The God of peace be with you today.
As always, it’s a good idea to check for new Kindle deals on a daily basis since many of them last for just 24 or 48 hours. (Something called National Book Lovers Day that is happening today and that has led to lots of deals, especially on the general market side of things.)
Westminster Books has a deal on a new book titled In His Hands that collects a particular kind of prayer. And don’t forget that you can also get a deep discount on Christopher Ash’s commentary on the Psalms.

Joe Carter has an extended look at how Christians can fight the war on lies. “This post-truth age poses profound challenges for Jesus followers. How does the church proclaim the gospel in a world where all truth claims are viewed with suspicion? How do we engage in meaningful dialogue when emotional resonance often trumps logical argument? And perhaps most critically, how do we maintain the integrity of our witness when the very concept of objective truth is under assault?”

Carl Trueman offers some interesting thoughts here. “We Protestants default far too quickly to a spiritualized understanding of Christ’s prayer that his people should be one, at the cost of credibility. Unfortunately, the purchase price of Catholicism’s institutional unity often seems to be the hierarchy’s practical indifference to actual doctrinal and moral unity. If a church opposes abortion but never holds its people to account on the issue, then the question of what ‘opposes’ means becomes rather pressing.”

Join us on October 16-18 for The Missionary Conference, commemorating the 500th anniversary of William Tyndale’s English Bible translation. Gain a biblical understanding of and involvement in world missions, exploring key questions and challenging the pragmatic mindset that has infiltrated evangelicalism. Hear from John Piper, Brooks Buser, Sinclair Ferguson, and many others, as well as missionaries from around the world. Only 2 weeks left to save! Register before August 16. (Sponsored)

Glenna Marshall: “The apostle Paul talked about our slow path to holiness. We are, he said, being transformed (that’s the certain part) from one degree of glory to another (that’s the slow part) into the image of the Lord (that’s the beautiful part).”

Here is some encouragement from John Piper for parents of prodigals.

Ellen Dykas wants to be sure women aren’t overlooked when we speak of the struggles against pornography and other forms of hidden sexual sin.

“As Christians, we must resist the shortcuts that promise blessing apart from faith. We must continually be on guard against the offer to get ahead without the hard process of learning to wait on God. We must resist the plethora of quick fixes that promise to get us to the destination apart from our own time in the wilderness.”

No matter what unfolds around us and no matter what is done to us, we are able to bloom for him—to display the truest love, the greatest gentleness, the highest reaches of Christian character.

What God does is not so wonderful as what he does not do.
—De Witt Talmage

“I offer two pieces of wisdom,” he told me, “two commitments you can make: Never be discouraged and never be a discourager.” I have thought deeply about this counsel and have decided it is good—mostly good.

I say “mostly good” because there are times when we cannot help but be discouraged, times when we are deflated and demoralized, when we lose confidence or enthusiasm. After all, this world is messy and this life is difficult. We have friends that hurt us, bodies that fail us, minds that betray us. We wage war against fierce and persistent enemies and endure the toughest of circumstances. So there are times when discouragement is unavoidable and neither sinful nor wrong.
Similarly, there are times when we cannot help but be discouragers, times when we need to take the wind out of another person’s sails by speaking firmly or warning soberly. We may have to deliver difficult news or announce just consequences. There are times when, for a higher purpose, it falls to us to express disapproval and, in that way, cause someone else to become downcast or dispirited. So too, there are times when being a discourager is unavoidable and neither sinful nor wrong.
Yet it seems to me that being discouraged is far more often a choice we make as we respond to the vicissitudes of life and being a discourager is far more often a choice we make as we act sinfully instead of purely. Far more often both are more of a decision than an absolute necessity and more a matter of sinfulness than holiness.
We often prove a discouragement to others when we make ourselves a source of negative news rather than positive encouragement or when we spread information that is outright false or perhaps merely unnecessary. Sometimes in our interactions with others we focus on what is false, vile, and base rather than what is true, lovely, and worthy of praise. And then we can permit bad character to flourish rather than the fruit of the Spirit and evil words to leave our lips rather than those that build up. Then our sinfulness overflows from our hearts and manifests itself in words and deeds that hurt or hinder those we are called to love. In all of these ways, discouragement is a choice we make. It would do us good to determine, “Never be a discourager.”
We often grow discouraged when we allow sin to put down deep roots in our hearts rather than committing ourselves to proving good soil for the work of the Spirit. We often grow discouraged when we interpret God through our negative circumstances rather than interpreting our difficult circumstances in light of our glorious God. We often grow discouraged when we fail to remember that God is working all things for good and when we fail to meditate on the fact that this light, momentary affliction is preparing us for a glory far beyond our ability to comprehend. We often experience discouragement when we simply fail to be encouraged by the truths of God, the love of God, and the promises of God. It would do us good to determine, “Never be discouraged.”
“Never be discouraged and never be a discourager,” he told me. And I find myself agreeing with his counsel and, so far as it depends upon me, committing myself to it.

The God of peace be with you today, my friends.
Today’s Kindle deals include a book by Christopher Ash that your pastor wishes you would read along with several other great picks. (If you’re into Kindle deals, remember I’ve got an X account dedicated to them: @challiesdeals.)
(Yesterday on the blog: Lowest and Last of All)

Randy Alcorn shares a key bit of writing from John Piper on the importance of brokenhearted boldness. “Boldness can become brash, harsh, severe, cruel, angry, impatient, contentious, belligerent, coarse, crude, snarky, snide, loud, garish, obnoxious — all in the name of Christian courage. Or more subtly, boldness in the cause of truth can become, even if less brash and severe, more all-consuming. It can become such a fixation that all other beautiful affections and dispositions are eaten away from within.”

Many have wondered why Jesus didn’t defeat the Romans, though I guess he did, in a sense. Alastair Roberts speaks on that in this brief video.

Bob Kellemen: “Much of our thinking about suffering is unbiblical. We tend to think that spiritual maturity somehow inoculates us against the pain of suffering. We falsely imagine that the more spiritually mature we are, the less emotional pain we will experience when we suffer.”

Matt Walsh has a new film out and, as Denny Burk explains, it “has opened up a conversation about the ethics of deception and lying when doing so for an ostensibly good cause.” Denny provides his take on the ethics of the matter.

Amy Medina considers “how often I assuage my fears based on odds. The news headline gives me a fright, but I analyze it carefully: That would never happen to me. I don’t live in that city, in that neighborhood; I don’t frequent that bar, that park, that dark alley. I always buckle up; that cancer doesn’t run in my family; my country would never go to war; I have insurance for that. I don’t need to worry.”

We often consider the task of prayer or the duty of prayer. But how often do we consider the beauty of it? That’s what Ceenu Susan Jebaraj does here.

All the way back in the seventeenth century John Bunyan produced an incredible work of visual theology titled “A Map Shewing the Order and Causes of Salvation and Damnation.” In a pair of side-by-side timelines he traced the salvation of the believer (or the elect) and the damnation of the unbeliever (or the reprobate). 

Repentance is more than a repeated apology.
—Kevin DeYoung