In case you don’t check in over the weekend, let me make you aware of a few new Kindle deals: John Piper’s Finally Alive, one of my all-time Piper favorites, is down to $3.99 for the Kindle edition. It’s well worth that price. You may also want to take a look at A Faith To Love By by Donald Macleod ($3.99) and Royal Company by Malcolm Maclean ($2.99). Sally Lloyd-Jones The Jesus Storybook Bible is at $1.99; Scott Oliphant’s God With Us is $4.61 and Trevin Wax’s Counterfeit Gospels is $4.99.

What Happened to Hospitality? - “What happened to hospitality? We are a young couple who hosts a small group in our home, and many other gatherings of young families. But it seems like no one ever wants other people in their homes these days. Why is that?” Randy Alcorn answers.

Teen Treks to Everest - I’m really proud of Eli Reimer (son of my friend Justin Reimer who founded The Elisha Foundation). “A 15-year-old boy with a passion for sports and an infectious smile became the first person with Down syndrome to stand at the base camp of Mount Everest, and returned to Southern California Friday night to a jubilant welcome.”

Children Should Be Bored - “Children should be allowed to get bored so they can develop their innate ability to be creative, an education expert says.”

The Unitarian Controversy Over Polyamory - Polyamory is definitely one of the next frontiers in trying to legitimize what God forbids. Gene Veith links to an interesting article. What moral ground is left to forbid it?

A Lifelong Learner - “For the first twenty-two years or so of our lives, our main ‘job’ is learning. The bulk of our time is spent in classrooms acquiring new knowledge. And then, once we graduate, we feel like the education phase of our lives is done and now it's time to go out into the world. Have you ever thought about how odd that idea is? That only a quarter of our lives should be devoted to learning, and then we should simply rest on our laurels for the remaining three-quarters of it?”

Journey of Grace - Marvin Olasky interviews Rosaria Butterfield who is always a fascinating interview subject.

We cannot infer from prosperity that God is pleased with us, nor can we infer from adversity that he is displeased with us. --Wilson Benton

Finally Alive - John Piper’s Finally Alive, one of my all-time Piper favorites, is down to $3.99 for the Kindle edition. It’s well worth that price. You may also want to take a look at A Faith To Love By by Donald Macleod ($3.99) and Royal Company by Malcolm Maclean ($2.99).

Bonnet Rippers - Here is a longform article about the rise of the Amish romance novel. “In 2012, a new Amish romance novel appeared on the market about every four days. Sixty more were published in 2012 than in 2009, and 83 more than in 2002. The top three Amish-fiction authors -- Beverly Lewis, Wanda Brunstetter, and Cindy Woodsmall -- have sold a combined total of more than 24 million books.” (I still need to get it on that action with my Ultimate Christian Novel.)

Say Something Right Now Or Else! - I really appreciate Kevin DeYoung’s article about thsoe who demand that he speak to any particular issue … or else. “As someone with a public platform I've been called upon numerous times to speak out on any number of specific issues or controversies.”

The Touch Screen Generation - “Young children--even toddlers--are spending more and more time with digital technology. What will it mean for their development?”

His Beloved Son - Any parent who has watched their child get stitched back together will be moved by Elisha’s article. 

Give Working Families A Rest - Phillip Jensen makes some good points as he writes about both work and rest.

Bottled History - I enjoyed this short film that looks at one man’s craft.

‘The early Christians did not say ‘look what the world is coming to!’ but ‘look what has come into the world!’ --Carl F.H. Henry

Two Sets of Wants - A reader directed me to a new blog and I found a great post there on parenting. A dad writes about his two competing sets of wants for his children. Good stuff!

A Writer’s Confession - “I've been reflecting lately on the real dangers of being a writer. One of the reasons I took a break from blogging for a while is because I was too consumed by checking statistics, subscriptions and comments. It started to become too much about me. Here are some things I have to daily repent of as a writer, in the form of a prayer.”

$5 Friday - Ligonier has some noteworthy deals in their $5 Friday including (among other things) R.C. Sproul’s commentary on Romans (in electronic editions) and The Holiness of God teaching series.

Heaven Is For Real - I guess it was inevitable. Heaven Is For Real is coming to the big screen. It will be co-produced by Joe Roth (Oz the Great and Powerful) and T.D. Jakes and directed by Randall Wallace, who wrote Braveheart and directed Secretariat.

How Many Hours Should Pastors Work? - Darryl has a very helpful take on how many hours pastors should work in a week and what they need to model before their congregations.

The Sentence Against God - Randy Alcorn + John Stott = a powerful article.

A Letter to the Church - Here is a letter to the church that you may do well to read.

Never undertake more Christian service than you can cover by believing prayer. --Alan Redpath

7 Traits of False Teachers - “False prophets were a constant problem in the Old Testament, and those who falsely claimed to be prophets of God were to be stoned. The people rarely had the will to deal with them, so they multiplied, causing disaster to the spiritual life of God’s people.” Of course false teachers live on in the New Testament. Here are 7 traits to watch for.

The Jesus Storybook Bible - Sally Lloyd-Jones’ The Jesus Storybook Bible has been marked down to $1.99 in the Kindle edition. You may also want to take a look at Scott Oliphant’s God With Us which is down to $4.61.

The Antidote to Materialism - “What is the antidote to materialism? Generosity. Easily sharing the things we have, and giving money and possessions away reminds us that they are temporal and God-given. It helps us hold them loosely and treasure Christ more than riches.”

The Christian Fantasy - I’m not much of a fan of the fantasy genre, but I really enjoyed Lars Walker’s take on fantasy in general, and Christian fantasy in particular.

What Facebook Knows - Facebook knew that this man was gay before he ever came out. The moral of his story is that Facebook and Google and other companies collect vast amounts of information about us and that they are getting better at using that information to figure out who we are and what we do.

My Spouse Doesn’t Meet My Needs - Mark Altrogge offers a list of realistic expectations for a spouse: “That my spouse will fail in many ways. That my spouse will not fulfill my desires. That my spouse will not always try to please me.” He goes on from there.

Whenever you preach, be sure that you lift the Savior high and lay the sinner low. --John Wilmot

Praying for Politicians - “Having been a minister for twenty-six years and an editor of a church magazine for some of that time, I can safely say that there is no subject more likely to get you into controversy than the troubled relationship of the gospel to politics, unless you dare to touch the modern-day idol of people's children.” That’s a good start to a good article.

Romans 12:1-2 - I don’t think anyone could ever exhaust the riches of Romans 12:1-2. Here is a short take on how that text provides the why, what and how of Christian living.

Google Glass - Expect to see the media inundated with articles about Google Glass in the days to come. This one makes the rather obvious comparison to Orwell’s Big Brother but then asks, “what would you say if instead of it being Google Glass, it was Government Glass? A revolutionary way of improving public services, some may say. Call me a cynic, but I don't think it'd have much success.”

Top Ten Sentence Slip-Ups - “Creating correct sentences is a technical process that offers set guidelines for getting the structure right. Within those guidelines, we have the opportunity to flex our creative muscles in all kinds of unique ways (and even to occasionally burst the bounds of those guidelines if we have good reason for doing so). But in discovering how and where to flex in order to tap our prose potential without inappropriately bursting those bounds, we should first learn to spot the most prevalent sentence slips-ups and know when to eliminate them from our stories.”

Photographer’s Notebook - Note: There are some [non-sexually] graphic photos in this gallery. “It’s been 10 years since U.S.-led forces waged war in Iraq. In this collection of some of Reuters iconic images from the conflict, the photographers provide a personal account of the events they captured.”

Read the Fine Print - Trevin Wax says that we need to read the fine print before agreeing to any kind of “marriage equality.” “As the Supreme Court considers the merits of adopting or banning same-sex marriage, many politicians are voicing their support for changing the law. But just as smart shoppers know to look beyond an advertisement to read the fine print, Americans should look beyond the surface issues to the surprising details no one is discussing.”

Most people are brought to faith in Christ not by argument for it, but by exposure to it. --Samuel Shoemaker

Vatican Files - Writing for Reformation21, Leonardo De Chirico has a very helpful article on the new pope, why he was elected, and some of the challenges he will face. This is part of a long series De Chirico has been writing on Roman Catholicism. Meanwhile, Steve Meister reminds us that Humble Popes Don’t Exist.

The New Cultural Acceptance - “The new mark of being culturally acceptable is affirming homosexuality as virtuous (not merely okay, but virtuous, even exemplary). This is the litmus test. I don't think many of us expected that it would so quickly fill this role, but it has. The mark of being a progressive, kind, socially courageous person today is simply this: affirming same-sex marriage.”

Optional Extras - If you travel by air, you may want to keep this handy. It is a list of which extras are worth paying for and which are not.

4 Ways We Need to Grow in Evangelism - J.D. Greear: “If evangelism is not something that we do well as a church, everything else that we do will be sterile. To that end, during the Summit's last all-staff meeting, we discussed what hindrances were getting in the way of evangelism at our church, and how we could grow in those areas. We were all able to learn from each other's experiences, and we identified four broad areas that we, as a church, need to grow in”

Diet Soda Will Kill Us! - Here is a brief history of our relationship with artificial sweetners and whether or not they are going to end up killing us.

Counterfeit Gospels - The Kindle edition of Trevin Wax’s book Counterfeit Gospels has been marked down to $4.99. And remember that Bryan Chappel’s Christ-Centered Preaching is down to $3.99.

Sacred Mystery - I have not seen any of History Channel’s series on the Bible. Almost all the reports I’ve read, whether from Christian sources or mainstream, have been negative. And still it’s a hit. Here’s a slightly snarky take on how on earth the show has done so well.

Many a man’s knowledge is a torch to light him to hell. --Thomas Watson

Here Come the Radicals - Matthew Lee Anderson makes some interesting observations about contemporary Christianity. “David Platt, Francis Chan, Shane Claiborne, and now Kyle Idleman are dominating the Christian best-seller lists by attacking our comfortable Christianity. But is ‘radical faith’ enough?”

5 Myths About Bible Translation - Dan Wallace covers five common myths related to translating the Bible. This has been a major area of attack against Christianity in recent years as people have tried to undermine the credibility of the Bible.

Honest Atheists - Speaking of attacks against Christianity, this is quite an interesting article that affirms atheism but also affirms the awful consequences of godlessness. “That godlessness might be both true and terrible is something that the new atheists refuse to entertain, no doubt in part because they want to sell books -- and greeting cards do a brisk business.”

Not the Ones God Has Been Waiting For - “I don’t think any temptation more sweetly seduces young evangelicals. It seems every new wave of church leaders seeks to rebrand Christianity over and against its previous generations or misguided contemporaries. As the Religious Right has lost influence, traditional evangelicals have become a big target. As Timothy Dalrymple wrote last year ‘if you are selling scorn of conservative evangelical Christians, the market is hot.’”

Toy Stories - This photographer traveled around the world simply shooting pictures of children with their toys.

The Story Behind the Photo - Here is the story behind one of World War 2’s iconic photos.

No verse of Scripture yields its meaning to lazy people. --A.W. Pink

Christ-Centered Preaching - Bryan Chappel’s Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon is on sale in the Kindle edition. It’s down to just $3.99 and is well worth that price.

When the Black Dog Howls - “The term ‘black dog’ was used by Winston Churchill to describe depression and, though it predates the British prime minister, is the sum total of familiarity most seem have with it. Regardless of who coined it, ‘black dog’ is as apt a descriptor of the frustrating experience of depression as there is. Ask anyone who deals with it regularly.”

Hallel Psalms - Cardiphonia crowd sources songs around a certain theme and then releases them as albums. “‘Hallel Psalms’ is our sixth ‘flash mob’ compilation. This collection of songs meditates on Psalms 113-118 often called the ‘Egyptian Hallel.’ They were traditionally sung during passover, were sung by the disciples at the last supper, and make a fantastic set of texts to guide worship and devotion during Holy Week (March 25-30).”

A Web of Wisdom - Jeremy Walker has put together a whole series of articles on using social media well. “Can we use social media to the glory of God? That question drives the answers to the may and the must of social media engagement. I think that, were he available to offer an opinion, the apostle Paul would suggest, in essence, that we may use social media and that, if we do, we must do so to the glory of God.”

Transubstantiation - C. Michael Patton offers give reasons that he rejects the doctrine of transubstantiation.

Chinese Abortions - “Chinese doctors have performed more than 330m abortions since the government implemented a controversial family planning policy 40 years ago, according to official data from the health ministry.”

How sweet is rest after fatigue! How sweet will heaven be when our journey is ended. --George Whitefield

An Encouraging Word - Andy Naselli dug up some encouraging words for young mothers. “Martyn Lloyd-Jones once spoke with a group of medical students who complained that in the midst of their training and the ferocious work hours they really didn't even have time to read the Bible and have their devotions and so on.” You’ll need to keep reading to get to the part for mothers.

Consider Yourself - On Wednesday I shared an article about polemics. This article from Burk Parsons would have been a good fit with it. “Controversy is the plight of sinners in a fallen world, who were originally created by God to know the truth, love the truth, and proclaim the truth. We cannot escape controversy this side of heaven, nor should we seek to.”

Josh Garrels - Josh Garrels has put all his music for free on NoiseTrade. You won’t regret downloading Love & War & The Sea In Between.

Monergism Books Sale - Monergism Books is moving and clearing out their stock. You can find details at the link.

Rob Bell’s New Book - David Steele has quite a good review of Rob Bell’s new book What We Talk About When We Talk About God. While on the subject of book reviews, the Washington Post has a very interesting review of McGrath’s new biography of C.S. Lewis.

Wide Web World - This is quite an interesting video made entirely of Nokia 3D maps. It’s essentially a flyover of some of the world’s great cities (including Toronto). 

It is very rare for the spirituality of a group of Christians to exceed that of its leaders. --John Benton

The Next Bible - “Scripture? There's an app for that. In his first column for The Daily Beast, Obama's former faith adviser talks to the tech-savvy entrepreneur bringing the gospel to a new generation of Christians.”

Cross - Cross is a new conference targeted at teens and twenties. Thabiti introduces it.

The NT’s Favorite OT Stories - “The last time I read through the New Testament, I decided it might be fruitful and interesting to keep track of all of the occurrences where the author made reference to narratives in the Old Testament. And since this week's fighter passage makes reference to the Great Cloud of Witnesses, I thought it would be an appropriate time to post the list.”

Transform Quebec - Is your church interested in helping to plant new churches in unreached areas? “Transform Quebec is a vision to catalyze church planting in the province of Quebec in order to reach a maximum of Quebecers with the transforming message of the Gospel.”

Major Causes of Death - Here is a visualization of the major causes of death in the 20th century. Of course they left out abortion…

It does not take a big man to push over a straw man--little men are up to this simple task. --Robert R. Booth