A Message for Young Women
I recently shared a message for young men. Having done that, I asked my friend Melissa Edgington if she would write an equivalent letter for young women. She kindly did so and allowed me to share it here.
Somewhere out there in the great, wide world, someone is praying for you. She probably doesn’t know you and you probably don’t know her. You may not meet one another for many more years. But she’s praying for you nonetheless and has been for a very long time.
She is the mother of a son. She is a mother who once cradled a swaddled baby boy in her arms, bleary-eyed and sleep deprived, yet electric with the knowledge that this chubby-cheeked wonder was her own. She is a mother who thrilled at the sight of freshly plucked flowers clutched in a little boy’s outstretched hand. By day she laughed and groaned her way through his original knock-knock jokes, and by night she dreamt of what kind of man he would become, praying ceaselessly first for his salvation and then for his spiritual strength. She is a mother who implored the Creator of the Universe to make him into a man after God’s own heart.
From the time that she first laid eyes on this boy, she knew that he would one day fall in love with a woman. She has always understood that she is building a boy, body and heart and soul, to give away, both to the Lord’s service and to you. One part of her mission as a mother is the learning to let go a little bit, milestone by milestone, year by year, helping him stand on his own, helping him depend on Christ, and helping him become a man who will lead a family in devotion to the Lord and love his wife as Christ loves the church.
This mother has cooperated with Christ in bringing up a boy, training him, loving him, disciplining him, discipling him, and she has poured out everything that her heart can hold that might bless this child, her son, her treasure. In all of this she has prayed for you and is praying for you still.
She prayed for you in your childhood, for your safety and nurturing. She prayed that you would come to know Christ and that you would grow in your understanding of who He is and your role in His kingdom. She prayed that the Lord would protect you from the evil intentions of others, that He would rescue you from those would might seek to do you harm.
And she prays for you still. For your heart, that it would beat for Christ alone. For your spirit, that it would be refreshed by the truth of God’s word. For your mind, that it would be filled with the goodness of God and thoughts that are true, right, noble, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. She prays that you are developing spiritual disciplines that bring you to thankfulness in difficult circumstances, to reliance on the One who has the answers, and to peace that passes all understanding. She prays that you are growing into a woman who has a passion for God’s people and a desire to serve the Lord. She prays that you will love her son, unconditionally, unendingly, and with tenderness and grace. And she asks the Lord to allow you and her precious child, her boy, to live a long and beautiful life of sacrifice and service, side by side, arm in arm.
She prays for you now. You will one day meet and fall in love with her cherished one, and all of these years, perhaps you never imagined that you have been carried on the wings of his mother’s prayers. Take comfort in knowing that somewhere, a mother is praying for you. Seek the Lord, dear girl, and grow in your love for Him so that you may become God’s good answer to a mother’s prayers.
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New and Notable Christian Books for Children
Over the past few weeks I’ve received several boxes of books for kids. Because the publishers take the time to send them, I like to take the time to look them over. Having done so, I thought I’d provide a bit of a roundup for parents or grandparents or others who are looking for some good material for kids. Coincidentally, Westminster Books has many of these titles significantly discounted right now as part of their Kids’ Week Sale, so it’s a good time to purchase a few. I’ve divided them into books for younger kids and books for older kids.
Books for Younger Kids
Books for Older Kids
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Facing the Last Enemy
Though we fear it, we must all face it. Though we hate it, we must all meet it. Though we dread it, we cannot avoid it. It is, of course, death. In this broken and battered world, death always looms over life, death always stands hauntingly in the distance.
Death is the subject of a new book by Guy Prentiss Waters. Facing the Last Enemy is meant to acquaint Christians with death so they might think about it rightly and face it courageously. “We all have questions about death,” he says. “’What is death? Why do we die? Why do we all die? Why is death so scary? Why did Christ die? Why do Christians have to die? How can I face the death of someone I love? How can I prepare for death? How can I help others prepare for death? What happens after death?’” To gain compelling, truthful, and reliable answers to such questions we must turn to the Bible, to God’s revelation of himself, for here we will learn how death entered the world, why we must all face it, and how it will itself someday die.
The book is divided into three roughly equal sections. In the first section Waters defines death. He explains what it is, where it came from, and what happens when we die (whether we are Christians or non-Christians). He explains why Christ had to die and why Christians still need to die, even though Christ died on our behalf. This is, essentially, a brief theology of death and one that provides a solid foundation for what follows. He is careful not to make death more intimidating than it needs to be for the Christian, but also not to romanticize it, saying “while death is not good in itself, for those who are in Christ, death will be for our good. For His people, Christ brings an end not to the experience of death but to the fear of death. … As we approach death, we need to see it through the spectacles of the finished work of Christ. The gospel tells us that Christ has conquered and subdued death. That is the only way that we can face death with hope or confidence.”
In the second section he writes about encountering death. He provides counsel on facing the deaths of other people, on helping those who are dying or grieving, and on preparing ourselves for the inevitable end of our lives. Here it is clear that he writes as both a theologian and a pastor, as someone who knows doctrinal truths but who has also had to apply them in the most tragic and heartbreaking of circumstances. He gets quite practical here, going so far as to encourage Christians to show love to others by considering their estate planning and even planning their own death and burial. But primarily, of course, he encourages Christians to prepare themselves spiritually to meet their Maker.
The final section looks beyond death to the resurrection, the final judgment, and heaven and hell. He shows how each of these truths ought to compel us to live worthy lives on this side of the grave. For example, “Our bodies are precious because Christ bought them with His own blood. We will inhabit our bodies forever, and they have a glorious destiny. Our bodies are prized in God’s sight. We should not neglect our bodies but care for them. We should not allow our bodies to participate in sin but should ‘present [ourselves] to God as those who have been brought from death to life’ (Rom. 6:13a). How does the way that you treat and use your body reflect the truth of the resurrection?”
Death is inevitable in this world. It is inevitable that we will need to endure the deaths of people we love and inevitable that we ourselves will die. For that reason alone we ought to familiarize ourselves with death—to know what it is, why it exists, how we can face it well, and how we can have great hope beyond it. This book is an excellent resource that will help accomplish all of that. It is rich in its teaching, compassionate in its tone, and saturated with Scripture. I highly recommend it (and the optional video teaching series that accompanies it).
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Free Stuff Fridays (TMAI)
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by The Master’s Academy International (TMAI), who also sponsored the blog this week with the article “Support Indigenous Publishing with TMAI.” They are giving away the 42-volume Essential MacArthur Library set.
The Master’s Academy International (TMAI) is currently training local pastors in 18 schools around the world. The student body represents almost 90 nations, and as a natural extension of this training ministry, nearly every one of their schools is engaged in the work of indigenous publishing. This is because they see that, unlike Christians in America and many English-speaking countries, pastors and church members in many regions of the world have very few biblically sound resources in their native language. TMAI wants to help change that.
To learn more and get behind TMAI’s indigenous publishing efforts, go here.
Giveaway: The Essential MacArthur Library
This week, TMAI is giving away the 42-volume Essential MacArthur Library. This set includes key resources designed to help believers better understand the Bible, the most important resource for anyone. For this reason, the Essential MacArthur Library remains one of the top translation projects for TMAI as they seek to resource the global church with God-honoring books.
Their current goal is to finish translating this Library into German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Croatian, Albanian, Chinese, Hebrew, Portuguese, French, Armenian, Malay, Farsi, and Burmese.
The Essential MacArthur Library includes:The MacArthur New Testament Commentary series (33 vols.)
The MacArthur Study Bible
The MacArthur Bible Commentary
Biblical Doctrine
Essential Christian Doctrine
The Master’s Plan for the Church
The MacArthur Pastoral Library—4 vols. (Preaching Pastoral Ministry · Counseling · Evangelism)To win the Essential MacArthur Library (in English), please enter below.
One winner will be selected.TO ENTER:
Giveaway Rules: Entries are limited to 1 per person. U.S. Addresses only. By submitting your information, you agree to receive regular updates about the ministry of The Master’s Academy International. The winner will be notified by email. The giveaway closes on Friday, January 6th, 2022, at midnight. Enter your information into the form below or HERE.
