F.B. Meyer used to tell a story that, while it sounds perhaps just a little far-fetched, makes a great point. He would use it when appealing to unbelievers to repent of their sin and believe the gospel—he would use it to encourage them not to delay until they were sure they possessed a great measure of faith, but to instead simply look to the Lord with what faith they had. Here is what he would say:

I was told the other day a very interesting thing about one of the ancestors of the family with whom I was stopping. She was only in a swoon, but they thought she was dead, and were preparing to carry her forth for interment. But one that was standing by saw the quivering of an eyelid.
Immediately they removed her from the coffin, laid her upon the bed, and went to work to revive her, and presently she came back to consciousness, and lived for some ten years longer, a hearty, robust life. Saved by the quivering of an eye-lid, that showed she was not entirely gone! Oh, man, Jesus waits and Satan waits. This is the hour of your choice. Jesus only asks thee not to resist and refuse, but to choose; and though thy choice tonight be as slight as the quivering of an eye-lid, let Christ see it. Look to Him! It is all He wants, and He will come into your heart.

May God bless you as you serve and worship him this weekend.

There are some new Kindle deals to browse through.
(Yesterday on the blog: Is It Unspiritual To Be Depressed?)
Can Christians ‘Do Business’ with the World?
“In recent decades, a number of prominent Christian organizations and denominations have called for Christians to boycott businesses that are associated in some way with non-Christian ethics.” This article asks whether this is necessary.
Did We Kiss Purity Goodbye?
There are some interesting reflections here on the successes and failures of purity culture. “Calls for sexual purity were (and are) biblical and needed. Even in the midst of the good that was done through lots of preaching and discipleship during those years, several lies seemed to spread in the renewed emphasis on purity — each laced with enough truth to be taken seriously and yet with enough deceit to lead some astray.”
4 Traits of an Emotionally Healthy Ministry Worker
Eliza Huie affirms the importance of spiritual health but says “spiritual vitality is not the only area of health ministry workers need to pursue. Your emotional health is also essential. Below are four traits of emotionally healthy people for you to pursue. If you’re in ministry, each one is worthy of your careful consideration.”
Chasing Sunsets
“Why did God give us sunsets? He could have made the shift from light to dark an instantaneous change. One moment it’s day, the next it’s night. One moment you can see, the next you can’t. But written into creation is a gradual movement in colors that hurts our eyes with brilliance and bends our brains with wonder every single day that we care to pause and notice.” Glenna Marshall marvels at God’s handiwork.
The 3 Motivations to Work
“There tend to be three primary motivations that drive people to accomplish something, but it is not until we reach the third that we are nearing maturity.”
God Sees the Pain Unseen by Others
“At a moment’s notice, chaos could erupt in our home. But it never failed that our most difficult moments with our child’s challenges often occurred on the mornings I was determined to make it to my bible study. And this particular morning was no different.” Sarah Walton writes about a special moment.
Flashback: The Opposite of Envy
Neither someone else’s success nor our lack of success changes who we are in Christ. Neither some else’s failures nor our own has any bearing on who we are in him.

It will not take long for God to make up to you in the next world for all you have suffered in this. —De Witt Talmage

The God of love and peace be with you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Flowers Springing Up in the Rain)
The Joys and Challenges of Small Church Ministry
I enjoyed Jeff’s celebration of the joys (and challenges) of ministering in a small town.
What would we be missing if our Bibles lacked the book of Galatians?
I can’t imagine being asked this question off-the-cuff–or answering as well as Derek Thomas does here.
The Transgender Fantasy
Andrew T. Walker: “Pastors have no shortage of issues that they are called up to address in their ministries. The pressure to be an expert on every new issue can be daunting when thinking about everything else on the pastor’s plate. Most pastors need fewer burdens, not more. But when issues of what it means to be human surface — and this is at the center of the debate over transgenderism — it’s important that pastors seek to bring the full counsel of God’s word to bear on the issue at hand.”
Stricter Standards Do Not Always Equal Legalism
Barbara offers an important corrective here: Christians who hold to stricter standards (in, for example, the way they dress) are not necessarily succumbing to legalism.
3 Things to Pray for those Hurting, Suffering and Grieving
Ken Irungu (aka Ken in Kenya): “We all know someone who is hurting, who is suffering or is grieving, don’t we? We promise to pray for them, but at times, we do not know how and what to pray for them. Sometimes all we pray for them is that God would minimize their pain and suffering. But there’s more we can pray for these dear ones, as we clearly see from scriptures.”
Extravagance
“A few weeks ago, NASA released some of the first photos from the James Webb telescope from 932,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) above the earth. Have you been as captivated by those pictures as I am?”
Flashback: Four Sources of Discord in Your Church
In Paul’s letter to Titus he offers four sources of discord and warns us to avoid them (“But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.”). Here, for your consideration, are four sources of disunity that may just exist in your church.

We don’t treat prayer like breathing. We treat it like prescription medication meant to rid us of an infection. Once the infection is gone, so is the frequency and fervency of our prayers. —John Onwuchekwa