As we venture into a new month it’s a good time to remember that right now, at this very moment, God is reigning from his throne.

Westminster Books has a deal on a helpful new resource book.
Ministry Is Tough: When Self-Care Becomes Self-Absorption
Interesting… “I wonder if in some cases the cultural shift toward self-care has led to a new set of wrong assumptions among those just entering ministry. If the generation before me assumed the need for overworking to the point that people had to insist on self-care and say ‘Stop and take care of yourself before you burn out,’ I wonder if the generation behind me will assume the opposite. We’ll assume the need for self-care to the point that others may need to insist on hard and strenuous labor, even when it hurts.”
Answering the Challenge of Back-Alley Abortions
“Now that abortion-choice advocates sense abortion rights are slipping away, there is a growing fear that women who can’t obtain abortions will resort to desperate measures to end their pregnancies. As a result, we’re seeing an uptick in classic pro-choice rhetoric—specifically, the challenge that women will pursue dangerous, back-alley abortions.” Here’s how to answer that challenge.
Who Killed the Prayer Meeting?
This is so true: “The American church is functionally prayerless when it comes to corporate prayer. Of course, a remnant does the hidden work of prayer, but in most churches corporate prayer doesn’t function in any meaningful way.”
Blogging Is Never Going Away
I agree with Chris on this: “A lot of us in the Christian space have, over the years, wondered, ‘Is blogging dead?’ Some have wondered if podcasting, especially, would kill the blog. Though I am biased, because I am a writer and a words guy in general, I have long said that the blog will always have a place in online content. I’ve said, often with skeptical responses, that blogging is never going away.”
Following God When You Feel Forsaken
“Sometimes it feels like God has forsaken us. We don’t hear his voice. We don’t feel his presence. We struggle even to see his hand at work in the world. We cry with the psalmist, ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?’.”
Secular Liturgies Leave Me Longing for More
Darryl recently experienced a kind of secular liturgy and writes: “I left the meeting aware of the ways that we’re being formed without knowing it. I felt sad that the gospel of self-fulfillment and self-empowerment is so commonplace and unsatisfying. I long for more: for a higher purpose than my own satisfaction, a truer compass than my own feelings and intuitions, a better way to deal with what’s wrong with my soul.”
Flashback: One Of The Ugliest Sights In The World
Yet as we address God as Father, we must not behave like children who are peevish or petulant. We must not make demands, we must not level accusations or provide ultimatums. We must always pray that God’s will will be done, that God’s wisdom will be showcased, that God’s glory will be displayed.

Our family in Christ will more than make up for any family lost when we pursue Jesus and the gospel. —Jen Oshman

Here’s a prayer I use to begin most days. Perhaps you would like to adapt it for your own purposes. Lord, help me today to use my gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of your name.
I tracked down a few new Kindle deals and, of course, will check again in the morning. A good pick for today is Counterfeit Kingdom which examines new revelation and the New Age in the church.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Child of His Care)

I think you’ll enjoy this Olympic profile by Bethel McGrew. “Stephen Nedoroscik came to the Olympics with exactly one job. While his teammates vaulted, tumbled, and swung spectacularly through the air, he closed his eyes and envisioned the single moment that would determine whether they brought home a team medal. He had a very particular set of skills. But they weren’t the skills people typically think of when they picture a gymnastics routine. That was about to change.”

I have seen this question come up a number of times lately and appreciate Chris Castaldo taking it on. “Clearly, we face a dilemma. Do we want 14-year-old Sophie to be asked for her pronouns from her PE teacher? Or to attend activities for Pride Month? Or is it better for her to hear the Hail Mary every morning as it’s prayed by the principal over the intercom system?”

“I hope you’ll be part of this conference and come and learn what God might be pleased to do in your life and our lives—to see His great commission finished and the Bible and the gospel spread to all the peoples of the world.” (John Piper) Join us for The Missionary Conference, October 16-18 in Jacksonville, FL. Discounted rates end August 16. Register Now! Limited Seats Available. (Sponsored)

At one time or another most of us have said “proverbs aren’t promises.” And while that phrase isn’t entirely incorrect, it’s also not entirely accurate. This article explains why it may be inadvertently misleading.

Wow, the condescension in this TikToker’s voice. Nevertheless, Tim Barnett explains a few key matters about faith and evidence.

Kathryn Butler: “I forced a smile, swallowed down the tightness in my throat, and struggled against the tide of grief that’s become as familiar and worn as a tattered coat. It’s a mantle common to many who walk beside the hurting — the heaviness that presses upon the heart when we’ve witnessed others’ suffering over and over and over.”

Church skills are like any other skills in that if we don’t use them we’ll lose them. “You might not think you have church skills, but you almost certainly do. You will have developed ways of making conversation, showing interest in people, caring for them, serving in all sorts of ways and lots of other such things. But as with anything we have learnt to do, if you don’t keep using it, you will lose it.”

God accepts and treasures such work, not because it is perfect, but because it proceeds from faith and love.

In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.
—John Bunyan

Men of great physical strength have sometimes carried outrageously heavy burdens—six hundred pounds, seven hundred pounds, eight hundred. And even then they have said, “I still have not been fully tested. Put on some more weight! Load me up!” With confidence they have gripped the bar and with great straining and groaning they have lifted it clear of the ground. Yet in every case, they have eventually reached a point where they have had to cry out, “Stop! I have hit my limit. I cannot carry any more weight.”
I wonder if you have ever considered that the burden Christ carried for us was without limit. Have you considered the tremendous weight he bore on Calvary?
There was his own burden of hunger and thirst and bereavement, and the burden of the thousand insults and outrages that had been heaped upon him. On top of that was the burden of seeing the sorrows of his mother and friends as they watched him suffer and struggle for breath. On top of even that was the burden of witnessing the crimes of the soldiers who were putting him to death and the mocking of the criminals who hung beside him.
Even as we consider this our hearts begin to cry, “Stop! Surely he cannot bear anymore.”
Yet Christ says, “Add more. Add to me the sins of the people of Israel as they turned and rebelled and chased after false gods. After that, add to me all the sins of all the earth that are being committed at this very moment and then heap on all the sins of the history of humanity to this day—all the sins of all those who are mine. Give me Moses’ rebellion and David’s adultery and Solomon’s philandering. Give me Adam’s complaining and Jacob’s obstinacy and Samson’s lust.”
The angels of heaven seem to shout, “Stop! Surely he has reached his limit!”
But again he speaks to say, “Burden me more! Add to me the weight of all the sins of the next two thousand years, add to me all the sins of all the ages that will follow. Load on the guilt of the blasphemer, the perjurer, the murderer, the adulterer, then the shame of the thief, the gossip, the hater, the idler. Give me the sins of omission and commission, the spontaneous sins and the carefully planned, the sins that were done and the good that was left undone. Give it to me. Give it all to me until not a single one remains. Give until there is no more left to give.”
The earth seems to tremble as he speaks yet again. “Now give me the sorrows, give me the losses, give me the broken hearts. Give me creation itself as it groans under the weight of what humanity has done, of what they have wrought. Heap it on, for I have room left to carry it, I have strength left to bear it.”
Men and angels alike pause in wonder at Christ receiving without grumbling, accepting without complaining, and bearing without limitShare
No wonder, then, that the sun is blotted from the sky, that darkness falls over the land. And as the light fades, men and angels alike pause in wonder at Christ receiving without grumbling, accepting without complaining, and bearing without limit—bearing it until at last it is lifted by the only One who has the right to do so.
And maybe this is just the smallest glimpse at what Isaiah meant when he said, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…” (Isaiah 53:4)
Inspired by De Witt Talmage