Good morning! Grace and peace to you.

Today’s Kindle deals include a nice little collection from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: Tell God the Unvarnished Story)
Four Compelling Reasons I Am Pro-Life
“While much more could be said, these four reasons I am pro-life are reasons that I want to be on the tip of my tongue and that I hope will be on yours, also.”
Let the Little Children Come
This one from Madelyn is one the same theme of abortion.
How can I grow in my experiential knowledge of God?
How can we grow in our experiential knowledge of God? Here’s an answer from several theologians.
Josef Tson: What His Suffering for Christ in Communist Romania Taught Him, and Can Teach Us
Randy Alcorn: “God convicted Josef. As a pastor he refused to glorify communist leaders and started to speak out boldly for Christ. Interrogators threatened him with death every day for six months. Finally he told them, ‘Your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying. My preaching will speak ten times louder after you kill me.’”
How to Patiently Prepare for Missionary Work Among the Unreached and Unengaged
How can someone prepare to serve among the unreached and unengaged? This article offers some wisdom.
The Case for (Slightly) Shorter Sermons
I don’t agree with everything here, but I do think he’s on to something when he points out that it’s much easier to write a long, bad sermon than a short, good one. Concision has a way of keeping us honest.
Flashback: Why My Family Doesn’t Do Sleepovers
As I got older I learned of several people I knew who had been taken advantage of during sleepovers, and it wasn’t a perverse father in most cases, but a predatory older brother or sister or cousin. Sometimes it was even the friend himself.

The only fortune worth anything that you can give your child is the fortune you put in his head and heart. —DeWitt Talmage

Grace and peace to you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include a selection from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: God Has Thrown Some Husks)
God Has Something to Say in Your Worship Service
This is a key to understanding worship. “The Scriptures … [teach] that worship is not where we gather together to speak about God; rather, worship is where God summons us into his presence in order to speak to us. To be sure, we will speak as well, but only as a response to what first God says to us.”
Trusting in the Absence of Peace
“We often think that trust means we won’t have any anxiety. But what if the goal isn’t to rid ourselves of anxiety? What if the goal is to learn how to trust in the midst of anxiety?”
Do Reformed Protestants and Roman Catholics understand grace differently?
You probably know that Protestants and Catholics understand grace differently, but in this video Sinclair Ferguson explains how.
What If Jesus Turns Me Away?
“Throughout history, many Christians have struggled with the fear that they’re not one of God’s elect. Might God keep certain people from approaching Christ, even though they know he’s the only one who can save us? Does Jesus keep some people from coming to him for mercy? And if you’re struggling with these questions, what should you do?”
Sometimes I Struggle With the Bible
If we’re honest, we all struggle with the Bible from time to time, don’t we?
I Didn’t Want to go to Church
“Recently it took everything within me to drag myself to church (for Wednesday night Bible study). My body was tired, my mind exhausted, and my heart fatigued. Further, it meant bringing both children who, for one reason or another, always decide to act wild on those nights. Long story short, I went to church that evening.”
Flashback: Is It Time To Go Back to The Heart of Worship?
Somehow music changed from being a means to worship Jesus to a means to impress unbelievers (who, ironically, weren’t that impressed).

A good bit of homely, practical, common-sense wisdom, says that there are two classes of things we should not worry about—things we can help, and things we cannot help. —J.R. Miller

Every now and again I collect so much good material that I can’t fit it all into that week’s A La Carte posts. When that happens I’ve been known to create a Sunday edition—something I am doing today. I hope there’s something here that grabs your attention!

John Piper considers whether hidden sin can bring physical suffering. (He also points out, crucially, that not all physical suffering is caused by hidden sin.)

And, on a somewhat similar note, here’s John Beeson. “The voice of shame is consistent. It catastrophizes and wants us to hide our secrets. Shame begets more shame as we create new secrets to cover up past secrets. It tells us that the pain will be too much, that things will get better over time if we just keep our secret hidden for a little longer.”

Andy Naselli considers why Paul calls love “the greatest of these.” “Love is not a spiritual gift. It is essential for using spiritual gifts, and it is more important than spiritual gifts.”

I appreciate Todd Friel’s handling of the recent controversy related to Alistair Begg. His focus in this video is not the issue itself, but the way it is handled and the fallout from it. And, crucially, it’s on preserving and protecting unity within the church.

So many people have tried to figure out the nature of Abraham Lincoln’s faith. This opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal offers some interesting thoughts on it. “The First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Ill., opened in 1876, but its most famous congregant never crossed the church’s threshold. Abraham Lincoln’s relationship with First Presbyterian dates to an earlier location, across town, and it was by no means an easy connection.”

I really enjoy Chris Martin’s weekly “The Funnies” newsletter. It’s kind of like the weekend comic sections that used to come in a newspaper—just a few good laughs.
And that’s it for today. See you again tomorrow!