Satan’s Desire for Mothers - I think Julian draws out some important points in this article, and especially so under his second heading, “Satan says mothering is too good for you. Gone are the days (seemingly) when mothering is bad and career is good. Now we have entered the days of ‘Super-Moms’, where mothering is not for the faint-of-heart.”

How We View the World - I appreciated this take on the different ways we are prone to see the world (and not only because it borrows its analogy from baseball). 

The Facebook-Free Baby - “When it comes to my son, who is 3 months old, I am doing away with privacy settings altogether—by abstaining. That means my wife and I won’t be posting photos or discussing him online publicly (more on that later). Like a kid born into a vegetarian or Amish family, that is just the way it will be.”

Family vs. Ministry - “God has a design for your family and ministry so that faithfulness in the family enhances faithfulness in the church, and faithfulness in the church enhances faithfulness in the family.” Of course if God has a plan, so too does Satan…

Hunger Games Is Flawed to the Core - I really enjoyed reading N.D. Wilson’s take on The Hunger Games. He points out Some of the book’s greatest moral flaws (Though I don’t think he is saying not to read it).

Plywood - If A La Carte is a collection of things I enjoyed yesterday, then it’s only right that I include this video tribute to plywood.

What We Believe About the Bible - A quick, simple reminder of what Christians believe to be true about the Bible.

None reverence the Lord more than they who know him best. —William Cowper

In wisdom and love God does not leave his people to live this life alone, but rather calls us into community. One of the sad inevitabilities of living in community is that we will sin against one another. The invitation to Christian community is an invitation to be tested by other people’s sin and weakness.

There are many ways to react badly when sinned against by another Christian. Some of us tend to react with sulking and feeling sorry for ourselves. Some go big and blow up while others give in to the slow, brooding kind of anger. Some just walk away. There are as many ways to react badly to sin as there are ways to sin against one another. There are not nearly as many ways to react well to being sinned against. The Bible gives us two: lovingly overlook that sin or lovingly address that sin. The question is, when are we to overlook and when are we to address?

The well-known eighteenth chapter of Matthew provides a detailed roadmap for addressing sin, but before a person follows that route, he first needs to determine whether or not this is the kind of sin he can simply overlook. Overlooking a sin is held high in Scripture. Proverbs 19:11  says “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 12:16 says that “the prudent ignores an insult” and on the other side of the cross, in 1 Peter 4:8, we are commanded, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Love covers a multitude of sins, but love does not always cover a multitude of sins. There are situations in which the most loving action is to address a sin, to make known to the other person that you have been offended by his words or deeds, and to give him the opportunity to repent and seek forgiveness.

Here is how you can go about determining whether this is an offense you should overlook, or an offense you should address.

One of the more interesting sections of dialog in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress has Christian and Hopeful discussing the danger of backsliding, of falling away from what had the appearance of spiritual life and growth. That dialog, drawn from the tenth stage of Christian’s journey, is important and instructive. Bunyan presupposes that such people have been awakened to their need for salvation by some combination of the fear of God and the danger of hell, but eventually fall back or fall away. Here are four reasons that people backslide:

The conscience is awakened, but the mind is not changed. Therefore, when the guilt and fear of God that motivated this awakening of conscience has passed, their desire for salvation cools and they return to their own ways.

Though the consciences of such men are awakened, yet their minds are not changed: therefore, when the power of guilt weareth away, that which provoked them to be religious ceaseth; wherefore they naturally turn to their own course again; even as we see the dog that is sick of what he hath eaten, so long as his sickness prevails, he vomits and casts up all; not that he doth this of a free mind, (if we may say a dog has a mind,) but because it troubleth his stomach: but now, when his sickness is over, and so his stomach eased, his desires being not at all alienated from his vomit, he turns him about, and licks up all; and so it is true which is written, “The dog is turned to his own vomit again.” 2 Pet. 2:22. Thus, I say, being hot for heaven, by virtue only of the sense and fear of the torments of hell, as their sense and fear of damnation chills and cools, so their desires for heaven and salvation cool also. So then it comes to pass, that when their guilt and fear is gone, their desires for heaven and happiness die, and they return to their course again.

They are overwhelmed by fear of man. For a time the fear of damnation overcomes this fear of other people, but as the sense of danger passes, so too does their boldness.

Another reason is, they have slavish fears that do overmaster them: I speak now of the fears that they have of men; “For the fear of man bringeth a snare.” Prov. 29:25. So then, though they seem to be hot for heaven so long as the flames of hell are about their ears, yet, when that terror is a little over, they betake themselves to second thoughts, namely, that it is good to be wise and not to run (for they know not what) the hazard of losing all, or at least of bringing themselves into unavoidable and unnecessary troubles; and so they fall in with the world again.

They are full of pride, unwilling to face the world-ward shame that comes with the gospel.

The shame that attends religion lies also as a block in their way: they are proud and haughty, and religion in their eye is low and contemptible: therefore when they have lost their sense of hell and the wrath to come, they return again to their former course.

And finally, they refuse to face their own guilt and the danger that will come to them if they do not receive forgiveness for wrongs done.

Guilt, and to meditate terror, are grievous to them; they like not to see their misery before they come into it; though perhaps the sight of at it first, if they loved that sight, might make them fly whither the righteous fly and are safe; but because they do, as I hinted before, even shun the thoughts of guilt and terror, therefore, when once they are rid of their awakenings about the terrors and wrath of God, they harden their hearts gladly, and choose such ways as will harden them more and more.

Are You For Your Husband? - Rick Thomas lets women into a secret: “Men are needy. Your husband is not as independent and self-reliant as he may want you or others to think. If he can get over himself and this macho image thing he is wrapped up in, he will tell you how much he needs you-how much he desires your affection.”

Systematic Theology - “With the generous permission of Dr. Wayne Grudem, Monergism Books is giving away for free his complete class on systematic theology, a total of 119 class lectures.” All they ask is that you pitch in for the shipping. While you’re at Monergism, it’s never a bad idea to click on their “Sale Items” link to see their deals.

Internal Time - “‘Six hours’ sleep for a man, seven for a woman, and eight for a fool,’ Napoleon famously prescribed. This perceived superiority of those who can get by on less sleep isn’t just something Napoleon shared with dictators like Hitler and Stalin, it’s an enduring attitude woven into our social norms and expectations, from proverbs about early birds to the basic scheduling structure of education and the workplace.” 

Halfway Herbert - It’s always nice when a book review can be a teaching tool. That’s the case with this review of Francis Chan’s Halfway Herbert. The reviewer shows how a book can subtly tip away from the gospel and into human effort.

How to Stay Christian in College - J. Budziszewski’s How to Stay Christian at College is on sale in the Kindle edition. It’s been marked down to just $3.99.

News and Algorithms - Can a computer algorithim write a better news article than a human? Perhaps not yet, but some people believe that it won’t be long. At the very least, more and more of our day-to-day news will soon be prepared for us by a computer. 

They do not love Christ who love anything more than Christ. —Thomas Brooks