John Piper has released a new book titled Coronavirus and Christ which is free to download in various formats.
Today’s Kindle deals include quite a lot of good material, including John Murray’s must-read Redemption Accomplished and Applied.
Westminster is featuring my Epic this week! And unlike Amazon, they are shipping right away.
(Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books for April 2020)
Is Jesus Weeping for Us in Heaven?
Kevin DeYoung: “The Suffering Servant we celebrate this week was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3). Jesus was born that he might die (Matt. 1:21). His knew suffering throughout his life–scourged with the whip, sweating drops of blood, and mourning in the face of death. ‘Jesus wept’ is not just the shortest verse in the Bible (John 11:35), it’s one of the most profound statements of Christ’s humanity. But the exalted Christ who cried over Lazarus is not crying at the right hand of God. Jesus does not continue to weep in heaven, and that is the good news we need.”
‘Contact Tracing’ Could Free America From Its Quarantine Nightmare
Could “contact tracing” be key to freeing us from quarantine? If so, are we willing to cede the information and privacy necessary to do it well? “In its most basic form, tracing—otherwise known as tracking, or contact tracing—means identifying all the recent interactions of sick individuals to determine whom they might have infected. Testing plus tracing can besiege the virus, starve it of new bodies, and return the world to its previral routine, or something like it.”
The Lord’s Prayer in a Crisis
The Lord’s Prayer offers us a way to pray in crisis, as Jared Wilson explains. “No pre-written prayer has to be vainly repetitious if you really do mean what you’re praying, if you really are seeking to bring your desires in alignment with heaven’s. And that’s really what the Lord’s Prayer is about. Further, if you wanted to apply what the Lord’s Prayer teaches to our present moment of crisis — or any moment of crisis, for that matter — you may find it a profoundly helpful and even powerful pledge of submission to God in the midst of painful, uncertain times.”
Who Will Be There After Lockdown?
Who will return to churches after lockdown? Peter Mead says this: “As this situation wears on, we will become more and more aware that when we are allowed to come back together as a church, it will probably not be with the same people as before. Let’s prayerfully ponder these two lists and consider what steps we can be taking now that will change the face of our regathering…”
The Grieving of the (Non) Gathering of God’s People
“The feeling of isolation, loneliness, and sadness comes from not being able to gather together with our church family. Rather than try to find some sort of faux-joy in amongst all the strangeness, perhaps it is appropriate to lament…?”
Voluntary Social Distancing
Lisa LaGeorge reminds us that our social distancing burden is not abnormally heavy when measured across the world. “While we groan under the weight of these (anticipated) temporary restrictions, cross-cultural workers are impacted every day by similar necessities–all the time. They have self-selected social distancing by moving to another country.”
The Virus Changed the Way We Internet
Here’s some data on how we’re using the internet differently during lockdown.
Flashback: PreachersNSneakers and Pastors as Lifestyle Brands
Pastors whose great concern is gaining and displaying Christ-like character for the good of the people they serve will shop, dress, live, photograph, and Instagram accordingly.
It is not unloving to tell men that they are sinners, but it is the grossest form of immorality not to tell them! In fact, God declares that their blood will be on our hands if we do not warn them of their sin and the coming judgment.
—Paul Washer
