My gratitude goes to TGC for sponsoring the blog this week to let you know about another series of their always-interesting Good Faith Debates.

Today’s Kindle deals include a good selection of titles.
(Yesterday on the blog: Navigating the Space between Singleness and Marriage)
Hope for Those Tempted to Control Their Children’s Spiritual Lives
This is so important. “So much of our parenting is built on control, which is not always a bad thing. We want to control the influences around our child, so we don’t let them watch inappropriate TV shows. We filter the internet in our home, we get to know the parents of the friends they hang out with, and we tell them not to walk anywhere alone or to talk to strangers. But control in parenting can easily take a negative turn.”
‘No Celebrities Except Jesus’: How Asbury Protected the Revival
Hopefully you’ve got the ability to read this article at CT about the revival and how the administration at Asbury did their best to foster and protect it.
From WEIRD to Absurd
“As I watch the debates in Scotland, and talk with my Anglican friends – agonizing as they are over the implications of their bishops’ absurd decisions around same-sex blessings – I grieve but also feel a growing conviction that we shouldn’t take any of this too seriously. The devil loves to be taken seriously, he hates to be mocked. What we are living through is ridiculous, absurd, and passing.”
One Year Later, Moscow Pastor Says, ‘I Know God Is Going to Judge Us All’
“The first week after Russia began ‘special military operations’ in Ukraine, Russian pastor Evgeny Bakhmutsky couldn’t sleep.” My Worship Round the World journey was meant to take me to this church though, for obvious reasons, we’ve had to go elsewhere.
Facts Don’t Care About Your Healings
This is yet another interesting and challenging reflection from Samuel James.
Rethinking the Value of Potential
Melissa has “noticed that a common pro-life talking point needs reforming.”
Flashback: Only the Christian Faith Begins At the Top
Only the Christian faith begins at the top. We are made right with God first, then obey his law as it is suspended from above, as it is revealed from the heavens.

As I go into a cemetery I like to think of the time when the dead shall rise from their graves… Thank God, our friends are not buried; they are only sown! —D.L. Moody

There is something deep inside a man’s heart that longs to be heroic. I don’t know what little girls dream of, but I do know that little boys dream of carrying those girls out of a burning schoolhouse so they can be admired as strong and brave. Teenaged boys dream of fighting in a war not so much to blaze away at the enemy as to perform an act of heroism that will mark them as tough and noble and worthy of honor. Though older men may no longer be prone to such fantasies, they, too, are drawn to heroism and are convinced that they would be equal to the challenge, that they would stand where others fall, that they would run forward when others run back.
The reality, though, is that few men will ever commit the kind of acts they have so often pictured in their dreams. Few men will ever find themselves facing grave peril and impossible odds to emerge victorious and heroic. Few men will ever live the kind of lives that will even afford them the opportunity. Yet many men choose to sit idly by, wishing they would encounter the field of battle or the place of challenge so they could finally prove themselves.
To such men I have two things to say. First, I urge patience and second, I urge action.
Patience
First, I urge patience. If you wait and allow life to unfold, you will eventually come to an opportunity to prove your character. At some point, a great challenge, a great sorrow, or a grievous loss will come to you and you will need to decide how to respond.
I know many heroes who have never dashed into a burning building or tackled an armed man. One man’s heroism was shown when his child became terribly and mysteriously ill and he led his family prayerfully and faithfully as together they passed through their darkest valley. Do we not regard it as heroic to lead through the darkness when the enemy lurks on every side? This man led his most precious people through their most difficult hour. That’s heroism.
Sometimes the truest hero is the one who learns to braid a little girl’s hair.Share
For another man, it was shown when his wife fell ill and he was more attentive to her than any doctor or any nurse. He fed her, he bathed her, he clothed her, he loved her. It was shown again when his wife finally succumbed to that illness and he had to take on all the roles she had left behind. Sometimes the truest hero is the one who learns to braid a little girl’s hair.
For still another man it was shown when he himself fell ill and he determined he would live out his final days as a trailblazer. He would set an example before his wife, children, and friends of how to live out the final days well, of how to approach death bravely and victoriously. And in so doing, he left behind an inspirational legacy that has caused them to honor him all the more. He is a hero to each one of them.
So first I urge you to be patient, for the time will come when you will be called to display heroism of that kind.
Action
Second, I urge you to take action now. I urge you to behave heroically in front of the people who most need you to help them and bless them. Rather than waiting and pining for an opportunity to display your heroism on a world stage, be willing and eager to display it on a small stage. Be heroic before your wife. Be heroic before your children. Be heroic before the few people God has called you to serve.
Your wife doesn’t care if you never have a medal to pin to your chest or a plaque to fix to your wall. But she does care deeply about how you live before her today. She cares deeply about whether you are living before her in a way that expresses love and care, whether you are leading her as a servant, whether you are growing in godliness and grace, and whether you are becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.
Your children don’t care if your name is never present in the headlines, but they do care whether you are present in their lives. It concerns them a great deal whether you are active or uninvolved, whether you treat them as a joy or a burden, a mere responsibility or a tremendous privilege. Any dad can be a hero to his children when he relates to them as God calls him to—with love and joy, with tenderness and servant-heartedness. Why care whether you are loved and lauded by others when you are loved and respected by them?
If you come to the end of your days and your wife says that you loved her well and that you led your little family with grace, you have the highest commendation you can receive on this side of the grave. If your children honor you as a faithful father, if they acknowledge that you blazed the way through the darkest of valleys, you have been as heroic as any man is called to be. There may be no crowds to cheer you, but I’m sure the hosts of heaven stand and applaud. There may be no medal for bravery, but I’m certain there will be reward in heaven. For you have been heroic in the most important field of life.

May the Lord be with you and bless you.

Spiritual COVID and Losing Your Taste for God
Trevin Wax creates a helpful comparison here. “The loss of taste was the weirdest part of COVID. Mealtimes lost their joy. I ate and felt sustained but didn’t enjoy good food anymore. Every morning, I made myself a cup of tea, but only out of routine since the effort was about as enjoyable as sipping hot water.”
You Need Doctrine and Life to Sail Properly
Mike Leake looks at our emphasis on false doctrine and points out that it is only one of the Bible’s big concerns. “False teaching is something which we are warned about. Doctrine does matter. But what I found is that a majority of warnings aren’t about right belief but about right living.”
A New Study Bible for the Next Generation
Ligonier Ministries has released their Student Edition of the Reformation Study Bible, designed especially with teens and young adults in mind. Its many new features include practical lessons from every book of the Bible, encouraging readers not only to be hearers but also doers of the Word. Today’s your final opportunity to save 5% on the Student Edition when you use code CHALLIES in the Ligonier store. (Sponsored Link)
Why Agree to Use Preferred Names but Not Preferred Pronouns?
I’m interesting to see how different people are adapting to new realities and attempting to face them biblically.
Whose Purpose in Your Suffering Will Prevail?
Randy Alcorn: “Satan intends your suffering for evil; God intends it for good. Whose purpose in your suffering will prevail? Whose purpose are you furthering? Satan attempts to destroy your faith, while God invites you to draw near to Him and draw upon His sovereign grace to sustain you.”
Why Do We Assume Western Theology is Superior?
“The kingdom of God is growing in Africa; are we sufficiently poor in spirit to be inheritors of it, together with our African sisters and brothers?”
Seven Factors for Missionary Homes
“Whenever new personnel come to the field, we end up discussing the pros and cons of the housing that’s been chosen for them.” This is the start to a surprisingly interesting article.
Flashback: The Most Difficult Time to Lead
The most difficult time to lead is when you have forfeited the respect of those who are meant to follow you, when your confidence, and theirs, is shattered. But this is also the most important time to lead. This is where a real man will, and must, lead.

Christ is the true bridegroom of the soul, the true physician of the heart, the real father of all his people. Let us show that we feel this by being unreserved in our communications with him. —J.C. Ryle