Today’s post is written by Sean McGever and is sponsored by Zondervan. Sean is the author of The Good News of Our Limits.

You may believe in a false gospel and not even know it. Worse yet, this message may have come from your favorite Christian books, sermons, and Bible studies. False gospels are nothing new; they are as old as the good news itself.
I wonder, have you believed in the false gospel of omni-productivity? Purveyors of this news sell it to us as an elixir for our desire to do more and be more. I have a response to this message. In The Good News of Our Limits, I show readers how to spot these lies and provide practical ways to embrace our God-given limited design.
The temptation of omni-productivity is nothing new. Our God-given inability is an obvious target for Satan’s schemes. The serpent successfully lured the woman by claiming, “you will be like God” (Gen. 3:5). Woven into the serpent’s temptation is an echo in many of our hearts today. Like the proverbial carrot on a stick in front of a horse, I hear repeatedly, “what if I just could do a little bit more,” or worse, “what if I just could be a little bit more?” Be more? Impossible. Yet, so tempting.
Our depraved nature seeks capacities that belong to God alone. On the first page of Calvin’s Institutes, he writes, “the infinitude of good which resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty. In particular, the miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us compels us to turn our eyes upwards.” Calvin explains that our failings and shortcomings should alert us to our desperate need for God. Our shortcomings are designed to show us our need to turn heavenward. Yet, countless voices tell us to look inward rather than upward.
We search for solutions using optimization techniques, attempting to fit more and more into our already full days. We try to craft efficiently maximized lives, but these methods always fail, not because they are ill-intentioned, but because they do not go far enough. The Good News of Our Limits provides practical steps for biblical productivity rooted in a theological understanding of our humanity.
The true gospel resides in the earliest confession of the church: Jesus is Lord. Our culture, including our church cultures, surround us with messages to do and be more. This is a false gospel. We cannot be more. All humans are limited in what we can do. Jesus is Lord; I am not. We find greater peace, joy, and effectiveness when we embrace our own inadequacies and delight in the adequacy of our Lord.
Go here to order The Good News of Our Limits or find out more info.

Sean McGever (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is area director for Paradise Valley Arizona Young Life and an adjunct faculty at Grand Canyon University. He speaks, teaches, and ministers across the United States, Canada, and the UK.
What people are saying about The Good News of Our Limits:
“God is God. We are not. He is limitless. We are limited. On the surface, this sounds depressing. But as this book makes clear, this truth is wonderfully freeing as it eradicates the life-sucking pressure to be everything to everyone, everywhere. I’m so glad Sean wrote this book!”
—JORDAN RAYNOR, national bestselling author of Redeeming Your Time, Master of One, and Called to Create
“Sean McGever has been a lifelong bearer of good news. Here, he has done it again, this time proclaiming a refreshing declaration of freedom: ‘It’s okay to be a human being!’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminded us that we humans will always be limited in our understanding because we are creations. McGever has developed this idea and expanded it by encouraging us that part of being ‘beautifully and wonderfully made’ (Ps. 139) by the Creator includes our limits. They are a part of the design, not a flaw. ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free’ (Gal. 5:1).”
—SCOTT LISEA, campus pastor at Westmont College
“McGever digs into the ‘hustle-pause spectrum’ of our lives, emphasizing the reality of human limitation. According to McGever, our limitations do not pose a threat to kingdom work but are rather a reminder that God is King and we are his image bearers. I found much needed purpose and relief in reading this book.”
—RACHEL JOY WELCHER, editor at Fathom magazine and author of Talking Back to Purity Culture
“The Good News of Our Limits is a refreshing encouragement to embrace how God intentionally designed us as finite human beings. Through relatable stories and illustrations, McGever helps us all discover joy in our inadequacy.”
—DREW HILL, pastor and award-winning author of Alongside: Loving Teenagers with the Gospel

Go here to order The Good News of Our Limits or find out more info.

May the God of love and peace be with you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Another Week in a Difficult and Hostile World)
Grief Is Not the Enemy
“Like love or joy or hope, grief is not less than an emotion, but it is also much more. And certainly, love and joy are tightly connected with grief. We cannot truly grieve something or someone unless we love them first and take joy in them. It would be natural to think of grief as the opposite of joy, or the absence of love, but that’s not quite right.”
How to Think Wisely About Becoming a Social Media Celebrity
“Most of us are still trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up. There’s got to be that perfect job out there somewhere, where I can make a ton of money, impact the world for good, be respected and adored, be myself, and do what I love.” For a growing number of younger people, that’s being a social media influencer.
How Will I Find My Ministry Calling?
Whatever vocation you’re pursuing, here’s some counsel from John Piper on finding it—though it’s especially related to ministry.
Join Tim Challies At The SING! Conference
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EXCLUSIVE: Visit singconference.com and use code ‘CHALLIES35’ to save 35% before General Registration closes June 17. (Sponsored Link)
The Churches of Antarctica
I enjoyed this little roundup of the churches of Antarctica. It’s a continent so thinly-populated that it’s possible to show photos of almost all of them.
We Rest to Work
Guy Richards continues his series on rest: “Rest in a post-Fall world should be directed to the end of enabling us to fulfill our mandate to work. This sets boundaries on how much we rest and what that rest looks like. It tells us that we should, generally speaking, rest only as much as we need to in order to work.”
With Us Now and til the End
“Do you believe Jesus is with you? Or is he standing off in the heavens, waiting to join the glorified you at the end of the age?” Do you believe he’s with you when you suffer? When you sin?
Flashback: Whatever Is False, Whatever Is Immoral, Whatever Is Prejudiced…
We must deliberately discipline ourselves to consider only what honors God, only what is pleasing to him, only what results in his sweet peace.

You are not to rest partly on Christ, -partly on doing all you can, -partly on keeping your Church, -partly on receiving the sacrament. In the matter of your justification Christ is to be all. —J.C. Ryle

Good morning, my friends. May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

Westminster Books has the ESV Alpha Bible on sale along with some new resources for children.
Aged Care Ministry: 3 Challenges and 5 Responses
This is a remarkable article for a number of reasons. I highly recommend reading it. “I lost count over the past three years of how many Christians said to me: ‘Those old people must be very open to the gospel, as close to death as they are.’ It’s a plausible idea, but not at all true to my experience. I did not at all find nursing home residents more open to the gospel, but generally less so than those younger in years with more years of life ahead of them.”
Quiet Time and Evangelism: How Much Is Enough?
Kevin DeYoung considers the guilt so many Christians feel as they consider their quiet times and their efforts in evangelism. He says helpful things like this: “God never meant for evangelism to be the single defining characteristic of faithful Christianity.”
New to Reformed Theology? Start Here
This month, you can receive four Reformation ebooks by R.C. Sproul when you give a donation of any amount in support of Ligonier Ministries. Get to the heart of the gospel with Saved from What?, explore major doctrines of the Christian faith with Everyone’s a Theologian, relive church history with Luther and the Reformation, and go deep into God’s Word with Romans: An Expositional Commentary. (Sponsored Link)
Common Fallacies in an Age of Outrage
Steve Bateman: “In addition to developing biblical literacy, we can ask ourselves if we’re falling for fallacies. Here are seven that are common in our public discourse.”
Why Are People So Fascinated with ‘Lost’ Books of the Bible?
Michael Kruger considers a cultural phenomenon. “Our culture’s insatiable appetite for all things lost has not been missed by publishers. Books are more likely to sell if you can find a way to get some key words in the title: ‘lost,’ ‘forgotten,’ ‘secret,’ ‘hidden,’ etc. … So, what’s going on? Why are people so intrigued by the concept of ‘lost’ books of the Bible? Let me mention two main considerations.”
How to Mourn Over Your Sins
“Spiritual mourning is laden with blessing, and we are to go after it and get as much of it in our lives as we possibly can. The more you know of this mourning, the more joy you will experience in your life.” Here is some guidance.
Sermon Series Ideas for Advent
Pastors looking for some fresh ideas for an advent series may appreciate these suggestions.
Flashback: The Discipline of Watching
The first line of defense against temptation is watchfulness–to be aware of the sins that tempt us most often and with the greatest strength and to be proactive in our battle against them.

A surrendered mind is not one which is no longer in operation. It is, rather, a mind freed from rebellion and opposition. To be Christ’s captive is to be perfectly free. —Elisabeth Elliot