Grace and peace to you today, my friends.

Today’s Kindle deals include some pretty good titles.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Snows, The Deep Snows, the Awful Snows)
Looking for Wisdom Among the ‘Christian’ Gurus
“Dave Ramsey, Jordan Peterson, and Rachel Hollis are, each in their own way, three of our modern gurus. They’re a diverse group that reflects particular personalities of modern culture. Peterson is the philosophical academic, Hollis the Instagram celebrity, and Ramsey the folksy, financial counseling version of Dr. Phil.” That’s an interesting start to an article…
Seeing Dignity Instead of Misery Among the Poor
“I used to assume that life must be joyless for those without all the material comforts that were commonplace to me. When I considered people who had only the clothes on their backs and just enough food for each day, my first and strongest reaction was pity. I felt it often in our early years in Zambia, and that revealed a lot to me about my true priorities. When we equate poverty with misery, our core values are exposed.”
You Preach to Ordinary People
“It is good to remember that your church is not a unique collection of hyper-spiritual elite super saints. Nor is it the strangest and most bizarre collection of people either. You preach to ordinary people.” Here are a few things to remember about ordinary people like you and me.
The Invitation Underneath Unforgiveness
“Children of God are fully forgiven the moment they surrender and receive the atoning work of Christ packaged in the gospel; however, it takes a lifetime both to comprehend such fathomless forgiveness and to become those who forgive like the Father.”
No wrong roads
Here’s the latest column from Janie Cheaney. “Every individual life is a creative, collaborative work between the one who lives it and the One who gives it. In that sense, it doesn’t matter where the path leads or what ground it covers or whether we travel at night or full daylight. What matters is His steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Shepherds of Assurance
Pastors especially may benefit from this article.
Flashback: 7 Rules for Online Engagement
As we learn to engage controversy…we do well to consider how to we can speak with equal parts truth and love—love that is strengthened by truth and truth that is softened by love.

Oh, prodigal, you may be wandering on the dark mountains of sin, but God wants you to come home. —D.L. Moody

I’m grateful to Christian Focus for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about their new exposition of the London Baptist Confession. Please do make it a point to visit the sponsors since they play a key role in keeping this site going.

Westminster Books has a deal on a new book for kids. And don’t forget they’ve also got Paul Miller’s new A Praying Church discounted.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Divine Tapestry)
An Eton Mess: The Failure of English Bishops
Here is another article that reflects on the failure of the Anglican hierarchy to properly settle the issue of same-sex marriage. They have come up with a solution that will actually just make everyone unhappy!
Six Ways Pre-Born Babies Glorify God
Paul Tautges offers six ways that pre-born babies glorify God. “As pastors, we must be able to speak biblically about the value of human life. We must help our congregations mull over life in the womb, which is often a dangerous place for pre-born children.”
The Basis is Biology
”On Christmas Eve Melissa Courtney set a new women’s parkrun world record at Poole parkrun. Melissa is originally from Poole so all our local runners basked in the reflected glory as she ran a time of 15 minutes and 31 seconds. This was a truly world class performance.”
The Lies Writers Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free
This is a perceptive article that will speak to many writers. “The world is full of good advice for writers. Just ask Google, “How to start writing?” and you’ll get a host of interesting answers like become a reader, commit to a routine, use writing exercises, and find a community to support your efforts. We’d all agree that this advice makes sense and would help us grow. But what Google doesn’t say, is to figure out who you are in Christ first…”
More Than Jumper Cable Christianity
Jeff Medders wants to help you avoid what he calls “jumper cable Christianity.”
The Young Adults’s Guide to Social Media
Younger Christians may benefit from reading this guide to social media.
Flashback: When You’re at Your Best, Plan for Your Worst
It is when we are not being tempted, it is when we are standing strong in the Lord’s grace, that we ought to consider the times we will be weak and tempted and eager to sin. We need to assume such times will come and we need to use the moments of strength to put measures in place that will protect us when we are weak.

The basis of my marriage is this: God has called me with an irrevocable, inexcusable calling to lay down my life for one specific woman all the days of her life. And to serve her unconditionally, whether she deserves it or not. —Paul Washer

Today’s Kindle deals include Vance Christie’s hefty new biography of David Livingstone—one of the best biographies I’ve read in a while. It’s discounted by something like 90%. You’ll find some other excellent books as well.
Also, if you’re not in the habit of checking in over the weekend, you may want to know that on Sunday there’s going to be a big one-day Kindle sale with lots of great deals. So check here or at my X account (@challiesdeals) to see what it’s all about.

Nancy Guthrie: “Isn’t it interesting how God saves people? And whom God saves? And how he changes them? It’s often the people we least expect and in a way we would never expect. Some people hear the gospel and immediately take hold of it, while others spend a lot of time considering the claims of Christ and gradually come to faith. Some people have a profoundly emotional experience, while others feel very little. Some experience immediate deliverance from sinful impulses and patterns, while others spend a lifetime seeking to put certain sins to death. But there is one thing that is always the same…”

Does free will exist? To answer the question we first need to define the term. John Piper does both here.

Stephen looks at a roundup of the songs people find most helpful when it comes to end-of-life care. The song you would choose says a lot about you!

I found this article at Biblical Counseling Coalition very interesting. Charles Hodges tells some of what researchers have learned about schizophrenia over the past few years and interprets it through a Christian lens.

Bryan Schneider offers a radical idea: don’t let politics hijack the pulpit as election season comes toward its conclusion.

Robert Godfrey explains why the Reformation was necessary. “The church is always in need of reform. Even in the New Testament, we see Jesus rebuking Peter, and we see Paul correcting the Corinthians. Since Christians are always sinners, the church will always need reform. The question for us, however, is when does the need become an absolute necessity?”

By faith we believe we will see that when our will and his were in contradiction, we were actually longing for what was merely second best.

As long as you hold onto the idea that you can produce a life that will win the favor of God, you won’t see why you need Jesus.
—Jerry Bridges