This week the blog is sponsored by  RHB Publications and written by Joel R. Beeke.

As a teenager, God used Thomas Goodwin’s writings more than anyone else’s to bring me to liberty in Christ and to grow me in Christ. I wept often as I read his “Christ the Mediator” at the richness and fullness of my Savior and Lord. Already then, I dreamt of one-day publishing Goodwin’s entire Works of 12 volumes in a beautiful hardcover edition. Half a century later, that dream finally became a reality. 
After reading the article below, I believe you will see why Goodwin had such a profound effect on me! We pray by reading Goodwin, you will be drawn closer to our beautiful Redeemer.
This reprinting of The Works of Thomas Goodwin stands as a fitting climax to the past half-century of the rediscovery and republication of the writings of the Puritans. Renowned for intelligent piety at its Puritan best, Thomas Goodwin, ”the Atlas of independency,” stands on a par with John Owen, “the prince of Puritans,” as a theologian and an exegete, and often surpasses him in experimental depth. Slightly easier to read than Owen, Goodwin’s writings demand concentration for maximum benefit. 
Those influenced by Goodwin’s writings include John Cotton, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and John Gill. Alexander Whyte confessed: “I have read no other author so much and so often. And I continue to read him to this day as if I had never read him before.” He calls Goodwin’s sermon, “Christ Dwelling in Our Hearts by Faith,” one of the ”two very greatest sermons in the English language.” Whyte aptly concludes:
Goodwin is always an interpreter, and one of a thousand …. All his work, throughout his twelve volumes, is just so much pulpit exposition and pulpit application of the Word of God …. spiritual experience-all the same, he is always so simple, so clear, so direct, so untechnical, so personal, and so pastoral.
In our generation, Puritan scholar J.I. Packer concurs: “Whyte called Goodwin ‘the greatest pulpit exegete of Paul that has ever lived,’ and perhaps justly; Goodwin’s Biblical expositions are quite unique, even among the Puritans, in the degree to which they combine theological breadth with experimental depth. John Owen saw into the mind of Paul as clearly as Goodwin-sometimes, on points of detail, more clearly-but not even Owen ever saw so deep into Paul’s heart.”
Thomas Goodwin was a prolific author and editor. During the 1630s, he coedited with John Ball the works of John Preston and Richard Sibbes. He began to publish some of his own sermons in 1636. Prior to his death, he published at least twelve devotional works, most of which were collections of sermons. The fact that they were reissued forty-seven times indicates the high demand and wide circulation of his publications. 
Most of Goodwin’s major theological writings were the fruit of his riper years and were published posthumously. His unusually large corpus of treatises displays a pastoral and scholarly zeal rivaled by few Puritans. 
The first collection of Goodwin’s works was published in five folio volumes in London from 1681 to 1704 under the editorship of Thankful Owen, Thomas Baron, and Thomas Goodwin, Jr. An abridged version of Goodwin’s works, condensed by J. Rabb, was printed in four volumes (London, 1847-50). The presently reprinted twelve-volume authoritative edition was printed by James Nichol (Edinburgh, 1861-66) as his first choice in what would become known as the well-edited and highly regarded Nichol’s Series of Standard Divines; not surprisingly, it is far superior to the original five folio volumes.
Goodwin’s treatment of his subjects is massive, sometimes liable to exhaust the half-hearted. The pull of his writings is not always felt immediately. His first editors (168l) explained his occasional prolixity in these terms: “He had a genius to dive into the bottom of points, to ‘study them down,’ as he used to express it, not contenting himself with superficial knowledge, without wading into the depths of things.”
One does need patience to read Goodwin at times; along with depth and prolixity, however, he combines a wonderful sense of warmth, unction, and experience. The reader’s patience will be amply rewarded. 
Read Goodwin slowly, meditatively, and prayerfully, and you will reap spiritual dividends far beyond what you can imagine. You will understand as you read why Goodwin has been my favorite Puritan author for most of my life. 

May the God of love and peace be with you on this fine day.

Logos users, there are some good deals to be had this week, including Epic!
Today’s Kindle deals include quite an extensive list of titles.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Tribute to Those of Simple Faith)
From Meat to Meta: Facebook’s Disincarnate Dreamworld
“I find myself strangely grateful to the Zuck for giving me a new appreciation of the beauty of Christ’s enfleshment.” Here’s why one writer is strangely grateful for Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a better world.
Night watch
“I remember when the two emails arrived. One after the other. To our inbox in Karachi. Same time. Same message. Traveling across the world. From opposite sides of the United States.”
Advice About Hard Bible Passages from the Bible
Here’s some help with hard passages. “One of the marvelous things about the Bible is that in it, God speaks to many of the challenges we face—including difficult passages in the Bible itself. We will look at one such section of Scripture in this article.”
A monument of gift
“There’s a principle in the Bible that’s foreign to our Protestant intuitions. When the people of Israel were dramatically saved by the Lord, they built a monument.” And that’s significant in its own way.
Giving thanks between two cultures
I enjoyed this little look at how different Christian cultures give thanks differently.
Should We Pursue Self-Love?
If you’re familiar with Randy Alcorn’s writing, his position on this matter won’t shock you. “I’ve often heard it said in evangelical messages, books, and articles that God’s Word teaches three kinds of love—love for God, love for others, and love for self.”
On Cigarettes, Vaping, and Nicotine
And if you’re familiar with John Piper’s writing, his position on this matter won’t shock you either. You may not fully agree, but he does lay out his position very clearly.
Five Words to Improve Every Sermon
Jason Allen: “Over the years, as I have monitored my own preaching and observed others, I have come to realize how intentionally using a few key words will strengthen most any sermon.” He offers five…
Flashback: Fears and Fleeting Faith
Our faith is shockingly shallow on the day of uncertainty. Our fears quickly overwhelm our fleeting faith.

Our everyday moments might be ordinary, but when we accomplish them while displaying the fruit of the Spirit, they reflect our extraordinary Savior. —Emily Jensen

God makes us to be different from one another. He makes us to have different gifts and talents, to have different dispositions and personalities. He even makes us to relate to him in different ways, so that some of us most feel God’s pleasure when we are deeply engaged in a worship service and others when we are deeply engaged in serving God by serving others. It takes many parts to make one unified, functioning body.

I have observed as well that God makes some people to have a faith that is very simple and others to have a faith that is very complex. Some people come to faith and enter into a lifelong battle to believe some of the Bible’s most basic promises about forgiveness and assurance and perseverance. They may spend their entire Christian life, from new birth to death, scouring Scripture and reading good books and listening to sermons and lectures, all to help them better understand such matters.
Meanwhile, other people come to faith and never seem to have to wrestle with much at all. They take God at his word and feel little need to wade out into the deep theological waters. Their attitude is, “God says it, therefore it’s true and I’ll believe it.” Their personalities are such that they don’t suffer the deep doubts or even ask the big questions.
But here’s the thing: People of complex faith are prone to see apathy in those of simple faith, and people of simple faith are prone to see obsessiveness in those of complex faith. Both can grow weary and suspicious of the other.
Consider a woman who has a complex faith—who is committed to studying, wrestling, laboring with doctrine. She loves to read good books. She loves to go deep into Scripture. She loves to attend Christian conferences. Well and good. But she can easily grow frustrated with her husband who has a much simpler faith. It is a faith that is no less real, no less tested, no less tenacious—just much less complicated. Yet to that wife, this husband can look indifferent, apathetic, and perhaps concerningly unspiritual.
Meanwhile, the husband is prone to grow weary with his wife and to see her faith as obsessive. Because he doesn’t wrestle with the big questions, he doesn’t naturally understand why anyone would. Because he derives little joy and benefit from constantly reading Christian books, he can grow weary with his wife when she does.
In this scenario, both the husband and wife are making their own faith normative, then judging the other not by any divine standard, but by their own. In this scenario both husband and wife are failing to honor the faith of their spouse—failing to honor the way God has made them.
I was once chatting with one of the older women from our church. Each of us was recounting the giant stack of books we had read in the past year—each one an attempt to better understand God, each one an attempt to address a weakness, each one an attempt to increment our growth in sanctification. And along the way we realized our spouses may have read three or four between them. We paused to laugh at ourselves and to consider this simple fact: There is no evidence that we are any holier than our spouses. There is no evidence that they are languishing while we are thriving. They are just different from us—different in their spiritual make-up, different in the way they love and honor God, perhaps different in the depth of the pit God has to dig us out of. We agreed we would choose to honor that difference instead of striving against it, to celebrate it instead of lamenting it.
And so, as husbands relate to wives and wives to husbands, I urge the simple to honor the complex and the complex the simple. As parents relate to their children and attempt to foster their young faith by instilling spiritual habits and patterns of devotion, I urge them to get to know their children as they are, not as them wish them to be. As members of a local church relate to one another, I urge the complex to set aside a sense of superiority and the simple to set aside a sense of frustration. We are different precisely because God has chosen to make us different. And vive la différence, I say!

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Yesterday on the blog: Saved By the Quivering Of an Eye-Lid)
We Can’t Talk About Purity Culture without Talking About the 1990s
I really enjoy Samuel James’s reflections, whether on the past or the contemporary world. This new one is about purity culture.
Every Day I Climb The Mountain
“What if this momentary affliction that I experience every year is actually- in my weakness- giving God the opportunity to prepare me for something better? Maybe the darkness I face, part of the turmoil of this world, is the very thing that pushes me to seek God’s light and strength in ways that I otherwise wouldn’t have bothered.”
Resurrection Somehow
You will appreciate this reflection on the resurrection. “Not once in all his writings does he vacillate on the certainty of resurrection – in the experience of our Lord and, therefore, in that of his people. The principle is as firmly-tied to the person and work of the Saviour as it is possible to be, but the process, the actualising of resurrection for the believer, remains shrouded in a mystery that Paul is content to live with.”
What Does the Bible Say about Marriage?
Christoper Ash has a quick rundown on what the Bible says about marriage.
Continuance in Ministry
“I had a mentor who once told me, ‘It’s easy to start something in ministry, but it is very difficult to follow it through to the end.’ This is so very true.” Isn’t it, though?
Science Can’t Answer Transgenderism’s Deepest Questions
“Scientific studies can offer answers on outcomes and physiology. But they cannot tell us what it means to be male, female, or even human.” This article shows how science cannot answer the deepest (and, really, most important) questions about transgenderism.
Flashback: Taking Up a Collection in a Cashless World
…how do our churches make giving to the Lord an act of worship when, rather than being done corporately and manually, it is done electronically and automatically?

We have only to leave off watching and praying, and a noxious crop of unbelief will soon spring up. —J.C. Ryle

F.B. Meyer used to tell a story that, while it sounds perhaps just a little far-fetched, makes a great point. He would use it when appealing to unbelievers to repent of their sin and believe the gospel—he would use it to encourage them not to delay until they were sure they possessed a great measure of faith, but to instead simply look to the Lord with what faith they had. Here is what he would say:

I was told the other day a very interesting thing about one of the ancestors of the family with whom I was stopping. She was only in a swoon, but they thought she was dead, and were preparing to carry her forth for interment. But one that was standing by saw the quivering of an eyelid.
Immediately they removed her from the coffin, laid her upon the bed, and went to work to revive her, and presently she came back to consciousness, and lived for some ten years longer, a hearty, robust life. Saved by the quivering of an eye-lid, that showed she was not entirely gone! Oh, man, Jesus waits and Satan waits. This is the hour of your choice. Jesus only asks thee not to resist and refuse, but to choose; and though thy choice tonight be as slight as the quivering of an eye-lid, let Christ see it. Look to Him! It is all He wants, and He will come into your heart.

May you know the Lord’s blessings as you honor and serve him this weekend.

I am wondering if I have any readers who live in Zurich or Malta. If so, would you mind getting in touch?
As Saturdays go, this is an exceptional one when it comes to Kindle deals.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Christian Case for Bitcoin and Blockchain)
Can You Hear the Congregation Singing?
“Congregational singing — which includes the one who sings like it’s an American Idol audition and the one who can’t find the right key — is the most heavenly sound you’ll hear on earth. Because of this, it’s important to find a church that has congregational singing. It ought to be a priority when looking for a church home.”
No Flock, No Shepherd
This article coincided well with my devotions yesterday (which took me to John 10): “Sheep stink and they stand really close to each other. They don’t all look the same, but they all have similar inclinations. All sheep lack an ability to lead themselves anywhere safe. That’s why they need a shepherd, so they don’t go astray and get picked off by a wolf.”
Billions of Unnoticed Gifts
“Why the extravagance? Why does God give us billions of gifts every second (even the chance to marvel at a myriad of strange insects) when most of us won’t end up seeing the majority of them? Why is God so spendthrift?”
The Value of a Secure Identity
There are some helpful reflections here on the matter of identity.
Beware of Stoical Dangers
Christians are sometimes called to “do what we have to do and get through it. However, “gritted teeth Christianity is not Christianity, for mere external obedience has never been the Christian’s obligation.”
Beauty in the Eye
“The whole discussion of beauty in art was much simpler before technology. ” That’s an interesting notion…
Flashback: How Many Children Should We Have?
The decision I make ought to be right for my family, but I have no business making a decision on behalf of someone else and then despising or condemning them.

It is the students of the Bible, and they alone, who will find it a weapon ready in hand in the day of battle. —J.C. Ryle

This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by  Baker Books . They are giving away three sets of Jamie Rasmussen’s books How Joyful People Think and When God Feels Far Away.

How Joyful People Think by Jamie Rasmussen (book cover is attached and can be linked here: How Joyful People Think – Baker Book House)
In this insightful unpacking of Philippians 4:8, pastor Jamie Rasmussen shows readers how to focus their thoughts and attention on the things in life that God has declared will make a meaningful impact on both a person’s outlook and experience. It’s the kind of thinking that has the power to change us, pointing us away from self-pity, anger, and resentment and toward contentment and personal peace, which helps us get the most out of life.
When God Feels Far Away by Jamie Rasmussen (the book cover is attached and can be linked here: When God Feels Far Away – Baker Book House)
With transparency and a pastoral heart, Jamie Rasmussen reveals eight ways to navigate divine distance and experience the nearness of God again. After unpacking why God sometimes feels so far away, he mines the riches of the book of Esther for principles that are available to us today. The result is an intimate and practical guide to navigating seasons of divine distance so we can once again feel closer to God.
Enter Here
Again, there are three packages 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.

A recent article intrigued me with its assertion that it is better to understand Bitcoin as gambling than investment: “An asset that never pays a dividend but has a price that keeps rising is a bubble. An investor can believe Bitcoin is a bubble and rationally invest so long as she expects to sell out before the bubble pops. But that isn’t investing; that’s gambling, and it’s a zero-sum game.” Being largely unfamiliar with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, I wanted to think this matter through. I know a number of believers who are enthusiastic about Bitcoin and blockchain, not just as it pertains to personal finances but also as it may serve ministry purposes. What follows is an article these men wrote that makes a basic Christian case for Bitcoin and the blockchain technology behind it. It provides an alternate perspective for those of us just beginning to think this through. I hope you find it helpful.

***
As Christians, we are responsible before God to approach every area of our lives as an opportunity to glorify His name, advance His Kingdom, and steward His creation. It shouldn’t surprise us that many believers approach the financial and investment world with a healthy dose of skepticism. After all, Wall Street does very little to improve on its reputation as a place where all moral standards are eclipsed by pure greed.
So when we venture one step further, into the uncharted territories of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, the landscape appears even more extreme. Many believers see a culture of wild betting and extreme risk that seems at odds with scriptural calls to contentment, wisdom, and financial prudence. But shouldn’t we of all people ought to know not to judge by outward appearances? And if volatile prices and risk of loss are going to deter us, well we might as well just keep our money in a hole instead of investing at all (Matthew 25:14-30). But in Jesus’ parable it wasn’t the servant who played it safe in his stewardship who received a commendation.
Faith is a necessary part of everything the Christian undertakes. We shouldn’t expect it to be any different when it comes to our finances. Instead, the wise steward evaluates risk and reward with clear eyes. The wise steward seeks for opportunities to make better returns on his Master’s resources. So what does the world of Bitcoin, blockchain, cryptocurrency and what’s being called “web3 technology” have to offer the church? And how should Christians be engaging with this technological revolution?

Source: Fabric Ventures
Technological Revolution
In just over a decade, crypto has grown from a tiny fad for fringe computer nerds to a major force in today’s financial world. That’s because blockchain, the underlying technology that is used by cryptocurrencies, has the potential to prove one of the most profound innovations since the printing press.
Already we are seeing blockchains enable a huge variety of different communities to spring up, cooperate, and build something new without the gatekeepers or infrastructure that would have been essential in the past. Blockchain technology addresses some of the most urgent concerns with modern monetary policy and in that way promises to help protect the poor and most vulnerable by securing property rights, thwarting theft, minimizing inflation, and giving access to a monetary system that traditional banks or financial institutions would not. It is true, however, that many of these projects will turn out to be ill-fated moneymaking schemes, silly memes, or worse. But that is true in the business world and the world of the internet as well. The existence of bad actors does not mean that wise investments and godly creativity cannot occur in the same space, using the same technologies.
Though sin may find expression through tools, its source is the human heart. Human history proves again and again that the technologies that may be used to do evil can also be used for godly ends. As Christians, therefore, our approach to technology must not be fearful but hopeful, because we have been given the mandate to subdue and rule over the world for God’s glory (Genesis 1:26–28). New technologies, then, simply provide the industrious Christian with opportunities to see if new tools can be used for that sacred task.
We’ve Seen This Before
One of the best historical examples we have for this hopeful attitude is the technological explosion that God used to propel the theology of the Reformers throughout their world. The innovations of the printing press, distribution networks created by a financialized economy, and the creation of a public forum for the debate of ideas all allowed Martin Luther’s theological contentions to become more than the disgruntled opinions of a fringe academic.
Luther himself realized the opportunity and maximized his access to these new technologies. Although many predicted the problems that could arise from opening the flood gates of information to the general population, Luther knew that the same freedom afforded by these technologies could also be the means of amplifying the message of the Gospel. While chaos and trouble did indeed ensue, so did a movement that God used to purify and advance His Church.
Web3 & The Future of the Church
The Church stands at the beginning of what may prove to be a similar technological revolution as the web3 world continues to mature. Not only do cryptocurrencies provide sound, permissionless monetary systems able to be used by believers in repressive countries, they also provide an accessible and proven engine for financial creation that stands to benefit the Church and the individual believer.
Some critics call crypto a “casino” for “price speculation,” but such detractors may fail to recognize that their criticism can apply equally to the Christian holding mutual funds in their company 401(k) or that with the rise of inflation and the weakening of a dollar’s purchasing power, we are in a significantly different place than we were in times past. We are in the early days of crypto, and with the newness comes a greater level of volatility and speculation, yet also a greater level of opportunity. We are, of course, wise to exercise wisdom and caution. But if we are morally comfortable with the concept of putting funds at risk to grow their value over time, then we must be careful not to dismiss opportunities simply because they involve new risks.
The web3 space offers increasing ways to wisely and carefully invest, with decentralized finance staking rewards and interest-bearing custodial accounts incentivizing and rewarding patience. For every dog-themed meme coin there are now tens or hundreds of carefully created projects with actual real-world value.
To participate in the present web3 economy, Christians need not become discontented or greedy. They can walk in this new world the way we have always walked, by applying the same biblical wisdom and Spirit-filled guidance that lead us in every other area of their life, financial or otherwise.
Embracing the Inevitable
But perhaps the most compelling reason for Christians to be involved in this space is that the last ten years have proven that crypto is not likely to go away. And current events are showing it will play an increasing role in our future. Just as the Body of Christ has historically embraced the advent of new technologies and chosen to use them for good while wisely avoiding their dangers, so we are faced with that choice today.
Web3 as an investment vehicle or a mode of currency transfer is only the beginning. Already we are seeing decentralized organizations, backed by tokenized resources and supported by geographically scattered networks, show themselves as a real possibility. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will open new doors for Christian art and mutually supporting economies. Churches are recognizing that good stewardship will soon require them to integrate crypto assets into their financial plan.
Additionally, the blockchain minimizes costly transfer, banking, and credit card processing fees which currently take a bite out of almost all financial donations and transactions. It allows resources to move freely to aid Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) ministries, churches, and missionaries inside countries that suppress the church by restricting currency transfers. This allows for censorship-resistant and cost effective transfers of funding to Christians in situations where they need to be supported, but without attracting state attention. And we are certain there are far more possibilities that we have not yet considered and not yet imagined.
While crypto is in its early days, now is the time for Christians to carefully explore and experiment with the possibilities, for the advance of the gospel, for the good of others, and for the glory of God. We are convinced that Christians will all soon agree that crypto is not a curse to be feared, but a blessing to rejoice in, fully under the control of the One who has overcome the world.
Take heart, we’re going to make it.
Pr0ph3t writes about the intersection of Christianity and crypto on Twitter and Substack at Theofuturism.
Stephen McCaskell is a filmmaker and Web3 enthusiast. He purchased his first bitcoin in 2013, unfortunately he hadn’t yet learned the principle of hodl. He resides with his wife and four sons in Orlando, Florida.
Reagan Rose is the founder of Redeeming Productivity, a ministry which explores personal productivity and technology from a biblical worldview for the glory of God. He lives with his wife and two children in Detroit, Michigan.