Today’s Kindle deals include a few noteworthy titles like MacArthur’s From Ordinary to Extraordinary and Thorne’s Walking with Domestic Abuse Sufferers. On the general market side there’s a Malcolm Gladwell book that’s a fun read. Also, I have it on good authority that April is going to be an epic month for Kindle deals, so consider following my dedicated accounts on X (@challiesdeals) or Facebook (Challies Deals).

Logos users, be sure to take a look at the final Logos March Matchup deals before they’re gone. Deals go as high as 60% off.

This article considers IVF and helps Christians think well about it. “The rightful ache for a child of one’s own that we and so many others share with Hannah is a key reason why reproductive technologies like IVF were developed. Trump’s executive order appropriately recognizes the importance of family and the government’s role in helping promote and support the bearing and rearing of children. However…”

Simon Arscott considers a little word that is of outsized importance.

Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we live in an age of life, redemption and hope. One of the ways we can stay grounded in this truth is reading about Christ’s work on the cross. For gospel-centered books and products, check out the Christian bookstore 21Five! Their Easter collection is 10% off and contains a variety of affordable devotionals, books and children’s titles! (Sponsored)

“Television shows and movies are like sermons. They teach. They illustrate. They exhort. They persuade. The productions that possess a conviction beyond profit have a truth they mean to impart, an impulse they mean to cultivate, a reflex they mean to train.”

Brianna Lambert: “How has God shaped your loves? I’m not talking about all the activities you think you should be doing. Though it’s tempting, we don’t want to be driven by aesthetics like I was in my own childish career aspirations asking: How can we impress? What looks good? Once we throw off this noise, we’ll find the gifts of our Maker.”

This is a good outline of what’s involved in preparing and delivering a sermon.

Robb Brunansky outlines three of the ways conflict is harmful to the church. “Since we cannot avoid church conflict, we need to know how to handle it biblically in order to resolve it in a way that honors Christ and preserves the unity of His body.”

It is no small thing to allow ourselves to be wronged and then to meekly suffer the consequences. It may be one of the greatest challenges we are ever called to face. Yet we can be equal to the challenge if we take hold of the grace God offers us.

When God’s Word isn’t internalized, it becomes trivialized in the practical moments of life.
—Sam Luce & Hunter Williams

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

Good morning, my friends. I expect many of you will be scaling back your internet use during the holidays. Just so you know, I intend to keep up with articles except between Christmas and New Years when I’ll probably post only the daily A La Carte articles.
Christianbook.com has a number of items deeply discounted: ESV Study Bible in burgundy leather, What Is Saving Faith? by John Piper, In Search of Ancient Roots by Kenneth Stewart, Blind Spots by Collin Hansen, and so on.
It’s a good idea to keep tabs on the Kindle deals page since deals often come and go in 24 hours. I usually update in the evenings and then again at around 7 AM.

Kati Lynn Davis considers the letdown that can follow the Christmas season (or any other season in life). “The hard truth is that even the best things in this life are temporary. We wait months or even years for moments that pass in the blink of an eye. And no matter how wonderful that moment is—whether it’s the first kiss as husband and wife, the first look into a newborn’s eyes, or a childhood Christmas that feels like magic—it won’t put our insatiable hearts at rest.”

“So, what about that little thing called romance? Where does it go after many years in a relationship have transpired?” Erica Chase writes very honestly about romance in a marriage that is no longer in its earliest years.

“Some observers remain optimistic and argue that things are not as bad as they seem; others think they are a good deal worse. Some argue the church needs a radical change in strategy; others claim the challenge is not really a methodological one at all, and the church should essentially hunker down, get used to life on the margins, prepare to suffer for what she believes, pray, and trust that the God who brings life to the dead will do something new.” Andrew Wilson writes about practicing our faith in a very different world than the one we may be accustomed to.

“There are some areas where we feel pretty great about ourselves. There are also some where we are consumed with how far we fell short. And for most of us, that latter group can become all-consuming.” Aaron wants to remind you that you are not your accomplishments (or lack thereof).

Preachers or anyone else involved in public speaking will benefit from this look at six Ps for proficient vocal delivery.

“It seems God gets particular satisfaction in pouring out his breathtaking beauty in the unlikeliest places. Consider the absurd beauty of the Aurora Borealis, which only a tiny fraction of the world’s population has ever beheld. Consider places of remote and stunning beauty that only a few humans have ever witnessed: caves, Antarctica, the Amazon rainforest, and the ocean.”

There is no grief where there has not been love and no love that comes without risk of grief. They weep because they have loved and because they love still. 

Better is that sin which humbles me, than that duty which makes me proud.
—Thomas Watson