Good morning. May the Lord be with you and bless you today.
Yesterday on the blog I shared Sometimes I Get It Wrong, a review of a book I think you should definitely consider reading.
Sales and Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include some especially strong picks like Why We’re Feeling Lonely (and What We Can Do About It), which is almost brand new. You’ll also find all three volumes in B&H’s Urban Legends series.
At Westminster Books, besides the already-existing deal on spring new releases, you’ll now also find a special on the ESV Concise Study Bible.
Trivia
What was the first book written by R.C. Sproul? (Hint: it has had several titles through the years. Scroll down for the answer.)
Recommended Reading
A Tale of Two Grandfathers: On Being Civil in an Uncivil Age. Stephen Kaufmann writes about his two grandfathers and the political differences between them. He does this as part of his consideration of how to be civil in an uncivil age. “As believers, what does it mean to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly before God in an age of ferment? As I prepared this piece, it occurred to me that my convictions about such matters are rooted not in current debates, but in my past. For me, these stories are cautionary tales that lead me to believe that glib solutions to our nation’s social problems, and to problems within the church, will very likely be wrong-headed. Securing a just social and political order requires careful thought and the commitment to listen to others with whom we might disagree.”
The Strange Possibility of Pleasing God. Michael Jensen writes about the strange possibility that we could actually please God. “What can we offer to God that could please him, after all? Some people are very hard to please, and God can appear very much to be one of those. It isn’t like he hasn’t got everything already. What does he lack that I could presume to give him?”
Helping Teens Build Friendships in a TikTok World. This is a helpful piece from the Biblical Counseling Coalition. “It is a common sentiment that many people dislike being treated as guinea pigs. At the same time, it is a widely recognized reality that our youth today are participants in the largest unethical social experiment conducted within the history of the world—an entire childhood immersed in digital technologies.”
4 Things We Added to the Bible. Here are four things we added to the Bible, along with the ways we both benefit from these things and suffer their consequences.
A Protestant Theologian Reacts to “How the Protestant Bible Removed 7 Books” (Video). I’m not a huge fan of the whole “reacts” genre of video, but I do think it can be helpful at times. In this case, Jordan B. Cooper uses the format to provide a good response to a Catholic priest and his explanation of why Protestants do not consider the Apocrypha part of Scripture.
The Watchmaker’s Wager. This is a neat story of how God used a simple encounter to save a man’s soul—and how the Lord kept that story hidden for a time.
Trivia Answer
What was the first book written by R.C. Sproul? The Symbol: An Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed was published in 1973. It was subsequently retitled several times as it was printed by different publishers: Basic Training, Renewing Your Mind, and, finally (or currently, at least), What We Believe.1
Flashback
Trusting God with Creation But Not Providence. “Each of us is prone at times to lose our confidence in God’s wisdom and to assume that he would benefit from a bit of our own…How often in prayer do we attempt to direct God according to our own limited knowledge, our own limited wisdom?”
The more clearly we see sin’s horror, the more we shall treasure the cross.
—D.A. Carson
