Blessings to you today.

Logos users will want to be sure to grab this month’s free book and take a look at the other discounted items. You’ll also find lots of Mobile Ed courses significantly marked down.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Year of Our Dreams or the Year of Our Nightmares)
Look Out! Preparing for ‘23!
“Solomon wrote thousands of proverbs. So when he writes, ‘Above all else…’ – that should get our attention. What is ‘above all else’ from Solomon’s perspective? In Proverbs 4:23, he tells us: ‘guard your heart.’  That is huge.” It is. And it gives us something to ponder at the beginning of a new year.
Trusting through Trials and Tragedies
“Each year, for some reason, we buy into the belief that next year will be different. As December concludes, we have high hopes that a change in the calendar will end the struggles and hardships that we are facing. However, as the new year dawns, it usually doesn’t take long for such happy hopes to be dashed to pieces by the less-than-romantic reality before us.”
Was The Pope a Catholic?
Stephen McAlpine considers the death of Pope Benedict XVI and reminds us of something obvious—that the pope was Catholic.
Dangers of Self-Revolution
“Imagine for a moment year 2023 gives you exactly what you want. What if your ambitious resolutions are reached and your year is a year of growth unlike any other?” That’s worth thinking about.
A Foolproof Discipling Program: Corporate Worship
“Churches make disciples. Okay … but how does a church do this? How does your church do this?”
John Piper’s Favorite Things
This one is a bit silly but still fun—John Piper talking about some of his favorite things (e.g. movies, food, etc).
Flashback: The New Year — A Poetic Prayer
I’ve been exploring the poetry of Marianne Farningham who wrote the bulk of her works in the late 1800s. Among them was this poetic prayer for a new year.

When God calls a man to pastoral ministry, he calls him to deal exclusively in the glory of God. God’s glory is our trust, our means, our end. —Jared Wilson

Most of us are familiar with the term “means of grace.” Means of grace are the ways in which the Holy Spirit works in our lives to lead us into holiness. You might think of them as the “channels” through which sanctifying grace flows from God to his people. Most prominently he does this through Scripture, prayer, and the ordinances of baptism and Lord’s Supper (or, more broadly, through the unique ministry of the local church). But did you know that historically some people also understood Christian friendship to be a means of grace? They did not mean that friendship actually bestows grace, but that it is a means through which God accomplishes his work of sanctification. Whether or not friendship can rightly be categorized as a means of grace, these believers certainly understood the importance and benefits of close, brother-to-brother, iron-sharpening-iron relationships.

Such friendships are the theme of Michael Haykin’s new book Iron Sharpens Iron: Friendship and the Grace of God. His purpose in the book is not to provide a theology or philosophy of friendship as much as it is to provide historical examples of friendships—examples that focus on a pair of fascinating eighteenth-century characters: Andrew Fuller and John Ryland. “Iron Sharpens Iron is about the specific way that friendship functioned as a means of grace for two eighteenth-century men.” It’s an interesting way of going about his task and one that is effective since, as the old saying goes, some things are better caught than taught so that we sometimes learn better by vivid example than straight-up instruction.
The book begins with an overview of the history of friendship from the ancient world all the way to the eighteenth century, pausing to consider Greek philosophers, a selection of Old and New Testament characters, Church Fathers, and Reformers. From there Haykin provides a brief biographical overview of his two central subjects, then devotes a chapter to three particularly important friendships: John Newton and John Ryland; Andrew Fuller and Thomas Steevens, and then, of course, Andrew Fuller and John Ryland. In each case he tells how they became friends, how they sustained their friendship, and what benefits it brought to them. “It is on the grounds of these men’s experience of the joys and challenges of Christian friendship” that he makes his case for the importance of friendship to the Christian life.
Modern Western culture is not particularly friendly to friendship and for quite a number of reasons it seems to have fallen on hard times. “Such friendships take time and sacrifice, and the West in the early twenty-first century is a busy, busy world that, generally speaking, is far more interested in getting and possessing than sacrificing and giving.” Then there is the culture that places self ahead of others and the sexual revolution that perhaps makes men afraid of relational intimacy lest it somehow convey the existence of sexual intimacy. The cards are stacked against it.
Yet Christian friendship remains important and a blessing—a means of grace, even—to those who commit to it and experience its joys. Says Haykin, “this research and writing have convinced me that friendship is not merely a subject of personal interest but is vital for the advance of God’s reign in the world. I believe firmly that whenever God has done great things in the history of the church, he has done it through a group of friends, a band of brothers and sisters.” It’s my hope that Iron Sharpens Iron will foster more precious friendships that the Lord will use for the good of his people and the glory of his name.

Buy from Amazon

With 2021 quickly waning, many of us are beginning to think about a devotional approach for the year ahead. Some are looking for a resource that will serve as the main component of their devotions and others for something that will be merely supplementary. Either way, I’ve collected some of the resources I most recommend and hope you find something here that will serve you as you devote yourself to reading the Word of God in 2022.

Full-Year Devotionals

Partial-Year Devotionals

Topical Devotionals

If you are struggling in a particular area or eager to be taught in one, you may benefit from a topical devotional. Here I’d suggest the 31 Day Devotionals for Life series from P&R Publishing. They cover a number of key topics like Trusting God’s Promises, Putting God First, Fighting for Purity, and so on. I also recommend the short series by Lydia Brownback with volumes covering Trust, Joy, Contentment, and Purity and the short series by Keri Folmar which offers volumes on Faith, Grace, Joy, and Zeal. Those interested in some Old Testament study may appreciate Nancy Guthrie’s 5-volume Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament series, each of which covers 10 weeks of study. Some may also enjoy Leland Ryken’s 40 Favorite Hymns for the Christian Year.

Bible Studies

Some may enjoy structuring their devotions around a Bible study. While many of these are geared to small groups, they are equally suitable for couples or individuals.

Reformed Expository Bible Studies by P&R Publishing is a relatively new series and currently offers studies on 9 or 10 of the books of the Bible. Each study is 13 lessons long and each lesson is likely to take several days to complete. They nicely complement the sermon-based Reformed Expository Commentary series for those who wish to dive deeper.

The Good Book Guides from The Good Book Company feature a number of authors (e.g. Tim Chester, Al Mohler, Mike McKinley, Tim Keller) and quite a collection of books of the Bible. They pair well with the God’s Word for You series of general-level commentaries which are by the same authors.

Crossway’s Knowing the Bible series is based around 12-week studies and has now reached its full 45-volume length. The series was edited by J.I. Packer and Dane Ortlund and features a long list of authors that includes Jared Wilson, Greg Gilbert, Kathleen Nielson, Lydia Brownback, and Justin Holcomb.

The Let’s Study series by Banner of Truth has studies on quite a number of New Testament books written by authors such as Sinclair Ferguson, Derek Thomas, and Derek Prime.

Finally, Lydia Brownback has three new “Flourish Bible Study” volumes on Esther, Luke, and 1-2 Peter while Kathleen Nielson’s Living Word Bible Studies are available for 8 or 10 different books of the Bible.
As you can see, there is something here for everyone!