March Matchups at Logos has wrapped up for the year and lots of great deals are ready for the taking. You’ll find 50% off Preaching the Word Commentary Series, 57% off Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary, 60% off Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Collection, and so on. Get them all here.

I did add just a couple of new Kindle deals to the list as well.
(Yesterday on the blog: Behind-the-Scenes: Endorsements)
Midlife, Christ Is
Jared Wilson reflects on midlife. “Midlife brings new insecurities and awakenings to long-dormant regrets. Many of us face empty nests and the prospect of, in effect, starting over with spouses we’ve only related to for so long as co-parents rather than as partners or friends. Many of us face the reality of aging parents and any fears or worries or responsibilities that come with that.”
Pastors and Social Media
“If I were on a church’s pastoral search committee, one question I would have for each candidate is: What social media accounts do you use, how often do you publish on them, and who in your life has total access to your page and your private messages and could confront you, if necessary, about anything on there?” Samuel James explains.
Wood Wide Web
The John 10:10 Project has another of their fascinating videos.
The Great Reunion Awaits: Reflections a Year After Nanci Entered Heaven
Randy Alcorn: “A year ago … on March 28, 2022, I said goodbye—for now—to my wife, Nanci, who was also my partner, soulmate, and best friend. The pilgrimage of grief, though full of learning and enrichment, is one I would gladly exchange to have my wife with me again. And yet…not really, because I recognize God’s sovereignty and love, and His perfect plan, and the fact that my wife is now happier than she has ever been.”
What Is Lust?
What is lust? That’s a good question…
When Did Jesus Die? (Do We Know the Day and Time?)
“Ever wondered, ‘When did Jesus die?’ It’s a perfectly reasonable question as we near the celebration of Easter. The good news is there’s a fairly straightforward answer.”
Flashback: It’s Better To Suffer Wrong
Whatever we have suffered has not taken place outside of his will, beyond his providence, or past the jurisdiction of his sovereignty. This injustice was not unforeseen by God and did not catch him by surprise.

We forget too easily the words of the Lord Jesus; but He never forgets a promise He makes! —J.R. Miller

I have said it before: gossip is a “respectable sin” among Reformed Christians. The Christian world, and perhaps especially the Reformed Christian world, is absolutely chockablock with gossip. From the pulpit to the pew, from the conference green room to the conference hallways, gossip is rampant. It is whispered in the name of important information and blogged in the name of discernment—both ways of dressing it up in respectable apparel. But if it isn’t true and it isn’t edifying and it isn’t necessary, it is gossip. Truly, gossip may be the besetting sin of this movement and a major contributor to her current or coming collapse.(1)

I don’t want to make it sound as if I am immune to this sin or that I’ve never participated in it. In fact, recent experiences in my life have shown how quick I am to initiate conversations that soon tip into gossip and how slow I am to redirect conversations initiated by others that also dwell on what is little better than tittle-tattle. I write to myself as much as anyone else.
If you love the Reformed faith, which is to say, if you value Reformed doctrine, then I offer this exhortation: Make it your goal to talk about Jesus, not celebrities. Make it your goal to tell about the perfections of the Savior more than the failures of the famous. Make it your goal to describe what God has done, not what Christian personalities have failed to do.
This is not to say that there are no circumstances in which it is appropriate to discuss current events and even the foibles and failures of those people who rise and fall within this corner of the Christian world. Sometimes such conversations can be good and necessary, provided they are carried out within the bounds of Christian character and that they go no further than the established facts. Paul named names when appropriate and I’m sure he sometimes gathered his protégés around himself to discuss what had gone wrong with Demas or Hymenaeus or Alexander and what they could learn from those who had first followed and then fallen away.
But a moment’s introspection should show that the great majority of our conversations about people are neither helpful nor edifying, neither concerned with truth nor spoken in love. The great majority of our conversations that revolve around those who have stumbled or fallen are speculative at best and slanderous at worst. The great majority of what has come from our lips and what has come to our ears is unnecessary and unprofitable. I am certain this is true of you because it’s true of me and true even of so many of the people we look up to. (Trust me—I’ve been around our heroes and I can attest from personal experience that they are as prone to this as any of us.)
I have often wished I could remove from my mind all the evil things I have heard about others—things that were whispered in my ear at a conference or delivered as a message into my inbox, but things I now associate with those individuals. I have often wished that person hadn’t told me, “I know his wife and she says he has an anger problem,” or “I spent time at her house and you should see the size of it.” I have often wished I could obliterate all those pieces of information that could be true or untrue, accurate or pure fiction. I have often wished I had asked that person to just stop, that I had had the strength of character to resist hearing it. And, of course, I have often wished that I myself had only ever spoken what was true, what was necessary, what was genuinely meant to serve Christ’s cause.
Though this movement was once defined by its doctrine, I fear it is increasingly defined by its celebrities. So now, rather than aligning with truth we align with people. This being the case, to participate in Reformed Christianity is to discuss personalities rather than theology. Need proof? When was the last time you had a conversation about the five points? But on the other hand, when was the last time you spoke about that guy who was accused of that transgression? When was the last time you marveled about the facts of the five solas? But then when was the last time you speculated about that pastor who has fallen under his church’s discipline? This kind of gossip is a blight on our theological tradition and a reason many abandon it. There are many who reject Reformed theology not because of its doctrines but because of its adherents—because of you and me and the way we blather on about people, people, people.
We will be a blessing to the church if instead of spending our time discussing the failures of celebrities we spend it going deeper into those precious truths that undergird it. We will be a blessing to the world around us if instead of obsessing about people we fix our hearts on Christ. So take this as my call to you and to me and to all of us: Let’s stop the gossip. Let’s stop the gossip and instead make it our delight to speak about who our God is and about what our God has done.

Grace, mercy and peace to you.
The Kindle deals continue! We’ve been spoiled over the past few days. Today you can find, among others, Geoffrey Chang’s excellent Spurgeon the Pastor.
Just a reminder to Logos users that time is running out to save on all the commentaries that were discounted during March Matchups. The winner was Baker Commentary on the Old Testament and it is 60% off. Several other great series are also discounted almost as much. Also be sure to grab a free book by Jerry Bridges.
(Yesterday on the blog: What God Wants You To Forget)

Rachel Roth Aldhizer makes a strong case against the abortion pill in this lengthy and powerful piece for First Things. “Abortion advocates tell us that abortion is safe. By becoming legal, so the story goes, hidden violence is made safe, and it must be protected because without abortion access, women will die. The majority of abortions in the United States are now medical as opposed to surgical, induced with the controversial medication mifepristone. The FDA claims this process is safe, with an extremely low complication rate. But there is another story.”

That Jesus was crucified (hanged on a tree) is not an incidental detail. Roland Barnes explains at Ligonier. (Also at Ligonier, it’s a good time to read R.C. Sproul’s “Jesus Became a Curse for Us.”

Two years after the death of Nanci, Randy Alcorn shares some of what he has learned about grieving with hope. “The single greatest help to my grieving well is that I have come to truly sense Jesus with me. He is my friend and is with me and walking alongside me. The friendship of Jesus is the most comforting reality in my life.”

“It’s a lot of work to untangle the agenda of the beautiful people we see on social media. Their agenda isn’t usually evil, but it certainly isn’t helping us to love the Lord. We need God’s help to do this work. But we also need a clear conviction that we are fighting worldliness by taking the time to walk through these steps or the effort will seem unnecessary.”

Though this article is especially about podcasts, it opens up much wider avenues for thought. “I find myself wondering: In the era of addictive, algorithmically sorted, short-form visual media, are podcasts a return to the past? Could podcasts in the church make us all a bit less stupid? Maybe.”

Melissa has a sweet reflection on parenting little ones. “Each and every day of parenting has its challenges, but maybe the biggest challenge of all is just learning not to wish your life away. The past was sweet. The future looks bright. But right now is filled with joys of all kinds, even when I’m running behind her in the shoe store, grabbing hold of her tiny sweater.”

We are to bear patiently through suffering and persecution, we are to endure hardship, we are to entrust ourselves to God. We are to do all of this even—and perhaps especially—when our trials come at the hands of those who profess Christ.

The aged believer seems to see deeper into God’s Word—and further into God’s heaven.
—Theodore Cuyler