Audible (aka Amazon) is having an End of Summer sale and that means the audiobook of Seasons of Sorrow is 65% off. (Note: you can either use 1 Audible credit or tap on the “buy with one-click button” to purchase it at the discounted price.)

Don’t Let ‘Discernment’ Give Doctrine a Bad Name
“I get frustrated sometimes by the lack of discernment I see from people who fly the ‘discernment’ banner.” So do I! You should read Trevin’s thoughts on discernment and discernment “experts.”
There Are no Slippery Slopes in the Bible
“There is a signifiant difference between seeking to understand God’s word and seeking to undermine God’s word. Undermining God’s word is dangerous. Understanding God’s word is life-giving and powerful.”
Spiritual Abuse: Seeing What We Don’t Want to See
This article provides some current and historical wisdom on spiritual abuse. “As uncomfortable as it is the church needs to do this with the harsh reality of spiritual abuse. Even writing those words — with every key-stroke — is hard. Abuse is one thing but when you add the adjective ‘spiritual’ it becomes something else, something more.”
Am I Called to Ministry? Five Tests
John Piper offers five tests to consider whether you may be called to ministry.
The Day the Bible Became a Bestseller
I enjoyed this account of the day the Bible became a bestseller for the first time (and the context in which it happened).
Just Enough to Keep Going
Darryl means to offer encouragement to ordinary pastors with ordinary pastorates—which is to say, the great majority of pastors.
Flashback: The Depth of My Depravity
You don’t know how deeply sinful you are by your unrighteousness deeds, but by your rejection of God and his grace. That is the most serious, heinous, and damnable sin of them all.

What is the best safeguard against false doctrine? The Bible regularly read, regularly prayed over, regularly studied. —J.C. Ryle

Crossway has begun to publish The Complete Works of John Owen and Westminster Books has the first volume (of 40!) on sale now.

There are at least a couple of Kindle deals to look at.
What Your Nativity Really Means
Pierce Taylor Hibbs considers “our little, neat, illuminated manger scenes. Such a precious thing: the coming of God in the flesh to two happy, carefree parents, just enjoying the stars on a Bethlehem night. Too bad that image doesn’t seem to fall off the pages of Luke’s Gospel. In truth, that nativity scene means a whole lot more than you think. It’s a deep portrayal of tragedy, shrouding a light that should spark us to even greater worship than any comfortable manger scene could conjure up.”
Was Christmas Like This?
This article is similar—an imaginative but perhaps more faithful telling of the story we have all read so many times. “The thing is, the Bible doesn’t actually give a lot of detail about the first Christmas and so we have filled in some details through tradition, sentiment and a misreading of what the Bible actually does so.”
Recapturing our awe of the incarnation
And then there’s this from Aaron Armstrong who considers “the problem that we all face: we can fall prey to familiarity. Boredom, even. I find this happens a lot at Christmas, especially when we’ve tried to use or reuse Advent reading plans. We become so familiar with them that we lose our sense of wonder.”
Essendon apologizes to Andrew Thorburn
This is good news from Down Under. “Religious freedom received an early Christmas present this year with Essendon Football Club today issuing an apology to Andrew Thorburn.”
An Apologia regarding the Lawsuit against SSU Officials
Meanwhile, Nicholas Meriwether tells why he filed “a lawsuit against officials at Shawnee State University for violation of my First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion, as well as for other freedoms.”
It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Like This
“The bang of the heavy front door as Louie came home from work each day broke the silence of a hushed house where serious illness had taken up residence. His days were busy at the barber shop and hardware store he co-owned with his older brother but there was no falling away of tensions as he entered their house. Cancer had ravaged his wife’s body and she had been gravely ill for some time, although she was not yet 44.”

Flashback: On Following Mediocre Leaders
How do we follow mediocre leaders? After all, we will spend much of our lives doing exactly that. While we may wish we’ll be called to follow the few who are great, the law of averages makes it far more likely we’ll be called to follow the many who are not-so-great.

No pastor can give to others what he himself has not received. —Harold Senkbeil

I heard from a friend this week who is on his way to heaven. He has days left, the doctors say, or maybe even a few weeks. But either way, his body has endured almost as much as it can take and his time is now short. Thankfully, he is ready to depart. And as I consider his departure, I recall this reflection from the old devotional writer James Smith which speaks of the great gain that comes to those who die in the Lord. I share it to encourage him and to encourage us.

If we look at death as creatures, we shall fear it; but if we look at it as Christians, we shall not. It was once a curse, it is now a blessing. It was a loss, it is now a gain.
Dying we gain our freedom from every foe, trial, and trouble; and obtain possession of innumerable blessings. We are freed from sin and made perfect in holiness. We are delivered from sickness and pain, and enjoy perfect health and happiness. We shall gain knowledge, for then we shall know even as we are known. We shall gain holiness, for then we shall be with Christ and be like him. We shall gain honour, for then white robes shall be given us, and we shall be acknowledged as victorious over Satan, the world, and sin. We shall sit down with Jesus on his throne.
Death to every believer is gain. It is immediate gain. It is great gain. It is everlasting gain. It may be painful to pass through, but its results will be glorious. And shall we fear death? Why should we? Jesus says, “He that keepeth my sayings shall never taste of death.” He may depart to be with his Lord, but he shall never die.
Look through Jesus at death, and look through death to Jesus.
Soon will the Lord, my life, appear;Soon shall I end my trials here,Leave sin and sorrow, death and pain,To live is Christ, to die is gain.