Blessings to you today, my friends.

I collected a few interesting Kindle deals for you to look at.
(Yesterday on the blog: Living Selflessly with Your Wife)
50 Thoughts on Preaching
This is great stuff from Jared Wilson.
Names Nobody Remembers
“Though the world’s idea of success might see our small days lacking, our good God operates very differently. He has a knack for using people lost in the credit roll. We can see this beautifully in the story of the Israelites in Ezra and Nehemiah.”
Locusts and Wild Honey
Why did John the Baptist eat locusts and wild honey? You may not be shocked to know there was purpose behind it.
One Day It Will Be “Tomorrow”
“Christian, are you mindful of the distinction between ‘Today’ and ‘Tomorrow’ in your evangelism? Do you have the same sense of urgency in your proclamation of the gospel? Are you guilty of preaching a take-it-or-leave-it gospel?”
Your Past Does Not Have To Be Your Future
Here’s a wonderful illustration that your past does not need to predict your future.
Secondary and Tertiary Issues Are Still Important
Lara d’Entremont: “When God led me to my theological stance, he also placed me in a small community where no church holds to this theology—not even closely. My family and I are members at a church that is on the opposite side of the theological spectrum for us. We’ve had to keep ‘the main thing the main thing’ and remember that despite our differences, we each believe the same gospel and worship the same God.”
Flashback: How Long Have You Been Battling?
Sometimes it best serves God’s purposes to leave us in our weakness, for it is in this state that he can best prove himself to be our strength. Yet sometimes it best serves God’s purposes to interrupt long suffering and reward long praying with a demonstration of his power.

Grace means your life will end in victory, no matter how many defeats you’ve had along the way. —Paul David Tripp

Grace and peace to you on this fine day.

(Yesterday on the blog: A Message for Young Men)
About Those Sparrows
“Five sparrows. Two pennies. Bought, crushed, ground into stew, discarded, their life snuffed out just like that. Not forgotten by God. If God ‘remembered the sparrow’…if his eye was on the sparrow wouldn’t they not be bought and sold like this?”
Preaching is different on a screen
This article makes the point that preaching is different on a screen than in-person. That’s obvious, on the one hand, but it’s still important to consider exactly why and how it’s different.
When Does God (Not Man) Consider a Couple Married?
When does God consider a couple married? That’s the question this article attempts to answer.
Worth Some Frozen Pipes
Some frozen pipes were a minor inconvenience when compared to gaining a really neat evangelistic opportunity. “‘But you have not answered my question,’ the workman said as he ate the lunch we had provided of of takeout kabab (It’s expected in this culture to provide lunch when workmen are at your house all day). ‘What do you think of Islam? Is it good or bad?’”
Virtue Signaling our Spirituality
“There is a tendency in all of us to want others to see our good works so they will think highly of us, and we often try to make our good works look better than they are. This sinful tendency reveals itself every time the boss walks by while we are loafing, and we immediately begin to look busy.”
The Ten Commandments “at-A-Glance” (Applied to Life in The USA)
Bruce Ashford has completed his series on the Ten Commandments applied to modern-day life in the USA. The whole series is available and worth reading.
Flashback: When We Failed to Count the Cost
We human beings are famous for inventing, accepting, and integrating new technologies without thoroughly assessing how they will impact us for good and for ill. We tend to see the benefits immediately but only grow wise to the risks much later on.

Old wood is best to burn, old friends best to trust, and old books best to read. —John Arrowsmith

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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(Sponsored Link)
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