There seems to be something embedded within our sinful human nature that makes us quicker to see evil than good. There is something that draws our attention more naturally to sin than to righteousness, more easily to what is ugly in other people than what is beautiful. No wonder, then, that one of the qualifications for an elder is that he must “a lover of good”, a man who takes delight in the things that delight the heart of God, a man who is not known primarily for the evils he despises but for the good he loves (Titus 1:8).

In that vein, what do you suppose comes more readily to the mind of God when he considers us—the evil we have done or the good? The evidences of remaining sin or the evidences of new grace? The ways in which we have defied his will or the ways in which we have submitted to it? I hope and expect the answer is obvious. While God sees and knows all things, surely what he most readily and eagerly sees in us is all the ways in which we are becoming like him—the godly character, the acts of love, the deeds of faith. He is a proud Father.
But I wonder about you. I wonder what is in your mind and what fills your heart when you consider Christian leaders or personalities, when you consider members of your local church, when you consider your own husband or wife or children? When it comes to other Christians in the widest circle or the narrowest, are you more likely to consider their strengths or their weaknesses, their virtues or their vices?
When someone mentions that Christian leader, do you think first about his flaws or about his graces? Is the first thing that comes to your mind the position he holds that irritates you or the deed he committed that bothers you? Or is it the way the Lord has shaped him and raised him to a position of prominence and used him there to bless others? Is it his failures, however obvious they may be, or his successes?
When someone asks you about that member of your church, could you more easily recount evidences of sinfulness in her life or evidences of grace? Is what naturally pours out of your mouth a list of proofs of the old woman or the new woman? Of what she was or what she is and will be?
When you pray for your husband, are your first words to the Lord words of praise and gratitude for the way God has been working within him and doing such good through him? Or are your first words related to his flaws and your hope that God will finally correct them? Do you more naturally see what’s wrong with him or what’s right? Do you more naturally offer the Lord praise or petition when you consider him?
When it comes to your spouse, when it comes to your children, when it comes to the members of your church, when it comes to other Christians of any kind, are you more skilled at identifying good or evil, sinfulness or virtue? Does your heart more readily identify what is lovely or what is abhorrent, what pleases God or what grieves him? Is the instinct of your tongue to praise God for the work he has done or to lament the work he has not yet done? I ask you to consider: Are you, like God, a true lover of good, a true searcher for good, and a truly committed identifier of good?

I trust you’re enjoying your Labor Day (that’s “Labour Day” in Canada) if that’s a holiday where you happen to be.

If you have a ONE Audiobooks account, you can get their free audiobook of the month, the William Gurnall classic The Christian in Complete Armor.
Logos users will want to take a look at the September Super sale which has some great resources on sale along with this month’s selection of free and nearly-free books. There are also some Zondervan collections and resources discounted at the moment.
(Yesterday on the blog: Hang One by the Tongue and the Other by the Ear)
9 Things You Should Know About the Prosperity Gospel
Joe Carter lists 9 things you ought to know about the prosperity gospel.
Give Your Secrets Away
“God has uniquely wired every human on the planet. No two people are alike. Everyone has something about them no one else has or could ever imitate exactly. It’s a great joy to discover that gift in yourself.”
To Know Jesus Is To Love Jesus
“We sometimes make the mistake of thinking we must choose between knowledge and passion; but in fact the two feed each other, especially in relation to Jesus. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we will love and trust him; on the other hand, it is impossible to genuinely love or truly trust someone you don’t even know.”
‘Just Not Feeling It’: How Routine Awakens Devotion
This article discusses the importance of routine (or habits or disciplines or…) in the Christian life.
Died: ‘Jesus Calling’ Devotional Author Sarah Young
Sarah Young, author of Jesus Calling, died last week. Christianity Today writes about her life, her books, and some of the controversy those books ignited (for very good reason). The article is behind a paywall but it should still be possible to access it, especially if you have a free account with CT.
Serve in Children’s Ministry. It’s Bigger Than You Think.
Russ Ramsey wants to remind you of the joy and importance of serving the children of your church.
Flashback: Tips for Young (and Maybe Not-So-Young) Bloggers
…even as you grow in knowledge and begin to share that knowledge with others, be certain that you put the higher priority on humility. The Christian world has greater need of examples of humble young people than know-it-all young people.

God is God. Because he is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to. —Elisabeth Elliot

Never has there been a medium so ideally suited for spreading gossip as social media. Never have Christians been so eager to hear an evil report about another Christian than they are today. And that means gossip, slander, and evil reports move further and faster than ever. This old warning seems even more relevant today than in the day it was issued. I plead with you to read it, to consider it, and to apply it.

There is only one person worse than the whisperer, and that is the man or woman who listens without protest. The trouble is you hold the sack while they fill it. The receiver of stolen goods is just as bad as the thief.
An ancient writer declares that a slanderer and a man who receives the slander ought both to be hanged—the one by the tongue and the other by the ear. And I agree with him.
When you hear something bad about your neighbors do not go all over and ask about it whether it is true, and scatter it, and spread it. You might as well go to a smallpox hospital and take a patient and carry him all through the community asking people if they really thought it a case of smallpox. That would be very bad for the patient and for all the neighbors.
Do not retail slanders and whisperings. Do not make yourself the inspector of warts, and the supervisor of carbuncles, and the commissioner for street-gutters, and the holder of stakes for a dog-fight. Can it be that you, an immortal man, that you, an immortal woman, can find no better business than to become a gutter inspector?
(Drawn from the sermons of De Witt Talmage)

I am grateful to RHB for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about their translation of Petrus Van Mastricht’s magisterial Theoretical-Practical Theology.

In case you missed it yesterday, be sure to look at the very long list of Kindle deals. There are some new ones today as well.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Christian Manifesto)
Songs Are Discipleship
“If a mist in the pulpit is a fog in the pew, the same is true of the songs we choose and sing congregationally. How does this song build up the body of Christ? How does this song edify a seasoned saint? How does this jingle build up the newly-born believer? How does this worship leader understand his role and responsibility? We must take seriously the theological development of the individuals we call worship leaders because they are disciples too.”
The Hallmark of Genuine Christianity
“What is the hallmark of genuine Christianity? What is the outward sign that a person is truly Christian, or that a community of Christians is the real thing? What is the inevitable fruit of obeying the gospel? There are many potential hallmarks…” Here is one that may be often overlooked.
Deconversion is Apostasy
It’s important to understand that deconversion is simply a new term for an old and common reality.
As Jesus Sleeps
Ed Welch: “Jesus is not worried—ever. Why? Because God, his Father (and their Father, and ours), is in heaven. He loves us more than he loves the birds and flowers. And everything is his. If there are any anxieties to be had, they are about tomorrow, and those anxieties are his to deal with, too. He is already into the details of the troubles of tomorrow.”
Our Great Guarantee
“We have to be careful when we make guarantees from the Bible.  Sometimes it is better to speak of general principles because people may experience exceptions to an apparent scriptural guarantee that has been misunderstood.” But with that said, Peter gives an example of one portion of Scripture that is a guarantee.
A Forgetter’s Prayer
Melissa has a prayer you may find helpful.
Flashback: Why Marriage Is Better Than Cohabitation
Though Christians continue to affirm the uniqueness, the goodness, and the necessity of marriage, our society continues to legitimize cohabitation as either a common precursor to marriage or a complete alternative.

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. —C.S. Lewis

Has anyone ever lived in times that were normal? Probably not, I suppose. Every time and every context has its peculiarities, I’m sure. Regardless, there’s no doubt that we are currently living in unusual times—in what seems like a transitionary phase during which old traditions, old morals, and old ways of understanding the world are giving way to new. There are new questions, new concerns, and new challenges to those who want to live well in a world like this one.

Where do we go to learn to live well in new times? There is no better place to turn than to old wisdom—to the very same book that guided our forebears as they lived through the challenges that defined their own eras. The Word of God is, after all, living, active, and powerful, able to teach and to guide us no matter our times and no matter our circumstances.
In The Christian Manifesto, Alistair Begg takes an extended look at Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain (which, though it bears certain similarities, should not be confused with his longer Sermon on the Mount). “This sermon,” he says, is “Jesus’ invitation to you to experience life at its very best. It is his description of what life in his kingdom—a kingdom where all that is wrong is being put right—looks like as we live in this world.”

In this book, we’re going to look at what can be helpfully seen as a “Christian manifesto.” A manifesto is a public declaration or proclamation issued by a monarch or head of state, or by a representative of a company or organization. Here is a manifesto for the Christian life, straight from the lips of Jesus… It is a manifesto that is not oriented towards the political arena, but towards the relational and individual one.

That’s not to say this sermon (and therefore this book) has nothing to say about how we live and relate to others in the political arena, but that this is not its primary purpose. Rather, it is a manifesto that calls us to live significant, meaningful, and distinctly Christian lives in our everyday affairs and our very normal interactions with others.
An especially important word in this manifesto is “blessed,” one we all recognize from the Sermon on the Mount. In this context “blessed” means “How happy!” “How fortunate!” or “How privileged!” Being a follower of Jesus Christ unlocks a happy, fortunate, privileged life and this Manifesto is aimed at helping us achieve it—to live the kind of blessed life Jesus offers.
The Christian Manifesto is simply an extended exposition of the Sermon on the Plain, and one written by an especially skillful and proven expositor. Though the book may have had its genesis in a series of sermons, it has been well adapted for the new medium. Begg shows how Jesus calls us to so reverse the values we hold dear that they became practically upside down to what they were before. He calls us to an exceptional kind of love—a love that would be impossible if it was not first modeled by Jesus Christ. He helps us understand how to live by the Golden Rule and how to freely and genuinely grant forgiveness, even when it is costly and even when it seems impossible. Along the way he writes with passion and conviction, often pausing to help the reader do some appropriate application. He is vulnerable about his own life, his own struggles, and his own tendencies to fail to do what Christ commands. It makes for a powerful product.
“We are not called to be like the world,” he insists, “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. That means the call of Christ to you and me is both greatly exciting and deeply challenging. The call is not to be comfortable but to be Christ-like—to discover the surprising means of experiencing real blessing, and in doing so to point others the way to it too.

This book, and the great sermon that lies behind it, provide a powerful manifesto for living well, living courageously, and living in a way that honors God in uncertain times. I would encourage you to read the sermon, to read the book, and to apply them both deliberately and prayerfully.

The beginning of a new month is a great time to take a few moments to ponder this: Right now, at this very moment, God is reigning from his throne.

ChurchSource is having its semi-annual sale which means books like Seasons of Sorrow are deeply discounted. It’s also a good time to place a bulk order for any of the books they offer.
Richard Dawkins asks an important question and here is my answer
Murray Campbell takes on an important question from Richard Dawkins.
David Livingstone, Slavery Abolitionist
Vance Christie, who has just written a fantastic biography of David Livingstone, tells how Livingstone made a substantial contribution to the abolition of slavery.
Systematic Theology from Every Perspective
Petrus Van Mastricht’s four-part theological method—exegetical, dogmatic, elenctic (apologetic), and practical—helps pastors and laymen alike understand the deep things of God. (Sponsored Link)
Mercy on Maui: Hawaiian Churches Lament and Serve
Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra asked pastors on Maui how they responded to the Lahaina fire, what they preached, and what spiritual response they have witnessed.
Death of the Innocents
“Three different women. Three very different public responses.” Matthew Hosier looks at three recent cases of infanticide and considers the different responses to them.
We need encouragement in sermons, not only challenge
This is a timely word about a “danger we [preachers] must avoid: always being negative and telling people how they are doing everything wrong. Some preachers fall into a pattern of constantly pointing out the sin of those listening and failing to encourage those who need encouraging.”
Are You Overlooking Christ’s Worth?
“In 20 years of pastoral ministry, I’ve noticed a regularly overlooked emphasis for many Christians. And this emphasis is so important, so valuable, that if adopted, I think it could drastically affect your life. I know this firsthand. I’ve seen it happen and watched it in many others walking that narrow path toward Immanuel’s land. Intrigued?”
Flashback: Moments With My Father (and My Son)
The delight that flashed in his eyes, the smile that broke over his face, the tears that glimmered in his eyes, all point me to a time in the future when what is broken will be made whole, when what is sorrowful will be soothed, when what has been torn apart will be stitched back together, a time when son and father and father and son will be reunited, never more to part, never more to grieve.

I have a great need for Christ: I have a great Christ for my need. —Charles Spurgeon

I am looking forward to the 2023 Grace and Truth Conference in Launceston, Tasmania in early October. I hope to see many of you there!

P&R’s Reformed Expository Commentary series is one of my favorites. They’ve just added volumes on Genesis and 2 Corinthians and, to mark the occasion, Westminster Books has discounted the entire series.
There is a small collection of Kindle deals for you to peruse.
(Yesterday on the blog: We Don’t Celebrate the Tool)
We Need Restorative Rest
“During the seventh century, the longbow became a formative weapon. However, if you wanted your longbow to last, you would have to take the string off the bow, releasing the tension, and let it rest after the battle was over. If the bow was left in tension all the time, it would become deformed and unable to shoot arrows. The unending tension weakened the bow. The same is true of us.”
How to Live for God Through the What-If Game
This article considers the ways we can play the “what-if game” and, through it, hamper our faith.
Salvation in Christ from Beginning to End
Petrus van Mastricht’s Theoretical-Practical Theology: Redemption in Christ plums the depths of God’s great work of obtaining redemption in our Mediator. Starting with the covenant of grace, Mastricht addresses the dignity, names, person, offices, states, and redemptive accomplishments of Jesus Christ. (Sponsored Link)
10 Tips for Preaching Students
“As a new semester begins at Bible colleges and seminaries, many students look forward to taking their first preaching course.” Here are some helpful tips for preaching students.
A Better Priest Than the Ones Before
“According to Leviticus 13–14, contact with a skin-diseased person would make you ritually unclean for a time. Well, at least it would make someone unclean who could become unclean. What if someone wouldn’t become unclean if they touched a skin-diseased person?” That’s a question Jesus answered.
Why do Asians Make Me Take Off My Shoes?
Sam Chan asks why Asians have you take your shoes off before you enter their house (as do Canadians, as it happens) and then draws a lesson from it.
Ligon Duncan Held an Umbrella
This is just a fun and simple little article, but one worth reading.
Flashback: That Time I Went After an Older, Godlier Man
While a right acknowledgement and right assessment of my youth should have constrained me, a total failure to acknowledge and assess my youth empowered me.

Sometimes providences, like Hebrew letters, must be read backward. —John Flavel

I watched in fascination as the programmer wrote line after line of code, each word and each line forming part of an increasingly complex whole. His fingers were barely visible as they tapped out letter after letter and number after number. And then his work was done. With a smile and a flourish, he compiled the code and hit “play.” I marveled to see what he had created. And I thought “What a great keyboard! If only I had that same keyboard I could create a program as incredible as that!”

I gazed with rapt attention as the artist shaped his sculpture. With a shaping tool held deftly in his hand, he carved away large portions of the marble and then, as he progressed, carefully tapped out much smaller ones. Then he took his rasp and delicately smoothed and polished the surface. Bit by bit he worked at that block of marble until it began to reveal the wondrous figure that he had had the vision to know was hidden within. And I spoke it out loud: “I need that shaping tool! I need that rasp! Those tools are responsible for this sculpture. I need them for myself.”
I stared fixedly as the mechanic repaired the engine that had long since ceased to function. With wrench and ratchet and a number of tools I could not identify, he dismantled, then cleaned, then repaired, then reassembled. Finally, he sat in the driver’s seat, turned the key, and listened in satisfaction as the engine roared to life. And I cried, “Praise the tools! I need that wrench and I need that ratchet because then I, too, will be able to be an expert mechanic!”
None of this is true. And none of it is sane. It would be crazy to think that if only I had the right keyboard, the right rasp and shaping tool, the right wrench and ratchet then I would be able to create a game, shape a sculpture, or fix an engine. And it would be even more crazy to think that the creative or reparative genius resides in the tool instead of the one who wields it. It’s the programmer who deserves to be commended, not the keyboard; the sculptor who should have his name in the history books, not his implements; and the mechanic who should be applauded rather than the hardware he used.
And so it should be with us when it comes to preachers and preachers, to speakers and speaking, to writers and writing—tools he uses to accomplish his purposes. As I recently heard in a sermon, “We celebrate God, not the tool.” Or we are supposed to, anyway.
When we hear a sermon that stimulates our minds, we owe praise to God, not the preacher. When we hear a new song that provokes our hearts to worship, we ought to praise God long before the songwriter. When we receive the benefit of another person’s gifting we ought to express gratitude to God, not the one who merely made use of what God had generously bestowed upon him. We praise God, not the tool.
When we ourselves are the ones who have been used by God—when we have preached a sermon that has deeply affected those who heard it, when we have composed a song that moves hearts in worship and obedience, when we have written words that have stimulated others on to love and good deeds—our response should be “I am an undeserving servant; I have only done my duty.” It must be our desire to have them praise God, not the tool.
Of course, there will be times to encourage another person and express our gratitude to them, for God works through tools, not apart from them. And he most often works through tools that have submitted to his use and done their best to foster and strengthen it. But ultimately, it is always and ever God who deserves our praise, God who deserves our worship, God who deserves the honor. Always and ever we celebrate God far ahead of the tools he wields for our good and his glory.

May the Lord be with you and bless today, my friends.

On sale this week at Westminster Books is a new book by one of my favorite writers, Samuel James.
The Unexpected Story of Miguel Núñez
I very much enjoyed this long-form article about the life, ministry, and influence of Miguel Núñez.
The List on the Door
“We kept a list inside our pantry door when we lived in the mountains. It was an evacuation list. And like the earthquake supplies we stored under the stairs, I kept it updated, just in case.” Andrea goes on to think about evacuation lists and both earthly and heavenly treasure.
“One of the greatest of the Reformed orthodox.”—Carl R. Trueman
The translation of Petrus Van Mastricht’s Theoretical-Practical Theology into English gives us a window into one of the greatest minds in Reformed theology. “His grasp of the tradition, his ability to interact with contemporary issues, and his careful articulation of orthodoxy exemplify the best of Protestant theology after the Reformation.” (Carl Trueman) (Sponsored Link)
A Subtle Attack Against Motherhood
This one is very much worth thinking about. “There is a trend in social media that makes it seem as though we are fighting our way through the torture of raising children, as if they are like an enemy. Culture tells us that their needs are a burden, their inexperience in life is something to make fun of, and their emotional meltdowns are viral content for entertainment.”
Fit for Office: How Some Exercise Extends Ministry
“As with any topic related to Christian living, discussing physical exercise in the life of a pastor runs the risk of twin dangers: legalism and antinomianism. Those two terms are tricky to understand and apply, but my point is hopefully simple: the antinomian pastor doesn’t think he is under much obligation to look after his body, whereas the pastor given to legalistic tendencies in this area has many commands on how to stay fit and healthy.”
The baobab: The strangest tree on Earth
CMI takes a look at the strangest tree on earth.
Communication by Design
Andrew considers an especially powerful example of good design and applies it to pastoral ministry.
Flashback: Grandchildren Are the Crown of the Aged
It’s one thing to have children who imitate their parents and walk in wisdom, but another still to have grandchildren who do the same.

God will either give us what we ask for in prayer or give us what we would have asked for if we knew everything he knows. —Tim Keller

Good morning from Oakville! After a lovely time away, Aileen and I have returned safely and gladly home.

Today’s Kindle deals include just a couple of fairly minor picks (at least for now).
(Yesterday on the blog: No Fear of Old Age)
Orphaned Widow
Patsy writes movingly about being both a widow and, more recently, an orphan (in the sense of being an adult who has now lost both of her parents). “I’m finding it difficult to grasp my new status or describe what it feels like to realize the two people who knew me from the first day of my life and through all the ups and downs that followed are no longer within reach of a phone call or hug.”
Trusting God When Our Children Leave the Nest
Barbara has an article and a poem for the empty nesters.
What was Jonathan Edwards’ favorite book?
Why did America’s greatest theologian call Petrus Van Mastricht’s Theoretical-Practical Theology “much better than any other book in the world, excepting the Bible?” Read the newest volume in this monumental collection, Redemption in Christ, to find out. (Sponsored Link)
Behind the Seen, Providence At Work for Those He Loves
Cara: “No matter what trials or tribulations come our way, God assures us that he is for us and providentially at work in us. Nothing—not peril, decrees, king’s commands, or unexpected life turns—can stand in the way of God accomplishing his purposes for our good and his glory.”
Remembering Dr. N.H. Gootjes (1948-2023)
I appreciate Wes’ remembrance of Dr. Gootjes, a man who was a significant part of my family’s life many years ago.
The Curse Word Isn’t the Most Shocking Part of Philippians 3
This is a good reminder that the infamous “skubalon” is not the most shocking part of Philippians 3.
The Utter Folly of the Cross
Jeremy Treat reminds us of the utter and shocking folly of the cross. We need to ensure we never forget this!
Flashback: When God’s Blessings Flow
Are you in the habit of praying not only for yourself and your family, and not only for your friends and your church, but also for the people around you? Are you in the habit of praying that God would bless and deliver not only you but also others?

The greatness of our sin is always less than the greatness of God’s grace. —F.B. Meyer