I noticed yesterday that the Grace and Truth Study Bible (edited by Al Mohler with notes by many professors at SBTS) is on sale in both print and Kindle editions—at up to 70% off. It is available in multiple cover styles in both NIV and NASB. Click here to see all the options.

Today’s Kindle deals include more excellent books. At the top of the list is probably the commentary on Mark. Also consider Dever’s The Church and Wax’s Rethink Your Self. On the general market side, Nicholas Carr’s Superbloom is brand new and already heavily discounted.

TGC has a helpful article about John Mark Comer and what he teaches, especially about a Rule of Life. “From my vantage point as a Gen Z Christian, it seems Comer is the most influential figure for evangelicals my age. Of course, this comes with much praise … and criticism …. But whatever we think of Comer, we should try to understand why he’s so popular.”

David Prince draws a helpful lesson from the career of Madison Keys. “She felt like winning a Grand Slam was the only way to validate her career. Keys entered the match under the shadow of everyone’s expectations since she was eleven years old. By her admission, after the loss, she was riddled with self-doubts. Will I ever do it? If I never do it, will my career be a failure?”

Stephen reminds us that sheep and wolf are not the only two categories the Bible offers us for people who are (or were) in a church. “We have to be careful that we don’t assume everyone who evidently shows themselves not to be sheep must, therefore, be a wolf. The Bible speaks of another category of person who will exist in the church too…”

This article asks whether witchcraft, and especially the kind practiced in African Traditional Religion, is real.

“Proverbs are often merely observational. If you literally avoid all conflict, you turn into a resentful doormat. But there are many times you’d be better off to say nothing at all. There’s two reasons for that.”

This article describes the sweetness of repentance and also helpfully distinguishes between two different forms of it. “Many of us may recoil at the thought of repentance. Indeed, it can at times feel supremely painful. Nonetheless, God is supremely good, kind, and merciful to demand of us repentance; it is the very healing of our souls. He is holy, holy, holy, utterly good and righteous, and as such He alone knows the true destruction that comes about because of sin.”

We knock to ensure we are waiting, to ensure we are ready, to ensure we will go to be with the Lord we love.

God does not plan salvation and leave it up to us, hoping we will believe and persevere to the end. No, God’s grace gives us every assurance that what he planned he will accomplish in us. He is that sovereign.
—Matthew Barrett

I’m sure every generation of parents has had to have some tricky and awkward conversations with their children. Just read your Old and New Testaments and you’ll see the kind of sexual chaos that has often been tolerated or celebrated in various times and places. Each one of these manifestations of rebellion against God has needed an explanation from parents who are committed to raising their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

What Do I Say When…?

Today’s parents are raising their children in a time of rapid cultural change when the specific forms of rebellion and the questions they raise are different from previous generations—sometimes subtly different and sometimes utterly and completely different. Parents can easily feel overwhelmed and may respond by attempting to shelter their children nearly completely and indefinitely. Yet wise parents know they need to prepare their children to live in this world and not some other. They know there are ideas they need to introduce, concepts they need to explain, and conversations they need to have.
What Do I Say When…? is a guide for parents who want to help their children and teens navigate today’s cultural chaos. Written by husband and wife duo Andrew and Christian Walker, it has ten chapters, each of which is devoted to an aspect of modern Western culture. Each one introduces the topic and explains what God says about it, which provides a brief biblical foundation for parents to begin with.
After that, each chapter advances to a guide to help parents discuss these matters with their children. Each guide is helpfully divided into three parts or, in the authors’ parlance, three “floors.” The first is for children between roughly four and eight years of age, the second for children between eight and twelve, and the third for teens up to around age 16. This ensures the conversations are appropriate to differing ages and levels of maturity.
The different topics range from human dignity and abortion to gender and transgenderism to identity and sexuality. They also cover technology, political engagement, and hostility against those who hold to the Christian faith. Each chapter is relatively brief—perhaps 15 pages or so—and provides just enough information for parents to help lay a solid foundation in the lives of their children and engage in useful training and conversation.
Many parents feel the need for some assistance as they help their children navigate today’s cultural chaos. What Do I Say When…? is just the right resource. It will give parents the information and the confidence they need to train their children well—to help them understand the truths of Scripture that counter every error of culture. It will equip parents to in turn equip their children so they can live well as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Today’s Kindle deals include several excellent titles published by Crossway.
Logos users, last week’s Blue Friday deals continue into this week. All Base Packages are 20% off and lots of commentary sets and other resources are significantly discounted.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Means and the End)

I very much enjoyed this article about two baseball greats. “Beyond hailing from the same home state and their nearly parallel statistical accomplishments, the two men could not have been much more different. They spent their adult lives being compared and contrasted, contributing to an uneasy relationship.”

This article is really interesting. It points out that there is evidence within the Psalms of the beauty of musical diversity.

There are times when it becomes necessary to criticize a pastor. This article offers some guidance on when, how, and who. “I’m no stranger to being on the receiving end of those letters (and emails, Facebook messages, and texts). Every letter is an opportunity for me as a leader to grow in wisdom and humility. But every message takes an emotional and spiritual toll as well.”

Blake writes about the beauty and opportunity of a new day. “With a new day comes another opportunity: an opportunity to pursue holiness, to forsake our old selves, to forget what lies behind and look to what lies ahead. A new day brings reasons to rejoice, to hope, to sing, to laugh, to worship.”

Ruth has a prayer for those who struggle to take every thought captive, especially in the area of jealousy toward others.

“Life is so incredibly good; marriage to Elaina, my wife, even better, and the Lord, the Giver of all good things, infinitely better still. And yet, when my heart fastens tightly on thoughts about Heaven, thinking about seeing Christ face to face, anticipating being rid of every trace of sin, I get restless. It’s not so much that I want to leave this life and the good things in it, but rather that I want to scoop it all up and take it with me – take it home, take it to Him.”

False teachers simply cannot tolerate the gospel. At some level and in some way, they will always add to or subtract from the pure and sweet gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

If you’re driven by personal ambition, no amount of success will ever be enough. But if you’re driven by godly aspiration, you’re ever looking to the Savior and saying, “He is enough.”
—Brad Wheeler