May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

Presbyterian School Mourns 6 Dead in Nashville Shooting
Like so many others, I’m shocked and grieved by the recent tragedy at Covenant School in Nashville (which CT reports on here). I am praying for all those whose loved ones have been taken and whose hearts have been broken.
More Than Watchmen for the Morning
Meredith Beatty: “The watchman trusted that the sun would come up every single morning, but don’t we have a greater hope? Shouldn’t we be spilling over with faith-filled confidence?”
The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook” Now Available from Lithos Kids
A faithful retelling of the story of God’s kingdom from Genesis to Revelation. Fully illustrated Old and New Testament volumes for ages 2 to 11. (Sponsored Link)
How to Respond to Deconstructionist Social Media
“Last week, a young adult I pastor came into my office to ask about something he’d seen. It was a video of a deconstructionist influencer on TikTok ‘proving’ that the Gospels are unreliable. He wanted to know what I thought. The video had shaken his faith. Videos on social media like these have millions to hundreds of millions of views. If you pastor younger generations, you’re likely already aware of this new reality. If you’re not, welcome.”
Is there a difference between regeneration and being born again? (Video)
Is there a difference between regeneration and being born again? Sinclair Ferguson clarifies the terms.
Wrath Is Not an Attribute of God
“The love of God and the wrath of God are commonly pitted against one another, particularly in the doctrine of atonement. If the cross is the demonstration of the love of God (Rom. 5:8), then how could it also be an expression of his wrath?” It’s important to know that wrath is not one of God’s attributes alongside love.
Fear After Grief
Brianna Lambert: “Perhaps you’ve been walking through seasons of grief, as you mourn especially deep pain. The dark clouds have begun to shift, but you’re not sure if you can bear to greet the sun, lest you have to return to the dark.”
Flashback: 31 Days of Purity: A Renewed Mind
Throughout his life, the Christian is to be renewing his mind by the Word of God, to take it into captivity and bring it into conformity. As he does this, his words and his deeds, and even his thoughts, will necessarily follow.

Loneliness is one of humanity’s most tender emotions. It reminds us that we are not made for ourselves. We were made for our Creator. The barbs of loneliness are God’s way of saying, “Here I am!” —Steve DeWitt

It has been my observation that churches tend to invest a fair bit of effort in preparing couples to begin a healthy marriage, but perhaps a little less in helping couples sustain a healthy marriage. We offer pre-marriage seminars designed to deliberately help a couple better understand the challenges that will come their way in the years ahead, but don’t offer as many seminars deliberately designed to help couples through the middle and later years of marriage and, thus, through issues like sorrow, loss, declining sexuality, empty-nesting, unmet expectations, unresolved conflict, and so on.

I wanted to address this in my church (and in my own marriage, for that), so decided to lead a marriage seminar that would appeal specifically to couples who have been married for at least a decade and perhaps even several. I built it around Dave Harvey’s I Still Do: Growing Closer and Stronger through Life’s Defining Moments—a book that is meant to foster a marriage that is lasting and durable. With Dave doing the heavy lifting, I put a good deal of effort into creating questions that would prompt conversation and prayer between the couples and also lead to helpful group discussions.
Because I expect others may benefit from such a course, I thought I’d share the material and make it freely available for you to download for your own purposes, whether that’s to lead a course with others or just go through the material with your spouse. You are free to download it, use it, edit it, and so on. You need give no credit to me.
I would recommend having an experienced and credible individual or couple lead the course and would also recommend keeping the group size relatively small as a means of fostering openness and vulnerability in times of corporate discussion. The six sessions are structured in such a way that each couple will read two chapters together, answer a number of questions, then meet with the group for further learning and discussion. Group meetings should be scheduled for about 90 minutes. For each session there is a Question sheet which is sent to the couples in advance and a Discussion sheet which is for the leader to use at the seminar. Those who wish to extend the course to 12 weeks can easily split each session in half. Each couple will need to have a copy of I Still Do (Amazon, Westminster Books) and the leader should purchase a copy of the Study Guide (Amazon, Westminster Books) since a few of the questions are drawn from it.
Here are all the files in a variety of formats:

Introduction, Information, and Expectations: PDF, Pages, Word
Session 1 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 2 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 3 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 4 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 5 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 6 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Or: Download everything in one zip file

Good morning! Grace and peace to you.

(Yesterday on the blog: As if God Had Ever Made an Atlantic Wide Enough…)
An Open Letter to a Distressed Sufferer
Mike Emlet has an open letter to those who are suffering. “Dear friend, I have no definitive answer for why God has permitted this particular tsunami to flood your life. But while we can’t penetrate the mysteries of suffering, we can be sure of this: our gracious and strong Lifeguard will not let us be swept away.”
5 Christian Athletes to Watch in the Winter Olympics
Here’s a small roundup of some of the Christian athletes competing right now. “If you’re looking for athletes to root for, we recommend following these five Christian competitors—and also a specific way you can pray for each of them.”
Don’t Let Truth Become Cliche
This article warns us against allowing truth to become a cliche.
The Hazards of Second Language Sermons
A missionary humorously shares some of the hazards of preaching in a new language.
Innovation Exists by God’s Design
“Many of the sharpest Christians, who rightly celebrate God’s providential governance over all things, tend to wrongly assume (in practice) that his reign ends somewhere around the boundary lines of Silicon Valley.”
The Hope of Renewal for the Sexually Broken
Here’s a word from David Powlison–a word of hope for the sexually broken.
Flashback: It Takes Two
Gossip is not only a sin of the mouth, but also a sin of the ears. It takes two: the one who speaks and the one who listens.

No man can be severe in his judgment who feels that the mild eyes of Christ are fixed upon him. —Charles Hodge