The God of peace be with you today.
(Yesterday on the blog: Always Look for the Light)

Casey asks some important questions in his article. It begins like this: “It was the first and only time I’ve ever been called to perform an exorcism. It wasn’t a person that was possessed, the frantic lady on the phone informed me, it was her house. It had not one but two spirits. She had already tried a medium, a Catholic priest, and the strategic placement of crosses. You know you’re desperate when your last best hope is a Baptist pastor.”

This article considers the way the little word “should” can become such a poison.

I tend to agree with Barbara that in heaven we will understand more than we do now about God’s acts of providence, but not necessarily everything we’d like to know. “I don’t know if we’ll understand everything that God did and allowed while we were on earth. Because He will still be God and we still won’t be. He is omniscient, and we will never be.”

What a sweet bit of writing. “We come from unique backgrounds and paths of life as diverse as the potluck table: chile rellenos and chow mein sidled next to green bean casserole. We are white and colored, Asian and other, a mottled crew from nursery to our nineties. We vote on different ballots and think in different ways. Surely strangers who engage in such an intimate act of worship have no business with one another this side of glory as we learn again to be the church.”

This excellent article looks carefully at what’s true and what’s false, what’s orthodox and what’s heretical.

That’s a good line that counters something so common in society (and even in the church): truthful thinking is greater than positive thinking. “I regularly meet people who promote a worldview of positive thinking. In fact, there are religions and schools of thought that major in it. Such belief systems claim, to a greater or lesser degree, that positive thinking saves people from sin, grief, pain, brokenness, and even eternal damnation in hell. They’re attractive because they give us a sense of control. And in an age of chaos, a little control feels comforting.”

This “village” is not there just to keep them in line when they get unruly, but to experience the joy of seeing them grow up in God and grow up for God.

Faith does not pretend that a situation is not painful or scary. What faith does do is take our problem to the One who really cares and can do something about it.
—Matthew Mitchell

Good morning! May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

Marty Machowski has written a new devotional commentary for kids and Westminster Kids has it on sale right out of the gate.
Dad, Where Are You Going?
Tim writes this one from the heart. “How does a parent handle their child’s fragile heart that believes his Dad is healthy, not sick. Strong, not weak. The family’s provider, not the one in need. I’m weary holding his childlike concern and decide to punt for another day.”
The Problem with Trying to Portray the Holy Spirit
“A lot of people have had a lot of unhelpful ideas about the Holy Spirit, but for sheer oddness, it is hard to find a stranger case than the portrayal of the third person of the Trinity as a beautiful, young, winged, curly haired boy with a widow’s peak.” Indeed.
Learning to Speak Chickadee
I so thoroughly enjoyed this article about the humble chickadee (which, it turns out, is quite an extraordinary little creature).
Souls are not to be won by music
I don’t really know what to say about this one other than that it’s well worth a read.
Mary Livingstone, Praiseworthy Missionary Wife and Mother
Vance Christie’s recent biography of David Livingstone really changed my understanding of Mary. In this article, Christie tells how “she is worthy of high praise and not a small degree of compassionate empathy.”
The Only Solution for our Sin
Guy Richard has an article that simply celebrates God for providing the one solution for our sin.
Flashback: Thank God We Do/Don’t Know the Future
Until that great day, we cling to the many powerful promises God has given us. Our confidence is not in knowing the future, but in knowing the one who holds the future.

Not only will the sorrow of death be forgotten in the joy of heaven, but the joy of heaven will be far deeper and richer because of earth’s pain and sorrow. —J.R. Miller

What a joy and what a blessing it is to pray for our spiritual leaders—to ask God to bless them, to sanctify them, and to equip them for the ministry he calls them to. This prayer by John Flavel (as found in Tim Chester’s Into His Presence) offers words we can pray on their behalf.

Lord, cleanse our churches, and repair their walls, so they may become gardens of delight for Christ to walk in and take pleasure in. May her ministers be faithful and wise: faithful so they do not deceive others; wise so they do not deceive themselves. May their wisdom prevent deceivers imposing on them, and their faithfulness prevent them imposing on others. May their wisdom enable them to discern wholesome food for the flock and their faithfulness oblige them to distribute it.
May our leaders be pure with spiritual aims and intentions; serving not their own honour and interest, but yours.
May our leaders show sincerity, not appearing outwardly spiritual while being inwardly carnal.
May our leaders be diligent, like men in harvest, like women in labour, like soldiers in battle, watching while others sleep.
May our leaders lack favouritism, as those who will appear before an impartial God. May they take the same care, manifest the same love, show the same diligence to the poorest and weakest souls in their care as they do the rich, the great and the honourable. For all souls are rated the same in your book of life, and our Redeemer paid as much for one as the other.
May their faithfulness fix their eyes on the right end, and may their wisdom direct them to the best means of attaining it. May they lay a good foundation of knowledge in our souls, choosing subjects that will meet our needs, shaping the language in which they address us, using their own affections to move us, being careful of their behaviour. Send them often to their knees to seek your blessing upon their labours, knowing that all their success entirely depends upon you.
Amen.