Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

(Yesterday on the blog: How To Pray For Someone Who Is Dying)
Can the World Cup deliver on community and transcendence?
Here’s a look at how sports can promise something like transcendence but how it will always fail to ultimately deliver.
If it’s not in the Bible, you really don’t have to do it
A helpful reminder: “There are many things that may or may not be helpful. Many things that we might think would benefit us in some way. Many things that it might be good for us to do in our community, for our community, and that may in some way serve the cause the gospel. All these things you are a free to do. They may even be good to do. But it pays to remember, you are finite and if Jesus hasn’t specifically asked you to do them, you are equally free not to do them.”
Why The Briefing?
This is a fun little behind-the-scenes glance at Al Moher’s “The Briefing.”
I Thought You Should Know, Again
Here is another of Kristin’s helpful reflections on the gospel and the Christian life.
“God Knows I Love You”
“How does a pastor pursue a love for the congregation? This is where the rubber meets the road. We might wish it wasn’t so but those we know best are sometimes the hardest to love. Ask a husband or a wife! So it is with a pastor. A pastor who knows his flock knows their personalities, quirks, weaknesses, and even sins.”
You’re Only Human
Sarah considers her finitude in light of some of the challenges of motherhood.
Flashback: The Place To Begin When Learning About Social Justice
As Christians consider how to act righteously toward others, as we consider the right response to injustice, as we ponder matters of inequity, we have a book of the Bible that is meant to guide us.

We make a mistake when we allow the memories of the past or its influences so to absorb our mind and heart as to unfit us for doing well the duties of the present. —J.R. Miller

There are few things I love more than a good sunrise. There are few things I love more than waking up before dawn, driving to one of the parks or beaches along the shores of Lake Ontario, and watching the sun rise over the waters. Some of the richest and most beautiful displays of God’s artistry are painted across the sky in those few moments just before and just after the sun rises beyond the far horizon. It never fails to awe, never fails to delight, never fails to inspire.

One of my favorite spots is on the edge of a conservation area a few minutes from my home. After cutting through some dark forest and walking along several boardwalks, I arrive at a rocky beach. Following the shore for some time, I come to the mouth of a small creek that empties into Lake Ontario. The lake is before me, swampy marshland behind me, this little creek beside me. I have only ever had the place to myself and have only ever seen the sun rise beautifully from this spot. I set up my tripod and camera. I sit and wait to see what God will do.
I have enjoyed some beautiful moments here. I have watched the mist rise as swans paddle their way between myself and the sun, their form perfectly silhouetted against the bright yellows and oranges of the dawn. I have had herons land just feet away and stand stock-still before me, little otters skitter past, diving birds splash into the water all around.
This little conservation area is one of the few truly beautiful spots in an area of bland, boring suburbia. It is an oasis of beauty in the midst of the endless sprawl of the Greater Toronto Area. It is my own little paradise in an ocean of ugliness.
And it strikes me as being a little parable for myself and every other Christian. Each of us is deeply and terribly flawed, each of us entering our spiritual lives utterly given over to sin. Over the course of our lives the Lord does remarkable things within us. By his Spirit he enables us to put sin to death and come alive to righteousness, to strip off the garments of the old man and to begin to don the garments of the new one. By his Spirit he increasingly and wonderfully conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ.
But while God truly does substantial things within us, we remain as close to the image of Christ as this little conservation area is to paradise. We genuinely do make progress, yet always know that many decades of struggle in this life will be but baby steps compared to the mighty leap we will experience when we are finally perfected in the moment of death. The best of us take great strides in perhaps one or two areas—in humility or sympathy, in patience or gentleness. But the best of us still have such great flaws, such tragic imperfections, and will take them with us to the grave. The best of us are like these few acres of natural beauty in the midst of a city chock-full of suburban sprawl and industrial ugliness.
But there is one who perfectly mastered the art of living a true, beautiful, and perfect life. There is one who lived free from flaws and imperfections. There is one to whom we look as an example for living now and as a promise of how we shall live when we are finally called home, finally perfected, finally enabled to be all we can be in Him. There is one who shows us what it will be to live in the coming paradise.

Last week I participated in a launch event for Seasons of Sorrow that took place just prior to the Getty Music Sing! Conference. I was blessed to have Alistair Begg and Bob Lepine participate in a discussion, then to have CityAlight and Sandra McCracken debut the song inspired by the book, “In the Valley (Bless the Lord).” Overall I though the entire event went very well and I appreciated receiving quite a lot of kind feedback afterward.

The good people at Getty Music were kind enough to record the event and to then make it available to us. Alistair Begg’s Truth for Life is hosting the media and we wanted to share it with you today in the hope that it will benefit you. You’ll find that it unfolds like this: It begins with the trailer for my book, than with me reading an excerpt. Alistair and Bob join me for a discussion about sorrow and suffering, and then CityAlight and Sandra McCracken lead “In the Valley (Bless the Lord).”
You can watch it or listen to it at Truth for Life. (Note the little “Listen / Watch” switch above the player to toggle between audio and video.)
You can also watch it on YouTube, but please note that this version does not include the performance of “In the Valley (Bless the Lord).”
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You can listen to the studio version of the song “In the Valley (Bless the Lord)” at YouTube. It will be available on Apple Music, Spotify, and so on in the next few days.
Finally, you can learn more about the book and find links to purchase it right here.