Logos’ March Matchups is done and there are some great deals to be had. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament is 60% off and Pillar New Testament Commentary is 57% off. A bunch of others are in the 40-60% off range. Get the deals while you can!
Westminster Books is having their annual (semi-annual?) sale on pew Bibles. It’s a good time to stock up!
I added a good-sized batch of Kindle deals yesterday and will see what today brings.

I enjoyed Susan’s anecdote about a flight and a conversation.

“Oh, the benefit of hindsight. One hundred years later, it seems like the most obvious thing in the world to us that a ship should have enough lifeboats for all of its passengers and crew. But if anyone had pointed out the danger to White Star, the company that owned the Titanic, they would have laughed as they positively compared themselves to every other ship out there.”

What is the correct response when God blesses others and not us? Here’s some guidance.

Samuel James uses the recent example of the Princess of Wales to show how technology has a way of redefining personhood.

Andrew Roycroft has a great little tribute to Anne Marie Vallotton. You may not recognize her name, but there’s a good chance you’ll recognize her art.

Anne Kennedy: “Fortunately for us, Satan lacks self-control. He can’t keep anything within reasonable proportion. He can’t be content with transing just some of the kids. He must trans all of them. He must destroy every human body on the way to devouring every precious soul. And so, eventually, all the confused speech becomes such a deafening cacophony of lies, that all the ‘surgical racism,’ whatever that is, will be seen for what it is—total and complete evil.”

…we are not our own, but belong to him in body and in soul, in life and in death, in joy and in sorrow, in the circumstances we would have chosen anyway and the ones we would have avoided at all costs. 

While God did rest from His creative work, since the Fall He has never rested from His redemptive work.
—Peter Hubbard

I was once told the story of a child who had been invited to spend a sunny summer day playing with his friends. He lived in a rural area and it took him a good bit of time to make the trek. But the child made his way toward his friends as they made their way toward him and eventually they came upon one another halfway. Soon they were climbing trees and jumping creeks and skipping rocks and generally having the time of their lives.

Around dusk, the boy realized he should begin his return journey. But just as he was about to say his farewells, one of the other lads began to tell a story. The child, once drawn in, couldn’t force himself away. He sat in rapt attention as the story progressed, as the action waxed and waned, as the hero faced peril and emerged victorious.
By the time the story was complete, the sun had dipped behind the distant horizon. Now the boy gazed into the gathering darkness and realized he was afraid to set out by himself. He asked his friends to come with him, but they all needed to return in the opposite direction. As the boy dawdled and tried to work up his courage, the sun’s last rays disappeared from the sky. He fretted about his family, wondering if they were concerned about what had become of him.
The night grew darker still as clouds rolled in and began to blanket the moon and the stars. At last he decided he must stop procrastinating and set out. But just as he stood to his feet, a blinding flash of lightning shot from the sky and it was soon followed by a mighty crack of thunder. His courage failed him altogether.
Yet just as he was about to sink into utter despair, his eye spotted a flicker of light bobbing in the distance. Curious, he watched as it grew closer, as it grew brighter. And, then, to his delight, he saw that it was his older brother come to fetch him, come to bring him home. And now he quickly said farewell to his friends and boldly stepped into the darkness. He confidently made his way toward his brother who then led him safely home—home where his family threw their arms around him, home where a meal had been laid out for him, home where peace and rest awaited him.
And after the storyteller had said all of this, he paused for a moment. He paused to gather his thoughts and consider his words. And then he spoke once more.
So may it be for you when the night of death comes. So may it be for you when your friends cannot accompany you. So may it be for you when you do not dare to go alone.
On that day, your friend who is closer than a brother, your Savior who is your elder brother, will come to meet you at just the right time. In his hand will be the lantern of all the precious promises he has made, and this will be the lamp to your feet and the light to your path. He will lead you through the dark night and into the brightest day. He will accompany you to the place where your family awaits you and longs to see you, the place where a great supper has been laid out for you, the place where God himself is ready to welcome you home. Never, no never, do you need to fear that you will have to go that way alone.

Inspired by De Witt Talmage

Good morning! Grace and peace to you.

(Yesterday on the blog: As if God Had Ever Made an Atlantic Wide Enough…)
An Open Letter to a Distressed Sufferer
Mike Emlet has an open letter to those who are suffering. “Dear friend, I have no definitive answer for why God has permitted this particular tsunami to flood your life. But while we can’t penetrate the mysteries of suffering, we can be sure of this: our gracious and strong Lifeguard will not let us be swept away.”
5 Christian Athletes to Watch in the Winter Olympics
Here’s a small roundup of some of the Christian athletes competing right now. “If you’re looking for athletes to root for, we recommend following these five Christian competitors—and also a specific way you can pray for each of them.”
Don’t Let Truth Become Cliche
This article warns us against allowing truth to become a cliche.
The Hazards of Second Language Sermons
A missionary humorously shares some of the hazards of preaching in a new language.
Innovation Exists by God’s Design
“Many of the sharpest Christians, who rightly celebrate God’s providential governance over all things, tend to wrongly assume (in practice) that his reign ends somewhere around the boundary lines of Silicon Valley.”
The Hope of Renewal for the Sexually Broken
Here’s a word from David Powlison–a word of hope for the sexually broken.
Flashback: It Takes Two
Gossip is not only a sin of the mouth, but also a sin of the ears. It takes two: the one who speaks and the one who listens.

No man can be severe in his judgment who feels that the mild eyes of Christ are fixed upon him. —Charles Hodge