May the Lord be with you and bless you on this fine day.

Westminster Books is offering a deal on a book that is meant to help your mind be still and quiet.
The Moments that Matter
This is a really good little article from Darryl. “I’ve stopped trying to recognize which moments matter. We’re tempted to think that we know, and we often try to capture and post them. But we’re really poor judges. We may know which images may get likes, but we don’t know what moments matter most, even though they’re humble and ordinary.”
In The Shadows, It Is Well
This is a sweet new poem about finding hope in times of trial.
Sky Painting
I appreciate this reflection on beauty. “How often do you look at the sky? I’m sure the answer is multiple times every day—even if you live in a major city like I do there’s still an awful lot of sky, but how often do you actually look at it?”
Teach Us to Number Our Days
Here are some good and some not-so-good ways to number your days.
Don’t Title People “Pastor” If They Aren’t An Elder
This is needed: A call to reserve the term pastor for, well, pastors. “I don’t think we should put Pastor on people just because they are on a church staff. A pastor isn’t someone who gets a paycheck from a church and is responsible for running events for certain age groups while holding a Bible.”
Reviving the Christian Dignity of Politics
“‘Politics is a dirty business.’ So we hear constantly in some fashion in today’s discourse. Many degrade politics further by saying Christians should not participate in it, at least not consciously as Christians. It is base (not based) and low.” But is this as it should be?
Flashback: Sometimes It’s Best To Express Your Wisdom in Silence
We would all do well to remember that true wisdom is not only knowing your subject well, but also knowing the limitations of your knowledge. We aren’t wise until we know what we know and what we don’t know.

The Holy Spirit will not allow you to live satisfied on the rubbish heap; he will nurture a longing for the City of God to beat in your heart. —Gloria Furman

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

Today’s Kindle deals include the complete collection of Narnia novels.
(Yesterday on the blog: Before You Pack Up and Leave…)
Beneath Our Social-Justice Strife
Thaddeus Williams: “Many social-justice battles have reached a standoff. People are entrenched behind their respective influencers, waiting for them to hurl the next truth bomb at the other side. I’m not going to reenter the wearying fray surrounding critical race theory, systemic racism, white privilege, cultural Marxism, transgenderism, or other hot topics. … I want to get at what I believe to be a bedrock issue underneath those questions.”
What Is the Presbyterian and Reformed View of Baptism?
Those of us who are Baptists tend to find the Presbyterian/Reformed view of baptism very difficult to wrap our minds around. This article from Ligonier explains it well.
The Best Ten Minutes of My Week
Aimee Joseph celebrates the Lord’s Supper: “It may not seem like much to an outsider looking in. It definitely doesn’t start in a fancy manner. In fact, it starts with an early morning trip to a neighborhood grocery store. The receipt simply shows a loaf of fresh bread and a plastic jug of grape juice. But, even as I pour the juice into tiny plastic cups, I get excited for what will come.”
Puberty Positivity
“Have you ever reflected on how amazing puberty is? I’m not sure I ever had until someone encouraged me to do so recently. But think about it: we’ve been designed in such a way that in our second decade we go through a period of fast-tracked development through which we transition from being children to being adults. That’s pretty amazing.” This is particularly important at a time when so many see puberty as an enemy…
How Are We Doing on This, Evangelicals?
“Which are you more likely to hear an evangelical talk about on social media these days—the culture wars or the glorious privilege of communion and fellowship with the triune God?” Hmm. I think we know the answer to that, which is why we should probably revisit these words from Packer.
On Choosing Digital Tools and Why Churches Should Cancel Their Livestream
This is a long reflection on tools in general and digital tools in particular. “Tools are a decision. They come and we must decide to use them, adopt them, and for what purpose.”
Flashback: God Does Not Owe Us a Happy Ending
It is as natural as the sunrise to want to find meaning in our suffering and often we find it, or believe we find it, in a happy ending…But sometimes–oftentimes–the answers are not so readily apparent.

The reason the Lord holds you to the fire is not to punish you, but to reveal the splendor of Christ through your life. It’s not so that you might earn God’s favor; it’s because you’ve already received God’s favor. —Mary Kassian

Every one of us has become familiar with the pattern. Every one of us has seen church members becoming dissatisfied and then disgruntled, missing church occasionally and then consistently. Every one of us has seen the pattern and begun to dread the nearly-inevitable conclusion. This is especially discouraging when the reason for the departure is not an area of essential theological disagreement but something much more common and much less important—hurt feelings, petty squabbles, matters of preference.

This pattern is so common that we should all assume we ourselves may at some time fall into it. This being the case, what should you do when you begin feeling discontent at your church? What should you do when you feel that yearning to pick up and move on? What should you do when you find yourself eager to slip out of one church and into another? I’d like to offer just a few suggestions that I hope you’ll consider and put into practice.
Pray through the directory. Find yourself a copy of the church directory and commit to praying through the entire thing at least once. Pray for each person or each family by name. Pray what the Bible models and pray what the Spirit prompts. Prayer is one of our core responsibilities toward one another and has a way of stirring up our affections. As you pray for those people may it remind you that you’re not just walking away from a club or institution, but from a community—a family, even.
Commit to serving. The temptation when disgruntled is always to stop serving—to remove yourself from whatever ministries you’ve been involved with. Before you leave, recommit to serving others for a period of time—several months at least. Love tends to grow cold when we stop loving others and it tends to be rekindled when we start loving again. Plus, it’s as we serve that the Lord reminds us that he has gifted us specifically so we can use his gifts to bless our fellow Christians.
(Parenthetically, it is almost universally true that when people leave churches for reasons that are poor or inadequate, they have stopped praying for their fellow church members and have stopped serving them. Rarely do people leave when they are constant in prayer and diligent in service.)
Remember the good, not just the bad. In times when we are hurt or discouraged we usually find ourselves fixating on what others have done wrong, not what they have done right. So as you consider leaving, force yourself to remember not only the church’s failings, but also its blessings. Remember not only the bad times, but also the good, not only the times it fell short, but also the times it rallied to the cause. Remember all the times it blessed you, expressed kindness to you, and supported you. You may find this side of the scale by far outweighs the other.
Think it through. There may be many good reasons to leave one church for another, but there are certainly many bad ones. The worst reason of all is allowing unidentified or unrepentant sin to be the determining factor. Hence, before you leave any church, think carefully about whether sin or sanctification is leading the way—whether you feel the need to leave because you have grown in holiness or because you have diminished in holiness. Too many people allow sin, not the Spirit, to lead them out the door.
Pray it through. The only way to adequately think it through is to pray it through. You need to labor in prayer to become convinced that your departure is consistent with God’s will. Pray for God to expose your heart, to guide your feelings, to make your motives clear. Pray that your deepest desire would be to honor and glorify him, whether that means leaving or staying.
Talk it through. It is possible that the church is in error, but it’s also possible that you are in error. It is possible there is a sore problem with the church’s leadership, but it is also possible that there is a sore problem with your sanctification. Have the character and honesty to ask someone, “Am I making a wise decision?” And make sure that individual is the type who will challenge you if you need to be challenged. Don’t leave if trustworthy men and women are telling you to stay.
The fact is that in a consumeristic culture like this one—a culture in which the customer is always right—too many people leave too many churches too easily. It’s unlikely that any of us is above the temptation to depart for poor reasons and to leave behind us a trail of hurt and confusion. So before you make that decision, pray for the people of the church and diligently serve them. Ask God for wisdom and ask others for guidance. And then, only then, leave with confidence that your departure is God’s will. As you do so, you will have honored God, served others, and modeled how to leave a church well.

Today’s Kindle deals include a whole collection of excellent Puritan works (and more).

(Yesterday on the blog: Why the Best Missions Sermon Is All About God’s Sovereignty)
What Makes a Translation Accurate?
Bill Mounce answers the question. And the answer isn’t as simple as you might think.
A Psalm-Singing Resurgence
This is a good development. “We are experiencing something of a Psalm-singing resurgence in our day. Resources abound online for people who would like to learn more about psalm singing. Churches are making strategic plans to train their members in singing the psalms. Blogs buzz with excitement over the Psalter. It is undeniable that the church is waking up to that which once marked it–the passionate singing of psalms.”
Specific Ways You Can Pray for Your Pastor
Here is a great list of specific ways you can pray for your pastor.
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A Parent’s Guide to the 5 Skeptics Who Want to Shame Your Kids for Being Christian
This is helpful for parents. “To be clear, none of the non-believers I personally know would use shaming tactics in person. But when people are behind their screens, it brings down the ‘barrier’ of civility, and faith conversations often look very different. You can see it on social media (even with friends who wouldn’t say such things in person), comments on news articles, blog posts—everywhere.”
I Need a Woman Who Can Mulch
“What is fifteen minutes of pleasure compared to a lifetime of companionship, mutual care, and the dirty fingernails of a woman who gives her time and sweat (and back muscles!) to infuse beauty into our home? What kind of senseless fool would throw that away? What dope reduces their life to the fulfillment of sexual desire when there is so much more that only the lifelong, mutual commitment in the covenant of marriage could ever satisfy?”
The Challenges and Joys of a Young Pastor
I appreciate this view of the early years of ministry. “Nothing can prepare you for the emotional, mental, physical and psychological demands of shepherding people. From the highs of rejoicing with those who are rejoicing, to the lows of weeping with those who are weeping or being devastated by a member who falls into sin, to enduring attacks on you and your family.”
‘Happy Wife, Happy Life’: And Other Misleading Advice to Young Husbands
Yes, I received this advice as a young husband. “We see Adam’s passivity echoed in countless marriages today. The temptation to be emotionally and spiritually absent, when physically present, has merely changed hairstyles over time. The same unmanly repose still beckons men to recline in the passenger’s seat. God calls out to husbands today with the same question he asked in the garden: ‘Adam, where are you?’”
Flashback: I Forbid You To Say These Things at My Funeral
Here are a few things I sincerely hope no one will say about me at my funeral or any time thereafter. In fact, I hereby forbid it.

People prefer to ask God to make them powerful rather than tender; when tenderness is what best expresses God’s power. —Harold Segura

Good morning and happy Monday!

It’s Monday which means there is a new batch of Kindle deals from Crossway; you’ll also find the complete Narnia series at a massive discount.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Lover of the Lord Lives There!)
Did Paul Ever See Jesus During Our Lord’s Earthly Ministry?
How interesting! “Although most New Testament scholars simply assume that Paul had never seen Jesus prior to Paul’s Damascus Road experience, Stanley Porter raises the fascinating possibility that Paul and Jesus had indeed crossed paths before Paul’s conversion.”
Come, He Needs Nothing From You
I really appreciate this reminder that God doesn’t need anything from us.
Productivity Without Burnout
How does a productive pastor keep himself from burning out? Here are some lessons from John Gill, most of which apply to more than just pastors.
Nine Reasons People Aren’t Singing in Worship
It’s probably worth considering if any of these apply to your church.
How should a believer respond to false accusations?
“Recently, believers have made much of high profile Christian leaders falling into sin. Articles have been written, comments have been tweeted, sound-bytes have been reported upon. Most of these have rightfully focused on the devastating impact on the victims and the harm caused to the church at large. But at the same time we need to also remember that there is another type of victim as well.”
You can’t call your leaders to be accountable and side-step it yourself
“But for all the talk of leaders being unwilling to be held accountable – and certainly such leaders exist – this is hardly an issue unique to pastors and elders. An unwillingness to be held accountable seems to be a hallmark of many church members too.”
Flashback: Are You Content To Carry the Pins?
They had a lesser calling but still a noble calling. God expected they would embrace it wholeheartedly and carry it out skillfully.

We make a grave mistake when we let ourselves think that ill temper is merely a trifling weakness. It is a disfiguring blemish. —J.R. Miller

History has bequeathed to us some precious prayers. I’m grateful that many of them have been collected for our use and benefit. Robert Elmer’s Piercing Heaven is among my favorites, and in its pages I found this sweet one from the pen of Robert Hawker.

Precious Jesus, you have been a strength to my poor soul, and you will be my portion forever. Help me to see my daily need of you, and to feel my poverty and weakness.
From persecution to my guilty conscience, to the remains of sin in a body of death, to the accusations of Satan or even the just judgments of God—I am secure in you, Lord Jesus. And I continually cry out, as did your prophet, “In the Lord I have righteousness and strength, even to you do I come; and never will I be ashamed or confounded, world without end.”
You have given grace, glory, and honor to your Israel. I want your name, Lord, on the gates of my house, so that no one will walk by and miss the fact that a lover of the Lord lives there!
It is my highest honor to have it known whose I am, and whom I serve, in the gospel of his dear Son. How could I be ashamed of that name before which every knee bows in heaven and on earth?
And Lord Jesus, not only write your name upon the gates of my house, but engrave it at the center of my heart and my affections—on my first, and last, my earliest, and latest thoughts!
Let it be my joy to speak out of the abundance of my heart about you and your great salvation. In all I say, in all I do, let it be clear that I am in pursuit of the one my soul loves.
Let my every action point to your dear name. And whether at home or abroad, in my house or family, when lying down or rising up, let all creation witness for me, that the love, the service, the interest, the glory of my God in Christ is the only object of my soul’s desire.
Let every thing in my life say this: “Whom have I in heaven but you, and there is none upon earth I desire but you. Though my flesh and heart fail, yet you are the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” Amen.

My gratitude goes to ONE Audiobooks who sponsored the blog this way by giving away three audiobooks to anyone who wanted them. It’s not to late to get them!

There’s a nice little collection of Kindle deals today.
(Yesterday on the blog: What Is A Woman?)
Don’t Miss Out On Majesty
I love this anecdote from the life of Queen Elizabeth II. “Of all the great stories told over the past few weeks during the 70th Jubilee celebrations of the Queen, the most memorable, and funniest, is told by the head of her security detail. He recounts that one time when the Queen was in her 80s, he and she were picnicking in the countryside near Balmoral, her Scottish residence.”
Are We Human, Or Are We Dancer?
I enjoy Sam Chan’s brief devotionals, including this one about the Song “Human” by The Killers.
Ministry after the Mayfield Tornado (Video)
This video shares one church’s experience during and after the devastating Mayfield tornado.
Christian Reformed Church Brings LGBT Stance Into Faith Statement
I found it encouraging to hear that the Christian Reformed Church decided to “codify its opposition to homosexual sex by elevating it to the status of confession, or declaration of faith.”
The Man Who Coined the TULIP Acrostic
Who coined the popular TULIP acrostic? It turns out it’s not the person many of us were led to believe.
2 Films Explore a Volatile Question: ‘What Is a Woman?’
Brett McCracken reviews a pair of films, including the one I reviewed yesterday, that cover some similar ground.
Flashback: Peril on Both Sides
Account for the cross-references, but don’t major on them. Stick to your text, preacher!

It is not a small work to break the pride and stoniness of your heart. It needs power from above. —Nicholas Byfield

Who would have thought it? Who would have thought that a question so straightforward would prove so controversial? Who would have thought that providing the age-old answer to the simplest of questions would be enough to cast you out of polite society? Yet here we are.

The question, of course, is this: What is a woman? This question is at the core of a new documentary by Matt Walsh—a documentary that is meant to expose the danger and contradictory nature of contemporary gender ideology. This ideology does away with the male/female and man/woman binaries and replaces them with spectrums so that people are not simply men or women and not simply male or female, but can instead define themselves according to their feelings. At the same time it completely separates sex and gender so that a male body can belong to a woman as easily as a man. Everything we once took for granted has been deconstructed and reversed.
With this in the background, Walsh travels around the United States—and briefly to Africa—to interview people and to engage in some light trolling. He wishes mostly to get an answer to the big question: What is a woman?
He begins with an interview of a gender non-conforming gender affirming therapist who insists “some women have penises and some men have vaginas.” This individual, though female, says she cannot answer the question of “what is a woman?” because she herself (they themself?) is not a woman.
With no answer there, he turns next to the streets of New York City where he speaks to a group of women who range from young to middle-aged, yet are unable to answer the question except to say that it is bound up in an individual’s self-identification. They know they are women, but they don’t know why. Heading to San Francisco, he sits down with Dr. Marci Bowers, a male-to-female transgendered doctor who is considered among the preeminent sex-change surgeons in the world. The doctor says that a woman is a combination of your physical attributes and what you’re showing to the world through the clues that you give—still not a very helpful answer.
He speaks to Michelle Forcier, a pediatrician whose work involves “reproductive justice” and “gender affirmation care,” which is to say, helping children and teens dispute the gender they were assigned at birth and transition to another. She insists that telling a family of a newborn baby that the child’s genitals offer any substantial clue as to whether he is male or she is female, is simply not correct—it’s an outdated and harmful way to think about things. From there it’s off to Tennessee to speak to Dr. Patrick Grzanka who is a professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies but who, despite such lofty academic credentials, can do no better than “a person who identifies as a woman,” violating the rule that a word must not be defined by using that word. And so it goes, even to a women’s march in which, ironically, the people marching for women’s rights seem unable or unwilling to answer the question of what constitutes a woman in the first place.
As the documentary continues, Walsh begins to integrate the voices of those who are dissenting from this ideology. Miriam Grossman, an adolescent and adult psychiatrist, does much of the heavy lifting. She is outraged by the ease at which people—and especially young people—are being subjected to what is really no better than medical experimentation as they are injected with hormones and subjected to life-altering surgeries. A couple of young female athletes explain how they were forced to compete against—and lose to—biological males. Carl Trueman makes a couple of brief (too brief!) appearances to explain some of the history behind this gender ideology. Jordan Peterson brings his trademark outrage to a few clips. Perhaps strongest of all is an extended interview with Scott (Kellie) Newgent who medically transitioned from woman to man and is now filled with regrets, understanding that she is not a man and never can or will be, despite all the surgeries and hormones. Her body, and indeed her life, has been ruined by it.
The film is not without its missteps. I don’t understand the benefit of visiting the Masai and hearing how they view men and women, interesting though it may be. Then Walsh takes a few cheap shots, tosses out a few easy insults, and interviews a few soft targets (like the naked dude wandering the city streets and the person who identifies as a wolf). And it is here that I think we ought to consider this: When we have the truth on our side, we can engage with an opponent’s best arguments with every bit as much confidence as their worst. Hence some of the soft targets could as easily have been replaced by people making a much stronger argument. This, in turn, might better equip viewers to engage with those who hold to this gender ideology. There may be a place for satire or outright mockery, but there is also a place to take on and refute the absolute best arguments an opponent can offer. I would have liked to have seen Walsh do a little bit more of that.
As I watched the documentary I found myself wondering: What is the purpose of a production like this? Is it meant to persuade those who disagree with its premises? Is it meant to affirm the convictions of those who already agree with its premises? Or does it have a different purpose altogether? While I found What Is a Woman a surprisingly strong film, I suspect it will mostly serve the second purpose. I don’t expect it to convince those who are not already convinced—not least because, at least for now, the only way to watch it is to subscribe to The Daily Wire. I was willing to part with a month’s fee to watch it, but doubt many of those who buy into this gender ideology will be willing to do so. And so it will, I suspect, largely preach to the choir.
Parents will want to know there are a few images that are somewhat explicit and a few words they may not want their kids to hear, largely in the context of interviews. This isn’t a film to watch with the littlest ones. But I think it could be a good film to watch with teens since it reflects the world they will be growing up in and the world they will need to make their way through. Though Walsh’s treatment is not entirely serious and certainly not academic, and though he could have engaged with some stronger arguments, he does a good job of exposing the contradictory nature, moral confusion, and physical danger of modern day gender ideology. And that makes this a film worth watching.
(If you’d like to dive a little deeper into the subject, you might consider reading Affirming God’s Image, which is written from a Christian perspective, or Irreversible Damage which looks at how this ideology is particularly harming young women. Of course Carl Trueman’s Strange New World (the short book) and The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (the longer one) are essential reading as well.)

I made the long drive back from Grand Rapids yesterday and had to scramble to get A La Carte done! But I did get it done, and here it is… (But first, I listened to Candice Millard’s The River of the Gods along the way and very much enjoyed it. Recommended!)

The book on marriage I recommended last week, Gospel Shaped Marriage, is now on sale at WTS.
Speaking Truth in Marital Conflict
“Here is a universal rule for marriage counselors: don’t allow couples to speak to each other in absolutes.” That’s good advice for couples who aren’t working with a counselor as well.
Is Rick Warren Right about Gift vs. Office?
Denny Burk: “An unexpected thing happened this week at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) when Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, rose to make a statement that began with, ‘It’s customary for a guy who’s about to be hung to let him say his dying words.’”
Free audiobook – Happily Ever After: Finding Grace in the Messes of Marriage from ONE Audiobooks
Happy Friday!  Here’s a 3rd FREE audiobook offer from ONE Audiobooks.  If you missed them, there were two previous offers this week from ONE – Why I Love the Apostle Paul by John Piper & The Possibilities of Prayer by E.M. Bounds.  We believe that God designed marriage not as a trial to be endured, but as a pointer to and catalyst for your greatest joy. God didn’t design marriage to be your storybook ending, but to be a fresh beginning, to help get you ready for the true “happily ever after” when together we see our great Bridegroom face to face.  Get on ONE’s list to find out about some huge sales we have coming up! (Sponsored Link)
What ‘Leah’s Eyes Were Weak’ Means—& What It Says about Bible Interpretation
“The book of Genesis does what preachers and Sunday school teachers would do well to avoid. Indeed, it violates the first rule they teach you at Bible-teaching school: Don’t comment on the physical appearance of particular women.” What does it mean that Leah’s eyes were weak? This article provides an interesting answer.
Advice for Pastors Young and Old
Here is some useful advice for pastors, whether they are young or old (or somewhere in between).
The Pervasive Problem of Loving Money
John Piper covers the pervasive problem of loving money.
Letter to a Wounded Pastor
Darryl writes a letter to wounded pastors (of whom there are many).
Flashback: Love Is Not Heavy-Handed
It’s inevitable that problems will arise, inevitable that there will be angry words, unfortunate misunderstandings, unintentional insults. While there will be many great blessings that come through the local church, there will also be real sorrows.

A culture of individual isolation and lone rangers is not a culture of the gospel. —Michael Reeves

Today’s Kindle deals include a few interesting books.

(Yesterday on the blog: 40 More Random Pieces of Advice for the Christian Life)
Fathers, Lead the Way
Here’s a reflection for fathers in the lead-up to Father’s Day.
Let Your Sins Be Strong
“We all tend to minimize our sinfulness. We look at the wrongs we have done and do everything we can to try and justify our actions. Doing this, however, fails to take full ownership of our sins.”
A Christian Perspective on the Meaning of Life
It’s a question we all need to ask at some point, an issue we all need to consider: What are we here for?
What tree does the fruit grow on?
“Western Europe (and North America) is moving further and further from its moorings in a Christian view of life. Some are glad to see the back of what they might term ‘superstitious nonsense’. Others are deeply troubled that the religious foundations with which they grew up are being shaken.”
How Do I Forgive?
Sometimes forgiveness isn’t quite as easy as we think it will be…
9Marks Journal
For those interested in some slightly more academic reading, there is a new issue of the 9Marks Journal available to read for free.
Flashback: Consecutive Exposition Is Not the Only Way
His approach was not to simply pluck a text from the Bible, but to take a text from God through the Bible. He would not labor to exposit his text until he had labored to discover his text.

No one thing either deforms or weakens the Church more than division. —John Brinsley