Be Like Mike - Matt Smethurst writes about a recent article on Michael Jordan. “Thompson’s piece pulsates with the sense that Jordan isn’t happy. ‘I would give up everything now to go back and play the game of basketball,’ the Hall of Famer confesses. When asked how he replaces it, Jordan simply states, ‘You don’t. You learn to live with it’.”

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart - This book—a really good one—has been marked down to just $4.99 at Amazon.

When Sparrows Fall - Scroll down a little ways and read a mother’s grief. “My final request to all who read this blog: love. Love your babies, your husbands, mothers, sisters. Love each day like it's your last. All you mamas out there, you have been entrusted with the precious gift of a human life who depends on you. Enjoy your gift. Breathe in the scent of your child's hair, breath. Let them cook with you and make a mess of the kitchen…”

Don’t Waste Your Wedding - With prime wedding season fast approaching, this blog may prove a helpful resource to the prospective bride or groom. There is lots of wisdom to be found on organizing a wedding that is distinctly Christian.

25 Years of Evangelizing My Husband - There is encouragement here! “My husband is not a believer … a fact I routinely brought before the Lord and prayer partners. During our twenty-five years of marriage, I had purchased countless books and CDs with titles such as Beloved Unbeliever. Yet, my daily prayer, Please change his heart, had gone unanswered.”

Hard, But Worth It - “There is so much in this life that is hard. … it is somehow wonderfully heartening to remember that there aren’t too many things in life that are worth a whole lot that aren’t, at times, really hard. Maybe most of all, it really is worth it to follow Christ and live the way God has prescribed through His word, even when it’s incredibly hard.”

The Zombie Invasion - I guess it was a slow day on the floor of Canada’s House of Commons. 

It is as impossible to understand the Scriptures without the Spirit's help as it is to read a sundial without the sun. —Derek Prime & Alistair Begg

Jesus + rien - My French friends may want to pick up Tullian’s Jesus + rien = tout; it is free on Kindle for a short time. And in case you missed it yesterday (it was a late addition), be sure to get Eric Metaxas’ Amazing Grace, the biography of William Wilberforce. It is just $2.99.

7 Ways to Do a Bad Word Study - “How can a lay person (or pastor) know whether a word study is legitimate? Here are some bad ways to do a word study, courtesy of Dr. Jennings of Gordon Conwell and Dr. Grant Osborne of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School…”

God’s Everywhere Grace - David proposes that we rename “common grace.” “To help us prise open our eyes and hearts to God's common grace, let's start by renaming it. ‘Common’ sounds so, well, common. It could be read and heard in a demeaning way, as if it's grace that's not worth much, cheap grace as it were. So let's call it ‘everywhere grace’.”

How To Become Pope - In case you’ve ever wanted to be pope, this video will tell you what steps you’ll need to take. Of course I don’t recommend you take any of them!

The Introverted Evangelist - I’m still working through the introvert / extrovert distinction, but appreciated this article. “We train folks to fit into a specific personality type and call it evangelism training. We are training people to be extrovert evangelists.”

CCEF Resources - Westminster Books has some great CCEF-related resources on sale. When People Are Big and God Is Small and Instruments In the Redeemer’s Hands are paradigm-shifting books.

What Is Love? - Whenever I do pre-marriage counseling I tell the groom-to-be, “I know you’d die for her, but are you willing to live for her?” This is what it looks like to live for her.

The Spirit's work is to drive home to the heart and conscience what the mind understands. —Alwyn York

Amazon has a few Kindle deals you may want to jump on: Fear Not! by Ligon Duncan ($2.99); The Wages of Spin by Carl Trueman ($2.99); Dealing with Depression by Jayne Haynes and Sarah Collins ($2.99); Mark by Warren Wiersbe is free. Eric Metaxas’ life of William Wilberforce, Amazing Grace, is a no-brainer at $2.99.

Uncoolness, Tolerance, and Christ's Bride the Church - I really enjoyed Randy Alcorn’s reflection on the uncoolness of the church. “A church is a gathering of people diverse in race, occupation, age and gender. When those who are already the same in these areas are united, it is not as great a testimony to Christ's grace as when those who are very different are united in the same Lord.”

Piper GIFs - This is good, clean family fun.

Sail Away with Me - One of my favorite bloggers recently made an appearance on 60 Minutes. “The world’s largest civilian hospital ship travels the west African coast, restoring sight to thousands and bringing smiles to faces once disfigured by tumors. Scot Pelley reports.”

China’s House Churches - Christianity Today has an article describing how China plans to wipe out its growing number of house churches.

Rick Warren’s New Show - “Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., announced Tuesday that he will begin a radio show the first week of April.”

Like Elephants - The search engines are like elephants in that they never forget. (Note: There’s a rough word or two in the article.)

For God to explain a trial would be to destroy its purpose, calling forth simple faith and implicit obedience. —Alfred Edersheim

What’s the Point of Marriage? - “There's nothing like a bunch of marriage books to make your head spin. Mostly I avoid them--too many guilt-producing suggestions about the 'must-dos' of a relationship--but I've been writing a seminar on the topic, so it was time to hit the books.” This article is good both for its reflections and its mini reviews.

The Church Planting Wife - The Church Planting Wife by Christine Hoover is a brand-new book that has been marked down to $3.99. 

Bridges & Begg - Take a short, powerful book by Jerry Bridges, have Alistair Begg narrate it, and offer the resulting 2-CD audiobook set for a bargain price. That's a good plan. Who Am I? - Identity in Christ unpacks Scripture to bring believers eight clear, simple answers to perhaps the most important question anyone can ask. (This is a book published by Cruciform Press of which I am a co-founder.)

Praying in a Second Language - “To speak and pray in a ‘second’ language, you don’t need Rosetta Stone. Everyone has an opportunity to think, speak and pray in God’s language — Scripture, the foundational language of the universe.”

The Best Books for Preachers - Al Mohler has put together his annual “Preaching Survey of the Year's Best Books for Preachers.”

A Fractured Vatican - Washington Post: “[The] Pope's leaked papers show a fractured Vatican:Pope Benedict XVI's correspondence shows tales of betrayal and rivalries, allegations of corruption and systemic dysfunction.”

Preaching that Cuts to the Heart - Tim Keller responds to one of the compliments people pay him about his sermons. He’s got some good quotes in there, like this one: “Remember that according to the Bible, the heart is not primarily the emotions but rather the seat of our fundamental commitments and trusts, and therefore it is the control center of the whole life. So to preach to the heart means to go right for the commanding commitments of people’s lives that drive their desires, thinking, feeling, and action.”

The strength of all sin, whether simple or scandalous, is the lie that God can't do what it can. —Sam Storms (reference)

What Are an Asteroid, a Meteor and a Meteorite? - Asteroids, meteors and meteorites have been in the news lately, and space.com explains the differences between them. (Space.com would probably gain a little bit more credibility if they would reduce the ridiculous quantity of banner ads on their site!)

The Beards of Ministry - “Face it, folks: the beard is back in a big way. Along with celebrities, bike messengers, and your local barista, pastors are no exception to the glories of facial hair.” Here’s a tongue-in-cheek infographic to brighten your day.

The Abortion Double-Standard - “In the last two weeks, Houston has been the backdrop for two stories that aptly reveal more of the double-standards set by abortion supporters. These harrowing abortion stories blatantly demonstrate the fallacies that accompany legislation and philosophies aimed at enshrining abortion as a right or a good.”

Love Game - This is a heart-warming story. “When faced with deciding between the two loves of his life, for Ben Pike, it wasn’t even close. Football would not win this time.” (HT)

Photographs of the Sun - There are some amazing photographs here. “Alan Friedman is a fascinating guy. By day he's a maker of greeting cards and a lover of hats, but in his spare time he's a self-proclaimed space cowboy who points a telescope skyward from his backyard in downtown Buffalo, directly into the light of the sun.”

Those blessings are sweetest that are won with prayers and worn with thanks. —Thomas Goodwin

Harry Truman’s Love List - Having recently read David McCullough’s amazing biography of Harry Truman, I enjoyed this article at Smithsonian magazine. “As a celebration of 38 years of marriage, the former president shared his memories, both fond and bittersweet, from each anniversary.”

Covering the Asteroid - “NASA Television will provide commentary starting at 11 a.m. PST (2 p.m. EST) on Friday, Feb. 15, during the close, but safe, flyby of a small near-Earth asteroid named 2012 DA14.” You will be able to watch it via livestream.

White Smoke - Foreign Policy has an insider’s guide to the election of a new pope. They cover the process and the likely candidates.

How Movies Teach Our Kids About Gender - “What are movies teaching our kids about gender, about what it means to be men and women? That's the question Colin Stokes asks in this recent TED Talks video. Although he raises a number of good points, here are a couple of the more interesting ones.”

God’s Love - God’s Love: A Bible Storybook is an iPad app that has been marked down to free for a few days.

Am I Called to Ministry? - Kevin DeYoung offers a good answer to the question (and it’s a question I think just about every Christian man asks at one time or another). If Kevin’s answer stirs up something, Dave Harvey’s Am I Called? is a good book to read.

Unnatural Postures - “We pull a smartphone from our pocket, and it seems to squeeze perfectly well into our life. It fits in our hand. It works on a table. But is the smartphone accommodating us, or are we accommodating the smartphone?” This is kind of an unusual but still interesting article. You’ll have to scroll down (after clicking the link) to read it.

We are more concerned about looking stupid (a fear of people) than we are about acting sinfully (fear of the Lord). —Ed Welch

Sweet Sadness and St. Valentine - This is a sweet reflection on being single on Valentine’s Day. “I am lonely, sometimes, which seems ridiculous because my world is full of people. But in a society of couples, there is not much room for the party of one. And friends are all very well - mine are the best, in fact - but I crave companionship. I'd like to do life with someone who doesn't have to go home at the end of the day.”

How Could God Command Genocide? - How could God command genocide in the Old Testament? Justin Taylor takes on the question. “This is a good, hard question. The way we answer it will both reflect and inform our understanding of justice and mercy.”

D.A. Carson’s Most Painful Things - I think most Christians can identify with what D.A. Carson says in this Q&A: “The most painful things I've ever borne are betrayals by Christian friends.”

The Big Storm - You knew The Big Picture would put together a photo gallery of the big snowstorm. Here it is.

TMS Theological Resource Center - Nathan Busenitz introduces The Master’s Seminary’s new Theological Resource Center. “The featured resource on the site is a growing library of video lectures taught by the TMS faculty. … The site currently contains seven full courses, consisting of 162 individual lectures. Over the next few months, the library will grow to include over 20 courses, offering hundreds of hours of seminary-level lecture content.”

Holding Hands, Holding Hearts - Richard Phillips’ book Holding Hands, Holding Hearts: Recovering a Biblical View of Christian Dating is on sale for Kindle.

You can always give without loving, but you can never love without giving. —Amy Carmichael

Here are a few Kindle deals: The Essential Works of Charles Spurgeon is just $0.99 and includes 14 of Spurgeon’s best-loved works (Bonar’s Essential Works are at the same price). Wayne Mack’s Sweethearts for a Lifetime is down to $3.99 while Lydia Brownback’s Fine China Is for Single Women Too is down to $3.50 (Lydia was my editor for The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment).

5 Things a Daughter Needs to Hear - Daniel Darling: “There is something about having a daughter that softens a man, adds a certain tenderness to his soul. In that spirit, I'd like to share five things every daughter needs to hear from her father”

Downton Abbey - Matthew Miller provides a compelling take on Downton Abbey. “I'm willing to concede that Downton has definite strengths-I have taken the time to watch a little over two seasons, after all-but my overall evaluation of the show is getting progressively more negative with each new episode. To explain why, I need to go back to Jane Austen.”

The Greatest of All Protestant Heresies - Sinclair Ferguson looks at church history and asks, “What is the greatest of all Protestant heresies? Perhaps justification by faith? Perhaps Scripture alone, or one of the other Reformation watchwords?” His answer may surprise you.

Center Church - Jonathan Leeman has a very long, very helpful review of Tim Keller’s Center Church. He recommends that you read the book, but also recommends that you first tear out a couple of chapters.

10 Foolish Obstacles - “God chose the foolishness of Gospel preaching to save them that believe. The Gospel message is foolishness to the world. But so is the Gospel medium - preaching. And he did it knowing that this method of communication would upset many people and cause them to find many foolish reasons for not listening. Some of the foolish obstacles I've come across (in myself and others) are…”

Kindle Content - Monergism has a program where they will deliver free content straight to your Kindle.

Men in general do not live as if they looked to die; and therefore do not die as if they looked to live. —Thomas Manton

You have undoubtedly heard of the pope’s decision to resign, effective February 28. This legal-humor blog asks, Can the pope legally resign? Russell Moore suggests two of the pope’s legacies that we ought to honor and conserve. Carlton Wynne says that at a time of papal succession, “we would do well to remember the futility of all competing alternatives to the supreme and sufficient priesthood of Christ.”

I Will Not Let You Go - “I got into a fistfight last week. Well, I suppose you could call it a fistfight. I got hit about 10-12 times without landing a single punch myself. It's been a while since I have been in a fight. As a police officer, I probably get into more fights than the average middle-aged man. But at 46, my reflexes are not what they used to be--so I got a little beat up.”

Putting Your Spouse First - “One of the greatest takeaways from my parents’ lifelong romance was to set priorities in the proper order: God first, then spouse, after the spouse the kids, and then everything else. No doubt they had a unique perspective, having been in love with each other since Dad was five and Mom was three.”

How Jesus Rescues Any of Us - Skip Ryan was pastor of Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, until he resigned, having confessed an addiction to painkillers. This video shares his testimony to God’s grace in his life.

Beauty Is For Everyone - This post is from a couple of weeks ago, but I only saw it yesterday. I love the big point of it: Beauty is an artist’s gift to everyone else.

End Times Infographic - The end times was infographic I was never brave enough to take on. Josh Byers did quite a good job of it here.

A Religious Group Loses Funding - This very well may be a sign of things to come: a religious organization in Canada was receiving government funds “to help dig wells, build latrines and promote hygiene awareness in Uganda through 2014.” But because of their religious convictions, they have now lost that funding.

Train up a child in the way he should go - but be sure you go that way yourself. —C.H. Spurgeon

For those who track the Kindle deals, here is what I’m aware of at the moment: What Did You Expect? by Paul David Tripp ($3.74); Loving the Way Jesus Loves by Philip Ryken; Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick ($4.99); Think by John Piper ($4.61); The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love by Jonathan Leeman ($5.99); The Joy of Calvinism by Greg Forster ($4.61); This Momentary Marriage by John Piper ($5.99); Crazy Love by Francis Chan ($3.74); Becoming the Woman of His Dreams by Sharon Jaynes ($2.51).

The Abundance of Giving - John MacArthur argues that of all the things we look forward to when coming to church, giving should be near the top of the list.

Evangelism as a Mom - This article is really encouraging. A mother of young children shares how she learned to share the gospel. Sometimes it’s as simple as just making the opportunities; people may be more eager to hear the gospel than we imagine.

Like Naughty Kids - Tullian shares an interesting quote on how pastors should be like naughty kids. “They ought to be naughty enough to tiptoe up on dozing congregations, steal their bottles of religion pills...and flush them all down the drain.”

The Difference a Decade Makes - Al Mohler serves as a guest voice for the Washington Post and marvels at the difference a decade makes when it comes to moral decline.

The Next Web - Here is one projection on the metaphor that may well define the future of the web.

Head Over Heels - This is a fantastic short film with a great message. “After many years of marriage, Walter and Madge have grown apart: he lives on the floor and she lives on the ceiling. They live separate, parallel lives, never talking, barely even looking at each other. When Walter tries to reignite their old romance, it brings their equilibrium crashing down, and the couple that can’t agree which way is up must find a way to put their marriage back together.”

Tolerance is the virtue of men who don’t believe in anything. —G.K. Chesterton