The God of peace be with you on this fine day.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Danger of Being a Sermon Critic)

With the U.S. entering into an election year, Jake Meador has some notes on staying sane through it all. “Participation in electoral politics in a system such as the United States’s is quite complicated and virtually always involves making compromises. If you find yourself conversing with a Christian brother or sister who has voted in a way that offends or perplexes you, the best thing to do is simply ask them about their decision and then listen to their response without becoming triggered or cutting them off mid-sentence so you can say something offensive and unnecessary.”

Daniel Darling reflects on some of the recent polemics meant to slam evangelicalism. “Some have had good but hard words we need to hear. But most suffer from the same problems which make their attempt at being prophetic fall on deaf ears…”

Lara considers the human tendency to look for God in all the wrong places. “I watched an Instagram Reel a few weeks ago that chronicled a Christian influencer’s journey to finding God, and it ended with a picture of her and the words, ‘And I found You in me.’”

Robert Jones writes about marriage as a covenant and what is bound up in that kind of relationship. “In a day when this kind of marital commitment dwindles, God has given us as Christians fresh opportunities to show the world a different kind of marriage, one formed by a covenant, one that can last forty years and even beyond.”

Andrea has a sweet reflection (and lament, I suppose) about Christmas.

As the holiday season gives way to normalcy, Stephen asks an important question. “For all ours posts about what we’re doing for Christmas and how we’re going to take the seasonal opportunity, now the festivities are over, it seems worth asking a new question: what are you going to do the rest of the year to take advantage of the evangelistic opportunities in your community?”

Sorrow does not always lead to advances in holiness, but it always can and always should, for the Spirit is present in our sorrows, ready and eager to sanctify them to his precious purposes.

Pastors are not appointed to a church primarily to lead in the instruction of skills and the dissemination of information; they are appointed to a church primarily to lead in Christ-following.
—Jared C. Wilson

Logos users will want to take a look at this month’s free and nearly free books.

Meanwhile, there’s a nice collection Kindle deals to sort through today.
(Yesterday on the blog: Cast Your Burden Upon the Lord)
It can’t be both depending on how we feel
Stephen points out one of the massive contradictions among those who are pro-choice.
New Resolve After 55 Years in My Wheelchair
Joni Eareckson Tada reflects on the anniversary of the Disabilities Act and tells how great a difference it has made in her life.
God’s Plan Was Better Than My Plan
Micheal tells of one of those times when–difficult though it was–God’s plan was better than his own.
How Job Teaches Us to Grieve With Hope
“When deep pain and sorrow come into our lives, we experience a crossroads of sorts. We can either turn away from the Lord—deciding that God is not who he says he is and that he is holding out on us in some way— or we draw closer to God, believing that God’s character is unchanging and is always good”
How Harry Emerson Fosdick’s ‘Open Membership’ Overtook the Northern Baptist Convention
This is a good look at an interesting little piece of church history.
What Your Eyes Have Seen
“The human eye finds no match for its intricacies. High-end cameras still can’t compare to the technology found in this tiny little organ. Photographers who capture gorgeous landscapes must grapple with focus, dynamic range, filters, color consistency, and brightness adjustments to match the scene that lays before them. Our eyes do this all in an instant.”
Flashback: A Picture of Perfect Rest
…the rest God promises and the rest we enjoy comes amid the battle, not outside of it, during the race, not only after we have resigned. It is a rest that comes amid the turmoil, that flows when circumstances are dire, that rises up when hearts sink low.

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Today’s Kindle deals include some good picks from Crossway. Also, Eerdmans has all of their commentaries on sale at an 80% discount. That includes the excellent New International Commentary on the Old Testament, New International Commentary on the New Testament, New International Greek Testament Commentary, and the Pillar New Testament Commentary. This pricing applies to Amazon US only.
(Yesterday on the blog: Important Commentary Releases in 2023)
Turning on the Lights on Sin
“All around our world, darkness looms. It takes our once-vital bodies, our most precious relationships, or even our loved family members from our arms. We call it a curse of sin and use words like poison, brokenness, or death to describe the sin that covers the world on this side of the fall.  While these aren’t bad words to use, their frequent use can provide us with a skewed perspective of sin.”
My Husband Lied to Me. How Do I Know if I Can Trust Him Again? (Video)
Sadly, many people find themselves in this situation and have to ask this question.
The Overture
If you’d like to read an ongoing Christmas devotional, perhaps consider this one which is based on Handel’s Messiah.
Cooperating Under Persecution
“When I moved to China as a 23-year-old, I wanted to see how the gospel could take root and thrive in a place where the government, education system, and culture were arrayed against it. Naively, I assumed a rather simple equation: gospel preaching + persecution = church growth. The reality, of course, isn’t that simple.”
Grief Oblivion
Brittany Allen: “Grief floats through the air like smoke above us, entering our lungs—a breath thief. I look around to see hands wiping tears from eyes, looks of shock and helplessness. Death has shaken us again. My four-year-old sits under the smoke, unmoved, unaware. He flips through the pew Bible and smiles up at me, then at his daddy. He doesn’t notice the tears glazing my eyes; he can’t see the lump in my throat.”
Oversharing
Karen Wade Hayes considers the phenomenon of oversharing.
Flashback: I Fear God, and I’m Afraid of God
I do fear God. But these days I’m also finding myself afraid of God. I fear him in that sense of rightly assessing his power, his abilities, his sovereignty. But I’m also afraid of the ways he may exercise them.

The reason many people find so little comfort in their troubles, is because they do not accept them as sent from God, nor expect to receive blessing from them. —J.R. Miller