupying force using blasphemous coinage!”

“‘The best thing conservatives can do to reclaim the culture is have a bunch of kids and homeschool them.’ This is a quote from a prominent conservative commentator from a few years ago, but one can find a similar sentiment on a frequent basis on your social medium of choice. It’s an inspiring idea, consonant with the rising pronatalism conservatives are trying to stir up. More importantly, it adds a smug feeling of demographic inevitability to Christian practice: We will win because we’re going to outnumber them by doing the things we love doing anyway!”

“God chooses what is foolish. (Read there, ‘God uses you and me.’) God chooses what is weak. (Read there, ‘God uses you and me.’) It’s amazing how God, in His ordinary faithfulness, uses weak and foolish people like you and me.” It is, indeed!

Dave Harvey says (and shows) that the gospel is worthy of risk. And, of course, he encourages us to take risks for it.

This one is written for younger readers, but still enjoyable for the not-so-young.

Maybe it’s time we stop acting as if viewing pornography is a wholly different crime from commissioning it, creating it, or participating in it.

Painfully, suffering is almost a prerequisite if we are going to be of much use to other people. It makes us far more compassionate.
—Tim Keller

The Lord bless and keep you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: What Can God Do With Broken Hearts?)
Turning Toward Light
Andrea Sanborn: “Pessimism is my soul’s default setting. Even when life is filled with blessing, melancholy has always been my temperament’s natural course. As a result, it has been the work of my Christian life to turn away from the darkness and look up, look away, notice beauty and give thanks. ”
Pray for Jennifer
I frequently link to Jennifer Myhre’s blog. (You may know her from her excellent books for kids where she is credited as J.A. Myhre). Her husband recently posted on it that she was in a terrible accident and is in need of prayer.
Kanye the Pious
I found this an interesting look at Kanye, his new album, and his critics. “If you were to read half-a-dozen reviews of Kanye West’s latest album, Donda — and I recommend that you don’t —you would learn chiefly that West is a bad person. He’s a bad person for associating with social undesirables; he’s a bad person for supporting Donald Trump; he’s a bad person for hosting album release parties; he’s a bad person because he’s a navel-gazing egomaniac with suspect spirituality; he’s even a bad person for learning how to value women from his experience of having daughters.”
The Roman Catholic Call to Confusion
Keith Mathison: “What Protestants should understand is that once a person accepts the philosophical principles of skepticism, there is no certainty anywhere, and the choice to convert to Roman Catholicism can no longer possibly be a rational choice. At best it can only be an irrational leap of faith, but that leap has no more rational grounds than any other leap – be it into Mormonism or the cult of Jim Jones. The Kool-Aid is the same.”
A Critical Theorist Worth Reading
I benefitted from reading Carl Trueman’s review of a book by a critical theorist.
God Cares for Every Christian More than You Know
I expect that many of us could use this reminder. “When we think of others in the Christian community, we are to realise that we are like little children. We are all dependant on God for our salvation. Even the most capable and respected among us are forgiven sinners, so we need to view others in the church as our brothers and sisters, our equals in God’s sight.”
Flashback: What’s the Purpose of … Marriage?
The highest purpose of marriage is to display to the world the sacrificial love of Christ for his bride, the church.

…the battle for our Sundays is usually won or lost on the foregoing Saturday night, when time should be set aside for self-examination, confession and prayer for the coming day. —J.I. Packer