May you enjoy the Lord’s richest blessings as you serve and worship him this weekend.

Today’s Kindle deals include some newer and older titles.
(Yesterday on the blog: He Is Not Ashamed)
Is Jordan Peterson almost there?
Steven Wedgeworth interacts with some recent comments by Jordan Peterson. “Is Peterson a Christian? And is he right about young men and the church? Almost.”
Which Sins Are Feeding Your Sin of Lust?
This is a long but valuable piece by the late David Powlison.
Thinking Sensibly About Ourselves
“When walking the narrow road of the Christian life, many of us fall into one of two traps when it comes to our gifts: viewing ourselves too highly or too lowly. Some of us have permanently taken up residence in one of these ditches and refuse to move. There is water flooding in, garbage pooling around us, and frogs laying eggs in our hair, but we refuse to move from our ditch.”
The ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ Deserves No Respect
Andrew Walker and Carl Trueman have a piece at National Review that is quite interesting. “The cravenness of Republicans who are looking to ‘move on’ from supposedly divisive ‘social issues’ will deserve their comeuppance should they vote for this bill.”
The 2022 Audubon Photography Awards
There are some beautiful images to see among the winners and honorable mentions of the 2022 Audubon Photography Awards.
A Doctor Shares the Secret to Dying Well
“For almost 20 years, I’ve been working as a hospital doctor. While being a doctor isn’t nearly as glamorous as what you see on TV, it can still be intense. I care for people in the best and worst moments of their lives. Of all the different situations I’ve faced, the most memorable professional encounters have been caring for terminally ill patients.”
Flashback: Parents: To Join Social Media Is To Witness Death
One moment I’m looking at pictures of nieces and nephews celebrating a birthday, and the next I’m looking at someone being gunned down in the streets. Joyful celebrations join brutal murders in this endless stream of information.

We must hide our unholiness in the wounds of Christ as Moses hid himself in the cleft of the rock while the glory of God passed by. We must take refuge from God in God. —A.W. Tozer

This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by AccelerateBooks.com who also sponsored the blog this week with the article “How to Stay Sharp and Effective This Summer”. They have 3 Accelerate Lifetime Memberships to give away.

What is AccelerateBooks?
AccelerateBooks is an arsenal of book summaries, giving busy leaders (like you) access to important insights so you can stay sharp and effective this summer. More than 5000 leaders currently use AccelerateBooks to access an entire library of existing Book Briefs, with 8 new Book Briefs added each month. Get 33% off forever on all membership at https://partner.acceleratebooks.com/challies. 
AccelerateBooks enables you to:

Save Money by stewarding your finances more wisely with informed book-buying choices
Stay Informed and dialed-in to ideas that are shaping the Church and culture
Read Widely through weekly exposure to different perspectives
Retain Insights with an accessible library of Book Briefs to reference
… and much more!

Here’s what some Accelerate members have to say:

33% Off Forever on All Memberships
For readers of Challies.com, AccelerateBooks is happy to offer readers a 33% off discount on all membership plans (individual and group memberships).
To snag this deal, visit partner.acceleratebooks.com/challies. 
P.S. – If you’re not quite convinced about the Book Brief method, feel free to check it out yourself with a Free Book Brief Download of Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges.
P.P.S. – Check out this video to see how AccelerateBooks works!
Enter Here
Again, there are three Lifetime Memberships to win. And all you need to do to enter the draw is to drop your name and email address in the form below.
Giveaway Rules: You may enter one time. As soon as the winners have been chosen, all names and addresses will be immediately and permanently erased. Winners will be notified by email. The giveaway closes Saturday at noon. If you are viewing this through email, click to visit my site and enter there.

We are at an interesting point in history in which, when people look to the past, they seem more likely to cringe than to celebrate. It has become customary for people to look to their forbears and then disavow them or apologize for them in what has become almost a ritualistic purgation. There are many who are ashamed of their roots, ashamed of their family, embarrassed to admit who and where they have come from.

But isn’t it interesting that this is not the case with God? God has been adopting people into his family for thousands of years and along the way has welcomed many whose pasts are shady at best and scandalous at worst. And despite their sins, despite their scandals, he loves them and refuses to turn away from them. God’s enduring and unashamed love for his people is the subject of Erik Raymond’s new book He Is Not Ashamed.
If we were to assemble a great portrait of God’s family, “we’d find people with unflattering stories. Some are known as the chief of sinners, the sinful woman, the thief on the cross, and the prostitute. We’d also see those who were overlooked and disregarded by society. We’d find weak people unable to give God anything. We’d even see those who wore the uniform of opposition to God. Here in the portrait of grace, we’d find a multitude of misfits. It would be quite the picture.” It would be the kind of picture we might be embarrassed to hang on the walls of our homes. Yet in the very middle of this picture we’d find Jesus, the very best of men, standing side-by-side with some of the very worst. “At first glance, we might think that Jesus doesn’t belong with people like this. What business does majesty have with outcasts? But poring over the Scriptures, we see something else. In this family photo, Jesus may seem out of place, but in reality he’s exactly where he belongs. Even more, he’s right where he wants to be. Instead of being ashamed of them, he calls them family.”
In this book, Raymond examines the kind of people who would be included in this portrait which is to say, the kind of people God delights to identify with. And thankfully, “nobody has a story that can make Jesus blush” for his heart is oriented toward those who need him most, no matter what they may have done or how they may have sinned.
In the first chapter he shows that Jesus is not ashamed of people who have an embarrassing history—people like Tamar who behaved like a prostitute and like Judah who treated her like one. “When Matthew includes Tamar, Judah, and their children’s names in Jesus’s genealogy, he means to make a point: Jesus comes from a line of people with messy, embarrassing, and shameful stories. And not only does he come from messy people, but he also comes for them.” If that was true of them, that is equally true for us.
In the second chapter he looks to people who opposed Jesus to show that they, too, can be objects of God’s love and salvation. This includes people, like the religious leaders, who killed Jesus and people, like the Apostle Paul, who persecuted his church. “Since every person is naturally born with the status of an enemy of God, everyone can relate in some way to these stories of opposition. Though our experiences and sins may be different, nevertheless, our standing apart from Christ is the same.”
In chapter three he turns to those who are overlooked (e.g. children who were beckoned to come to Jesus and women who became his trusted companions) and in chapter four to those who were far from God—people like the fictional Prodigal Son who appeared in a parable or the real-life sinful woman who appeared at a banquet and fell at his feet weeping. “The incarnation of Jesus Christ proves that he loves to retrieve those who are far from God. Nothing should keep you from him. He welcomes the prodigals, the sinners, and the unclean.”
In the next two chapters Raymond focuses on those who have nothing to give and those who are weak before turning to those who still sin, people like you and me who have been saved by his grace but who still commit deeds that are so very rebellious and so very dark. “Run your finger across the pages of the Bible, and you find many examples to prove that God delights to lavish his forgiveness on sinners. Even after they commit to following God, many believers fall on their face, only to be lifted up again by the staggering love of God.” If this was true of Adam, Moses, David, Jonah and so many others, it is equally true of you and me.
The final chapter considers the one kind of person of whom Jesus is ashamed, and it is the ones who are ashamed of him. “He’s ashamed of those who reject him. According to Jesus, the people who are ashamed of him are those who refuse to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. They’ve considered Jesus unworthy of their devotion and obedience. They reject Christ and refuse to follow him by faith. On the day of judgment, Jesus will be ashamed of those who are ashamed of him in this life.”
He Is Not Ashamed is a timely reminder that Jesus does not merely love us, but also accepts us and welcomes us. And this is true even when we have behaved or continue to behave in ways that are nothing less than shameful. God’s love is eternal, unshakeable, and “unashameable.” And for that we all owe him the greatest thanks and the highest praise.

Buy from Amazon

Those who use Logos will want to remember that they are offering 50% off many of their best commentaries this month. Also, they’re offering 30% off the Logos 9 feature set for those haven’t yet made the leap.

Westminster Books has an early sale on a new book by Joni Eareckson Tada (for which I was pleased to write an endorsement).
The Myth of the Modern Self
Carl Trueman: “The sheer rage that has greeted the Dobbs decision demands reflection. The rhetoric regarding victims of incest and rape is powerful but hardly explains the anger, given that such cases are comparatively rare and exceptional. They make good material for emotional appeal to the populace, but are neither foundational to the philosophy of the pro-abortion cause nor the real source of the outrage we are witnessing.”
There is One Gospel
Be sure to listen to this great new song from CityAlight.
He/Him please
Jesse Johnson: “Imagine you are a youth soccer coach, and a girl you have coached for five seasons takes you aside at practice and asks you, ‘Coach: I’m going through some changes in my life, and one of them is that I’ve decided I want to be known as a guy. Can you please address me by he/him, instead of her/she?’What would you say?”
Newton’s God
I appreciated this new video from the John 1:10 Project.
What I’ve Learned from 25 Years of Marriage
Cara shares some of what she has learned through 25 years of marriage.
Death is not Dying
“This life is a vapor, the shadowlands of beauty and sin and grief. A splashing, shallow kiddie pool compared to the swirling depths of magnificent ocean-treasures awaiting us one day, if we bow in humble submission before God.”
Flashback: White Fragility and the Bible’s Big Story
The question I eventually want to answer is this: Is White Fragility a helpful tool for white Christians as we discuss issues of race and then begin to take action?

We obey God not because we are afraid of what He will do to us if we do not. Rather, we obey Him because we are moved by all that He has done for us in Jesus Christ. —Anthony J. Carter

Westminster Books has a collection of deals on new and noteworthy books. Meanwhile, there are some new Kindle deals to look at as well.

(Yesterday on the blog: Seven Steps To a Good Breakup)
The Indispensable Ministry of Disability
Andrea explains that “people with disabilities in our congregations are not just objects of ministry. They are gifted just like the rest of us, though often in ways that we haven’t realized.”
Death to the Patriarchy? Complementarity and the Scandal of ‘Father Rule’
Kevin DeYoung: “There is nothing to be gained by Christians reclaiming the term patriarchy in itself. In fact, reclaim is not even the right word, because I’m not sure Christians have ever argued for something called ‘patriarchy.’ Complementarity is a better, safer term, with fewer negative connotations (though that is quickly changing). I’ve described myself as a complementarian hundreds of times; I’ve never called myself a patriarchalist.”
Fitted Sheets
“Can I tell you a story about fitted sheets? I promise it’s not as boring as it sounds.” She’s right.
Couple, both 100 years old, celebrate 80 years of marriage
I enjoyed this little story from CBC. It’s about a couple who is celebrating their 80th anniversary.
What can we know biblically about hell?
Hell is often an avoided subject today, even by many Christians. From a live Ask Ligonier events, Sinclair Ferguson considers what we learn from the Bible’s descriptions of hell and why this is an important subject to contemplate.
How Is the Sexual Revolution Affecting Women and Girls Today?
“There is one thing that the sexual revolution has done to women and girls that I don’t think we really consider very often. It is pervasive. It is far-reaching. The ramifications are really destructive.” Jen Oshman explains.
Flashback: Have You Tasted Heaven?
I have tasted the fruit of a distant land and have within me a growing longing to taste it again, to taste it all the more, to leave this land and settle in that place of such delights, of such wonder.

It is in God that the fount of spiritual and everlasting joy originates: from Him it all flows forth. —A.W. Pink

Not every relationship works out. Not every couple who begins dating ends up getting married. Neither should they. In fact, for a dating relationship to be healthy, there must be a way out. As Sam Andreades says, “If you are not able to end a dating relationship, you should never start one.” And so, “Before the day you say I do, you always have to be able to say, I don’t. In your heart, you must be able to not date, even if you really want to.”

In his book Dating with Discernment he offers seven steps to breaking up well.
Break up with bravery. To break up bravely is to determine that you will not remain in an unhealthy or unworkable relationship out of fear or cowardice. If the relationship is simply not working, not enjoyable, or not progressing, the brave thing is to call it off.
Talk in person. Though this may seem obvious in the abstract, in the moment it can seem easier to end things in a way in which you do not need to face the other person. Yet we are always called to treat people with love and this will most often mean refusing the temptation to break up by text message or phone call; it will most often mean breaking up face to face.
Honor the other person with gratitude. As you break up, it honors the other person to affirm them and express gratitude for them. And there will almost always be a number of ways to encourage them and express thankfulness. Though a breakup will probably require expressing some of the other person’s weaknesses and faults, there is no reason it shouldn’t also express some of their strengths and graces.
Be direct. You ought to be humble, of course, but humility does not require hiding or obfuscating the real reasons you don’t wish to continue the relationship. Don’t ghost the other person and don’t fail to tell the truth about why the relationship is not working out.
Deliver a vision of hope. It can be wise and good to include a vision of a brighter future for the other person. Though you will need to guard against sounding trite, “It is not insincere to express hope for his life, or to describe your faith in God about her, if you really do believe that there is a better plan for both your lives.”
End it with definiteness. A breakup ought to be a breakup. For sake of clarity and out of love for the other person, it is usually best to end the relationship with a kind of definiteness that means you will not keep texting as you did before or keep seeing each other as “just friends.” It could be best to agree not to be in contact for an agreed-upon number of months to help ensure the break is clean and that there is no confusion.
Take time to heal. A breakup could be very easy on you or very hard. You could breathe a sigh of relief or you could be emotionally devastated. At the very least it is bound to be a disappointment. Proverbs says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and breaking up means you are deferring the hope of marriage. It is important, then, to give yourself some time to grieve and your heart some time to heal.
Though these steps don’t cover every person or every circumstance, they are wise guidelines that can help you end relationships in a way that honors God and expresses love for that person you cared about, but simply couldn’t marry.

The Lord be with you and bless you today.

There are some new Kindle deals that are worth a peek.
Being the Moon
“He hasn’t made us powerless; just as the moon’s gravitational pull is the primary cause of earth’s high and low tides, we hold sway in the world. But our role is never to be the world’s savior – only to point to the actual Savior.” We need to be reminded of this from time to time.
A little test of character
“There is little more repulsive than people looking past you, through you, or over your shoulder looking for somebody more important or significant to speak with.” We always know when people aren’t really interested in us, don’t we?
What really counts?
“I recall a few years back having a quiet conversation with a shocked, disappointed, chastened, and influential fellow-pastor. Following the tragic demise of a famous Christian leader, his serious, solemn, words struck an unforgettable note: ‘Never again,’ said added, ‘will I preach to a church and assume everyone is saved!’” And neither should he or any of us!
How Did Jesus Become What God Hates?
How did Jesus become what God hates? That’s an intriguing question, isn’t it?
Why Pro-Choicers Insist Pro-Life Arguments Are Religious
“When I make my case, I don’t cite the Bible. I don’t invoke God. I’m not making a religious argument. My case against abortion brings in legal, moral, scientific, and philosophical reasoning. Abortion-choice advocates, however, bring up religion for a reason: It’s an effective tactic. Whether they realize it or not, it’s a clever way to gain the upper hand for two reasons.” Yet he’s still written off for his religion. Why is that?
The Weapons of Our Warfare
Doug Eaton: “When Jesus walked among us, he did not take arms against his enemies. He did not hire a political strategist or form a coup. His weapons of war were much different, and as believers, so are ours.”
Flashback: With Purity and Dignity
A man who is dedicating himself to pornography, who is objectifying women for his own gratification, cannot treat younger—or older—women with purity and dignity. His lust destroys his ability to love.

The more you submit to Christ in humility, the more you can stand for Christ with boldness. —H.B. Charles Jr.