Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Kevin DeYoung’s new Men and Women in the Church is on sale for a few days at Westminster Books.
There is a substantial list of Kindle deals today.
(Yesterday on the blog: It’s Far Too Easy To Buy A Tiger)
The Gift of True Words
You won’t read an article better than this one today. “She told me that she sat down one day in the chair that he had so often occupied, and she began cleaning out drawers. She found things that were not important or useful. Like all desks, this one was filled with things that could easily be thrown in the trash. But she also discovered stories he had printed for her, things she had forgotten about, like song lyrics and other little items that made her laugh or cry or smile to herself. And then, tucked unassumingly in the bottom of a drawer, amid lots of papers that weren’t all that important, she found something she never expected to uncover: an unread letter from the love of her life.”
How Should a Christian View the Government?
Paul Carter offers some principles for how Christians should view the government. “The biblical view of government is admittedly a nuanced one. It does not permit cynicism, disrespect, or disengagement. It does not commend blind adherence nor does it condone violent opposition. It permits patriotism but forbids idolatry. It encourages volunteerism but not utopianism. It suggests gratitude, vigilance, and dissatisfaction.”
How Should Christians Worship Through Difficult Seasons? (Video)
Ligon Duncan answers the question.
Why Don’t You Wear a Head Covering?
Chip Thornton offers help in distinguishing cultural norms from biblical principles (and what is descriptive from what is prescriptive).
A Gray Crown of Glory
And speaking of cultural norms, here’s an interesting insight from a relatively new Christian in a far-off country. “The gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t try change us by merely threatening condemnation, like the religion I grew up with. Instead, we are forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus, since he took our condemnation for us, and then we are free to obey because of reasons like love and glory.”
Our God Doesn’t Want Us To Make Ourselves Ill To Please Him, Does He?
And speaking of the religion that man grew up with, here’s another important distinction between it and the Christian faith. “One of the sadder realities behind the Muslim worldview (from the perspective of this Christian, at any rate) is the total lack of grace. Allah, as far as one can tell, runs a points system whereby one’s good and bad deeds are weighed up and, in the end, determine whether one can enter paradise.”
If Justification Is Once-for-All, Why Do I Need to Keep Repenting?
This is a common (and very sensible) question.
Flashback: A Prayer Guide for Pastors
I’ve prepared a prayer guide for pastors that suggests some ways a pastor can pray that he would exemplify these traits.
Jesus came because there is something broken inside us that can only be, will only be fixed by his person, presence, and redeeming work.
—Paul David Tripp
