May the Lord bless and keep you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include quite a number of solid books.
Do Pronouns Matter?
“Do pronouns matter? Yes. It’s not merely a battle over ‘preferred’ pronouns; it’s a battle over reality. What is a pronoun? It’s a word we use to describe the objective nature of reality.” Brett Kunkle explains.
Note Taking in Worship
This article explores the joys and challenges of taking notes in church.
The Secrets of the World’s Most Famous Symphony (Video)
This is a fantastic little video that will help you better appreciate Beethoven’s Symphony  Number Five.
What Colors Do You See?
“What colors do you see? Look around while you walk to the mailbox, or as you drive to the grocery store. What hues do you see sidled next to each other? What tones shape the landscape that you live in?” Brianna Lambert celebrates the depth of the Lord by way of the depth of the colors he created.
Bring Back Foxe’s
Darryl Dash recommends reading Foxe for young and old like. “There’s nothing like reading Foxe’s Book of Martyrs as a teenager. Want an easy life? Foxe’s will cure you of that expectation. Beginning with Stephen, and continuing for some 2,500 pages, you will learn that following Jesus will may include suffering or worse.”
How Continual Creation Changes What We Do, and Why We Do It
“We may not feel like we can justify the significance of our daily work, but there’s something called ‘the doctrine of continual creation’ that provides meaning for what we do—not just in our jobs, but in each of our everyday tasks.”
Reckoning with Tech
This is an interesting little look at the possible connection between the last things and technological things.
Flashback: Young Man, Young Woman: Set An Example
If you are sixteen or eighteen or in your twenties, if you are in high school or college or just moving into marriage and career, I want to speak to you. I want to speak with you.

God does as He wills, and we can do nothing except what He wills. —Jerry Bridges

May the God of love and peace be with you today.

There are a few Kindle deals to take a glance at today.
(Yesterday on the blog: It Has To Be Dark Before We Can See)
Death on a Wednesday: John Shelby Spong and Norm McDonald
Anne Kennedy draws an interesting comparison between two men who recently died. “Verily verily, the contrast between the thoughts and feelings of Norm McDonald during his life and those of John Spong is in itself a fascinating picture of the age.”
Overthinking Imagine Dragons: A Parenting Story
I quite enjoyed Rebekah’s parenting story, and have also found her observation to be true: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that there are in fact two ideal circumstances in which to talk to your teen: At 11:00 at night, usually a school/work night when you are tired but your teen is wide awake, and Sitting side-by-side in the car, preferably when you (and not your teen) are driving so you can stare straight ahead and not make eye contact.”
Discerning the Carnival Mirror of Conflict
Erik Raymond: “Deconstructing relational conflict and misunderstandings over the years, it seems clear that we commonly see ourselves one way while others see us a bit differently. Like a carnival mirror, reflections can be distorted. Knowing this, it’s helpful to be aware of at least four available views during any interaction and one that is important to always keep in mind.”
Unexpected
“Pigs rush en masse down the steep bank. To their demise. Leaving one madman behind. Now clothed. Calm. Coherent. And in his right mind.”
The Rationale for Wrath
Is God wrong to have wrath toward humanity? Jim Elliff shows why wrath is right.
Does Reformed Theology Continue to Reform? (Video)
Joel Kim answers here.
The Snare of Subtweeting
“Over the past decade, a number of words have become part of our common social vocabulary, not least of which is the word subtweet. A subtweet is an indirect response to someone on social media. It is essentially a passive aggressive way of refuting a popular sentiment without wanting to come across as the guy who is always directly critiquing individuals online.”
Flashback: No Hand But His Ever Holds the Shears
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. We know his faultless wisdom, his perfect vision, his steady hand. We know he makes no mistakes.

There is a vast difference between being old in years and being old in mental and spiritual force. —Theodore Cuyler

This week the blog is sponsored by Reformation Heritage Books, with news of books that point children to Christ.

Is this a familiar scene? You go to a bookstore to buy a Christian children’s book as a gift, and what you find are plenty of titles that provide good moral lessons – but are they spiritual lessons? Are they specifically Christian lessons? Do they point children to Christ and the character and nature of God?
What follows is a transcript of a recent interview with Joel and Mary Beeke – the publishing duo behind books for both family worship and character building in our kids.
Hello, Joel and Mary. Tell us a little about what inspired you to write your new set of books, God and Me?
Joel: My dad originally said to me as a boy that when God saves someone, He puts into their heart the three jewels of faith, hope, and love, so we thought it was really important to do a series of books for young children on these three jewels—some of the basic fruits of salvation. This was important because very few books focus on a child’s need to be saved.
Mary: We want children to understand that – what does it mean to be saved?
Joel and Mary, how did you collaborate on this project? Did one of you take the lead?
Mary: I would say we came up with the ideas together. We brainstormed together for ideas about children’s books. We came up with this as the very first need. I then wrote the stories. Joel edited them and added the theological content, including the section for parents.
What makes God and Me different from other children’s books?
Mary: It pulls in the story at an everyday level—something that commonly happens in a child’s life. It puts that in the context of faith, hope, and love and some of the children’s struggles. Also, the really special thing is that it has two soul-searching questions at the end of each book. It also includes concise explanations that help the parents understand saving faith and then explain it to their children.
We wanted artwork that was a little more realistic. For us, cartoons are not quite as attractive for these important topics. Why treat something true like you would fiction? We went with watercolors that are nicely done. We hope this artwork attracts children to interact on a more personal level.
Joel: The goal is to be very realistic about their souls, their needs. Hopefully, as children read this with their parents, they are talking to them about the “one thing needful—” to be united with Christ by faith, hope, and love.

Okay, Joel and Mary, last question. Why is it important to teach children theology at a young age?
Mary: Because they have to be born again. They have to know God. That is the most critical need; children too must be born again. If they can be taught these basics of the Christian faith at a young age, it will help them to know the Lord and grow in the Lord.
Joel: We are also hoping to help them avoid the two extremes of easy believism and presumptive regeneration. We truly want parents to evangelize their children, their Covenant children. The Covenant does not mean that they are automatically saved; the Covenant does not replace the need to be born again.
Please pray with us that God will bless these books and use them to convert many children and maybe even your child as well as they wrestle with “Do I have faith, hope, and love as a fruit of the Spirit’s work in my soul? Have I been born again?”
Thank you, Joel and Mary.

A skillful poet once imagined Adam’s first evening in the Garden of Eden. He described the scene as Adam began to notice that the sun was sinking toward the horizon, that the shadows were growing long, that the light was getting dim. The first day was becoming the first night and Adam didn’t know what to expect—he had only ever known daylight. The poet imagined that as evening turned to dusk and as dusk faded into twilight, Adam might have assumed that darkness would pull a black veil across all the wonders of creation.

But Adam should not have been concerned. Here is what the poet says:

Yet ’neath a curtain of translucent dew,Bathed in the rays of the great setting Flame,Hesperus [Venus] with the Host of Heaven came,And lo! Creation widened on Man’s view.

When the light faded and the skies went dark, Adam learned that darkness did not actually conceal his view of creation but revealed it all the more because it unveiled the beauty of the night sky. The same sun that had opened Adam’s eyes to the flowers and trees, the birds and fish, had blinded his eyes to the stars and planets, the galaxies and constellations. It had to be dark for Adam to truly see.
Jesus once said something that sounds every bit as counter-intuitive: “Blessed are those who mourn.” He pronounced divine favor upon those whose souls have been saddened, God’s own approval upon those whose hearts have been broken. 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.
Such broken-hearted people stand in stark contrast to those who surround them. Each of us will some day be laid to rest in a cemetery, each of our lives encapsulated in the little dash that sits between the date of our birth and the date of our death. And so many are content to spend that brief threescore and ten mocking God and pursuing carnal pleasure, rejoicing in the things he hates and abhorring the things he loves. Nero sparked a fire that would consume his city, then laughed and played as he watched it all burn. And just so, the people of the kingdom of this world have set their lives ablaze and now watch with delight as they are consumed by it. “Eat, drink, and be merry, laugh and pursue every pleasure, for tomorrow we die.”
The blessings of this world are upon the mockers and laughers. “Blessed are those who are happy and who enjoy nothing but pleasure; blessed are those who are unfettered to pursue every desire of their hearts; blessed are those who are most authentically themselves and answer to no one else; blessed are those who laugh from the cradle to the grave.” Such is the benediction of the kingdom of this world.
But the blessing of the kingdom of heaven is upon those who have been deeply saddened. Blessed are those who mourn their sin, for they shall be comforted. Content are those who are aggrieved by their iniquity, for they shall be consoled. Happy are those who are sad that they are evil-doers, for their tears shall be dried. Joyful are those who are downcast over their rebellion, for they shall be raised up. The favor of God is upon those whose eyes are awash with tears, whose lives have been shattered, whose hearts have been broken—broken by their sin and sinfulness.
Just like the sun needed to set and the light needed to fade before Adam could see the glories of the heavens opened up before him, those who want to know spiritual light must first know spiritual darkness. To know the hand of comfort we need to know the pain of sorrow. To know the bright light of God’s blessing we must first know the dark shadow of our own depravity. For it is only when we admit who we truly are that God reveals what he truly loves to do, only when we admit ourselves to be lost that reveals himself as the one who saves.

Inspired by In Green Pastures by J.R. Miller

Good morning. May grace and peace be with you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Richer Blood Than Ours)
What the Seasons Say
Glenna Marshall: “Sometimes I’ve wondered why God created things the way He did. Why day and night? Why four seasons? Why the divisions in days and years?” I like her answer.
God Is in the Details (Video)
You may enjoy this latest video from the John 10:10 Project.
For Better, for Worse…
“Last week I came across a remarkable story. Jean-Pierre Adams was a French footballer in the 1970s and 80s, and he passed away on the 6th September, aged 73. He was capped 22 times for France, and was part of a formidable defensive duo for the national side. He played over 250 games for Nice, Nimes and Paris Saint-Germain. But what makes this story remarkable is that for the past 39 years he has been in a coma, looked after tirelessly by his wife.”
Signaling Our Consumption
John Beeson: “We no longer just buy things. A choice to purchase your groceries at Whole Foods, to take your family to Chic-Fil-A, to wear Patagonia clothing, or eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream communicates something to everyone watching. Brands are tripping over themselves to signal the loudest.”
You Need Christ to Put Your Sin to Death
Dane Ortlund writes about putting sin to death. “There is the kind of pain that comes to us without our permission—suffering, anguish, frustration, washing into our lives contrary to what we want or expect. But alongside this kind of pain in which we are passive is another kind of pain in which we are active. I refer to the age-old discipline that theologians call mortification.”
The Frustrating Paradox of Serving with an Amiable Autocrat
I appreciate this term: amiable autocrat. “It’s possible to be a pleasant tyrant. Nice dictators exist, at least in the leadership sense. I refer to these types of leaders in the church as amiable autocrats. Friendly church dictators rule from their positional authority. They order everyone around because their title enables them to do so, and they do it with a smile.”
Flashback: How To Lose Your Zeal for Christ
Are you zealous for Christ? Do you have a genuine zeal to live for him and to advance his cause in the world? Or have you lost the zeal that once marked you?

There is no lesson that husbands and wives need more to learn, than instantly and always to seek forgiveness of each other whenever they are conscious of having in any way caused pain or committed a wrong. —J.R. Miller

De Witt Talmage was considered a great preacher in his day, though it is rare to see him quoted or referenced in modern times. Still, I have benefited a lot by reading his sermons, and perhaps especially one he preached on Isaiah 52:3. He preached it at a time when many were objecting to the notion of atonement and to the necessity of an atonement of blood. Here is a brief, beautiful excerpt. It’s well worth reading it aloud.

Money is good for a great many things, but it can not do anything in this matter of the soul. You can not buy your way through. Dollars and pounds sterling mean nothing at the gate of mercy. If you could buy your salvation, heaven would be a great speculation, an extension of Wall Street. Bad men would go up and buy out the place, and leave us to shift for ourselves. But as money is not a lawful tender, what is?
I will answer: Blood! Whose? Are we to go through the slaughter? Oh, no; it wants richer blood than ours. It wants a king’s blood. It must be poured from royal arteries. It must be a sinless torrent.
But where is the king? I see a great many thrones and a great many occupants, yet none seem to be coming down to the rescue.
But after a while the clock of night in Bethlehem strikes twelve, and the silver pendulum of a star swings across the sky, and I see the King of Heaven rising up, and He descends, and steps down from star to star, and from cloud to cloud, lower and lower, until He touches the sheep-covered hills, and then on to another hill, this last skull-covered, and there, at the sharp stroke of persecution, a rill incarnadine trickles down, and we who could not be redeemed by money are redeemed by precious and imperial blood.

Whatever this weekend brings, may you know the Lord’s sweet blessings through it all.

(Yesterday on the blog: The Death of Porn)
Many Voices, One Song
I appreciate this reflection on the Sing! Conference and, beyond that, singing in general. “I’m writing this post because I don’t want a profound dynamic of this conference to be passed by without mention. It’s a truth we need to hear. Specifically, I want to encourage you as you head to church this Sunday to remember this repeated refrain from the conference this week. Here it is: Singing together about Christ strengthens our unity in Christ.”
God Has Satan on a Leash
“The internet is filled with memes. Some funny, others distasteful. Then there are theological memes. Many are quite accurate; others, however, are downright horrible. You may have one notable, cringeworthy meme. Jesus and Satan are having an arm wrestling match—we’re just not sure who has the upper hand! Eternity hangs in the balance; it’s a jump ball.” But nothing could be farther from the truth.
Be Like Adam?
“Isn’t it true that Adam is most often used as an example of what a husband should not be like?” True. Yet in this article we learn what he did right…
I ‘Just’ Do Ordinary Work
Daniel Doriani speaks to those who say they “just” do a certain job. “In some cases, alas, ‘I just’ can be accurate. The desperate and the greedy may just work for money. Workers who lack ambition may have no direction, so they just do as they are told. People even say ‘I just’ because their work has scant value and they know it.”
The Church Was Always International
“The thing is, we’ve been conditioned to believe that the Christian faith is essentially a Western phenomenon, Church history books tell us about the way that the faith moved from the Middle East, to Europe and then out to the rest of the world through the efforts of Western missionaries. It’s a great story – but it didn’t happen like that.” History is complicated that way.
Speaking Rightly About Our Beloved
“Having accurate theology about Christ is not the same as love for Christ, but if we love him we will always seek to speak rightly about him.”
Flashback: Sex Under Law, Sex Under Grace
Any sex outside of God’s good stipulations is sex under the terrible burden of law.

The most amazing perverseness in man is proven by the fact that he does not remember what God has so arranged that it would seem impossible that it should be forgotten. —William S. Plumer