Happy Family Day to my fellow Canadians (who live in provinces that mark it). Happy Monday to everyone else!

Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent books for teens and young adults.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Power of True Holiness)
The Netflix Dilemma
“The ‘post-liberal’ condition we’re experiencing is, I think, closely tied to the choice dilemma. In other words, when human beings experience maximal self-determining liberty AND a virtually limitless set of options, more often than not the result will be frustration, not happiness.”
Pornography Use Is Becoming an ‘Acceptable’ Sin
“A recent poll shows pornography is affecting relationships between men and women—and reveals how indulging in porn is becoming an acceptable sin.” Joe Carter expresses concern.
The Curious Ways of God
“The other week I came across one of those sayings that sticks in your mind and makes you think: ‘An expert hits a target no-one else can hit; a genius hits a target no-one else can see.’ It struck me that there is a third level we could add: ‘the Lord hits a target no-one else can even imagine.’” I like that…
A Path for Marrying and Burying
“If you let them give me an Islamic funeral, I’ll come back and haunt all of you!” So begins a thought-provoking reflection from Central Asia.
Distinguished by Delight
“We long to be distinguished, to stand apart, to feel above from the crowds. As such, it is not surprising that an honorable way to introduce a famous or elite person is to say, ‘Please welcome the distinguished….’”
The State of a Heart
Melissa writes about the state of her heart (using more than one sense of the term).
Flashback: Something Left Undone
Longfellow’s “Something Left Undone” deals honestly with the reality that some things will always remain undone and that these incomplete tasks eventually become part of the burden we carry through life. I trust you’ll enjoy it as I did.

Your suffering does not define you. His does. —Dane Ortlund

It is engraved on many tombstones, inscribed in many cards, expressed in many obituaries: He died too soon. She was taken before her time.

Of all the mysteries in this universe, few are more perplexing than the mystery of God’s sovereignty over life and death. Why do some live to so advanced an age while others barely live at all? Why are some who display such promise taken before they can deploy their gifts? Why does God call some early to heaven who surely could have done so much good on earth? Why God, we ask? Why?
I’m quite sure that June is the best of the year here in Southern Ontario. The spring rains have given way to spring sun. The perennials that laid dormant through the long winter have burst out of the warming ground and the annuals that awaited the final frost have now been planted and begun to thrive. Yet because we have not yet reached the summer’s full heat, the grass is still unwithered and the lawns unscorched. The world is resplendent with every hue of green, every shade of red, yellow, and blue.
No one in this neighborhood gives more attention to her garden than Aileen. Her garden is her studio, her canvas, her gallery. She has designed it purposefully and tends to it carefully.
Some of the flowers in her garden sprang up when there was still snow on the ground. They bloomed quickly and beautifully, a foretaste of warmer days to come. And then they faded and were gone for another year. Some of the flowers waited until there was a long succession of warm afternoons before they began to stir and to push their shoots above the ground. And some of the flowers have yet to be seen as they await even warmer days, perhaps late in the summer or even early in the autumn. When the rest of the plants have already waned, these will provide a final splash of color before the snows return.
Whether these flowers bloom early or late, whether their blossoms last for a few days or for the whole summer, they each have their purpose, for they have each been planted by the hand of an expert gardener. This is true even of the ones that make only the earliest or only the briefest appearance. Their beauty is no less beautiful because of its brevity. Their role is no less important because they are the first to fade. In fact, we treasure those flowers all the more, for we know that our enjoyment will be short-lived.
The most beautiful gardens are the ones that are planned with the greatest skill and tended with the greatest care. And if we should give such attention and commit so much love to something as simple as a garden, shouldn’t we trust God to give even greater attention and even greater care to people crafted by his hand and made in his image? Shouldn’t we trust him to number the length of their days? Shouldn’t we trust him to know whether their purpose is to bloom for days or for decades? Shouldn’t we trust him to know how and when each will best display divine beauty?
The early flowers in our garden are every bit as beautiful as the late flowers, the ones that bloom for a day as wondrous as the ones that bloom for a summer. They are every bit as precious in our eyes, and surely in God’s as well. And so, too, the human beings that appear to die too soon or who seem to be taken before their time. These too can only have been planned to perfection by the mind of God. These, too, can only have fulfilled the purpose he assigned to them. These too, are precious in his sight.

The God of peace be with you on this fine day.
The daily list of Kindle deals tends to be finalized at around 6:30 AM, so it’s usually a good idea to check in after then.
Westminster Books has a deal on the newly-published set The Practical Works of Richard Baxter. Plus they’ve still got all ESVs at 50% off.
(Yesterday on the blog: As the Outer Is Peeled Away)

Every December Collin Hansen puts together a roundup of his top 10 theology stories of the year. It’s always interesting to read his picks and to decide whether you agree or disagree.

Lara d’Entremont: “Whenever I’m around professionals, I feel shame prickle my neck and cheeks. As they tell me about their journey from college to working their way to this position they’re currently in, I cringe when the silence comes—because we all know the next question. ‘What do you do?’ they ask nonchalantly. I look down at my feet and rub my neck. “Um, uh… I’m just a stay-at-home mom.’”

Michael Kruger addresses five common misconceptions about the Christmas story—stars, inns, mangers, wise men, and so on.

“Songs are shepherding tools. We think of the word preached as a tool of the shepherd, and it is. We think of prayer as a shepherding tool, and it is. We think of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as shepherding tools, and they are. But do we think of the songs as shepherding tools?” Jacob says we should and explains his reasoning.

It’s not often you find a Dutch Reformed pastor writing about dancing, but I’m glad Wes did here. “The return of Christ is when we’ll dance for joy. I mean that quite literally. That’s because the return of Christ brings about the resurrection of the dead. Our bodies will be raised imperishable. In that final state, we’ll have corporeal bodies with which to dance for joy.”

Cheryl explains how encouraging it was to listen carefully to the familiar Christmas songs. “I began to listen more closely to versions of traditional carols played during the Christmas season, paying attention to the words rather than just humming along with the familiar melodies.”

Your goodness unmasks the badness of the unbelievers around you. Your light illumines their darkness…And all of this is true even though you are so far from perfect, even though so much of the old man remains.

Faith is quenching the soul’s thirst at the fountain of God.
—John Piper