Tim Challies

A La Carte (March 19)

The God of peace be with you today.
(Yesterday on the blog: Always Look for the Light)

Casey asks some important questions in his article. It begins like this: “It was the first and only time I’ve ever been called to perform an exorcism. It wasn’t a person that was possessed, the frantic lady on the phone informed me, it was her house. It had not one but two spirits. She had already tried a medium, a Catholic priest, and the strategic placement of crosses. You know you’re desperate when your last best hope is a Baptist pastor.”

This article considers the way the little word “should” can become such a poison.

I tend to agree with Barbara that in heaven we will understand more than we do now about God’s acts of providence, but not necessarily everything we’d like to know. “I don’t know if we’ll understand everything that God did and allowed while we were on earth. Because He will still be God and we still won’t be. He is omniscient, and we will never be.”

What a sweet bit of writing. “We come from unique backgrounds and paths of life as diverse as the potluck table: chile rellenos and chow mein sidled next to green bean casserole. We are white and colored, Asian and other, a mottled crew from nursery to our nineties. We vote on different ballots and think in different ways. Surely strangers who engage in such an intimate act of worship have no business with one another this side of glory as we learn again to be the church.”

This excellent article looks carefully at what’s true and what’s false, what’s orthodox and what’s heretical.

That’s a good line that counters something so common in society (and even in the church): truthful thinking is greater than positive thinking. “I regularly meet people who promote a worldview of positive thinking. In fact, there are religions and schools of thought that major in it. Such belief systems claim, to a greater or lesser degree, that positive thinking saves people from sin, grief, pain, brokenness, and even eternal damnation in hell. They’re attractive because they give us a sense of control. And in an age of chaos, a little control feels comforting.”

This “village” is not there just to keep them in line when they get unruly, but to experience the joy of seeing them grow up in God and grow up for God.

Faith does not pretend that a situation is not painful or scary. What faith does do is take our problem to the One who really cares and can do something about it.
—Matthew Mitchell

The Phrase that Altered My Thinking Forever

This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington.
Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever. 
Distinct yet inseparable.
The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after, I found that Augustine had used it to describe the relationship between the three persons of the Trinity. Then I saw that John Calvin had used it to describe the relationship between justification and sanctification. It was so beautiful and clarifying, so simple: there can be distinction without separation. We can experience unity within diversity and diversity within unity.
“Someone should write a book on that one day!” I thought.
Fast-forward to 2020.
Lockdown.
COVID-19.
George Floyd.
Marches.
Riots.
Tensions were running high, and debates raged both in society and in the church.
To mask or not to mask?
Should we take down statues of people we now find problematic?
What is gender?  
What is real and true, and what is not?
I saw the church struggle to respond, and the phrase that had altered my thinking years ago suddenly came to back to me in a brand-new way. Distinct yet inseparable. I was sitting on an ancient concept that could bring clarity to these divisive issues.
And that’s how “Someone should write a book on that one day!” became “I need to write that book.”
Distinct yet inseparable explains who God is and how God works in his world. It explains what he has created us to be and how he has called us to live within the church. Indeed, the concept provides the key to answering the most pressing questions of our time—questions of identity, gender, and ethnicity.
My three children are part of the first generation to grow up with smartphones. According to recent research, they’re also part of the most dissatisfied and depressed generation yet. They are passionate about racial and gender equality, yet deeply pessimistic about the future. They’re not alone. We all need to see how the beautiful news of the gospel fulfils our longing for unity and diversity in a broken and confused world.
I wrote Perfect Unity to play a small part in doing just that.

Always Look for the Light

For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond. If I turned the pot so the flower was facing the room, within a day or two it would have turned to face the light. And if I rotated it again, the flower would respond in the same way, turning itself toward the light streaming in from the window. I could not fool it. I could not discourage it or persuade it to give up.
You cannot read about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ without noticing his love for the natural world. Many of his most vivid illustrations are drawn from nature—the birds, the plants, the trees, the winds. You often observe him making use of the natural elements that were right before him to help his listeners understand his teaching—the fig tree that failed to bear fruit, the fields that were white for harvest, the birds that were unconcerned about their next meal.
And in that vein, I learned a lesson from that little flower—the lesson of the potted plant. No matter how I turned the plant, it dutifully responded by realigning itself to face the light. No matter how many times I turned it and no matter how completely I turned it, it responded in the same way.
From the plant, I learned that life’s circumstances often turn us into times of darkness, times when we are overcome by pain, sorrow, or other trials. For a time the world around us may look dark and foreboding, like the Valley of the Shadow of Death is closing in around us and threatening to swallow us up. Yet our duty in such times is to look for the light and to turn toward it.
God never leaves us without some truth to believe in, some promise to cling to, some hope to long for, some light to turn toward.Share
And there always will be a source of light, for our God never deserts or abandons us. He never leaves us without some truth to believe in, some promise to cling to, some hope to long for, some light to turn toward. For God does not just have light or display light—he is light.
I’m certain that if I had taken my little potted plant to a dimly lit room in a hospital, it would still have turned toward whatever light came from the window, no matter how dim the source. I’m certain that if I took it to a prison cell with nothing but a single little window high above, it would lift its face toward that one shaft of light. It could not be stopped. It could not be discouraged. It could not be dissuaded.
And neither should we ever be dissuaded from turning toward the Lord in every circumstance. Our eyes may be weary and full of tears, the light may seem distant and dim, but the Lord is present, close to the broken-hearted and eager to save those who are crushed in spirit. It falls to us to simply turn and to look toward the light that streams from his presence and illumines us with his grace.

A La Carte (March 18)

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Today’s Kindle deals include some choice titles from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: God Takes Us Into His Confidence)

Garrett Kell: “We don’t often question God’s goodness in days of ease. We easily see his benevolence when the sun shines and flowers bloom. But when wintry woes blow in, God’s goodness seems extinct. Dark clouds turn everything to gray. Cold winds of affliction bite and sting us. Our souls become numb in ways that tempt us to give up and withdraw from everyone, including God. The good news is that even when we doubt, our God holds us fast.”

Vanessa Le offers some challenging and encouraging words to newlyweds (and not-so-newlyweds).

Marshall Segal considers that “Satan knows how prone we can be to turn to sin in our suffering — and he preys on that weakness.” He does not fight fair!

The Bible tells us to be “worthy of the gospel.” But what does this mean and is it really possible? Marli Scarborough answers well.

Writing for TGC India, Sravanthi Penmetcha tells how trusting Jesus is the first step to trusting people—the path from self-sufficiency to trusting and relying upon God’s people.

“What are the gods that already have a grip of your devotion? Where would you be most defensive if a loved one were to prod? What do you lean to as an emotional prop? What have you stopped fighting against because you’ve failed too many times?”

When a church takes baptism seriously, this baptism becomes a pillar or monument the Christian can look back on later in life. When times are difficult, when assurance is lacking, when faith is wavering, we can encourage that person to “Look! Look back to your baptism!”

No matter how intense or long-standing the struggle, it is the work of Jesus Christ to set people free from such sin.
—Heath Lambert

A La Carte (March 18)

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Today’s Kindle deals include some choice titles from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: God Takes Us Into His Confidence)

Garrett Kell: “We don’t often question God’s goodness in days of ease. We easily see his benevolence when the sun shines and flowers bloom. But when wintry woes blow in, God’s goodness seems extinct. Dark clouds turn everything to gray. Cold winds of affliction bite and sting us. Our souls become numb in ways that tempt us to give up and withdraw from everyone, including God. The good news is that even when we doubt, our God holds us fast.”

Vanessa Le offers some challenging and encouraging words to newlyweds (and not-so-newlyweds).

Marshall Segal considers that “Satan knows how prone we can be to turn to sin in our suffering — and he preys on that weakness.” He does not fight fair!

The Bible tells us to be “worthy of the gospel.” But what does this mean and is it really possible? Marli Scarborough answers well.

Writing for TGC India, Sravanthi Penmetcha tells how trusting Jesus is the first step to trusting people—the path from self-sufficiency to trusting and relying upon God’s people.

“What are the gods that already have a grip of your devotion? Where would you be most defensive if a loved one were to prod? What do you lean to as an emotional prop? What have you stopped fighting against because you’ve failed too many times?”

When a church takes baptism seriously, this baptism becomes a pillar or monument the Christian can look back on later in life. When times are difficult, when assurance is lacking, when faith is wavering, we can encourage that person to “Look! Look back to your baptism!”

No matter how intense or long-standing the struggle, it is the work of Jesus Christ to set people free from such sin.
—Heath Lambert

A La Carte (March 18)

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Today’s Kindle deals include some choice titles from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: God Takes Us Into His Confidence)

Garrett Kell: “We don’t often question God’s goodness in days of ease. We easily see his benevolence when the sun shines and flowers bloom. But when wintry woes blow in, God’s goodness seems extinct. Dark clouds turn everything to gray. Cold winds of affliction bite and sting us. Our souls become numb in ways that tempt us to give up and withdraw from everyone, including God. The good news is that even when we doubt, our God holds us fast.”

Vanessa Le offers some challenging and encouraging words to newlyweds (and not-so-newlyweds).

Marshall Segal considers that “Satan knows how prone we can be to turn to sin in our suffering — and he preys on that weakness.” He does not fight fair!

The Bible tells us to be “worthy of the gospel.” But what does this mean and is it really possible? Marli Scarborough answers well.

Writing for TGC India, Sravanthi Penmetcha tells how trusting Jesus is the first step to trusting people—the path from self-sufficiency to trusting and relying upon God’s people.

“What are the gods that already have a grip of your devotion? Where would you be most defensive if a loved one were to prod? What do you lean to as an emotional prop? What have you stopped fighting against because you’ve failed too many times?”

When a church takes baptism seriously, this baptism becomes a pillar or monument the Christian can look back on later in life. When times are difficult, when assurance is lacking, when faith is wavering, we can encourage that person to “Look! Look back to your baptism!”

No matter how intense or long-standing the struggle, it is the work of Jesus Christ to set people free from such sin.
—Heath Lambert

A La Carte (March 18)

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Today’s Kindle deals include some choice titles from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: God Takes Us Into His Confidence)

Garrett Kell: “We don’t often question God’s goodness in days of ease. We easily see his benevolence when the sun shines and flowers bloom. But when wintry woes blow in, God’s goodness seems extinct. Dark clouds turn everything to gray. Cold winds of affliction bite and sting us. Our souls become numb in ways that tempt us to give up and withdraw from everyone, including God. The good news is that even when we doubt, our God holds us fast.”

Vanessa Le offers some challenging and encouraging words to newlyweds (and not-so-newlyweds).

Marshall Segal considers that “Satan knows how prone we can be to turn to sin in our suffering — and he preys on that weakness.” He does not fight fair!

The Bible tells us to be “worthy of the gospel.” But what does this mean and is it really possible? Marli Scarborough answers well.

Writing for TGC India, Sravanthi Penmetcha tells how trusting Jesus is the first step to trusting people—the path from self-sufficiency to trusting and relying upon God’s people.

“What are the gods that already have a grip of your devotion? Where would you be most defensive if a loved one were to prod? What do you lean to as an emotional prop? What have you stopped fighting against because you’ve failed too many times?”

When a church takes baptism seriously, this baptism becomes a pillar or monument the Christian can look back on later in life. When times are difficult, when assurance is lacking, when faith is wavering, we can encourage that person to “Look! Look back to your baptism!”

No matter how intense or long-standing the struggle, it is the work of Jesus Christ to set people free from such sin.
—Heath Lambert

Always Look for the Light

For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond. If I turned the pot so the flower was facing the room, within a day or two it would have turned to face the light. And if I rotated it again, the flower would respond in the same way, turning itself toward the light streaming in from the window. I could not fool it. I could not discourage it or persuade it to give up.
You cannot read about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ without noticing his love for the natural world. Many of his most vivid illustrations are drawn from nature—the birds, the plants, the trees, the winds. You often observe him making use of the natural elements that were right before him to help his listeners understand his teaching—the fig tree that failed to bear fruit, the fields that were white for harvest, the birds that were unconcerned about their next meal.
And in that vein, I learned a lesson from that little flower—the lesson of the potted plant. No matter how I turned the plant, it dutifully responded by realigning itself to face the light. No matter how many times I turned it and no matter how completely I turned it, it responded in the same way.
From the plant, I learned that life’s circumstances often turn us into times of darkness, times when we are overcome by pain, sorrow, or other trials. For a time the world around us may look dark and foreboding, like the Valley of the Shadow of Death is closing in around us and threatening to swallow us up. Yet our duty in such times is to look for the light and to turn toward it.
God never leaves us without some truth to believe in, some promise to cling to, some hope to long for, some light to turn toward.Share
And there always will be a source of light, for our God never deserts or abandons us. He never leaves us without some truth to believe in, some promise to cling to, some hope to long for, some light to turn toward. For God does not just have light or display light—he is light.
I’m certain that if I had taken my little potted plant to a dimly lit room in a hospital, it would still have turned toward whatever light came from the window, no matter how dim the source. I’m certain that if I took it to a prison cell with nothing but a single little window high above, it would lift its face toward that one shaft of light. It could not be stopped. It could not be discouraged. It could not be dissuaded.
And neither should we ever be dissuaded from turning toward the Lord in every circumstance. Our eyes may be weary and full of tears, the light may seem distant and dim, but the Lord is present, close to the broken-hearted and eager to save those who are crushed in spirit. It falls to us to simply turn and to look toward the light that streams from his presence and illumines us with his grace.

Always Look for the Light

For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond. If I turned the pot so the flower was facing the room, within a day or two it would have turned to face the light. And if I rotated it again, the flower would respond in the same way, turning itself toward the light streaming in from the window. I could not fool it. I could not discourage it or persuade it to give up.
You cannot read about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ without noticing his love for the natural world. Many of his most vivid illustrations are drawn from nature—the birds, the plants, the trees, the winds. You often observe him making use of the natural elements that were right before him to help his listeners understand his teaching—the fig tree that failed to bear fruit, the fields that were white for harvest, the birds that were unconcerned about their next meal.
And in that vein, I learned a lesson from that little flower—the lesson of the potted plant. No matter how I turned the plant, it dutifully responded by realigning itself to face the light. No matter how many times I turned it and no matter how completely I turned it, it responded in the same way.
From the plant, I learned that life’s circumstances often turn us into times of darkness, times when we are overcome by pain, sorrow, or other trials. For a time the world around us may look dark and foreboding, like the Valley of the Shadow of Death is closing in around us and threatening to swallow us up. Yet our duty in such times is to look for the light and to turn toward it.
God never leaves us without some truth to believe in, some promise to cling to, some hope to long for, some light to turn toward.Share
And there always will be a source of light, for our God never deserts or abandons us. He never leaves us without some truth to believe in, some promise to cling to, some hope to long for, some light to turn toward. For God does not just have light or display light—he is light.
I’m certain that if I had taken my little potted plant to a dimly lit room in a hospital, it would still have turned toward whatever light came from the window, no matter how dim the source. I’m certain that if I took it to a prison cell with nothing but a single little window high above, it would lift its face toward that one shaft of light. It could not be stopped. It could not be discouraged. It could not be dissuaded.
And neither should we ever be dissuaded from turning toward the Lord in every circumstance. Our eyes may be weary and full of tears, the light may seem distant and dim, but the Lord is present, close to the broken-hearted and eager to save those who are crushed in spirit. It falls to us to simply turn and to look toward the light that streams from his presence and illumines us with his grace.

Always Look for the Light

For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond. If I turned the pot so the flower was facing the room, within a day or two it would have turned to face the light. And if I rotated it again, the flower would respond in the same way, turning itself toward the light streaming in from the window. I could not fool it. I could not discourage it or persuade it to give up.
You cannot read about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ without noticing his love for the natural world. Many of his most vivid illustrations are drawn from nature—the birds, the plants, the trees, the winds. You often observe him making use of the natural elements that were right before him to help his listeners understand his teaching—the fig tree that failed to bear fruit, the fields that were white for harvest, the birds that were unconcerned about their next meal.
And in that vein, I learned a lesson from that little flower—the lesson of the potted plant. No matter how I turned the plant, it dutifully responded by realigning itself to face the light. No matter how many times I turned it and no matter how completely I turned it, it responded in the same way.
From the plant, I learned that life’s circumstances often turn us into times of darkness, times when we are overcome by pain, sorrow, or other trials. For a time the world around us may look dark and foreboding, like the Valley of the Shadow of Death is closing in around us and threatening to swallow us up. Yet our duty in such times is to look for the light and to turn toward it.
God never leaves us without some truth to believe in, some promise to cling to, some hope to long for, some light to turn toward.Share
And there always will be a source of light, for our God never deserts or abandons us. He never leaves us without some truth to believe in, some promise to cling to, some hope to long for, some light to turn toward. For God does not just have light or display light—he is light.
I’m certain that if I had taken my little potted plant to a dimly lit room in a hospital, it would still have turned toward whatever light came from the window, no matter how dim the source. I’m certain that if I took it to a prison cell with nothing but a single little window high above, it would lift its face toward that one shaft of light. It could not be stopped. It could not be discouraged. It could not be dissuaded.
And neither should we ever be dissuaded from turning toward the Lord in every circumstance. Our eyes may be weary and full of tears, the light may seem distant and dim, but the Lord is present, close to the broken-hearted and eager to save those who are crushed in spirit. It falls to us to simply turn and to look toward the light that streams from his presence and illumines us with his grace.

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