The God of love and peace be with you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Most To Jesus I Surrender (or Maybe Just Some))
Love Is
This is a sweet reflection on the nature of love.
Should Students Use AI for Writing Assignments?
“Can AI be used legitimately in the process of writing an academic assignment? My own institution has assembled a task force to determine what we consider legitimate and illegitimate use. In the meantime, here’s my own initial, not-yet-fully-processed take: Using AI for early research is OK. Using AI to write is wrong.” This makes sense to me.
Is Technology Causing Me to Disobey God in my Reading?
And speaking of technology: “Because reading requires serious meditation and intentional reflection, allowing technology to disrupt and distract me detracts from the purposes of reading. But it’s not just the impact on my general reading that has me concerned, but the potential influence it will have on my spiritual reading.”
What are some misconceptions of Calvinism? (Video)
This video addresses a few common misconceptions of Calvinism.
The Key To Understanding The Bible
“All through the Bible, the blessings of faith are for those who trust. The blessings of obedience are for those who obey. The generosity of God is for those who admit their need and come to him. The wisdom of God is for those who listen.”
Words Grow Wiser with Age
This is so good. “We should take care to position ourselves as experts on anything unless we truly are qualified for such a title. Instead, let’s be slow to speak, because wisdom is often found and best communicated with such careful treading, and our words will likely grow better with age.”
Flashback: Showing Mercy in A Feeding Frenzy
Far more people know their financial poverty than their spiritual poverty. Don’t we feel a deep compassion toward those who do not know Jesus and who don’t even know that they need him?

The reason God commands us to love Him with all our heart is not because He is an egomaniac! It is because He knows that anything we love more than Him will betray us. —Matt Papa

Today’s post is written by Bill Mounce and is sponsored by Zondervan. Bill is the author of Why I Trust the Bible and Basics of Biblical Greek.

The Bible makes some astonishing claims about itself. The apostle Paul tells his friend Timothy that every word of the Bible comes from the mouth of God (2 Tim 3:16). The Bible says God personally wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger (Exod 31:18; Deut 9:10). Almost five hundred times, the prophets preface their prophecies with the claim “says the Lord.” Jesus says, “I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken” (John 12:49). Under normal circumstances, if someone says they speak for God, I doubt many of us would pay attention. But this is exactly what the Bible says about itself. Do you believe it?
We can no longer assume that people trust their Bible and believe what it says about itself. Western culture has shifted away from its Judeo-Christian heritage, and the popular media has launched such an attack on the believability of Scripture that many churchgoers have serious questions about the Bible. Questions like:

Did Jesus actually live?
Did the biblical writers get it right, or did they slant, massage, or even create the Bible we have today?
The Gospels were written long after Jesus lived; how can you trust them?
How can you believe a Bible that’s full of internal contradictions with itself and external contradictions with science and history?
Why should we believe the right books are in the Bible? Many books were left out, like the Gospel of Thomas.
Why trust the Bible when there are so many contradictory translations?

Wherever I travel in the world, whether I am speaking at conferences or universities or churches, there is one burning question. Can I trust the Bible? Why should I trust the Bible? Gone are the days of the veneer of a Christian culture where trust was assumed. Gone are the days when the Bible was given the benefit of the doubt. We live in a culture that aggressively attacks the Bible and those who were raised to trust it. University freshman are being challenged in every class. Parents often do not know what to do or how to help.
Some people feel it’s wrong to ask these fundamental questions; but if you never seriously ask them, you’ll never be convinced that the Bible is true and trustworthy. So I invite you to ask the hard questions, read the controversies and solutions, and decide for yourself whether you trust your Bible. Does it contain the very words of God?
I wrote the book, Why I Trust the Bible because people need to know the challenges of the day and the solutions to the questions raised. As is true of all systems of belief that deal with the ultimate questions of reality—Christianity, Islam, Materialism, Atheism—we all must have faith. I can’t prove the Bible is trustworthy, but I don’t have to put my brain on the shelf in order to believe in its trustworthiness. There are good answers to the hard questions being asked today, and none of the questions need to drive anyone to despair.
After forty-nine years of consistent and serious study of the New Testament, I am more convinced than ever that the Bible contains the very words of God and is wholly trustworthy.
This post is adapted from the Preface of Bill Mounce’s book Why I Trust the Bible. Order the book or find out more info.

Bill Mounce (PhD, Aberdeen University) lives as a writer in Washougal, Washington. He is the President of BiblicalTraining.org, a non-profit organization offering world-class educational resources for discipleship in the local church. See www.BillMounce.com for more information. Formerly he was a preaching pastor, and prior to that a professor of New Testament and director of the Greek Program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is the author of the bestselling Greek textbook, Basics of Biblical Greek, and many other resources. He was the New Testament chair of the English Standard Version translation of the Bible and is serving on the NIV translation committee.
What people are saying about Why I Trust the Bible:
“Bill Mounce has produced a remarkably clear, comprehensive, and level-headed resource that carefully and graciously explains each type of objection that has been lodged against the Bible, and then answers each objection with convincing facts and arguments. I expect that all who read it will gain deeper confidence in the trustworthiness of the Bible.”—WAYNE GRUDEM, Phoenix Seminary
“Ordinary believers wonder whether the Bible is really true, whether we can truly trust the Scriptures. Why I Trust the Bible represents a learned and accessible response to such questions. Many, I believe, will be assured in their faith by reading this important book.”—THOMAS R. SCHREINER, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“We live in a time when truth is subject to a person’s preferences and what is called ‘truth’ is really just formulated montage of misinformation. We need accessible and accurate information for people from all walks of life. In Why I Trust the Bible, Bill Mounce invites Christ-followers and doubters to consider the reasonable and sound answers he provides to today’s tough questions.—ERIC MASON, Epiphany Fellowship
“This excellent volume is a treasure trove of explanations of difficult texts and answers to skeptics’ questions about the Bible. With each chapter, I found my confidence in the integrity of the biblical text reaffirmed and strengthened. Bill Mounce is uniquely qualified to respond to the many arguments against the authority and trustworthiness of the Bible, and I highly commend this book to anyone who is struggling to believe that Scripture is genuinely God-breathed.”—SAM STORMS, Bridgeway Church
Go here to order Why I Trust the Bible or find out more info.

While there are many places you can go today to find deals on electronics and other big-ticket items, I like to provide a place for Christian retailers to make their deals known to Christians who are trying to kick-start their Christmas shopping (or to just buy great resources at significant discounts). I will update this list regularly throughout the weekend, so you may want to return to a few times. Be sure to check back on Monday for Cyber Monday deals.

Amazon
Amazon has a huge variety of products discounted. From electronics to toys to games, there are deals across almost every category. Perhaps of greater interest is Kindle devices: the all-new Kindle, Paperwhite, and Oasis (which I find the best of them all) are all deeply discounted.
Westminster Books
Westminster Books has a lot of deals listed in their 2022 Christmas Gift Guide and Black Friday Deals which has discounts up to 68% off. Top deals include:

Christian Book Distributors
CBD has a wide-ranging Black Friday Sale that covers some really good books (and some really bad ones). I’ve sorted through it all to try to pull out some of the highlights. Separately, you can find a long list of Bibles that are on sale.

Logos
Logos has a number of deals you’ll want to look at if you are a user of their software. Among the highlights:

The Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series is down to $4.99 per volume (an ideal series for pastors or non-pastors alike)
The Pillar New Testament Commentary series is down to $9.99 each (this is my favorite and most-trusted commentary series)
There are lots of other books, bundles resources, and Mobile Ed products deeply discounted

10ofThose
10ofThose has discounts on a wide variety of books with some reaching as high as 76%.
Accordance
Accordance is offering 25% off everything. Just enter coupon code 25-all at checkout to SAVE 25% off all items in your cart. You can use the code as often as you like.
Banner of Truth
Banner of Truth has a good number of books and other items discounted up to 50%. You can view the PDF flyer here.
Crossway
Crossway is offering 60% off Men’s and Women’s Study Bibles.
Getty Music
Getty Music has deals on physical and downloadable products as well as tickets for their upcoming Christmas concerts.
Ligonier Ministries
Ligonier has a $5 Friday which a huge variety of books and teaching series available.
Missional Wear
Missional Wear has select products at up to 50% off, plus all items marked as in-stock and shipping now at 15% off using code CHALLIES15. That includes shirt deals, stocking stuffers, drinkware, etc.
New Growth Press
New Growth Press is offering 40% off many of their products with coupon code BLACK40.
Reformation Heritage Books
RHB’s Thanksgiving Week Sale has up to 65% off on a selection of great titles including Simonetta Carr’s Church History, a number of volumes from the Lectio Continua commentary series, as well as a number of book sets (like R.C. Sproul Signature Classics, etc).
The Gospel Coalition
TGC is offering a discount on conference registration along with 4 free books.
Truth for Life
Truth for Life has deals on book bundles, Alistair Begg devotionals, and an ESV that is marked down from $199 to $35.
Wretched
Todd Friel’s Wretched has 50% off Wretched products. If you spend $50 you’ll get free shipping and a free copy of season one of the series Transformed.
Visual Theology
Visual Theology has some solid Black Friday Deals going on right now. All Advent materials are 25% off, and all memberships are 50% off with code black2022. It’s an excellent opportunity to download every poster, slideshow, handout, workbook, and more! These deals run through the end of the month. Also, since Advent starts in just two days, you can grab the annual countdown poster from Visual Theology in either full color or a version you can color each day. And new for this year is a complete coloring book! For 29 days, you’ll follow the Christmas story as told in four distinct aspects of the Gospel. Both for kids and adults, start your Advent countdown today! Subscribe to their newsletter, and you’ll get the first week of coloring pages for free.