The beginning of a new month is a good time to pause and remember this: That right now, at the very moment, the Lord is reigning from his throne.
I continue to update Kindle deals on a near-daily basis. If you check in just once per day, it’s usually best to do so around 7 AM EST since that is around when I finalize the list for the day. Amazon often puts books on sale for just 24 hours, so you’ll want to keep close tabs.
(Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books for November 2023)

Samuel James: “This week Kevin DeYoung published a fine essay which engages generously but critically with Doug Wilson and his particular brand of provocative Reformed theology. I commend the entire piece to you, not just because it is well-written and convincing, but because one of the most important things evangelicals need to remember right now is that many of the either/or dilemmas that are typical of culture war are illusory.”

This article helpfully pushes counselors (and, by extension, any Christian engaged in counseling another person) to listen to the heart behind bad theology before immediately correcting it.

How could a good God allow evil? Is the Bible homophobic? Is Christ really the only way? Whether you’re new to the faith or have been raised in Christianity your whole life, these questions have most likely crossed your mind, perhaps even creating serious doubts for yourself or someone you know. If you want to deepen your own faith or help those who are struggling, we invite you to join us for our weekend seminar, “Christianity vs. Everybody,” hosted by DBTS. (Sponsored Link)

“Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim and now a former atheist, recently declared that she has converted to Christianity. This is a cause for great rejoicing. It is also a fascinating sign of the times.” Carl Trueman celebrates her salvation and looks at its significance.

Trevin Wax wants us to consider that “we can pray not only for those alive today but for those who will run the race in the decades and centuries after us. We pray for those yet unborn to one day be born again. O Lord, save our children and our children’s children!”

This is a strong answer to common questions like, “How much can people sin and still consider themselves a Christian? Is it possible to sin so much that we sin ourselves out of our salvation?”

Mark Dever has a call to the best kind of catholicity. “How catholic are we in our work as pastors? Do you actively work to partner with other local churches to fulfill the Great Commission? Or do you act as if your church can take the gospel to the ends of the earth all by yourselves?”

We begin our service distracted, narrow our focus to Jesus Christ, then broaden our gaze to living in this world for God’s glory. We do it again the next week, and again the week after that.

Endurance is not a magic spell that falls upon the Christian. Endurance comes from knowing what God’s word requires, knowing who we are according to God’s word, and knowing that God’s word lasts when all else falters and fails.
—Kevin DeYoung

Good morning my friends. Grace and peace to you.

Today’s Kindle deals include a selection from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: On Helping Your Wife Become Like Christ by Identifying Her Every Fault)
Who Are the 144,000?
Tom Schreiner provides his interpretation of the 144,000 of Revelation 7.
When the Story Doesn’t Have a Happy Ending
Amy tells of a time when a missionary story didn’t have a happy ending and how it played out in her ministry.
Free John Piper audiobook from ONE Audiobooks
ONE Audiobooks is giving away a free download to John Piper’s book Why I Love the Apostle Paul–no strings attached!   ONE offers FREE access to thoughtful Christian audiobooks every month. (Sponsored Link)
The Christian Life is a Waiting Life
“Christianity rests on promises from God to his people. Therefore, waiting is an essential part of life for those who follow Jesus.” It is, indeed.
Tyranny Follows Where Truth Fades
“In 2007, 14-year-old Yeonmi Park crossed a frozen river and three mountains in a desperate attempt to leave North Korea. Eventually, after suffering dreadful abuse in China, she made it safely to South Korea. In 2014, she received the opportunity to study in America, where she would be able to pursue an education in the ‘land of the free.’” Sharon James writes about one of Francis Schaeffer’s insights.
The Journey of the Seed
This is a neat description of what it takes for a seed to become a berry, and what it takes for the gospel to do its work.
A Very Nuanced Take on Everything
This is a clever article. I need to think a little bit more about a few of the pairings.
Flashback: How to Avoid the Worst Form of Failure
Do you want to succeed at life’s greater things? Then direct your life toward glorifying God by loving others.

If our souls are resting in Christ, if our hearts be filled with a tranquil gladness, work will be easy, duties pleasant, sorrow bearable, endurance possible. —A.W. Pink

Somewhere deep inside, each one of us longs for more. We want more money, more authority, more followers, more of whatever it is that we find especially desirable or especially validating. “Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,” says the Sage, “and never satisfied are the eyes of man” (Proverbs 27:20). We live within a vicious cycle of longing, receiving, and longing all over again.

Yet the longing for more is not always bad and not necessarily wrong. There may be good reasons to long for more—more gifts, more responsibilities, more opportunities to serve the Lord. God is not opposed to giving us more. But he means to give us more according to our faithfulness with what he has already given.

Give me a bigger congregation, wishes the pastor! But what are you doing with the one you have now? Are you being a faithful shepherd over that small flock? And are you really ready to accept the weightier responsibility that will come with more?

Give me more readers, wishes the author! But how are you being faithful with the readers you have at this moment? How are you blessing and serving them with the words you write? Your faithfulness with hundreds predicts your faithfulness with thousands or millions.

Give me more money, wishes almost every one of us! But how are you proving yourself a faithful steward of the money God has already blessed you with? It is folly to think generosity depends upon abundance. If you will not give out of your lack, you will not give out of your plenty.

If you will not be committed to God’s purposes in little things, you provide no evidence that you will be committed to God’s purposes in great things. If you cannot faithfully steward little there is no reason to think you will faithfully steward much. Hence, God may be holding back what you long for to save you from the catastrophe of being unfaithful in much. He may be saving you from yourself. What you count a sorrow could actually be a rich blessing, for if you get what you want, it might destroy you.

God has placed you in the situation in which you can best prove your faithfulness to him. He has placed you right where you can best serve his cause. It is today that he means for you to prove your sincerity, here that he means for you to prove your love, and now that he means to for you to prove your devotion—in this circumstance, in this sphere, with this quantity.

It is folly to think generosity depends upon abundance. If you will not give out of your lack, you will not give out of your plenty.Share

And it is when you have proven yourself in this—when you have accepted it with joy and stewarded it with faithfulness—that God may see fit to give you that. Thus, if there is any longing for more in your heart, let it first be a longing for more of God’s glory, more of God’s fame, more wonder that he has seen fit to give you any of his blessings when you are so undeserving. And when you have proven yourself in what God has already given, when you have dedicated it to his cause and enlarged it for his purposes, perhaps he will deem you suitable to be stewards of more. Or maybe he will keep you just where you are and just as you are. Either way, you can trust him fully.

So don’t resent that you serve God in a small arena. Don’t feel sorry for yourself that you write for a small audience or preach before a small congregation. Be honored that God lets you serve him at all and deploy what he’s given you for the good of others and the glory of God. Be faithful in little and fully discharge your duty before God. Leave it to the riches of his wisdom to determine whether he will call you to prove your faithfulness over more.