The Lord bless you and keep you today.

Westminster Books has some good books specially discounted.
Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of solid titles.
What Does ‘Deconstruction’ Even Mean?
“‘Deconstruction’ is a term that has increasingly been used in evangelical circles, especially over the past decade. But it is a confusing term, because there’s no single or simple definition for ‘deconstruction.’ It has different meanings in different contexts. It has technical meanings in certain academic contexts and various informal meanings when current and former evangelicals use it to describe their (or others’) faith experiences.”
The Great Lament
Clint Humfrey and Yanick Ethier team up on a timely article. “To understand why Canadians have given their time and trucks to a convoy and to a protest, we need to look past the politics to something deeper—to the cries of the heart.”
The Prayers of Big Data
“These days it’s hard to surprise anybody with revelations about our compromised privacy in the Internet age. Nonetheless, I was still taken aback by a recent BuzzFeed investigation into the data harvesting practices of some of the Internet’s biggest prayer and spirituality apps.” Samuel James explains why it’s a big deal.
You Can’t Hack Your Way to a Faithful Ministry
Darryl Dash: “Here’s what every pastor needs to know: you can’t hack your way to a faithful ministry. You can’t learn pastoral ministry from blogs (including this one) or conferences. Avoid anything that looks like a ministry hack, because they simply don’t exist, and anyone who peddles hacks can’t be trusted.”
God’s Anger Can Open the Door to Experiencing His Mercy
“The Bible clearly teaches that God is both infinitely good and in control of all creation—even the evil in the world. Though He is not the author of evil, He is Ruler over it, as the book of Job illustrates. And because God is in control of all things, we can have hope and turn to Him for mercy and grace in the face of overwhelming circumstances.”
Can the Devil Read My Mind?
Adriel Sanchez: “The Bible clearly teaches that God is both infinitely good and in control of all creation—even the evil in the world. Though He is not the author of evil, He is Ruler over it, as the book of Job illustrates. And because God is in control of all things, we can have hope and turn to Him for mercy and grace in the face of overwhelming circumstances.”
Flashback: Your Calling: Bring Order from Chaos
Our lives are never less than bringing order from chaos. It is our constant task, our God-given calling. It is difficult, it is repetitive, it is frustrating. But it is good.

God never built a Christian strong enough to carry today’s duties and tomorrow’s anxieties piled on top of them. —Theodore Cuyler

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Christmas Is a Happy Day for Broken Hearts
I was asked to write an article for Christianity Today that would speak to those who are grieving at Christmas. “What we wouldn’t give to worship together as a whole family, intact and reunited. What we wouldn’t give to spend this Christmas as we’ve spent so many others, with all of us sitting, singing, and marveling together at the wonder of the day and all it represents.”
Why Such a Lowly Birth?
Jesus could have been born in a very different time or context or set of circumstances. Why did God choose such a lowly birth?
A Front-Row View of the Incarnation
“Who had the best view of the Incarnation? Mary, the mother of Jesus, is certainly a good nomination. So is Joseph, Jesus’s father. It might seem odd to suggest one of Jesus’s disciples in place of his parents. After all, they only spent three years with him. However, there is (at least) one incident in Jesus’s ministry that shows his disciples had a perspective not available to Mary or Joseph.”
Christmas Amid Chaos
Carl Trueman: “Hopefully 2023 will witness significant levels of interest in The Abolition of Man and provoke useful contributions to the field of theological anthropology. In the interim, Christmas offers Christians everywhere the opportunity to reflect once again on the Incarnation, sing of its glorious mystery, and make connections to a rich understanding of what it means to be human.”
Rethink Female Bravery
This interesting article at TGC considers why female bravery is so often portrayed as necessitating physical strength. “Why is physical dominance our measure for brave women? Why is heroism reserved for the person in charge—or the person with the weapon? Why aren’t there more stories that honor daring in the ordinary?”
Faith Lifts Our Eyes Up
Adam Kareus reflects on the death of his brother. “Faith demands we see beyond the pain of the moment to the One who loves us, who gave His Son for us, and who will wipe every tear away. A faith in Jesus Christ is an eye lifting faith, lifting our eyes to the One who stands above.”
Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?
“‘Because he loves us,’ said my little girl with a big, knowing grin as she fidgeted in her seat, probably wondering why her daddy was asking her another question about Jesus. That wasn’t the answer I was looking for, for the record.” But maybe it’s not such a bad answer.
Flashback: The 2 Kinds of Blog
Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of blog. There are blogs that provide a platform for content creation and there are blogs that provide a platform for content curation…Both kinds of blog can be very successful and both kinds can be very helpful.

My faith rests not in what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is doing for me. —Charles Spurgeon

This week I spoke at my first conference since COVID … and came away with a pretty good case of COVID (of the “bad cold” variety). So I’m moving a bit slow and catching up on a bit of TV, but hoping to be back on my feet by Monday.

There are a few Kindle deals to take a look at.
(Yesterday on the blog: On What Basis Could The Rings of Power Completely Fail?)
“Elizabeth the Faithful”—a Small Reflection on our Queen
I really enjoyed Michael Haykin’s tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. “Having been born in the mid-1950s, Elizabeth II (1926–2022) is the only monarch I have ever had. And so, it is very strange to hear the time-hallowed refrain, ‘The Queen is dead. Long live the King!’”
God save the Queen
This is also a lovely tribute. “The rain is falling outside the window, the sound of students from the Westminster school drifts over and blends with the sound of sirens. And there flies the flag on top of Parliament, still not yet at half mast. Soon it may be lowered, tethered, like a million waiting souls, to the frail, fluttering life of an old lady surrounded by doctors and family in Balmoral. That slight, whisper-light weight will drag behind it a freight of emotion and uncertainty that will bury the country for days and weeks to come.”
How Manti Te’o’s Fake Girlfriend Helps Explain Transgenderism
Brett McCracken: “More than its insights about sports stardom, media hype, or the perils of online dating, Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist, reinforced for me a theory I’ve had about contemporary culture: transgenderism and social media are inextricably linked, and the plausibility of trans identities is a unique byproduct of the digital age.”
Did Jesus take on our sin nature? (Video)
Michael Reeves does a great job answering the question.
What is the House Church?
This article offers a helpful explanation of the Chinese house church.
Then Comes the Breaking
“Something within me broke. Tears began to flow down my face as he came and sat down beside me. He shared that he had some idea of the unspeakable pain I was experiencing because he and his wife had miscarried many years ago. He asked how I was doing, and I jokingly said, ‘I was doing fine until you stopped by.’”
Flashback: The Glory of Children Is Their Fathers
While our ultimate desire is to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” we all also want to hear our children say, “Well done, good and faithful dad” or “Well done, good and faithful mom.”

Love is not only doing others no harm; it is doing them all the good that it is in our power to do. —J.R. Miller