Grace and peace to you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of good books.
(Yesterday on the blog: When We Go Unnourished)
What I Learned About Love When I Met My Son
This is a sweet reflection on the love of a father for a son. “When I met my son that day, I suddenly realised why the father of the prodigal in Jesus’ parable ran so hard to welcome the return of his son who had rejected him. Of course he did. It was his son. It was his own heart. But the thing that amazes me the most…”
My Love for Canada Is Overwhelmed with Lament
Michael Krahn: “‏We live in a dark period of Canadian history. These last few days have broken my heart as I’ve watched the many on-the-ground live streams and news reports about what was happening in Ottawa. ‏I have experienced a mixture of anger and lament that has overflowed into tears more than once.”
A Word to My Fellow Cynics
Cindy has one for the cynics. “Cynicism has become the default setting of our society. From our comedy to our politicians, podcasts, and pulpits, being cynical is cool. However, while sardonically assuming the worst about a given situation or person may be socially acceptable, it diametrically opposes the character of Christ.”
Burnout Warning
“I was asked by a friend why so many people are burning out these days. Whether it is a moral fall, a mental breakdown, or a ministry burnout, the frequency seems to be increasing. Why?” Peter Mead answers.
Hidden Temper, Undeserved Grace
“When the weight of my sin crushes me, trust in Jesus’ finished work raises me. Faith and repentance grow at the juncture of Jesus’ mercy and grace. Sin’s humiliation is cancelled at the foot of the cross. It never is nor was cheap grace, but rather Jesus’ costly redemption which brings freedom from my chains of sin. And this knowledge, this realization of how much He paid and how deep is my need brings me to my knees.”
Baptists, Creeds and Confessions
“It’s time to set the record straight. Baptists are not anti-creedal. Or at least, they shouldn’t be. ”
Flashback: Little Seeds that Split Great Rocks
…each Christian must be on constant watch against little seeds of dispute that fall into little fissures of disunity. For little disputes have their ways of growing into big disputes, their ways of becoming far greater than we would ever have thought, would ever have imagined.

Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years. —Charles Spurgeon

It has been my observation that churches tend to invest a fair bit of effort in preparing couples to begin a healthy marriage, but perhaps a little less in helping couples sustain a healthy marriage. We offer pre-marriage seminars designed to deliberately help a couple better understand the challenges that will come their way in the years ahead, but don’t offer as many seminars deliberately designed to help couples through the middle and later years of marriage and, thus, through issues like sorrow, loss, declining sexuality, empty-nesting, unmet expectations, unresolved conflict, and so on.

I wanted to address this in my church (and in my own marriage, for that), so decided to lead a marriage seminar that would appeal specifically to couples who have been married for at least a decade and perhaps even several. I built it around Dave Harvey’s I Still Do: Growing Closer and Stronger through Life’s Defining Moments—a book that is meant to foster a marriage that is lasting and durable. With Dave doing the heavy lifting, I put a good deal of effort into creating questions that would prompt conversation and prayer between the couples and also lead to helpful group discussions.
Because I expect others may benefit from such a course, I thought I’d share the material and make it freely available for you to download for your own purposes, whether that’s to lead a course with others or just go through the material with your spouse. You are free to download it, use it, edit it, and so on. You need give no credit to me.
I would recommend having an experienced and credible individual or couple lead the course and would also recommend keeping the group size relatively small as a means of fostering openness and vulnerability in times of corporate discussion. The six sessions are structured in such a way that each couple will read two chapters together, answer a number of questions, then meet with the group for further learning and discussion. Group meetings should be scheduled for about 90 minutes. For each session there is a Question sheet which is sent to the couples in advance and a Discussion sheet which is for the leader to use at the seminar. Those who wish to extend the course to 12 weeks can easily split each session in half. Each couple will need to have a copy of I Still Do (Amazon, Westminster Books) and the leader should purchase a copy of the Study Guide (Amazon, Westminster Books) since a few of the questions are drawn from it.
Here are all the files in a variety of formats:

Introduction, Information, and Expectations: PDF, Pages, Word
Session 1 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 2 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 3 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 4 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 5 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Session 6 (Questions: PDF, Pages, Word | Discussion: PDF, Pages, Word)
Or: Download everything in one zip file

My thanks goes to Reformation Heritage Books for sponsoring the blog this week. Their book Taming the Fingers is an important one for our times!

Today’s Kindle deals include several newer books and a few older ones as well.
(Yesterday on the blog: Missionary, Explorer, Abolitionist)
How Were the Books of the Bible “Chosen”?
As you may surmise from the quotation marks around the world “chosen,” that this doesn’t exactly describe what happened. “This particular framing of the question has a number of built-in assumptions that need to be recognized.”
Have We Misunderstood Paul on Homosexuality?
Wes Bredenhof shows how Mike Wittmer answers that question is in his excellent new book.
21 Ways God Is Sovereign Over the Environment
“It’s amazing how much time and energy is spent thinking and talking about environmental issues today. Sadly, most of it is done without any reference to God, who controls every aspect of it. Whether rain or snow, cold or heat, wind or stagnant air, the Lord is the one who continues to uphold it by the mighty power of His Son.” Paul Tautges explains.
Credo Magazine
There is a new issue of Credo magazine available to read. It’s free for the taking. “In this issue of Credo, contributors show that natural theology is a practice supported by Scripture and exemplified by the Reformed tradition, a tradition indebted to great thinkers like Augustine and Aquinas. With the Psalmist, readers can say with confidence, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.’”
Why we do not evangelise
Chopo Mwanza offers some thoughts on why we don’t evangelize.
Standing Strong in Affliction
“I have experienced seasons I thought would be the most uncomplicated or joyful of my life, but instead, they brought afflictions, problems, illness, or conflict. Some of those challenges even threatened my spiritual health and vitality. I did not bear much fruit in those seasons. And many of the issues seemed to come out of nowhere.“
Flashback: The Touch
As his fingers brushed against their bodies, they would be made whole—bones would be knit back together, ligaments would be strengthened, eyes would be opened, ears would be unstopped.

Every exposition of Scripture is an extended personal counseling session in which the Holy Spirit shows us the wonder and power of the gospel and also exposes the secrets of our hearts. —Sinclair Ferguson