Audible (aka Amazon) is having an End of Summer sale and that means the audiobook of Seasons of Sorrow is 65% off. (Note: you can either use 1 Audible credit or tap on the “buy with one-click button” to purchase it at the discounted price.)

Don’t Let ‘Discernment’ Give Doctrine a Bad Name
“I get frustrated sometimes by the lack of discernment I see from people who fly the ‘discernment’ banner.” So do I! You should read Trevin’s thoughts on discernment and discernment “experts.”
There Are no Slippery Slopes in the Bible
“There is a signifiant difference between seeking to understand God’s word and seeking to undermine God’s word. Undermining God’s word is dangerous. Understanding God’s word is life-giving and powerful.”
Spiritual Abuse: Seeing What We Don’t Want to See
This article provides some current and historical wisdom on spiritual abuse. “As uncomfortable as it is the church needs to do this with the harsh reality of spiritual abuse. Even writing those words — with every key-stroke — is hard. Abuse is one thing but when you add the adjective ‘spiritual’ it becomes something else, something more.”
Am I Called to Ministry? Five Tests
John Piper offers five tests to consider whether you may be called to ministry.
The Day the Bible Became a Bestseller
I enjoyed this account of the day the Bible became a bestseller for the first time (and the context in which it happened).
Just Enough to Keep Going
Darryl means to offer encouragement to ordinary pastors with ordinary pastorates—which is to say, the great majority of pastors.
Flashback: The Depth of My Depravity
You don’t know how deeply sinful you are by your unrighteousness deeds, but by your rejection of God and his grace. That is the most serious, heinous, and damnable sin of them all.

What is the best safeguard against false doctrine? The Bible regularly read, regularly prayed over, regularly studied. —J.C. Ryle

Grace and peace to you on this, the day when summer gives way to fall.

(Yesterday on the blog: A Late Summer Family Update (+ a few more LOTR thoughts))
Sexual Liberation Has Failed Women
I don’t intend to read this book, but was glad to read Andrew Wilson’s review of it. “Louise Perry has written a feminist critique of the sexual revolution, and it’s brave, excoriating, and magnificent.”
Beware the Habits of Controversy
“Writing fifty years ago, Francis Schaeffer made a plea for Christians to watch out for the danger of settling into habits which were formed in times of controversy.” What he said then wouldn’t hurt for us to consider now.
What lessons can we learn from the pandemic? (Video)
I’m glad to see RTS pick up their Wisdom Wednesday videos. In this one James Anderson considers lessons we can learn from the pandemic.
Public Opinion and the Christian Conscience
Denny Burk has an important word about public opinion and the Christian conscience.
From “Wretched” to “Needy”: Changing a Classic Hymn
“Ever since churches began signing hymns, people have been changing the words to hymns. This is often for the purpose of modifying the theological content of the song in question.” I was somehow not aware of this particular example.
The Discipline of Gratitude
“We often hear comments from friends and supporters that they wish their children could come and visit us in Cameroon for a time. What they mean is that their kids have been expressing attitudes of ingratitude or entitlement and they believe that some time spent in an African village will help them to see how much they have to be thankful for. We all chuckle, and sigh, with the recognition that we are not going to fly a child to Cameroon just for an attitude check. However, whether these parents know it or not, there is a greater problem with the plan than just logistics: exposure to poverty will never cure an ungrateful heart.”
Flashback: God Has Found You Faithful
God is the one who has called you to walk this path, and he is the one who has called you to walk it faithfully. Yet he has not judged you wrong or set you up for failure. He has not been flippant in his decisions or reckless in his wisdom. No, he has found you faithful in small things and has now entrusted to you this very large thing.

God never puts a burden on us, without providing us with the strength we need to carry it. —J.R. Miller

We are now two weeks past the launch event for Seasons of Sorrow and one week past the official release date. Overall I think things went well. The Getty Music Sing! Conference, where we held the launch event and where I led a breakout session, was my first conference in more than two years and it was a blessing to meet so many of you there. I can’t say I really missed conferences and travel during the pandemic era, but it was still good to be back to it. I (perhaps inevitably) picked up a pretty good case of Covid there and though that knocked me off my feet for about a week, I then made a reasonably quick recovery. I trust I’ll stop coughing and recover my sense of taste before long!

I am very thankful for all the support and well-wishes related to the book and very grateful to each of you who purchased a copy. The song from CityAlight has also seemed to resonate and I look forward to hearing how you’ve introduced it to your own churches.
CityAlight shared some neat pictures from that launch event in case those are of interest:

I want to remind those of you who may be giving the book to families that have experienced a loss, that I’ve prepared a letter you can consider printing and including with it. It will help explain the background to the book and perhaps guide grieving parents to a couple of the chapters that may prove most helpful in the earliest days of their sorrow.
With the launch of Seasons of Sorrow behind me, I am planning to escape to a quiet location for a few days in October so I can begin to plan out my next writing project. I have what I think is a solid idea and one my publisher is behind, but I still need to tease it out and make sure it can be feasible—and be interesting enough to hold my attention through a year of writing and editing.
On the family front, Aileen recently began a part-time job—essentially a personal assistant in the real estate industry—and is enjoying it a lot. She sometimes works here and sometimes from the office, but considering her boss is a neighbor and has her office in her home, the commute is measured in mere meters. To this point it has been a good fit and a blessing to her.
Michaela did her first solo cross-border travel last weekend, flying down to the US to visit a friend and surprise her for her sweet sixteen. Sixteen is the generally-accepted age where people are allowed to fly without adult supervision and permission (though we still filled out the requisite paperwork just in case). She has traveled with us plenty in the past so had no trouble adapting to doing it on her own. She’s loving her online schooling and benefitting a lot from her classes. These are still early days, but so far she has no regrets in withdrawing from her former school.
While Michaela was going, Abby and Nate were arriving. Nate is a lifelong fan of the Blue Jays (rather convenient, considering the family he married into) but had never been to a game before. We decided a playoff run was the perfect time to remedy that, so he and Abby swung up for the weekend to go with us. I don’t get downtown as often as I could or should, but it sure was nice to take in a game at the Rogers Centre. It wasn’t a tremendously good game of baseball, but the Jays did come away with a solid win over the Orioles.
Finally, a couple of weeks ago I shared some thoughts on the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. I’ll add a few more thoughts today.
There was lots of chatter before the series debuted about whether or not it would be Wokety Woke Woke. We are now four episodes in and I’d say this is still not clear. What is clear is that the show’s creators are just making up their own story. And while the story is loosely based on Tolkien’s world, its characters tend to think, act, and speak like they live in ours. I suppose I could try to enjoy it on its own terms instead of trying to enjoy it as something related to The Lord of the Rings, but, as it happens, The Lord of the Rings is the only fantasy I’ve ever enjoyed. This show only means anything to me because of its connection to Tolkien—a connection that is increasingly tenuous.
To this point I’m finding the series drab. After four hours of television, and midway through the first season, very little has happened and no characters have been introduced that I have come to care about. It’s boring, boring, boring. Perhaps the worst thing of all, though, is that the central character is obnoxious, self-centered, entitled, and unlikeable. Why would you base a whole show around someone who is so brash and grating? And why would you make her so very different from who she was in the books and films? This is absolutely baffling to me! And don’t even get me started on the cringey action scenes where she single-handedly kills a snow troll or somehow shoves five soldiers into a prison cell even though she is unarmed. Galadriel is a beloved character from a beloved story and this adaptation completely eviscerates all that people love about her. I suppose you could say the writers are envisioning some kind of character arc in which she will eventually become the Galadriel we know and love. But I don’t think I’m alone in hoping that she comes across another snow troll soon—I know which of them I’ll be cheering for. (And yet that’s part of the difficulty with the show, isn’t it? We know she is in no great danger because she’s alive and well in the events that take place centuries later. We know she will survive every battle.)
Whatever the case, it’s hard to believe that this is the most expensive show in the history of television, not to mention one of the most hyped. At nearly $60 million per episode, and with some of the greatest intellectual property they could ever hope to work with, the creators have made a show that is, through the early episodes, mediocre at best. It truly could turn into one of the great entertainment disasters of all time. Of course it’s still possible that they can turn it around. But at this point I’m not holding out much hope. And, lest we lose sight of a key fact, let me repeat it: $60 million per episode and this is the best they can do! It’s almost unbelievable.

For those who have been looking for it, the song “In the Valley (Bless the Lord)” which was written to go along with Seasons of Sorrow has now made its way to Spotify, Apple Music, and so on. You should now be able to listen to it wherever you listen to good music!

Speaking of the book, if you have been wondering what it’s all about, there are now a few reviews out there you can read: Donna Evans; The Palest Ink; Lisa LaGeorge.
Westminster Books is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Piper’s classic Let the Nations Be Glad by putting it and other similar titles on sale.
One Last Magnificent Porous Day
This is really good: “For one brief day the world was porous again. For one brief day we recognised that the invisible world still leaks into the visible. For one brief day – perhaps one final day – transcendence was admitted into the public square in the modern Western world, and we all stood and acknowledged it.” (See also Intermission: Last Post for Christian England)
Sharpshooter
The John 10:10 Project has another neat video. “It’s not particularly big, fast, or strong, yet the archerfish is one of the most proficient hunters in all of nature. Inhabiting shallow estuaries from India to Australia, the archer generates powerful jets of fluid that routinely dislodge insects clinging to branches up to six feet above the water line.”
Remembering Rich Mullins
It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Rich Mullins died. Lisa remembers him in this article.
Conservative Theology Marks many new Canadians
I’m so thankful that my church has also been blessed in the ways Clint describes here. “The encouraging feature of many of the new Canadians at my church is the fact that they are bringing their theology with them. And the theology is good.”
Raising Emotional Healthy Ministry Kids
Eliza Huie: “This article is written for parents who are serving in ministry, and it is for the church. We all have a part in raising emotionally healthy ministry kids. Below are three issues ministry kids face and what parents and the church can do.”
Something to Eat
Andrea expresses a matter of caution here that we’d do well to consider.
Flashback: No Hand But His Ever Holds the Shears
If it is our loving gardener who does the pruning, we can be sure there are never any unwise or careless cuts. Though we may not know why this branch has had to be trimmed or that one removed, we do know the one who wields the blade.

A person may not allow us to talk to them about God, but they cannot keep us from talking to God about them. The power of Intercession! —Paul Washer

Blessings to you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Emerging From Our Trials Unscathed)
The Queen’s Funeral Sermon
“In what has been billed ‘the most watched sermon in history’ the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, today spoke at the funeral of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. For those who never preach, and for those of us whose audience figures are drastically more modest, it is easy to be overly-critical about what is said and how it is said on such occasions. This post aims to avoid all such snark, and to reflect appreciatively on the Archbishop’s words, with one small point of clarification.”
2022 Results Now Available: The State of Theology
Ligonier Ministries has released the results of their annual State of Theology survey. As usual, there are some interesting (and concerning) results.
Seek God’s Face Before You Seek His Hand
It’s a good rule this: seek God’s face before you seek his hand.
What Is God’s Highest Calling?
“What is God’s highest calling? No one profession or ministry. God’s highest calling for each person is to surrender themselves to Him for whatever He asks. He has a place and purpose for each of us.”
The American Dream Couldn’t Save My Marriage
I appreciate Habtamu Sisay sharing his account of how the American Dream couldn’t save his marriage.
Why did God prevent Israelites with deformities from approaching the altar?
Sinclair Ferguson takes on a really difficult question here: Why were priests with physical deformities prohibited from offering sacrifices in the Old Testament?
Flashback: It Has To Be Dark Before We Can See
The path to joy does not avoid sorrow, according to Jesus, but leads directly through it. But not just any sorrow will do. Joy comes to those who experience a particular kind of sorrow—a deep remorse over their depraved hearts and defiled hands.

If you cannot worship the Lord in the midst of your responsibilities on Monday, it is not very likely that you were worshiping on Sunday! —A.W. Tozer

This week the blog is sponsored by Desiring God and the post is written by David Mathis.

It is one of the filthiest lies Satan whispers in the ear of our comfortable and entitled generation. From before we can even remember, we have been indoctrinated with the idea that being “a leader” means prestige and privilege. Why would you settle for anything less? Why follow when you can lead? Leadership means privilege, and no generation has considered itself more entitled to privilege than ours.
As novel and inspiring as it may seem, it’s a very old deception. From the garden to the modern world, the natural, human, sinful way to think about leadership is to be king of the hill — to view leadership as the ascent to honor and comfort, rather than the descent to attend to the needs of others. One of the distinct marks of Satan’s influence in society — evidence that the god of this world is blinding unbelievers en masse — is that leaders lord their leadership over those for whom they are supposed to care.
Not Lording It Over
The voice that calls most clearly for the true path of leadership — leadership as a sacrifice, not a privilege — is Jesus himself. He warned sharply against both the pagan and religious leaders of his day who sought to use their people for their own benefit.
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:25–28; also Mark 10:42–45)
For a follower of Jesus, greatness in leadership is not defined by how many you have beneath you, but how consistently and significantly you are led by the Holy Spirit to take initiative and make personal sacrifices to serve the true needs of others.
And why do Christlike leaders take such initiative at such cost to themselves? According to the apostle Paul, they labor for the joy of those in our charge. “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith” (2 Corinthians 1:24).
Sacrifice for Joy
Christian leadership is fundamentally about giving, not taking. Christian leaders are not empty, immature individuals looking to prop themselves up with new privileges. Rather, they are those in Christ who have become secure enough, and mature enough, to empty themselves for the good of others.
Mark this, fellow husbands, dads, and pastors, the very essence and heart of leadership is taking initiative we otherwise wouldn’t take and make sacrifices we otherwise wouldn’t make, to guide our people somewhere good they otherwise would not have gone. We are among those who are learning that life’s greatest joys come not in private comfort and ease, but in choosing what is uncomfortable and hard for the sake of others’ joy, and our joy in theirs. Like the Son of Man, we lead not to be served, but to serve. We die to self so that others might live, and in that dying, we find true and lasting life. It is our great joy to be workers for their joy.

It’s undoubtedly one of the most-told and best-loved stories in the entire Old Testament. It has all the hallmarks of a great tale—heroes and villains and peril and deliverance. It tells of faithful young men who faced unjust persecution, faithful young men who were sentenced to die a horrific death—to be consumed by flames in a fiery furnace. Yet it also tells how they were unexpectedly and miraculously delivered; how, though they were thrown into the flames bound hand and foot, they walked out of their own accord; how, though they were surrounded by a superheated fire, they emerged unscathed. Because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego honored God in life, they were preserved from death.

One of the details never fails to fascinate. After they came out from the flames, the people nearby observed that “the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.” These men passed through the fire of the furnace without a single hair being singed, without a single thread being scorched, without as much as a whiff of the smell of smoke sticking to them. They came from the flames just as they had gone into the flames—without the least trace of harm.
And this strikes me as a lovely illustration of the way God expects us to pass through trials of our own, whether that trial comes in the form of persecution or betrayal or illness or bereavement. We are to pass through our trials unscathed by them all, unsullied and unharmed. We will not be unchanged, of course, and neither should we be. We will not be unimpacted, for our trials are not nothing—they are real and meaningful and make themselves known to body, mind, and soul. We are after all, humans, not robots and Christians, not stoics.
But our trials should make us better, not worse. They should strengthen our character, not diminish it. They should grow our virtues, and amplify our Godward desires, and more prominently display the fruit of the Spirit. We may emerge from them with broken bodies and broken hearts, but should never emerge from them with broken vows, broken honor, broken character.
To the contrary, we should emerge from our trials with deeper joy (even if also with deeper sorrows), with greater love (even if also with a deeper understanding of evil). Our trials should make us more patient and loving, more kind and godly, more loving toward God and more eager to love our fellow man. All that we endure should not just make us long for heaven, but give us the character of heaven, and not just make us long to see the face of Christ but to imitate the virtues of Christ.
And this is possible. This is possible because the One who was with those young men in their trial is with us in ours. The One who spoke to them speaks to us and the One who comforted them comforts us. As he was in the furnace of their affliction, we can be certain that he will be in ours as well.
Those young men passed through the fiery furnace without picking up the bitter smell of smoke. And just so, we are to pass through every trial without picking up any trace of bitterness, without surrendering our joy, without charging God with even the least wrong.