“I offer two pieces of wisdom,” he told me, “two commitments you can make: Never be discouraged and never be a discourager.” I have thought deeply about this counsel and have decided it is good—mostly good.

I say “mostly good” because there are times when we cannot help but be discouraged, times when we are deflated and demoralized, when we lose confidence or enthusiasm. After all, this world is messy and this life is difficult. We have friends that hurt us, bodies that fail us, minds that betray us. We wage war against fierce and persistent enemies and endure the toughest of circumstances. So there are times when discouragement is unavoidable and neither sinful nor wrong.
Similarly, there are times when we cannot help but be discouragers, times when we need to take the wind out of another person’s sails by speaking firmly or warning soberly. We may have to deliver difficult news or announce just consequences. There are times when, for a higher purpose, it falls to us to express disapproval and, in that way, cause someone else to become downcast or dispirited. So too, there are times when being a discourager is unavoidable and neither sinful nor wrong.
Yet it seems to me that being discouraged is far more often a choice we make as we respond to the vicissitudes of life and being a discourager is far more often a choice we make as we act sinfully instead of purely. Far more often both are more of a decision than an absolute necessity and more a matter of sinfulness than holiness.
We often prove a discouragement to others when we make ourselves a source of negative news rather than positive encouragement or when we spread information that is outright false or perhaps merely unnecessary. Sometimes in our interactions with others we focus on what is false, vile, and base rather than what is true, lovely, and worthy of praise. And then we can permit bad character to flourish rather than the fruit of the Spirit and evil words to leave our lips rather than those that build up. Then our sinfulness overflows from our hearts and manifests itself in words and deeds that hurt or hinder those we are called to love. In all of these ways, discouragement is a choice we make. It would do us good to determine, “Never be a discourager.”
We often grow discouraged when we allow sin to put down deep roots in our hearts rather than committing ourselves to proving good soil for the work of the Spirit. We often grow discouraged when we interpret God through our negative circumstances rather than interpreting our difficult circumstances in light of our glorious God. We often grow discouraged when we fail to remember that God is working all things for good and when we fail to meditate on the fact that this light, momentary affliction is preparing us for a glory far beyond our ability to comprehend. We often experience discouragement when we simply fail to be encouraged by the truths of God, the love of God, and the promises of God. It would do us good to determine, “Never be discouraged.”
“Never be discouraged and never be a discourager,” he told me. And I find myself agreeing with his counsel and, so far as it depends upon me, committing myself to it.

May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

Westminster Books is offering a deal on a new book by Paul Tripp—a book meant to help you embrace your Sundays.
And yes, there are more great Kindle deals today.
Robbers of Assurance? In Defense of the Puritans
Mark Jones pushes back against those who accuse the Puritans of robbing people of assurance. “To make a sweeping claim that basically amounts to warning people that the Puritans are dangerous to the soul (e.g., they rob one of assurance) reveals a stunning ignorance of their theology.”
3 Times You Should Disobey Authority
Jonathan Leeman: “What are the limits to our moral obligation to submit when someone possesses an ostensibly legitimate authority over us, like a parent over a child? Certainly there are limits. Remember, no human authority is absolute. Authority is always relative to the assignment given by the Authority Giver.”
If Sin’s Penalty Is Eternal, Why Isn’t Jesus Still Suffering?
“If the consequences of our sin against a holy God require eternal judgment, why did Christ suffer for no more than 33 years? Shouldn’t his sufferings also be eternal, if that’s what we deserve?” That leads to an interesting answer from John Piper.
Sounding an Alarm on Social Media Evangelism
Emmy Lopez sounds a warning against too freely using social media for evangelistic purposes. After all, no technology is entirely without negative consequences.
When Political Power Is Lost
“The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 will be seen as the last great public acknowledgment in the West of a transcendence that limits temporal power. In our secular age, religion is reduced to a privatized experience. The public square declares, ‘No heaven above us and no hell below.’ The Queen’s funeral, replete with the language of temporal power being given by God, threw down a challenge to the rulers of this age: there is a God in heaven.”
My Favorite Pastors
“I can listen to a thousand good sermons, but a sermon can’t keep watch over my soul. A podcast can’t shepherd. Not really. I can be helped, but nothing beats the actual commitment of local pastors in the local church.” I have linked to articles like this many times over the years, but I think it is always a helpful reminder.
Flashback: Thank You, God, That I Am Not Like Other Men
Comparison is the enemy of joy. Though we so readily compare ourselves with others, we discover that this fosters a deep unhappiness. What promises joy actually delivers misery.

It is said that the young must be allowed to sow their “wild oats.” I have noticed that those who sow their wild oats seldom try to raise any other kind of crop. —De Witt Talmage

Good morning from Portugal, the final stop in this Worship Round the World journey. I am here for just a few days before heading home at last. (Thankfully, Aileen has been able to join me.)

There is another good little list of Kindle deals today.
(Yesterday on the blog: When You Long to Know the “Why” Behind Your Sorrow)
What Smaller Churches Get Wrong When They Look at Bigger Churches
This is good—a list of things smaller churches can get wrong as they look at larger churches.
Ponytails, Buns, & The Blessing of Small Mercies
“Grief finds its way into even the smallest cracks. Having suffered through bangs and large rim glasses of the 90s, my late wife longed to protect our girls from the world of bowl haircuts. Always possessing an eye for artistic design, April delighted in doing the girls up like Elsa or Belle and in sending them off to school with some new braid that she had picked up from a You Tube tutorial. One needed to only look at my girls’ hair to know that they had a mom that loved them.”
Calvin’s Take on Venerating Relics
Many Protestants are surprised to learn that many Roman Catholics continue to venerate relics. Leonardo De Chirico explains here and tells what Calvin thought of the practice (though I expect you can guess).
What is Natural Law?
You have probably heard the terms “natural law” and “natural theology?” What are they all about? This article explains.
Is God More Wrathful in the Old Testament?
Is God more wrathful in the Old Testament than in the New? If you think that, you probably haven’t read your Bible very carefully.
Never Enough
“Jesus wasn’t joking when he said, ‘Sufficient for the day is its own trouble’ (Matt. 6:34). God’s promises are real and true and trustworthy. Believers stake their lives on them, but they can be hard to remember when the sapping drudgery of each wink of the clock streaks through our consciousness never to be recovered. Believers invest in a future that hovers just beyond our grasp, told over and over that contentment comes from accepting God’s graceful provision for today. But achieving that contentment is hard.”
Flashback: Learning to Be Rich
The temptation to rely on our wealth instead of on God is very real. The God-given response is for you and me: To do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.

We are not called to be like the world, and the world does not need us to be like the world. We have something better to say because we have someone better to follow. —Alistair Begg

Today’s post is sponsored by BJU Seminary and written by Stuart Scott, professor of biblical counseling and ACBC Fellow. BJU Seminary equips Christian leaders through an educational and ministry experience that is biblically shaped, theologically rich, historically significant, and evangelistically robust.

God cares how we treat people because He Himself is gracious and kind to all. But in our individualistic society, the doctrine of “loving your neighbor as yourself” is not commonly put into practice. We often neglect others, especially a particular group of people in great need: widows.
God expresses concern for widows, divorced parents, and single parents and instructs His people to care for them throughout the Bible. For example, in the Old Testament: “you shall not mistreat any widow” (Exod. 22:22); “cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the … widow” (Deut. 27:19); “plead the widow’s cause” (Isa. 1:17). In fact, widows were so frequently subject to abuse in the Old Testament that the Book of Job uses their exploitation to exemplify human iniquity.
In the New Testament, Jesus Himself dealt with the topic of widows throughout the Gospels, and He even saw that His mother, probably a widow, was taken care of as He hung from the cross. Then one of the first issues the church faced was the neglect of widows’ needs (Acts 6). And the most thorough passage on the church’s care for widows, 1 Timothy 5:1–16, goes so far as to give specific instructions for specific types of widows. 
At the end of the day, caring for widows is mandatory for the church and entails several areas of practical application.

To be able to care for widows, we first have to know who they are. We should look within our families, churches, and even neighborhoods to identify who needs help, how we can help, and how we can pray for them.
We also need to give widows hope by bringing God’s Word into their lives. Reminding them of how He provided for Noami, Ruth, and others can be helpful at the appropriate times.
Similarly, we should give words of love and encouragement to widows. There are various opportunities, like in passing at a church or family function, or through a note or a phone conversation. These are necessary forms of ministry when spoken at the appropriate times.
Deeds of love are also crucial when caring for widows. We can pray for them. Run errands for or with them. Visit them (not just a 10-minute drop-in). Invite them to our homes and gatherings. Support those who have special needs. “Adopt” them. Find their practical needs, like repairs. Listen to their concerns and fears. The goal is to look after them, not just give them passing glances.
We should help widows specifically with their finances. Churches are not welfare agencies, but most have a benevolent fund and other resources that can be allocated to practical care for their members. We must investigate their true needs, examine whatever options are available, and seek to meet those needs (1 Tim. 5:3–16).
Planning ahead (pronoeo, 1 Tim. 5:8) is often overlooked for grandparents and parents. Have we considered where they would live? Would our homes accommodate them? Could we support them if they can’t live with us? And we can’t forget to plan for spouses, too. Taking out a term life insurance policy or a policy for the family is wise in case the unexpected happens. 

Caring for widows is a rewarding ministry. When we treat widows, widowers, the unmarried, and singles with the loving care God shows us, we meet their needs, help the church, and, most importantly, please the Lord Jesus (1 Tim. 5:4).

For a fuller treatment of 1 Timothy 5:1–16, listen to Stuart Scott’s chapel message here.

We have a natural longing to know why. It is the question a child first asks her parents. It is the question an inquisitive toddler asks at every turn. It is the question that has spurred a world of exploration, invention, and innovation. Why?

It is no surprise, then, that when we encounter troubles, when we experience tragedies, and when we find ourselves in situations that grieve us, we ask why. When the pain comes upon us and cannot be dulled, when the illness takes over our bodies and cannot be cured, when sorrow settles deep within us and cannot be comforted, we want to know the reasons. It is not hard to see what has happened—the evidence is stamped upon our bodies, imprinted upon our souls, and etched upon our minds. But it’s very hard to see why it has happened. Why would God allow this unremitting pain? Why would God permit this distressing sickness? Why would God take that person I love? If God cares and God loves and if God ordains and God controls, why would this be his will? How could this ever make sense?
Yet the answers are rarely forthcoming. We may know the general answers—“all things work for good” and “for my name’s sake” and find some comfort in them. But when we scour the Scriptures and devote ourselves to prayer in search of the particulars—or even go further and appeal to prophecies, coincidences, or inner feelings—we are met with silence or uncertainty.
I offer four responses to those who long to know the why to their sorrow or their suffering, their time of illness or of loss.
The first is to trust God with it. You have been graciously saved by faith—faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ. Yet faith is not a one-time reality—“express it and forget it.” You need faith for all of life. This faith calls you to not merely entrust your soul to God, but also your life, your times, your health, your loved ones, and everything else. “God, I have trusted you for salvation,” you may pray, “and now I trust you with my suffering.” If you can confidently place your soul in his hands, so too your health, your safety, your children, and all you count dear. And even if he chooses not to answer your why questions, you can know that he is eminently trustworthy and that he must have very good reasons and a very good plan.
The second is to consider what answer would actually satisfy you. You may think you want to know why, but it is worth asking if you actually do. What answer would satisfy you? And do you have a mind capable of grasping it? Because the answer may reach deep into the past and extend far into the future. God may be up to things that require knowledge far beyond your ability and capacity far beyond that of your limited, little, sin-tainted mind. And then even if you could understand, are you confident that you would judge it worth it? That you would hear God’s explanation and receive it with joy? Consider if you actually want to receive an answer and if any answer would satisfy you.
The third is to steer your mind away from what God has not revealed and to steer it instead toward what he has. Instead of searching for the reasons for your tragedy, look to the character of God—all the things he has revealed about himself. Where your temptation may be to interpret God through what you know about your tragedy, it is infinitely more important to interpret your tragedy through what you know about God. So as you endure your time of suffering, bring to mind the glorious reality of who God is and what God has done. Then consider your circumstances in light of those truths.
The fourth is to turn your focus from “what God did” to “how God is using it”—and then be careful not to conflate the two. You do not need to know God’s reasons in order to praise him for the results. Yet you need to be careful that you do not assume the results are the reasons. Is the reason Jim Elliot died so that Elisabeth could have the ministry she did? Maybe. We can’t know because God doesn’t tell us. What is one of the ways God used Jim Elliot’s death? By raising up Elisabeth and allowing her to have a long and powerful ministry. These are two very different ways of looking at the issue and you are on much firmer ground when you focus on the second. In your own life, as you set aside “why did God do this?” you free yourself to ask, “How many God wish for me to use this in a way that brings him glory and shows love to my neighbor?” You can begin to ask questions like these: How has God proven his character in this? In what ways has he been true to his promises? How have I grown in faith and love through it? How have I seen others become more like Christ? How has this hardship loosened my love for the things of this earth and lifted my eyes to heaven? You can rejoice in how God is using your sorrow and suffering even though you do not know the reasons.
Times of suffering are a tragic reality on this side of heaven. And as you endure them, I plead with you not to cheapen your tragedies by being too quick to assume you know God’s purposes in them. Rather, entrust them to the One who has proven worthy of your trust, your confidence, and your deepest devotion. Entrust it to him, look to him with faith, rejoice in every evidence of how he is using it for good, and wait for the day when he will make it all clear.

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

(Yesterday on the blog: A Pastoral Prayer About Labor and Rest)
Crowned
I love Kristin’s reflection on grandparenting. “This is miles apart from mothering. At first blush, you would not think so: filling sippy cups, opening snacks, picking up toys, readying baths, reading books, kissing those chunky cheeks, swinging, collecting rocks, frolicking, and singing.”
Your Faithfulness Affects Us All: A Plea to Empty Nesters to Continue to Pursue Their Marriages
This article is perhaps somewhat related to the last one. “The majority of my marriage counseling is with empty nester and retired couples, a common trend. The problems that are often swept under the rug while the kids are at home have a nasty way of coming back with a vengeance after the kids have left the home. The call to pursue your husband or wife is just as crucial three or five decades into marriage as it is in the first couple of decades of your covenant. Here are three ways to pursue faithfulness in marriage during your empty nest years.”
New ‘Gospel’ Manuscript Discovered? (What It Is and Why It Matters.)
“As a general rule, ancient manuscripts are hard to come by. Most have perished over the years for a variety of reasons—destroyed by foreign armies, burned in fires, eaten by insects, rotted or decayed, or simply lost. We never have as many as we’d like. Thanks to Oxyrhynchus, though, we have manuscripts of the New Testament we might never have expected to have. Before the 20th century, we possessed very few of what we call New Testament papyri—copies of the New Testament on papyrus, typically earlier than the later parchment manuscripts.”
Success Is Our Only Option
“You’ve heard it ‘preached’ a thousand times before: ‘I am proof that if you put your mind to it, that if you work hard, you can achieve anything you want.’ Often, it is athletes, standing triumphantly on a podium or raising a gleaming trophy high above their heads, who evoke such clichés. We eagerly embrace these moments because, in our world, success is paramount. Achievement is everything.”
3 Ways to Combat Spiritual Weariness
Here is brief counsel on combatting spiritual weariness.
Christianity and Liberalism
The latest issue of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology is dedicated to Gresham Machen’s Christianity & Liberalism. There is lots of good reading there!
Flashback: Maintaining Confidence in the Process
We need to believe that God really does work and that he really does work over time…Though it’s right to be harsh with our sin, it’s also right to be patient with our growth.

God does not desire us to waste our life in tears. We are to put our grief into new energy of service. Sorrow should make us more reverent, more earnest, and more helpful to others. —J.R. Miller

Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because I think sharing such prayers is a way we can learn from one another. At least, I can attest that I have often been inspired as I have read othe people’s prayers and they have often taught me to pray. To that end, here is a prayer I prayed on Labor Day Sunday. (Note that the final paragraph is drawn from J.I. Packer.)

Our Father, on this weekend work and labor are much on our minds. We thank you that you are the God who worked, the God who labored for six days to create this world and all that is in it. Thank you that you then invited us to join you in this work, inviting us to fill the earth and subdue it and exercise dominion over it. You gave us purpose—you called us to work.
So I pray, Lord, that we would be diligent in the labor you’ve called us. You’ve called some of us to labor in offices or factories or warehouses and I pray that each of us would do our work as if you are right there watching us. Let us render heart service and not just eye service. You’ve called some of us to labor in the classroom, to learn and grow and in that way prepare for a life dedicated to you and your purposes. We pray that the students among us would be diligent in learning. Be with them as they begin their new school year. You’ve called some of us to focus on being keepers of the home or teachers of our children. We pray for these that you would keep their hearts and minds oriented toward you, that they would not grow weary in doing good. You’ve called some of us to retire after a lifetime of work and service and we pray for these that their retirement would be one of consecrated service to you.
Father, we thank you that you did not only work but you also rested. And I pray that we would be as diligent in our rest as we are in our work. I pray that we would avoid the idolatry that says we must work every hour of every day, but that we would entrust ourselves to your provision by taking time to rest. I pray that we would set aside hours of the day and days of the week and weeks of the year to simply rest.
Most of all, I pray that our souls would rest in you. That we would entrust ourselves to our faithful redeemer and rest from our fear of condemnation, our fear of alienation, our fear of hell. I pray that because we have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ and received your forgiveness, we would rest from trying to earn our salvation and by faith know beyond any doubt that we are known, we are loved, and we are forever secure in you. So Lord, please let us labor where we should labor and rest where we should rest.
Father, as we work in our jobs and earn money, I pray that we would give to your work with joyful generosity. I pray that we would each be diligent in giving to the needs of this church. You have always provided all that we need and we are sure you will continue to do so. Yet we know that you provide through our giving. So please, let us give as generously as you’ve given to us.
Now as we continue to worship and then look forward to a time of fellowship together we pray to you, Father, that we would live in your presence and learn to please you more and more. We pray to you, Lord Jesus, that we would learn to take up our cross and follow you. We pray to you, Holy Spirit, that you will fill us with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we pray all this trusting you love us and knowing you are pleased to hear and to act. Amen.

My thanks goes to the Good Book Company for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about the excellent God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook.

Today’s Kindle deals include mostly classics but at least one newer book as well.
(Yesterday on the blog: Cessationist: The Film)
The Battle for the Body
Is Carl Trueman overstating it? I’m not actually sure. “As the fourth century wrestled with the doctrine of God, the fifth with Christology and the nature of God’s grace, and the Reformation era with sacraments and salvation, so our age wrestles with the question of anthropology. What does it mean to be human? More specifically, what does it mean to be an embodied human? For we now find ourselves not so much in a battle for the Bible but in a battle for the body.”
Apple’s Mother Nature Ad: It’s Protestant Paganism.
Glen Scrivener: “You can imagine the pitch: Mother Nature visits Apple HQ to conduct a performance review. In the writers’ room at Saturday Night Live it would gain instant traction: It’s Gaia in the boardroom as a take-no-prisoners businesswoman.” He’s talking about that new Apple commercial that was universally panned.
Places I Can’t Go
This is a sweet reflection on parenting older kids. “I am grateful that the kids grew up and were able to leave home and fly; they are capable and thriving, and I feel excitement and joy for them in each new adventure. But sometimes, when I say goodbye before a long separation, I have a fleeting but powerful yearning for them to be back under my roof.”
The Element of Physical Attraction in Romantic Relationships
Here’s quite a long and interesting look at the element of physical attraction in romantic relationships—not something I’ve ever seen an article on, to my knowledge.
Can You Focus on the Bible Too Much?
I find bibliolatry one of the laziest charges a person can make against a Christian.
Loving the Truth and Speaking in Love
“The noisy gongs of acerbic and judgmental discernment bloggers, podcasters, vloggers and conference speakers are scattered throughout our social media feeds…and they’re here to stay. The uncharitableness with which such individuals speak online immediately ought to leave a bad taste in the mouth of Christ’s true lambs.” Yes!
Flashback: The Ones Who Sow and the Ones Who Reap
Though some may go unrecognized here, they shall be commended by the one who sees and knows all things. The ones who sow shall rejoice as much as the ones who reap, the ones who supported as much as the ones who accomplished.

In God’s plan, waiting is not an interruption or obstruction of the plan; waiting is part of the plan. —Paul David Tripp

This weeks Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by The Good Book Company. They are giving away to one winner a bundle of their new releases!

This September Releases Bundle Includes…
God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook by Carl Laferton
Watch children discover God’s big promises and how Jesus keeps every one of them! God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook contains both familiar stories, such as Noah & the ark, David & Goliath, and Daniel & the lions’ den, and lesser-known stories such as Jacob & Esau and Simeon & Anna. Together, these 92 theologically faithful stories point to the one big story of the Bible: God making and keeping his promises to redeem his people.
Bright, colorful icons indicate which stories relate to a promise made or a promise kept within 5 distinct themes: Rescue, People, Land, Joy and King. It is a great first Bible to introduce a child to the stories of the Bible and the promise-keeping God who loves them. It also provides a trusted starting point for children to cultivate a lifelong love of God’s word.
The Christian Manifesto by Alistair Begg
What does genuine Christian living look like in the 21st century, and how can we be motivated to live that way?
The answer comes from Jesus’ sermon in Luke 6 (sometimes known as the Sermon on the Plain), which starts, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,” and goes on to lay out God’s vision statement for the Christian life. It is a manifesto that transcends politics, culture, and personality, detailing God’s intentions for his people.
Alistair Begg unpacks this sermon, encouraging Christians to live a radically different life that upends the world’s values and philosophies. It’s a lifestyle that is counterintuitive and countercultural, yet one that God blesses with true meaning and impact.
As we look at the kindness and compassion of Jesus and ask for the Holy Spirit’s help, we’ll grow in both the motivation and the ability to obey Jesus’ teaching and experience the blessing that comes from that.
Training Young Hearts: What Are Hands For? and What Are Mouths For? by Abbey Wedgeworth
The new Training Young Hearts series addresses the attitudes of the heart that underpin behavior and explains how the gospel of grace enables us to change. What Are Mouths For? and What Are Hands For? are the first two in the series and address both positive and negative behaviors related to little ones’ mouths and hands.
Parents, teachers, and other loved ones can refer back to these resources when specific behaviors need both to be corrected and to be connected to forgiveness, grace, and growth.
Faithfully Present by Adam Ramsey
Most of us feel that life is rushing past us. We reach the end of another day or week or year and wonder where it went. So we double down on trying to do more or do better—or distract ourselves with the many diversions the 21st century has to offer. But often we’re so busy thinking about the next thing that we’re at risk of missing the main thing: the people and places God has put in front of us, right here, right now.
There is a better way to live. In this thought-provoking book, Adam Ramsey helps us to embrace the time and place we are in and to live each day fully and faithfully present with God and with others. Readers will discover fresh joy in the little things, freedom from the tyranny of time, and contentment in every season of life.
Hopeward by Dai Hankey
This positive and encouraging book takes readers on a hopeward journey with Jesus from despondency to joy. They will discover how Jesus can restore and sustain them, and they will be re-energized to carry on serving him in a joyful and manageable way.
Author Dai Hankey is a church planter in Cardiff and founder of Red Community, a Christian charity that fights human trafficking in Wales. Speaking from a personal experience of burnout, he comes alongside weary Christians to explore what it looks like in practice to really lean on Jesus and enjoy his rest.
Enter Here
Giveaway Rules: You may enter one time. When you enter, you permit The Good Book Company to send you marketing emails which you may unsubscribe from at any time. The winner will be notified via email, and those who do not win will receive an email with the option to download a free e-copy of 12 Things God Can’t Do by Nick Tucker. The giveaway closes on Friday, September 29th at noon EST.