Grace and peace to you, my friends.
10ofThose has a couple of interesting deals: 50% off a new book on parenting teens by Melissa Kruger and between 35% and 50% off a new graphic novel on the life of Corrie ten Boom. They’ve also still got ESVs at half price.
Meanwhile, Westminster Books has deeply discounted a new book (more of a tract or booklet, really) by Kevin DeYoung.

I think we all know that the “silent treatment” is not a godly approach to conflict, but it can sure feel like the way to act in the moment. “Though it may seem a lesser evil, this approach fails to align with the biblical requirement for resolving conflicts and nurturing a healthy marriage. A spouse who gives the silent treatment is likely to also engage in a broader cluster of similarly sinful behaviors—a pattern of behaviors first named during World War II.”

You may appreciate this reflection on manhood. “No longer are young men and boys being told to look towards Christ as their prime example of manliness. Instead, they are directed towards gyms, hard work, and raising children. These things might be good, in and of themselves, but they are not what the Bible teaches about manliness.”

This is so good. “We need more Christian content creators, but we don’t need more people who are only capable of beating one drum over and over again. We don’t need people who are only chasing the next viral hit. We don’t need people who get sucked into the distortion zone and lose themselves online. What we need is wise Christians who are rooted in their local community and bring their whole selves to what they create.”

Carl Trueman: “Cultural times are hard for traditional Christians. American evangelicalism has proved a fruitful target for those both outside and inside the church who want to stir up popular panic about Christian nationalism, racism, homophobia, and all the other ill-defined but nonetheless mortal sins of our day. Evangelicalism is presented as the root of all contemporary evils.”

What a wonderful truth to ponder. “Key to our engaging in spiritual warfare is recognition that the victory is Christ’s and is ours in Christ. We do not fight for victory but in victory. The prelude to Jesus sending us out to make disciples is the declaration of His accomplished mission”

This is a very good rule to live by: Don’t fear the results of obedience.

Though he has seen all the evil we have done and all the good we have left undone, still he has banished it all from his mind. He regards us as if we had never sinned, relates to us as if we had only ever been as righteous as Christ.

Christ did not come to make sinners savable but actually to save them. He did not merely open a door for salvation, he carried his people through it. He laid down his life that sinners might live.
—Jeremy Walker

This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington.
Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever. 
Distinct yet inseparable.
The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after, I found that Augustine had used it to describe the relationship between the three persons of the Trinity. Then I saw that John Calvin had used it to describe the relationship between justification and sanctification. It was so beautiful and clarifying, so simple: there can be distinction without separation. We can experience unity within diversity and diversity within unity.
“Someone should write a book on that one day!” I thought.
Fast-forward to 2020.
Lockdown.
COVID-19.
George Floyd.
Marches.
Riots.
Tensions were running high, and debates raged both in society and in the church.
To mask or not to mask?
Should we take down statues of people we now find problematic?
What is gender?  
What is real and true, and what is not?
I saw the church struggle to respond, and the phrase that had altered my thinking years ago suddenly came to back to me in a brand-new way. Distinct yet inseparable. I was sitting on an ancient concept that could bring clarity to these divisive issues.
And that’s how “Someone should write a book on that one day!” became “I need to write that book.”
Distinct yet inseparable explains who God is and how God works in his world. It explains what he has created us to be and how he has called us to live within the church. Indeed, the concept provides the key to answering the most pressing questions of our time—questions of identity, gender, and ethnicity.
My three children are part of the first generation to grow up with smartphones. According to recent research, they’re also part of the most dissatisfied and depressed generation yet. They are passionate about racial and gender equality, yet deeply pessimistic about the future. They’re not alone. We all need to see how the beautiful news of the gospel fulfils our longing for unity and diversity in a broken and confused world.
I wrote Perfect Unity to play a small part in doing just that.

Every generation of Christians faces the very same challenge: To learn the Bible for themselves and to teach it to those who follow in their footsteps. This task cannot be willed, it cannot be inherited, it cannot be passed down. Rather, each generation must accept afresh the challenge to honor, to know, and to obey the Word of God.

Gary Millar’s Read This First is, according to the subtitle, “A Simple Guide to Getting the Most from the Bible.” It is, in that way, a wonderful place to begin for those who wish to accept their God-given responsibility (or alternatively, a wonderful resource to distribute to help others with theirs).
Millar says, “This book aims to help people who would like to read the Bible but don’t really know where to start or how to go about it. You may be a Christian who enjoys being part of a church or a Bible-study group, but you end up feeling lost and confused whenever you attempt to read the Bible for yourself. You may have even tried to embark on a Bible-reading regime but … it didn’t take long before you gave up with a sense of defeat: you just don’t get it. That’s why I’ve written this book: to guide you through it. My hope is that you’ll read this first and go back to the Bible with the skills and confidence to truly enjoy it.”
There is a second audience in his mind: “You may be pretty new to Christianity. You have always thought that the Bible seems interesting enough for you to take a look, but you’ve been put off by the small print, strange ‘religious’ language, its distance from your culture, or even just its size. You may have been been encouraged to read the Bible by a friend, or heard a snippet of what it says at a wedding or funeral, or come across a quotation somewhere. It’s often said that the Bible is one of the best-selling books of all time. That alone seems like a good reason to dip into it.”
For either of those audiences, or even more experienced Bible-readers who are just looking for a bit of a refresh, Read This First offers a simple, helpful guide to reading the Bible well. It begins with an explanation of why everyone should consider reading the Bible, then begins to teach how to read it: to pay attention to the “vibe” of any passage, to discern meaning, to account for context, and to read it both as a book that was written in a different time and to a different audience and as a book that was written for we who live here and now.
Though Read This First is short and simple, that is exactly its purpose and its exactly its charm. It is just the kind of book each of us would have benefitted to read at the start of our journey to better understand God’s Word and just the kind of resource each of us loves to distribute to others. It will do exactly what it promises: help those who have a desire to read the Bible to actually read the Bible—and to read it right. I’m very glad to recommend it.

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