I don’t quite know how to gauge these things, but I feel like today’s collection of articles is especially strong. I hope you enjoy it!

There’s a new version of Paul Tripp’s War of Words available and on sale if you’ve never read it. You can’t really go wrong with a Tripp book!

Today’s Kindle deals include an interesting memoir, a trustworthy commentary, and more besides.

This is a tremendous article on God’s attributes. “I once heard it said that the true measure of a person’s character can be determined not by their ability to express any single attribute well, but rather by their capacity to display seemingly contrary attributes in harmony with one another at any given time.”

Samuel James writes about a couple of odious headlines and ties them together. “Andrew Tate is a bad person, even if people with the moral framework to know why can’t afford to say it. Prostitution is bad, even if people with the political commitments to know why can’t afford to say it. And the biggest losers of this confusion will not be podcasters or Hollywood producers, but the young men and young women who consume the content, dazzled by the confidence they see, and unprepared for the consequences of being fooled.”

I appreciate Dan sharing his view from the other side of the pew. “I recently had a friendly exchange on social media with a professor who posted about how being a pastor is the hardest job in the world. I wouldn’t have challenged it if it came from someone serving in Ukraine or the DRC. But having spent plenty of time around posh seminary offices in America that often come with perks like compensated part-time church roles, I couldn’t let it go.”

Justin considers our tendency to provide answers that are far too easy for complex problems.

“Why do human beings always celebrate with a meal? What is it about food that makes consuming it together the most appropriate way to commemorate an occasion? Think about it. We celebrate everything with a meal. Birthdays, funerals, graduations, anniversaries, engagements, promotions, holidays—all excuses to gather and eat and drink.”

Are Christian happier than non-Christians in this life? John Piper considers the question.

The church…is, in short, a place where God means to bless every family—even, and perhaps especially, those families who are most broken and most in need of his grace.

Look up! That is the key to perseverance. Not looking in—to our pain. Not looking down—in despair. But up—up to the King, the Lord, the Saviour, the one who has gone before us and who will use hard things to make our faith complete.
—Helen Thorne

May the Lord be with you and bless you today.
Today’s Kindle deals include some choice titles that are well worth a look. If you are looking for a Kindle device, there are several on sale now for Prime subscribers.
Logos users will want to look at this month’s free and nearly-free books along with this other free book. Then also take a look at the resources that are on sale like Crossway’s Preaching the Word commentary series.

Greg Koukl helpfully clears up some confusion about humility. “Here’s the simple guideline: To develop humility, don’t put yourself up relative to others, and don’t put others down relative to you. Instead, do the opposite.”

I am glad to be part of a new initiative called Fortis Institute. It offers free, original, daily content meant to bless and encourage Christians.

In Tim Chester’s new book, Enjoying Jesus, he explores how Jesus acted and interacted with people in Luke’s Gospel and how, through his Spirit, we can experience the joy of Jesus’ presence and companionship in our day-to-day lives. Get 25% off with code ENJOYJESUS. (Sponsored)

Mitch Chase looks at some of the Old Testament commands that seem strange to us. Like why couldn’t they sow different kinds of seeds in a single field or wear mixed fabrics? “The right assumption is that Moses’s instructions are based on moral reasoning, even if those reasons aren’t always clear to us. The biblical laws are not arbitrary or aimless.”

Why is contemporary Christian music growing quickly? Brett McCracken offers some ideas. “Christian music is having a moment. In the first half of 2024, it was the fourth fastest-growing music genre, fueled by surprisingly large gains among younger listeners. Millennial and younger listeners represented 39 percent of the genre’s overall audience in 2022, but in 2024, that share is up to 45 percent.”

John Piper considers spiritual laziness and how to overcome it.

Cheryl writes about worry and the ways we can get all bound up in the “what if” questions.

Though we aren’t that far removed from the years when we were young, the pace of technological change has been unparalleled. What was mind-blowing in the 70s, 80s, or even the 90s is practically ancient history today. 

Jesus was not tempted to see if He would fall. He was tempted to show that He could not fall.
—J. Vernon McGee

This week the blog is sponsored by Harvest USA.
Today, more than ever, parents need to take a proactive approach in preparing their children for a world bombarding them with false messages about sex, gender, and identity. If parents abdicate their God-given responsibility to equip and train their children with a biblical foundation for understanding sex and gender, the world is fully prepared to indoctrinate them in unbiblical ideologies that promote the self as god and individual experience as the supreme authority.
Raising Sexually Faithful Kids
Whether it’s pornography, LGBTQ+ ideologies, sexting, or hook-up apps, children are facing a torrent of temptations and dangers in matters of sexuality. This is why Harvest USA is offering a free online course for parents entitled Raising Sexually Faithful Kids. This eight-session course will help you understand what it looks like to proactively teach your children about God’s good gift of sexuality and how to guard that gift against temptations to misuse it in sinful ways. We also want to equip you to know how to respond to your children in love and truth when theystart to wrestle with sexual sins of various kinds. Raising Sexually Faithful Kids will help you understand your children not only at the level of their behavior but also by looking into the deeper issues of their hearts. You’ll learn how struggles with pornography, promiscuity, same-sex attraction, or gender distress may developand how the gospel of Jesus Christ offers hope for repentance, healing, and transformation. You’ll also be equipped for having not simply a one-off, awkward sex talk, but an ongoing dialogue with your children about God’s good design for sex with age-appropriate conversations during critical seasons. You’ll also receive vital information about ways to protect your family from the growing dangers technology presents. Raising sexually faithful kids requires a robust technology protection plan. Finally, you’ll learn how to engage in compassionate care and discipleship if you find your son has been looking at pornography or your daughter has been caught sexting.Your loving and truthful response to your child’s sin and struggles will show them the character of our good and loving heavenly Father.
Parenting Boys and Girls in a Gender-Confused World
Maybe you’ve already encountered how challenging it is to help your kids when peers, teachers, school guidance counselors, social media—perhaps even your familyphysician—promote ideas about our bodies, identity, personhood, or gender that don’t line up with biblical faith. Or maybe you have the painful experience of your child or their friends identifying as transgender, genderqueer, or something else celebrated by the evolving sexual and gender revolution. Parenting Boys and Girls in a Gender-Confused World is an eight-session, free online course from Harvest USA that will give you practical guidance as you seek to disciple sons and daughters about what it means to be a boy or girl created in love to bear God’s image. We wantto help you help them grow in understanding God’s design so they can think Biblically about gender and have the knowledge and courage to explain and defend the goodness of our Creator’s intent. And, of course, we want to guide you in how to offer compassionate discipleship if your child is struggling in this area. For free access to both courses, as well as many other resources on biblical sexuality, visitharvestusa.org or check out our courses at harvestusa.org/courses.