Grace and peace to you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include a nice little collection of books.
(Yesterday on the blog: So You Think You’re Facing Persecution, Do You?)
‘Jesus Has Left the Building’: Scotland’s Secular Slide—and Signs of Hope
“If you could stumble across Scotland on social media, she would be the girl you remember from youth group—the one who went to all the Bible studies, the one you expected to head to the mission field. You’d have to blink and rewatch her post before it would sink in—she’s deconstructed her faith, more completely and rapidly than you thought possible.”
You can’t do everything & not everything is for everyone
“Whenever talk of something a church is doing comes up, it doesn’t take long before all the whataboutery starts. It’s great that we’re providing X, but what about Y? It’s great that X is on at this time, but what about all the people who can’t make that time?” I am glad for this reminder that no one church can do everything or be for everyone.
Seeds And Sunflowers
“Imagine being the person that had never seen a sunflower, and trying to get your head around the idea that the little grey nothing in your hand could transform so completely into something so impressive and colourful. If all you knew was the seed, how could you ever guess the flower?”
Four Questions about the Love of God to Ask Jehovah’s Witnesses
If you can find a way to remember these questions, they could prove a good way to engage with the JW’s next time they come around.
Trust Isn’t Just About Me
“I know worrying about myself is a fruitless pastime. Here’s the problem. Sometimes it feels more helpful to worry on the behalf of others.” It sure does…
What Does Scripture Say about the Fall of Satan?
“The fall of Satan and his angels is shrouded behind a veil and cloaked in mystery.” In this article Dustin Benge shares some of what we know and some of what theologians have concluded.
Flashback: Why Domestic Abuse Is So Very Evil
There are few churches that have no members who bear painful scars related to domestic abuse…With that in mind, here are five ways in which abuse does particular damage and brings about grievous harm.

To love to preach is one thing, to love those to whom we preach quite another. —Martyn Lloyd-Jones

God commands us to sing. Yet while some of God’s people are gifted singers, the plain fact is that others are not. In any congregation it’s likely that some have near-perfect pitch while others are functionally tone-deaf. Those who struggle to sing may be self-conscious, tempted to stay quiet or to do no more than mumble along. Should they? Not at all, for singing is a matter of the heart before it is a matter of pitch or tone.

In Ephesians 5:18-19 Paul writes, “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” What matters far more than the sound that comes out of the mouth is the posture of the heart. There is more beauty in an off-pitch voice that is the outpouring of a submissive heart than in a perfectly pitched voice that is the outpouring of a rebellious heart.
Though few Christians have voices that are truly professional, every Christian has a voice that can be confessional—that confesses and publicly professes the great truths of the Christian faith. Jonathan Leeman says rightly that “the most beautiful instrument in any Christian service is the sound of the congregation singing.”

(This little devotional is drawn from my book Knowing and Enjoying God)

My thanks goes to Desiring God for sponsoring the blog this week so they could ensure you know about John Piper’s newest book.

Today’s Kindle deals include newer and older books.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Overloaded Christian Life)
All Creation Groans
Barbaranne Kelly considers one way that creation groans. “These sweet dogs were not made in God’s image, nor do they possess souls that will live forever. They don’t stand before their Creator responsible for sin; Jesus didn’t die to redeem them. But, as the apostle Paul makes clear, they still suffer under the curse.”
Villainous Christianity in ‘The Whale,’ ‘The Wonder,’ and ‘Women Talking’
“Believers should pay attention to the ‘alternative gospels’ on offer in contemporary pop culture. If Christianity is seen more as an oppressor than a liberator, after all, something else must play the part of liberator. In each of the films discussed above, that ‘something else’ is the empowered self, through which salvation and ‘rebirth’ are achieved without appeal to the supernatural.”
When Good Doctrine Enables Abuse
Yes, people can and will twist even the best doctrine to evil uses.
God does not hear the prayers of unbelievers
“God does not grant them a hearing. That is, he turns a deaf ear to their prayer. Unbelievers have zero right of access to God. They have zero ability to petition him for anything. They have no grounds to expect God to work for them or answer their prayer.”
Most People Die on The Climb Down
John Onwuchekwa: “When it comes to both setting goals and climbing mountains, most of us misunderstand the assignment. We tend to define success by the described activity not the desired outcome. Don’t believe me? Just think about it. If someone says their goal is to climb Mount Everest, what would be the ultimate win? Making it to the top! Right? Wrong.”
The Scandal of the American Evangelical Intellectual
Justin Taylor shares a helpful insight from D.A. Carson. “I worry less about the anti-intellectualism of the less educated sections of evangelicalism than I do about the biblical and theological illiteracy, or astonishing intellectual compromise, among its leading intellectuals.”
Flashback: Help! I’ve Fallen Behind On My Bible Readings!
If you are struggling to maintain your Bible reading commitment…here are a few suggestions from some fellow fallen travelers along the way.

Self-deception is not the worst thing you can do, but it’s the means by which we do the very worst things. The sin that is most distorting your life right now is often the one you can’t see. —Tim Keller