A La Carte (June 12)
Westminster Books is offering a discount on a new book for kids that is part of what they say is one of their all-time favorite series. In fact, the whole series is on sale.
Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of interesting titles. And, as always, I will check again first thing in the morning.
Trevin Wax considers the argument for the existence of God that goes like this: “There is the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Therefore there must be a God.”
“Let me ask you a question: What do you think God feels about you right now?” Dave Harvey wants you to remember that you live from approval, not for approval.
“If you want to see someone’s spiritual sincerity … don’t mainly watch him in church. Watch him with his children. Watch him at work. Watch him in traffic. Watch him when offended. For you will know him by his neighbor-love.”
Casey borrows the imagery of a trellis and vine and applies it helpfully. “I’m convinced that individual Christians need both trellis and vine work … We need to construct structures in our lives that maximize the potential for spiritual fruit. We need to implement habits and practices in our lives that maximize the potential for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to grow.”
I enjoyed this brief biography of the man who, in his time, was known as the black Spurgeon.
“I often get asked how we are reaching so many people or what we are doing differently at Malvern Hill–especially as it relates to reaching children and teenagers. Interestingly, many people don’t believe my answer. They assume we must have uncovered some secret growth trick, some special program, or a new discipleship method. The truth is simple and difficult.”
The Christian life is a lifelong obedience of replacing ungodly patterns and habits with godly ones. We continually put off the old man and put on the new.
Tears are the safety-valve of grief, and often keep an agonized heart from bursting; let them flow.
—Theodore Cuyler
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A La Carte (February 21)
This week at Westminster Books you can score a big discount on a new Easter devotional.
Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of biographies and some other books as well.
Lois writes about the heavy seasons of life and what it is that makes them so weighty.
It is not unusual today to hear people who insist we can or should refer to God as “mother.” Dr. Kyle Claunch responds.
There is no one like our God. Encountering His holiness leaves us forever changed, bringing new awareness of our sin and need for His grace. R.C. Sproul’s classic book, The Holiness of God, invites readers deeper into the truth of Scripture, that we may marvel at the Lord’s greatness and the wonder of His salvation through Jesus Christ. You can request the 40-anniversary edition of this celebrated book today with your donation to Ligonier Ministries. (Sponsored)
“The building is stuffy and reeks of urine and lethargy as the elderly lie bedridden beneath crumpled sheets. Nonetheless, like moths to a flame, we happily return.”
Stephen says, “The truth is, if anything is a higher priority to us than our faithfulness to Jesus, there is almost no sin we won’t tolerate in order to get it.” This means we need to think carefully about what may be more important to us than faithfulness.
Dan Cruver reflects on the doctrine of adoption. “This wonderful gospel reality—or, I should say, this breathtaking adoption reality—forever changes everything, including how we relate to God, our fellow human beings, and creation itself as God’s good stewards.”
“Paul is encouraging us to go against the grain of the culture, to not follow the patterns of this world, to not fit in with society. Indeed, we must be outcasts as Christians. We are the anomalies; we are the sojourners; we are the weird ones.”
We all know what it is to try to relate to people who are distracted by a phone. And we all know how much better it is to be undistracted. The challenge, of course, is in living that out.
We can’t teach kids kitty-cat theology and expect them to have lion-like resolve.
—Sam Luce & Hunter Williams -
Have You Become an Amateur Astronomer?
The great poet David once looked to the night skies and poured out his heart in praise to God: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2).
Notice all the ways that creation is communicating: The heavens are declaring, the sky is proclaiming, the day is speaking, the night is revealing. And then notice the content of this communication: The heavens are declaring God’s glory, the skies are proclaiming the fact that they were created by him, the day and night are revealing the knowledge of his existence.
It’s for this reason that Sam Storms once said that each human being is under a mandate to become an amateur astronomer. Every Christian is to look to the heavens to see what God has created and to learn the lessons he means for us to learn from them. And just as we must look up to the skies, we must also look down to the microscopic world, out to all the plants and animals, and even inward to the human body and soul. In all of it, we see God’s handiwork. If we have ears to hear and eyes to see, we will learn beyond any dispute that God is communicating. He is communicating that he exists and that he is supremely powerful—that he is worthy of our honor and worship. -
In the Beginning There Were No Canyons
“In the beginning there were no canyons,” he told me. “There were no canyons in the Great Plains, but instead only broad, open spaces where rich grasses waved in the winds.” Intrigued, I sat and listened as he told his tale.
He told me of a day when the Master of the Earth walked all over the broad land and asked the Prairie, “Where are your flowers?” The Prairie replied simply, “I have no seeds.” So the Master gave his orders to the birds of the air until they flocked from north, south, east and west, each bearing a seed to drop upon the fertile ground. Soon enough the Prairie bloomed with the bright colors of crocuses and sunflowers, of lillies and roses, of aster and clover.
When the flowers had grown and their rich colors had brightened the land, the Master returned to the Prairie and was well pleased. Yet even in his pleasure he observed that some of his favorite flowers were still missing. Once again he spoke to the Prairie and asked, “Where are the clematis and the columbine? Where are the violets and ferns? Where are the flowering shrubs I love so much?” “Master,” replied the Prairie with sorrow, “I have tried, but I cannot keep those flowers, for the sun beats hot upon them and scorches them before they can grow. The wind blows hard upon them and drives them away before they can put down roots. I have tried, my Master. Won’t you help me?”
So the Master spoke to the Skies and in an instant a great bolt of lightning leapt from the heavens to the earth, striking the Prairie with a heavy blow. The Prairie cried out in agony and for a long while mourned the gaping, jagged gash that had been left upon it—a deep, charred scar that contrasted sharply with the bright grasses and vivid flowers around. “Why, Master?” it sobbed in bewildered sorrow.
But soon enough the gentle rains began to pour their cleansing waters into the wound, washing away all that had been seared and scorched. The birds returned once more and dropped their seeds into the depths. And before long, brilliant green mosses sprang up within it, long vines covered in wondrous flowers trailed down it, and every nook was hung with clematis and columbine. Great elms and willows took up their place and stretched their branches toward the heavens high above. Ferns and violets grew in bright clusters along the banks of the river that ran gently through its deepest parts.
This canyon became the Master’s place of special delight, the place where he found peace, rest, and joy, the place where he was most content to dwell. And as the Prairie gazed at all its newfound beauty, all this fresh evidence of life and grace, it could only conclude that the Master of the Earth had been wise and good. It knew now that the brightest of the blooms grow only in the places that have been prepared by the heavy hand of the Master. It knew now that the most beautiful of the flowers grow only in the deep canyons.
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I prefer to end the tale there. But for those who would like to know more, here is the rest of what happened that day.
“Won’t you tell me, I asked, what the flowers represent?” “They are the evidences of God’s grace in a life,” he replied, “—the flowers (or fruit if you prefer) that God’s Spirit grants to those he indwells: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Each of these is as beautiful and as wondrous as the finest flower.” “And which of these grow only in the canyons,” I asked, “only in the dark places?” “Kindness, gentleness, and self-control,” he said. “Love, joy, peace and the others grow well in the wide open sunshine and in the days of ease. But kindness, gentleness, and self-control grow best in the deep canyons, in those places specially prepared by the hand of the Master. If you wish to see these displayed in your life, you must be willing to have your Master prepare you.”Inspired by Gwen’s Canyon by Ralph Connor.
