This week’s deal from Westminster Books is on a book I’d urge all Baptists (and maybe even non-Baptists) to read.

(Yesterday on the blog: What I Want From A Church)
When I Die Young (Or Old)
Vanessa Le considers dying young…or old.
Members who build the body
“Healthy local churches make a powerful and attractive testimony to a watching world. This means that every member has to be devoted to building others up.” Chopo lists some of the people who, as members of the church, build up the body.
The Economics of Abortion in One Lesson
Some people make an economic argument for abortion. Kevin DeYoung responds to it here, saying that “even if abortion made great economic sense, abortion would still be wrong. But let’s think about the economic argument on its own merits.”
10 Absurdities of Atheism
Michael Patton offers 10 absurdities of atheism (plus a bonus 11th).
On Feeling (and Being) Heard
Chris looks at the well-known words of Matthew 18 and considers one of the ways people get around it.
The Self-Righteous Narrative of Abuse
“People who hurt, misuse, and condemn others almost always couch their cruelty in self-righteous language. They twist the truth to make themselves look good, and they do it at the expense of others. Like Adam, they blame their partners for their bad behavior, and like the Pharisees, they create pious narratives and attack anyone who disagrees with them.”
Flashback: Be a Parent Worthy of Honor
Children do not bear the full responsibility of the fifth commandment. If children are to extend honor to their parents, parents are to make it easy for them by living honorable lives.

Sound doctrine and holy living are the marks of true pastors. —J.C. Ryle

We are probably so accustomed to seeing bonsai trees that we don’t think much about them. But have you ever paused to consider how strange and freakish they really are?
Bonsai trees are otherwise-normal trees that are deliberately kept small. They are grown in little pots where they can put down only shallow roots. They are obsessively pruned to stunt them and keep them from growing tall or wide. They are mighty woods relegated to mere flowerpots, whole forests confined to side tables. Though they may live for centuries, they grow no more than one or two feet tall. Though they have such potential, their gardener applies constant and deliberate action to keep them from ever reaching it. What a strange thing that a gardener would choose to grow a dwarf in place of a giant.
Some churches do something like this to those who attend them, don’t they? They fear that doctrine is drab or divisive, that it is boring or alienating, and determine that it is best to keep the church entertained and immature. They feed their senses rather than their souls and tickle their egos rather than transform their minds. Rather than help them grow tall and broad in their faith they keep them low and stunted. They give them a bonsai faith.
And then some Christians do something like this to themselves, don’t they? They make a profession of faith but content themselves with scant growth and bare maturity. They can sometimes seem to be passive in this, but there is a sense in which they are very active. They do not merely allow themselves to be satisfied with spiritual puniness but they actively pursue it. They work to dwarf themselves, to resist the impulse to grow their knowledge and stretch their faith. They restrain the Spirit who would so readily help them to grow. They give themselves a bonsai faith.
God’s purpose for his people is never smallness and never stagnation.Share
But God’s purpose for his people is never smallness and never stagnation. Rather, his purpose for us is constant transformation, constant renewal, constant growth. We are to resist any allure toward spiritual laziness and instead be active in growing and maturing. We are to press on, always straining, always striving, always pressing on toward the goal.
Thankfully, God is committed to our growth and eager to help us. And thankfully there is no trick to spiritual growth and no mystery to solve. We simply have to take hold of the means he gives us—to obey him by being baptized and taking the Lord’s supper, to grow in our relationship with him through Word and prayer, to commit ourselves to a local church where we can serve and be served. As we take hold of these simple means and as we dedicate ourselves to them, God transforms us from the inside out. He causes us to grow rather than stagnate, to have a faith that is tall and broad rather than shrunken and puny. This and so much more is ours through Christ if only we will reach out and take it, if only we will resist the allure to be bonsai Christians who have a bonsai faith.

If you’re a bonsai lover, don’t be a hater. I think they’re neat too. They just happen to make a vivid illustration.

Grace and peace to you on this Reformation Day.

There is a very substantial list of Kindle deals today (in honor of Reformation Day).
(Yesterday on the blog: How We Worshipped on One Sunday in October)
Toxic
I appreciate this look at the use and over-use of the word “toxic.” “It’s a word that has invaded Christian speech, but could I suggest a moratorium on this adjective, please?”
Strategies for Preaching to the Polarized
This article provides some pointers on preaching at a time of great polarization, even in churches. There are some good suggestions here.
Free eBook: The Legacy of Luther
Today marks 505 years since Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses, effectively sparking the Protestant Reformation. How did an obscure Augustinian monk become the man God would use to set the world ablaze? Today, Ligonier Ministries is offering a free download of the ebook The Legacy of Luther, edited by R.C. Sproul and Stephen Nichols. Read this volume to explore Luther’s life, teaching, and enduring influence. (Sponsored Link)
Clear your desk!
Meanwhile, I think it would be useful for church leaders to read this article and see whether they see themselves described in it, perhaps especially in the description of “armchair elders.”
Reconciled to the Remainders
“I went into ministry and church planting thinking that every problem I encountered would yield a neat solution. Whether through diligent application of scriptural principles, prayer, divine intervention, my Irish charm, or persevering efforts—there would be no remainders to haunt me…”
Something in the Darkness: A Horror Story
Doug has a short story meant to provoke some meditation.
Anthropomorphism?
This article considers the ways we speak about God and whether they are truly anthropomorphic. “Let us never go beyond what is written, but with child-like faith, take God at His Word. When God tells us he is displeased, pleased, angry, reconciled, and so on, He is speaking truth.”
Flashback: When Calvin and Wesley Shake Hands
It’s Reformation Day today, and the occasion got me thinking about some words I had run across earlier this year when reading the works of De Witt Talmage and Theodore Cuyler.

All of God’s mighty men and women have been mighty in prayer. —Theodore Cuyler