There are a few Kindle deals to look through today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Affirming God’s Image)
‘Top Secret’ Maps Reveal the Massive Allied Effort Behind D-Day
National Geographic has a really good overview of D-Day, the planning that went into it, and the weeks that followed. (This is, after all, the 75th anniversary of that day.)
What Is Your Crazy Dream?
I enjoyed Anne Kennedy’s kind of snarky look at the latest lifestyle guru to tell you to discover and pursue your crazy dream. “Do I have to have a crazy dream? Couldn’t it just be that I both try to fulfill my obligations in life, to worship God rather than myself, and to do the things that I find interesting in and of themselves, for their own sake rather than for the ends they might serve?”
10 Questions for Examining Your Life
If you think you’d benefit from a time of deliberate self-examination, here’s a guide that may prove helpful. “God has given two gifts to help you examine yourself successfully. These are his Word and his Spirit. The Word will show you sins and failings. The Spirit will open your eyes to see them. Self-examination, rightly pursued, will bring great benefits to your Christian life.”
Biblical Metaphors for the Christian Life
I love the topic of this month’s Tabletalk magazine: Biblical metaphors for the Christian life. There’s a selection of articles to read.
What Does It Mean When a Product Is ‘Amazon’s Choice’?
Essentially, it probably doesn’t mean much. Do your own research and don’t assume Amazon is guiding you to the best option.
What We Lose When We Collapse the Four Gospels into One
“So what do we lose when we collapse the four Gospels into one? I believe we lose at least three things: the author’s unique perspective, the artistry of the story, and the apologetic of the life of Jesus.”
Against Open Doors
Aaron Denlinger: “Sometimes a closed door simply needs to be pushed on harder. Sometimes an open door needs to be passed by. The wisdom and biblical principles that govern decision making should always take precedence over providential ‘signs’ that Scripture never bids us decipher.”
Flashback: The Bible’s Three Big Lessons on Debt
Debt is not always wrong, but in most cases it is inadvisable. It is the better part of wisdom to avoid debt whenever possible, to enter it with only the utmost caution, and to discharge it at the earliest opportunity.

The mere fact itself that God’s will is irresistible and irreversible fills me with fear, but once I realize that God wills only that which is good, my heart is made to rejoice. —A.W. Pink

May the Lord bless and keep you today.

One Day (Far Side of Our Sorrow)
There is a lot of sweet hope in this song. “Hallelujah, there’s a far side of our sorrow / Hallelujah, there’s a hope beyond the grave / Today we mourn / But one day we won’t / So stand and sing the songs today / And grieve but not without hope.”
Wise Men Still Seek Jesus & How to Be Like Them
“However, if you’re not sure that the little baby in the manger is truly the King of the World, I invite you to do as the wise men did, go out and search for him. He is not hiding, and he is not lost.”
Opening the doors
This is another sweet reflection by Andrée Seu Peterson.
WATCH KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY’S IRISH CHRISTMAS CONCERT FREE
Join Ireland’s own Keith & Kristyn Getty for a one-night-only livestream of Sing! An Irish Christmas—live from the Museum of the Bible! Gather your family and sing the songs of Christmas together again through soaring melodies and foot-stomping Irish-American renditions of your favorite Christmas hymns. RSVP today and receive a FREE digital download of our keepsake hymnal and program book featuring new songs from the Gettys, devotional material and advent readings, and more! (Sponsored Link)
Confess with Your Mouth Jesus Is Lord
It’s worth asking: Is it quite right to speak about making Jesus your Lord and Savior?
Are There Differences between Christ’s Humanity and Ours?
There are deep waters to swim in here. “What kind of human nature did Christ assume in the incarnation? Was it the nature of Adam before the fall, a sinless nature but with the potential to disobey God and fall into sin? Or did he take a fallen nature, like Adam and his successors after the fall, with an in-built bias to sin? Or was it a nature preserved from sin and its associated contamination, and, if so, how could he still be one with us?”
Sin, Sorrow, and Joy of Christmas
“The lights glow softly, the Christmas music plays, and wondrous thoughts of the birth of our Savior fill our minds. What a blessing it is for the believer who still finds childlike joy at this time of year. Being ‘grown-up’ is a bit over-rated because being ‘grown-up,’ according to the world, usually entails a constant stiff upper lip and a cynical heart.”
Flashback: Moroni From the Realms of Glory
…you’ve got to be careful what you share online. What looks good at a glance may harbor some deep concerns.

If parents were half as diligent in praying for their children’s conversion as they are in keeping them from bad company, their children would turn out far better than they do. —J.C. Ryle

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.