A La Carte (February 21)
I am on my way home today after a wonderful and profitable trip to Poland.
Today’s Kindle deals include a few books (though far fewer than yesterday).
(Yesterday on the blog: Daddy, I Need You)
Church History Isn’t Boring (You’re Just Doing it Wrong)
“I have always enjoyed studying history, but I understand why many don’t. Most were taught by well-meaning (but horribly-misguided) teachers who think of history as a catalog of names and dates. But if we approach history like Microsoft Excel, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that the only people who love history look a good deal like those who love spreadsheets.”
Was God at Work in My Pre-Conversion Life?
“God was at work in my life when he saved me. Amen! But was God at work in my life before I came to Christ? And if so, how should we talk about God’s work in our lives before conversion?” Piper answers a good one here. (Also see this interview with Piper.)
So Typical
Mitch Chase has a good introduction to typology in this article.
Behold Your God
“I love open air preaching; and the reason I love it so much is that by going out to the public, we can take the good news of salvation to people who will never darken a church door.”
The Danger of Pursuing a Perfect Church
Trevin Wax: “Some of us fail to recognize our lingering sins and selfishness—we think we’re farther along than we really are in our journey toward holiness. Others face the temptation to despair over our remaining imperfections—perpetually frustrated by the slowness of our progress, perhaps because we lack a sense of the magnitude of God’s love for us in Christ.”
The Safest Place
“There is a narrow existence many choose, living in the tight bubble of Christianity. Circumscribed by fear or disdain for what lies outside. We can settle there, sharp boundaries chafing against the edges of our dreams. Or we can taste the freedom of walking with Him into the world’s darkness, as was His habit, and in the wild adventure of joining the vast palette of humanity, as is our future.”
Flashback: None of Us Will Ever Forget What You Did
“Go. Get out of here. You’re lost—don’t come back until you’ve found yourself.”
Scripture speaks most often of faithfulness, not fulfillment, in labor. —Dan Doriani
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A La Carte (July 14)
Grace and peace to you today.
(Yesterday on the blog: What a Wonder Is a Human Being!)
Three Pursuits Better Than Being Right
There are some things that are more important than being right, as this article explains.
God is One
“God has revealed himself as Triune. He is both one and three. Yet many hear that statement as contradictory. Obviously, in mathematics 1 does not equal 3. And it would be a contradiction if God was one and three in the same way. But he is not.”
Can Satan Help Grow Your Church?
“If Facebook has taught us one thing it is that sensational titles are crucial to being successful online. If this post were a video, the title would run something like this: ‘The Church Grew More Rapidly Than Ever Before, But You Will Not Believe How…’ However, I don’t believe that my caution in this post—that Satan can indeed grow the church—is irresponsible or sensational.”
Why Did God Let Adam and Eve Sin?
This is a brief and off-the-cuff answer, but still a good one.
Do Unto Authors
“When people ask what I do for a living, I often say, ‘My job is to teach college students how to read.’ This is only half a joke, because the reality is that our educational system and society has left many people incapable of reading well.” It is so important to learn to read books (especially the Bible) well!
God’s Immutability Secures Ten Thousand Promises
This article tells how all of God’s promises really hang upon one of his attributes.
Flashback: Making the Christian Life More Complicated Than It Needs To Be
There is no circumstance in which God has nothing for us to do, no situation in which we cannot be faithful to his calling on our lives. He calls none of us to uselessness and calls none of us to another man’s life or ministry.Let us not be those who are known digitally but not locally. —Isaac Adams
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God of Every Grace – The Story Behind the Song
I do not share many guest articles but do like to do so occasionally, especially when the circumstances warrant it. This is one of those times. This article was written by Kristyn Getty as a means of explaining the context of a new hymn, “God of Every Grace.” I trust you’ll enjoy the hymn even more as you learn when and why it was written.
Sixteen years ago we were invited to sing “In Christ Alone” at the opening of the Dove Awards. We had recently moved to the US, and although we were very honored to participate, our hearts were heavy. My beautiful cousin Lindsay had just passed away from cancer. We were very much singing for our family. I struggled to sing.
Earlier that day I remember turning to 1 Corinthians 15 and reading of the hope of the resurrection. I was struck by Paul’s concluding charge: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58).
There are many things we experience in this life that will only find their resolution, their answer, their ultimate comfort when we are home with the Lord. What do we do when we have to continue to walk with the question, with the ache, with the limp? We know the Lord will “work all things to the good of those who love him,” but what if that good is not known in this lifetime? There are some pains I don’t yet know and can’t imagine.
The new hymn “God of Every Grace” began with a melody and some lyrics from our friend Bryan Fowler. The song spoke of walking through struggle with faith. It spoke of God as the God of every grace, calling us to see even our trials as somehow, mysteriously, serving God’s good purposes according to his good plans. It resonated with us.
Shortly after the school shooting in Nashville in March 2023, I was sitting outside with my daughters while they were playing, wrestling with this tragedy and the ongoing weight of it. I also pondered the memory of my cousin and the pain her family continues to carry. Many of the ideas and lyrics for this hymn began to form in my head that day.
Alongside Bryan and Matt Boswell, we continued to shape the verses and add the chorus over a couple of months. We felt strongly about keeping the lyric directed to the Lord, personal and honest. The line “all your children home together” was a very moving thought for me as a mother—that desire for a family to be all together again. Only in Christ is this possible.
We are all tempted at different times to give up, to give in, to let our circumstances steal our hope. This hymn is a prayer for his daily strength, for regular recalling of our hope, for faith to keep following, for rest in the truth that he knows, he sees, he counts the tears. We hope you can sing this prayer with us.
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” -1 Peter 5:10-11
[embedded content]
Here are the lyrics:
O let not this world of sorrowsSteal my only hope awayFor the power of Your gospelShines within this jar of clayIn affliction You bring wisdomThat my comforts can displaceHow my true and greatest treasureIs in You, the God of grace
Now to the God of every graceWho counts my tears, who holds my daysI sing through sorrows, sing with faithO praise the God of every grace
Weary with the weight I carryGive me wings of faith to riseFor You know each grief that lingersThrough the watches of the nightSurely You have borne our sufferingsAt the cross took up our painAnd You lead us on to gloryAs we trust You, God of grace
Now to the God of every graceWho counts my tears, who holds my daysI sing through sorrows, sing with faithO praise the God of every grace
There’s a dawning hope before usThat I know is soon to breakAs I wait upon Your mercyWhich will swallow every acheCries of joy and songs of victoryWhen we enter heaven’s gatesAll Your children home togetherAll with You, the God of grace
Now to the God of every graceWho counts my tears, who holds my daysI sing through sorrows, sing with faithO praise the God of every grace
Now to the God of every graceWho counts my tears, who holds my daysI sing through sorrows, sing with faithO praise the God of every graceO praise the God of every graceO praise the God of every grace
© 2023 Getty Music Publishing (BMI) / Messenger Hymns (BMI) – adm. at MusicServices.com // Be Essential Songs (BMI) / BryanFowlerSongs (BMI) – adm. at EssentialMusicPublishing.com -
A La Carte (March 13)
Logos users, it’s time to vote in round 4 of March Matchups. Commentaries that have already been eliminated are on sale now with deeper discounts to come for the winning set.
This week Westminster Books is offering a deal on Ask Pastor John, a book based on John Piper’s popular podcast. Some other Piper books are also discounted.
Today’s Kindle deals include a few notable books.Trevin Wax: “The Christian message isn’t ‘do unto others.’ The Christian message is Christ. The central teaching of Jesus isn’t ‘love your neighbor.’ The central teaching of Jesus is about Jesus. The essence of Christianity isn’t showing compassion to your critics or loving your enemies. The essence of Christianity is Jesus Christ, and the center of his message is the kingdom of God he inaugurated as the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, and the King of the world.”
Dave Harvey offers a kind of call to humility—to even be willing to renounce our rights to our ministry.
The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit helps us pray, but what does that actually mean? Michael Reeves answers here.
I always appreciate a thoughtful engagement with a book and that’s what Matthew Loftus offers in his review of a new title from Abigail Shrier. “Shrier’s most important argument regards iatrogenesis, the concept that a therapeutic intervention can cause unintended harm. Sometimes that harm outweighs the benefit that the intervention was meant to bring about.” Yet there is much to critique as well.
Wyatt Graham tells you to make sure you’re making use of a “super power” God gives us.
Every now and again we need to be reminded that God deliberately created us weak and finite, not omnipotent and infinite.
I have often pondered one of the strange paradoxes of the married life—that the person I love the most is the person I will sin against the most.
That’s the scandal of grace. It means that if you’ve been working hard to be right with God, then you’ve been wasting your time because God welcomes everyone – righteous and unrighteous alike.
—Tim Chester
