Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

(Yesterday on the blog: What Jesus Sees Even When Others Do Not)
How An Attempted Car Theft Taught Me To Love Where I Live Even More
“Being a human is hard enough without the burden of not being able to trust other humans. Without the burden of not being able to trust locks. If the would-be robbers had genuinely needed something, they could have asked and I would have been willing to help, or at least try. But I don’t think they needed anything as much as they needed a new way of thinking about the world and the people around them.”
A Message to Intentionally Childless Millennials
I think this article proves why longform writing is so often more helpful than writing that has been sized for social media (and, even worse, for Twitter). Here Shane Morris explains a tweet he made expressing his concern for the many millennials who are deliberately choosing not to have children.
Where do we draw the line on hate speech?
Jason Thacker: “Christians, in particular, should affirm many of these guidelines because of our belief in the innate value and dignity of all people as created in God’s image and the freedom of conscience that flows from our understanding of the imago Dei (Gen. 1:26-28). But when hate speech is broadened to include speech that makes one feel uncomfortable or that one simply does not like, we have set a dangerous precedent for public discourse.”
What’s wrong with swearing?
Is there anything wrong with swearing? If so, what?
10 Important Personal Lessons I Learned From Adopting a Child with Special Needs
“I tell people that it was against my better judgment to say ‘yes’ to the adoption of our special needs daughter, Anah. Unlike the many kind-hearted and compassionate people who adopt for godly reasons, I adopted to alleviate my guilt and fear. You can do the right things with completely sinful motives, and I say that to make sure you don’t give me more credit than I am due.” Yet, as Vera Christian explains, the Lord has done such good things.
Encouragement for the Trials We Face
“There is a bright tomorrow coming when Christ returns. On that day, we will live in the world we’ve always longed for—a place of perfect joy, a home where hard times will never come again. In the meantime, it is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). As we await an imperishable inheritance, we will be, for a little while, grieved by various trials (1 Peter 1:6). How should we think about the trials that are sure to come?”
Flashback: Gospel Weariness
Gospel weariness…stirs within us a holy longing to be done with this life and to enter into the life to come. It fixates on God’s promises, promises of deliverance, of restitution, of eternal peace…It is a weariness that cries with the saints of all the ages, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine. —D.L. Moody

Every now and again I just can’t help myself—I respond to a clickbait headline and find myself reading an advice column. The question this time was from a woman who had become disillusioned with her husband and enamored with someone else. And as I read the columnist’s response I thought, “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly how Satan would counsel if he was asked.” That got me thinking…

If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage was invented by human beings, either for reasons related to humanity’s evolutionary origins or related to men’s need to control and dominate women. He would want people to believe that because marriage came from within this world rather, it in no way reflects any kind of divine design for human beings or human society. This makes it not only unnecessary but possibly harmful and oppressive.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage offers no great benefits that cannot be had with singleness, cohabitation, or serial monogamy. He would want people to believe, to the contrary, that marriage offers risks and drawbacks that are mitigated or avoided altogether when people choose not to marry.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage is primarily a matter of an individual’s personal lifestyle, that before marriage is about giving oneself to another person to love and to serve, marriage is about a sense of personal well-being and fulfillment.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe marriage is so risky that it is best to postpone it almost indefinitely, that it is so significant and perilous an undertaking that people should not even consider it until they have completed their education, begun a career, and become well established in life. He would especially want young people to anticipate it with a sense of dread instead of excitement.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage is a union between any two—or three or four—willing partners regardless of any factor related to their sex or maybe even their family relationship. He would also want to be clear that marriage can be easily dissolved when it is no longer satisfying or desirable—“’til death or dissatisfaction do us part.”
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to miss the contradiction that while marriage is in some ways insignificant and easily dissolved, it is also so significant that a wedding should cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and that the institution is best dignified when a couple puts themselves heavily in debt to make sure every detail is perfect. He would want people to believe that the best measure of a successful wedding is that it wows the attendees, glorifies the couple, and looks great on Instagram.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage is where sex goes to die rather than to thrive and that a lifetime of sex with one person can be nowhere near as satisfying as fleeting moments of sex with a long succession of people. He would want them to be suspicious that to enter marriage is to settle for sexual mediocrity rather than fulfillment. He would make sure this message is so endlessly repeated in popular culture that it becomes almost a given.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that children are a hindrance to a happy marriage rather than a blessing to it and that people are happiest when dedicating themselves entirely to themselves rather than to others. And if they still insisted on having children, he would want them to think of those children as a lifestyle choice, as a kind of prop to be used to enhance a parent’s sense of personal satisfaction.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want struggles or issues a couple encounters to be left festering and unresolved. “It’s fine and good to let the sun set on your anger.” He would most certainly not want the couple to reach out to others for counsel, prayer, or even rebuke.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want husbands to be passive in their leadership and wives to be so disappointed in that lack of leadership that they feel justified in failing to respect their husbands. He would want wives to determine that submission is a mark of weakness and that if it is given at all, it should be given only when it is earned. He would want husbands to treat their wives harshly instead of gently and to express constant disappointment rather than delight.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would encourage husbands and wives to each insist that problems can only be resolved when the other person makes the first move. He would ensure they each consider it impossible to continue to love and serve their spouse when he or she fails to reciprocate that love.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that there is one soulmate out there for each of them and that after a number of years of marriage, they may learn, to their disappointment, that the person they married is not “the one.” He would want people to then believe that they will only truly be happy if they leave their spouse to pursue this soulmate.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want even Christians to focus more on the struggles and difficulties of marriage than on its joys. He would want even Christians to talk often about how hard it is and seldom about how good it is. And he would most certainly want Christians to forget all about the reality that the deepest meaning of marriage is not first about a husband and wife but about Christ and his church.

The Lord be with you and bless you today.

Westminster Books has a deal this week on a new edition of a true classic.
Today’s Kindle deals include a few interesting titles.
The Importance of Theological Pairs
This is a really interesting look at theological pairs in the Shorter Catechism.”Many disagreements in theological matters come from only holding to one of two complimentary theological truths. When we grasp both we’ll be able to refute theological error and minister more effectively to others with theological precision and care.”
Marxism’s Long Shadow
This is the second part of a two-part article on Marxism.
Love Is Not a Finite Resource?
“Linguistic tricks are often used to smuggle in destructive ideas.” Indeed. Here’s a new one.
Travel Photographer of the Year Ltd.
There are some lovely photographs on display in the Travel Photographer of the Year awards.
What Things?
“There are moments in scripture that are easy to miss, but they are deeply profound if we take the time to consider them. One of those moments happens on the road to Emmaus. Jesus speaks two words in light of the context that reveals a world of encouragement.”
Preachers Should Measure Twice and Cut Once
Erik Raymond: “Measure twice and cut once. For generations, the veteran builder has spoken these words over a sawhorse to their younger apprentice. Because as the saying goes, when you spend extra time being precise on your measurement, you won’t waste time (and wood) by repeating it over again. What’s true in the wood shop is also true in the study. The preacher must measure twice and cut once when preparing to make an argument.”
Flashback: Pornographic Detachment
Pornography makes sex about self—about personal pleasure and personal satisfaction that has no reference to the pleasure or satisfaction of another person.

Good hospitality is making your home a hospital. The idea is that friends and family and the wounded and weary people come to your home and leave helped and refreshed. —Kevin DeYoung