The Lord be with you and bless you today.

Westminster Books has some good evangelistic material on sale.
(Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books for March 2022)
What a Tangled Web
Carl Trueman: “It is easy to poke fun at the confusion that ensues when reality is denied in the service of the latest political fads and fakeries. Yet while we laugh at the silliness, we may forget that the real confusion here is not over the political excesses of gender theory and the supine surrender of our leaders in the face of its obfuscations. The deeper issue is the confusion over what constitutes a human person. And that has tragic consequences for the most vulnerable in our society.”
No, I’m Not a Pro: How to Parent our Children’s Souls
I enjoyed this take on parenting. “My children are immortal beings with eternal souls. I would say this takes my breath away, but I don’t want to give the wrong impression. It feels less like witnessing a pretty sunset at the beach and more like standing at the precipice of a mountain. The view is incredible but my sense of helplessness at the top of sheer rock is almost overwhelming. To be entrusted with the care of souls is beautiful and terrifying at the same time. It is a holy task.”
Don’t Let the Culture Train Up Your Children in the Way They Should Go (Article)
I want my kids to understand that there are hard things people are going to say about Christianity. It starts by being explicit about those things. The ideal is that they’ve already heard some of the hardest things they could hear about their faith before they run into them elsewhere. (Sponsored Link)
When Translators Cross the Line
I appreciate what Bill Mounce says here about the ways translations (the NLT in this case) can cross the line into commentary.
The Massive Value of Unpaid Work
“Dan Doriani begins his 2019 book Work with a critical insight: the market economies we live in devalue work that doesn’t pay. This is why, he says, it’s so hard for stay-at-home mothers, retirees and others to feel their work has significance.” There are some interesting observations here about the value of unpaid work.
Does Cryptocurrency Belong in Your Retirement Portfolio?
This article considers whether Bitcoin and/or other cryptocurrencies belong in your retirement portfolio.
Good Old-Fashioned Marked New Testament
Ah yes, let’s not forget or neglect the good old-fashioned marked New Testament.
Flashback: 10 Church Members God Especially Calls Me To Love
Rather than seeing them as people who drive me crazy, I have preferred to see them as people I’m particularly called to love—people who stretch and grow my ability to love.

The backsliding of others cannot seduce the sound Christian. —William Pinke

I have once again received stacks of books through the month that is now drawing to its end. I sorted through them all and wanted to tell you about those that I consider most notable. In each case I’ve included the editorial description so you can learn a little bit about it. (Also see: New and Notable Christian Books for Children and Books To Read As You Prepare for Easter.)

Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made for So Much More by Jen Oshman. “In today’s culture, women and girls are influenced by idols that promise purpose and meaning for their lives—outward beauty and ability, sex, abortion, and gender fluidity. Christian women aren’t exempt from these temptations either, and can even elevate good things like marriage and motherhood to the status of idolatry. Women may sense that these idols are hollow and leave them feeling unsettled, but where should they turn instead? In Cultural Counterfeits, Jen Oshman encourages women to reject the empty, destructive promises these idols offer and embrace something much more satisfying.” (Buy it at Amazon)
The Glory of God and Paul: Themes, Texts, and Theology (New Studies in Biblical Theology) by Christopher W. Morgan & Robert A. Peterson. “The apostle Paul’s theology of glory has its foundations in the biblical drama of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation, and in the identity of Jesus as revealed in his teachings, life, death, and resurrection. The triune God, who is intrinsically glorious, graciously and joyfully displays his glory, largely through his creation, human image-bearers, providence, and redemptive acts. God’s people respond by glorifying him. God receives glory and, through uniting his people to Christ, he shares his glory with them–all to his eternal glory. Christopher Morgan and Robert Peterson explore the glory of God in Paul’s letters with regard to the Trinity, salvation, the resurrection, the new covenant, the church, eschatology, and the Christian life. God intends his glory to impact many areas of believers’ lives: their gradual transformation from glory to glory occurs as they meditate and reflect on the splendor of the Lord.” (Buy it at Westminster Books or Amazon)
Second Timothy: The Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on the New Testament by Michael G. Brown. “Second Timothy encourages pastors to guard, entrust, suffer for, and above all, preach the gospel. Yet it is also full of encouragement for Christians living in a hostile world. Like Timothy, we need reminding that ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’ We need to ‘be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus’ and confident in the Scriptures, which are ‘given by inspiration of God.’ And we need to hope in Christ’s return, when He will award the crown of righteousness ‘to all who have loved His appearing.’ Michael G. Brown’s exposition of 2 Timothy is not only Christ-centered, redemptive-historical, and gospel focused, but also packed with pastoral and practical application.” (Buy it at Westminster Books or Amazon)
Surviving the Trenches: Killing Sin Before Sin Kills You by Joe Barnard. “Christian men today are unprepared for the reality and scope of spiritual warfare they face. Some go about their lives naively ignoring the power that spiritual forces like sin and Satan have in their lives. Joe Barnard has written a book to help men not only wake up to the existence of sin in their lives, but, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to tackle it head on. This may seem like a daunting task. Although few would admit it publicly, privately many share the deep anxiety that the resources of the gospel are inadequate to deal with – not the guilt of sin – but the power of sin. Sin may look like an insurmountable problem when measured by the stature of a fallen man, but to God, sin is no more than a weed planted in sand. This book is for men who are willing to fight and it will arm them for the task at hand.” (Buy it at Amazon)
The Faithful Apologist: Rethinking the Role of Persuasion in Apologetics by K. Scott Oliphint. “As Christians, we’re called to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ. But too often, this task can feel like we’re doing PR work for God, limiting our apologetic work to a series of strategies and tactics. In The Faithful Apologist, Scott Oliphint shows that this doesn’t have to be the case. He provides a cross-centered foundation for Christians to explain their faith in a welcoming and winsome manner that avoids any burden to “sell” Christianity to non-Christians. Drawing from the rich tradition of Reformed apologetics, Oliphint proposes a marriage between wisdom and persuasion in faith conversations. He shows that, when our faith is grounded in the Triune God and his sovereignty, our attempts to defend it will grow more confident and convincing. Accessible and thoroughly rooted in Scripture, this book takes the anxiety out of apologetics by revealing that success is not measured in the number of minds we change, but in our faithfulness to God, the Divine Persuader.” (Buy it at Westminster Books or Amazon)
Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl Trueman. “How did the world arrive at its current, disorienting state of identity politics, and how should the church respond? Historian Carl R. Trueman shows how influences ranging from traditional institutions to technology and pornography moved modern culture toward an era of ‘expressive individualism.’ For fans of Trueman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Strange New World offers a more concise presentation and application of some of the most critical topics of our day. Also available is the Strange New World Study Guide, a helpful companion for both individuals and groups.” (Buy it at Westminster Books or Amazon)
Health, Wealth, and the (Real) Gospel: The Prosperity Gospel Meets the Truths of Scripture by Sean DeMars and Mike McKinley. “Having experienced its damaging effects, Sean DeMars and Mike McKinley set out to reveal the insidious toxicity found in the prosperity gospel. Naming and claiming promises of material blessing for those who believe enough may seem at first glance to be biblical but turn out to be a distortion of God’s truth. Beginning by countering claims made by the prosperity gospel with what scripture actually teaches, they highlight the places in scripture that stand directly opposed to prosperity teachings. They explore what the Bible teaches about whether people who believe false doctrine are eternally saved, and how to examine our hearts for a prosperity–style understanding of God.” (Buy it at Amazon)
The Loveliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church by Dustin Benge. “Dear. Precious. Lovely. The Bible describes the church in extraordinary ways, even using beautiful poetry and metaphors. How does this compare to how Christians today describe the church? In The Loveliest Place, Dustin Benge urges Christians to see the holy assembly of God’s redeemed people in all its eternal beauty. He explains what makes the church lovely, including the Trinitarian relationship, worship, service, and gospel proclamation. For those who have never learned to view the church as God sees it, or have become disillusioned by its flaws, this book is a reminder that the corporate gathering of believers is a reflection of God’s indescribable beauty.” (Buy it at Westminster Books or Amazon)
Thomas Charles’ Spiritual Counsels: Selected From His Letters and Papers by Edward Morgan and Thomas Charles of Bala by John Aaron. These two books from Banner of Truth go together, one as a biography and the other as a book of letters by the subject of that biography. Here’s the description of the latter: “The North of Wales in the 1770s was one of the least Christian parts of Britain. The next three decades brought a transformation akin to that of the apostolic era and at the centre of the change was Thomas Charles, ‘the Lord’s gift to North Wales’. Debarred from the pulpits of his own denomination, and dependent on his shop-keeper wife at Bala, Charles quietly became the leader of the people (‘Calvinistic Methodists’) whose God-anointed witness gathered thousands to the gospel. This astonishing advance involved Bible distribution, the use of circulating schools, preaching, and publishing. More than all these things, there was an outpouring of the Spirit of God and the most enduring lessons of the period have to do with the quality of spiritual life which was then recovered. This volume, first published in 1838, shows us both what that life was in Thomas Charles’ own experience and how wisely he taught it to others.” (Buy Thomas Charles of Bala at Westminster Books; Buy Thomas Charles’ Spiritual Counsels at Westminster Books)
Literarily: How Understanding Bible Genres Transforms Bible Study by Kristie Anyabwile. “A lot of times, we treat Scripture like it’s all the same from Genesis to Revelation. After all, it only has one Author. Isn’t it just one big book, identical from beginning to end? While it’s true that the Bible is unified, it is also diverse. The Bible can be grouped according to key categories, called genres, that help us to read and properly interpret the Scriptures. An understanding of these genres, and the literary themes and devices used within them, makes all the difference when encountering God’s Word. Long-time Bible teacher Kristie Anyabwile discovered as she prepared her lessons that a single inductive approach doesn’t do justice to the variety of genres that make up the Word of God. Because Scripture is a collection of writings that spans 1,500 years, many literary styles are represented and each must be taken into account for the fullest understanding of God’s Word. Kristie shows you the immense value of studying the Bible literarily—that is, according to the literary style presented in a particular book, chapter, or passage.” (Buy it at Amazon)
Has Science Made God Unnecessary? by Ransom Poythress and If Christianity is So Good, Why are Christians So Bad? by Mark Coppenger. These are the two newest volumes in Christian Focus’s “The Big Ten: Critical Questions Answered”series—a Christian apologetics series which “addresses ten commonly asked questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity. Each book, while easy to read, is challenging and thought–provoking, dealing with subjects ranging from hell to science. A good read whatever your present opinions.” (Buy Has Science Made God Unnecessary? at Westminster Books or Amazon; buy If Christianity is So Good, Why are Christians So Bad? at Amazon)

Good morning. Grace and peace to you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include just a few new options.
(Yesterday on the blog: Her Weakness Is Her Strength)
Dying Is But Going Home
Randy Alcorn: “Nanci is and always will be an inspiration to me. I have spent the last two days with family and friends, thanking God for His grace and the promises of Jesus that we will live with Him forever in a world without the Curse, and He will wipe away all the tears and all the reasons for the tears. All God’s children really will live happily ever after. This is not a fairytale; it is the blood-bought promise of Jesus.”
Challenge of Charity
“Perhaps it goes without saying, but not all giving is good. It doesn’t take much travel around the world to find problems with Christian charity.” Elliot Clark reflects on some of the challenges that come when Christians attempt to distribute charity.
How to Pray Like Jabez
“Perhaps you’ve heard of Jabez. If not, maybe it’s time for his story.” David Mathis fills us in on the story of Jabez and, along the way, the infamous book The Prayer of Jabez.
How to Offer Correction
Guy Richard answers a good question: “Why are we as Christians so poor at giving healthy, constructive criticism to others?”
What does it mean that Jesus “descended into Hell”?
In the Apostle’s Creed we confess that Jesus “descended into hell?” Did he actually do so and, if not, what does the creed mean? Guy Waters answers in this short video.
“Well, THAT was magic!”
“I don’t believe for a moment that our wonder at the world we’re in should shrivel and shrink as our knowledge grows. That makes no sense to me at all.” I very much agree!
Flashback: We’re More Honest With Our Phones Than With Our Pastors
Our phones…know about our backsliding or even our heresy long before the pastor does.

A Christian without meditation is like a soldier without weapons, or a workman without tools. —Thomas Watson

Have you ever known a family who has learned that it will soon welcome a child with special needs? It could be that prenatal testing has shown a developmental abnormality or it could be that they have deliberately chosen to adopt a child with disabilities. But either way, the family will necessarily undergo a time of preparation as they ready themselves for the inevitable special challenges to come. They will prepare their home, they will prepare their community, they will prepare themselves.

And when the day comes that the child arrives, you may observe that the entire family begins to accommodate themselves to her weaknesses. Not just over the course of her early days but over the entire duration of her life, they give her their help. If she cannot see, they become her eyes; if she cannot hear, they learn to sign; if she cannot walk, they carry her from place to place; if she cannot make decisions on her own, they make them lovingly on her behalf.
You may observe as well that there is a special kind of love given to this one child. The other children in the family may love one another, but each of them has a special affection for this sister. The mother loves all of her children equally, yet there is a special tenderness for this one who is especially needy. The father makes accommodation for all of his children in his final will and testament, but ensures special provision has been made for her. No one else is so well loved, so safely protected. Her weakness is actually her strength for it draws to her the love and help of the entire household.
The Bible refers to the church as “the household of God.” As we come to Christ we form a kind of family in which God is our father and Christ our elder brother. We are to relate to one another as fathers to sons, mothers to daughters, siblings to siblings. We are to feel and express the kind of love, care, and affection for one another that is usually reserved for members of the same family.
Within every church there will be some who are especially weak. They may be physically weak, marked by some kind of a severe bodily disability. They may be intellectually weak, having some kind of significant mental disability. They may be emotionally weak, grappling with an advanced mental illness. They may be weak in any other number of ways, perhaps through the effects of childhood neglect, or the consequences of a lifetime of making poor decisions, or the infirmities of old age. Or maybe even just through spiritual immaturity.
Regardless of the cause or degree of the weakness, these are the ones who are to be the special objects of our love, protection, and affection. These are the ones we must accept as a special gift of God to the church. It is to the weakest that we owe the greatest honor, to the frailest that we owe the greatest allegiance, to the ones most likely to be overlooked that we owe the greatest attention. The Apostle Paul switches to a different metaphor to explain that “the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require.” God has deliberately composed the human body and Christ’s body alike so that we are to give “greater honor to the part that lacked it” (1 Corinthians 12:22–24).
And so, as we relate to those who are weak, we are to ensure they do not draw our censure, our criticism, or our condemnation, all of which flow so naturally from our sinful hearts. We are to ensure we do not regard them as a trial, burden, or embarrassment. Rather, we are to accept them as a precious gift of God and to treat them with compassion, concern, and special affection. Their frailty is to be met with sympathy, their inability is to draw the love and help of Christ’s whole family. Their weakness is to be their strength as it draws the love and care of the entire household.

Inspired by J.R. Miller

This will be my last reminder to Logos users to check out the March Matchups deals to get discounts on some great commentary sets. The deals end on Friday.

There’s yet another good list of Kindle deals for the collectors today. Don’t forget that a long list of commentaries has also been significantly discounted.
Abiding in the Almighty’s Shadow
“Chaplain Holland read aloud as I sat silently in my scrubs at the conference table, hands folded in my lap. I knew my precious husband, shot in the line of duty, currently in surgery and in critical condition, had never left the Shadow of the Almighty.” Emory Mangan tells of the evening when she learned that her husband, a police officer, had been shot in the line of duty.
All of Our Opinions All of the Time
Chris Martin: “I’m not offering an opinion on whether or not Will Smith smacking Chris Rock was okay, I’m offering an opinion on why we should hesitate hopping in on the controversy of the day. I think those are different levels of conversation, and I hope you would have the awareness to see that.”
If the Bible Is Enough, Why Is It Good to Retell Bible Stories? (Video)
It can seem like you’re taking a step backward when you write a book that retells Bible stories rather than using the Bible story itself. Yet we have good reason to do that in that God gave to the church teachers! (Sponsored Link)
What Is True Justice?
“We’ve allowed ourselves to be distracted. While our conversations have been profitable, the issue of justice has unfortunately been derailed by distractions about critical race theory.” This is a good point. Even if we know why CRT is not true justice, that doesn’t necessarily help us to extend justice toward those who need it.
Why You Still Need the Church Even If You Have Been Hurt by It
Adriel Sanchez: “As a pastor, I’ve had countless conversations with people hurt by religious authority. One would hope that words like coercive, corrupt, and manipulative would never be used to describe church leadership, but sadly that’s not the case. If you’re one of the wounded and you have turned your back on Christianity due to the experience, I want to plead with you to reconsider your response for three reasons…”
You Can Obey
“We thank Jesus that he came, died for us and transferred his perfect life to our account. And then we can think that we won’t be perfect until glory so we kind of give up trying. Sinners gonna sin, innit. But the fact is, we can obey.”
Do Bible Translations Really Matter?
Do Bible translations really matter? This article answers in the affirmative, then looks at a few related questions.
Flashback: Can I Ask a Dumb Question?
The path to wisdom is littered with evidence of our inborn foolishness. Before we learn to say things that are wise we say things that are dumb.

The foundation of a man’s eternal happiness or misery is laid in this life. —William Strong

Good morning. May the God of love and peace be with you.

There is once again a lengthy list of Kindle deals, including deep discounts on many of the best commentary series (NICOT, NICNT, NIGTC, Pillar).
(Yesterday on the blog: It’s Better To Suffer Wrong)
Spiritual Lessons from My Dumb Phone
I think it does us all good from time to time to consider our relationship with our phone (as Dru Johnson does here).
5 Preaching Pet Peeves
Jared Wilson: “I thought I would share some pet peeves of mine when it comes to preaching, because I think they are shared by others as well. In the end, those of us who preach want to remove any unnecessary barriers between understanding the word, believing the gospel and the people who are listening. As a preacher who regularly sits under preaching too, I’ve experienced some things that I think have helped me develop as a communicator. Maybe they will provide some food for thought for you, as well.”
How a Jail Became a Seminary
Aaron Lumpkin tells how, a long time ago, a jail became a seminary. “The jail, once overcome with the sound of woeful cries and locking chains, now paraded the sounds of freedom found through the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Give God Room
Rebekah says that in our troubling times we naturally worry or try to control. “In some ways, these are opposite reactions (worry is mostly passive; control is mostly active), and yet it’s quite possible to do both at the same time. I’m actually quite good at both and often manage to do them simultaneously, over the same problem.”
Understanding your enemy
“God would have us estimate our enemies neither too highly nor too lightly” says Andrée Seu Peterson. That’s true whether the enemy is physical or spiritual.
How would you persuade someone that the sign gifts have ceased? (Video)
If you’re interested in quite an impassioned defense of the cessation of the spiritual gifts, Steven Lawson, Stephen Nichols, and Burk Parsons team up on one here.
Flashback: The Only Way To Do The Work Of A Lifetime
…duties can and do rise far above drudgery when we fulfill them out of a conviction that it is God who has called us to them and that it is through them that we do good to others and bring glory to his name.

It is not punishment to which we are subjected but pruning, and it is because we are fruitful that we are pruned. —J.R. Miller

It’s a verse every Christian believes in until he suffers some great wrong. It’s a verse every Christian affirms until he is called to implement it in his own life. And it’s just then that the words seem to transform from clear to opaque, the application from simple to obscure. In 1 Corinthians 6:7 Paul speaks of lawsuits between believers and says “Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” It’s better to suffer injustice within the church, he says, than to harm Christ’s cause before the world. It’s better to suffer harm quietly than to express outrage publicly. If you sue a brother and win, the church has already lost.

This is just one application of a much wider principle that is repeated throughout the New Testament, a principle that calls Christians to behave with humility and meekness, even in the face of grave injustice. Christians are not to retaliate when wronged, nor to repay evil with evil, nor to curse those who harm them. Rather, we are to bear patiently through suffering and persecution, we are to endure hardship, we are to entrust ourselves to God. We are to do all of this even—and perhaps especially—when our trials come at the hands of those who profess Christ.
None of this is easy. It is no small thing to suppress our natural instinct for vengeance or to set aside our natural longing for retaliation. It is no small thing to allow ourselves to be wronged and then to meekly suffer the consequences. It may be one of the greatest challenges we are ever called to face. Yet we can be equal to the challenge if we take hold of the grace God offers us.
To be equal to that challenge, we will need to look back, look up, and look forward.
We will need to look back to Jesus Christ who serves as our perfect example and who calls us to do no more than he has already done. As unjust as our persecutors may be, his were certainly worse. As grievous as our losses may be, his were certainly far greater. Yet he endured his suffering meekly and now “to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). He entrusted himself to God and obeyed God to the very end, and so may we. So must we.
Then we will need to look up to see God as sovereign, God as reigning over this world and all its affairs. We have to believe and understand that our suffering falls under the sovereignty of God. Whatever we have suffered has not taken place outside of his will, beyond his providence, or past the jurisdiction of his sovereignty. This injustice was not unforeseen by God and did not catch him by surprise. Rather, he in some way willed it and permitted it. And he now expects us to respond in a way that is consistent with his Word, even when to do so pushes us beyond all our natural capacities.
And we will need to look forward to the day when all suffering will be soothed, all injustices will be righted, and all rewards will be dispensed. By suffering meekly today, we are preparing ourselves to be rewarded later. When we refuse to demand satisfaction in this moment, we are expressing faith that a time will come when God will make all things right. When faith becomes sight we will have not the least doubt that God has done all things well. Even this.
It may be God’s will that the most difficult thing he ever calls you to do is to endure being wronged, and to do so in a way that displays Christian character. It may be that the greatest challenge of your life will be to endure injustice with meekness and patience. It may be that God’s specific calling upon you is to suffer wrong and to do so without taking vengeance and without losing the joy of your salvation. But by looking back and looking up and looking forward, you can suffer well, and you can suffer long, and you can suffer in such a way that you display the beauties of the gospel of grace, the beauties of Jesus Christ himself.
(There will inevitably be many “what about” questions that follow an article like this and, indeed, that follow any consideration of 1 Corinthians 6:7. Those would be a subject for a different day but for now let me challenge you with this: with this passage, as with certain others (e.g. submission to government, honor toward parents), our first instinct often seems to be how to avoid its plain teaching rather than how to implement it. So today let’s keep our focus on its plainest teaching: “To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?”) 

Grace and peace to you today.

There are a few Kindle deals to look at today, as well as a number of them from the weekend.
Does ‘Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin’ Still Work?
Some mantras we used in former days may no longer do much in the current days. “Love the sinner, hate the sin” may be one of them.
A Book Held Safely: God’s Sovereignty in Motherhood
Abigail shares some of what she has learned in the early days of motherhood. “Certainly, motherhood is a steep learning curve, with hormones and normal concerns. But I hope to share how God’s Word encouraged me and established truths a little tighter in my heart in those newborn days.”
If You Don’t Catechize Your Kids, the World Will (Podcast)
The question is not whether our children are being catechized or not. It’s whether we are going to catechize them ourselves, or if we are going to let the world do it. Even if you homeschool your kids or send them to a Christian school, they’re getting the world’s catechesis. So we need to be intentional about catechizing them with what is truly good, truly beautiful, truly life-changing, and life-saving, and God-glorifying. (Sponsored Link)
Body Image and a Better Understanding of Beauty
Grace Pike: “Regardless of age, ethnicity, religion, or socioeconomic status, women around the world and throughout time have faced (and still do) incessant attacks on their souls through lies propagated by the Enemy about beauty and value.”
An open spiritual door
This article from WORLD explains some of the open doors in Eastern Europe.
Theology without Affection
I think we all need to reminded with some frequency that good theology without affection doesn’t do anyone any good.
Resisting the Politics of Fear
“Over the past two years, we’ve seen fear dominate our political discourse. In the face of a once-in-a-century pandemic, many reacted with understandable fear, demanding governments take action to protect them and their loved ones. Others responded with fear—again understandable—that government overreach would destroy their way of life. During the ugliest election of our lifetimes, partisans on both sides mobilized voters with shrill warnings about what might happen if the other side won.”
Flashback: The Particular Temptations of Young Men
What God means to accomplish in young men are rarely great deeds that are visible to the public, but the invisible construction of a foundation of godly character that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

The groan of Calvary is mightier than the thunder of Sinai. —De Witt Talmage

This was one of those rare weeks in which I collected so many great links that I couldn’t bring myself to toss any of them. For that reason I’m adding a bonus Sunday A La Carte which I think you’ll offers lots of great reading.

God Does Not Despise the Small Things
Ed Welch: “I have often mused, How does anything ever get done? How do I ever get anything done? By taking the next little step in a day of small things, by placing the next stone into place. The Maker of heaven and earth has determined to have us partner with him in his plans, and he is pleased to set a pace for us that seems very human.”
On Permanent Birth Control
John Piper answers a question about permanent forms of birth control and begins in an interesting way: “The older I get, the more skeptical I become of the freedom I think I have from being formed by my own culture. Let me put it in another way. The older I get, the more suspicious I become that I am more a child of my historical and cultural circumstances than I once thought I was.”
A turn for the worse
WORLD magazine has a review of Turning Red that makes for good reading. “With Turning Red, Pixar abandons decades of nuanced storytelling and warms over Disney’s clichéd advice to follow your heart. The studio challenged this messaging 10 years ago with Brave.”
Our Bodies Tell Us What We Are
I invariably benefit from reading Samuel James.
No place is perfect, but we can love what is good about it nonetheless
“Churches, much like places to live, are rarely perfect. Churches, much like places to live, will have things to love about them and things we wish were there that aren’t. Churches, much like places to live, can be properly loved by us despite their not being able to do everything we might like all of the time.”
Galaxies