May the God of love and peace be with you on this fine day.

(Yesterday on the blog: No Unfinished Sculptures)
The Gifts of This Age Point Us to the Age Still to Come
Jared Wilson: “What Jesus is saying is that marriage is meant for this age to point us to the reality of that age. How does it do that? There are so many broken marriages, and always have been since the fall, but it was originally like that. And even the best marriages, even the ones that last until death do them part, are often fraught with conflict or hurts or just disappointments.”
He Would Have Come With Me
I enjoyed this story of how God changed one man’s heart.
Navigating Cross-Cultural Relationships
Chopo Mwanza provides an interesting example of a cross-culture difference and offers some good counsel on navigating cross-cultural relationships.
Open Door
“Over the years. In various cultures. Conversations over tea build friendships. And open doors. And our exchange moves from common everyday themes to the topic most essential. And dearest to my heart. Jesus.”
We Agree, Right?
Holly Mackle: “I’ve noticed a curious trend lately: in conversations with acquaintances or strangers I realize my conversation partner presumes I believe the same way they do on a given topic. Sometimes subtle, sometimes overt, whether the topic is politics, pandemic, or Pandora stations—it just keeps happening.”
In John 3:16, Does “The World” Refer To The Elect Or To Fallen Humanity? (Video)
Sinclair Ferguson answers well in this short video.
On Divisions and the Kingdom
“Are you growing in righteousness, and peace, and joy? All the things which we are absorbing, all the debates we are throwing ourselves into, all of our stances, all of our focus and attention on the things which divide, all of our talking points….are these bringing about righteousness and peace and joy? Maybe, then, they aren’t the stuff the kingdom is made of.”
Flashback: One Very Good Reason to Read Your Bible
The benefit of knowledge of God and intimacy with God extends to your family, to your neighbors, to your church. If you can’t or won’t do devotions for your own sake, won’t you do it for the sake of others?

Nothing is too great and nothing is too small to commit into the hands of the Lord. —A.W. Pink

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Today’s Kindle deals include a long list of good books.
Logos is kicking off a new month with a sale on many of the best commentaries you can get. (Also, use the code EXTRASAVINGS to get $10 off a purchase of $100, $25 off $200, $45 off $300, or $75 off $500.)
(Yesterday on the blog: Fourteen Signs That You Might Be Legalistic)
Supreme Court Issues Ruling Protecting Religious Free Speech
Joe Carter explains an important Supreme Court decision. (See also Denny Burk)
Money Makes a Horrible Master and a Valuable Servant
Randy Alcorn: “Money has social and economic benefits that can be used for the betterment of people. As a plow can be used for honest labor and a sack of grain for feeding a family, so money, which simply represents their value, can be used for good.”
The Story of Us
Shane Rosenthal writes about words and stories and other important things.
Yearning for Oneness: A John 17 Meditation
What does it look like to yearn for oneness with God, and how do we get there? That’s the topic of this article.
Why Is it Better That Jesus Went Away?
“God never leaves his people. If the Holy Spirit has been God’s tangible presence among his people throughout their history, surely the Spirit’s descending on Jesus at his baptism and the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost are continuations of the same story. We see this promise coming to fruition in John 14–16.”
Not THAT Kind of Homosexual Behavior? (Video)
This is a good answer to a very common (but misguided) understanding of some Greek words.
Flashback: The Utter Horror of the Smallest Sins
…our hearts are so desperately wicked that there’s no area of life in which we won’t express our rebellion against God.

There is a difference between the preaching of someone who is, in disposition, on his knees before you and someone who is on his feet lording it over you. —Sinclair Ferguson

This week I read Michael Haykin’s Iron Sharpens Iron, a short book about great friendships. I found a couple of quotes in the book that I thought would be worth sharing so you can reflect on them as I have.

The first is an excerpt from John Ryland’s sermon at the funeral of his friend Andrew Fuller. Their friendship, he said, had
never met with one minute’s interruption by any one unkind word or thought, of which I have any knowledge. I never had a friend who was so willing to stand by me, even in such services as most others would wish to decline; yet I never had a friend who would more faithfully, freely, and affectionately give me warning or reproof, if ever it appeared necessary; or whom I could more readily and freely, and without the least apprehension of giving offence, tell of any fault which I imagined I could see in him. And this I think is the best friendship in the world. For no man is faultless; and true friendship will not be blind to the failings of those we love best; but will rather show itself in an anxious concern to prevent the least appearance of evil in them, or whatever might occasion their good intentions to be misrepresented. After having lost long ago the venerable Newton and the first Robert Hall, who were the counsellors of my youth; after losing the affectionate Pearce, and the humble and prudent Sutcliff, two other founders of our Mission, this most faithful and judicious friend is also taken from me, and never will my loss be repaired upon earth!
And then, a bit later in the book, is another neat little quote, this one from Robert Hall Jr., who makes some interesting remarks on the nature and benefits of friendship.
He who has made the acquisition of a judicious and sympathizing friend, may be said to have doubled his mental resources: by associating an equal, perhaps a superior mind, with his own, he has provided the means of strengthening his reason, of perfecting his counsels, of discerning and correcting his errors. He can have recourse at all times to the judgement and assistance of one, who with the same power of discernment with himself, comes to the decision of a question with a mind neither harassed with the perplexities, nor heated with the passions, which so frequently obscure the perception of our true interests. Next to the immediate guidance of God by his Spirit, the counsel and encouragement of virtuous and enlightened friends afford the most powerful aid, in the encounter of temptation and in the career of duty.
Perhaps these quotes, or the whole book should you read it, will help you pursue Christian friendships and better appreciate the ones you already have…