Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include several good books about leading a church and being a faithful member of one. You’ll find more besides those.
Recommended Reading
Why the Internet Is Making Men and Women Hate Each Other. The internet is making a lot of people hate each other, and in this article, Samuel James explains how it is dividing men and women. “The Internet is, of course, very interested. And the way particular social media platforms and groups are participating in the discourse illustrates again one of the most important things anyone can realize about the modern Internet: It’s a place where each sex is learning to loathe the other.”
Why We Never Speak to Each Other. Alan Noble looks at evidence that we are speaking to each other less than we used to, and also assigns the blame to the internet. “We’re statistically spending more time alone. I don’t know about you, but when I spend a good length of time on my computer or phone or even reading a book, without speaking to anyone, it feels difficult to speak. It’s almost as if I have to relearn how to speak. My voice cracks, I stumble over words, and I struggle to think of something to say. Why does this matter? Well, I think it’s helpful to think through for a number of reasons.”
An Anti-Pharisee’s Prayer. I really appreciate what Barry York does in this series of brief prayers drawn from Matthew 23. He frames them in such a way that they are meant to be prayed by a seminary professor, but they can easily be reframed for any of our lives.
Will Christians Really Judge the World? Alistair Chalmers looks at one of those texts we’ve read but perhaps not pondered. “It is a remarkable statement: Christians will judge the world. But almost immediately, questions begin to pile up. Aren’t Christians themselves going to be judged? Doesn’t Paul elsewhere say that ‘we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:10)? If God alone is the Judge, what exactly are believers doing judging the world? And perhaps most puzzling of all – how could ordinary Christians possibly possess the wisdom necessary for such a task?”
What New Opportunities and Abilities Will We Experience on the New Earth? Speaking of the future, Randy Alcorn considers some of the opportunities and abilities we may experience on the New Earth. “I believe the New Earth will offer us opportunities we wished for but never had. God’s original plan was that human beings would live happy and fulfilling lives on Earth. If our current lives are our only chances at that, God’s plan has been thwarted. Consider the injustice—many honest, faithful people never got to live fulfilling lives, while some dishonest and unfaithful people seemed to fare much better.”
Five Words in a Known Tongue. I appreciate Ken Davis’s call for pastors to speak simply and clearly. “D.A. Carson sat in my study as we awaited the time to go into the church sanctuary for the morning worship service where he would be preaching. ‘Do you have any illiterate people in your church?’ he asked. I told him I knew of several and that my estimation was probably low. He nodded and that was the end of that part of our conversation. We went to the service, and he preached a sermon that a ten year old could understand. A man in our church, not illiterate, but not well educated, approached me and commented after the message, ‘That was sweet’. And it was.”
Reader Recommendations
Once a week, I like to ask what you enjoy and recommend. What books, products, videos, sites, or experiences do you recommend to others who read this blog/newsletter? Let me know, and I’ll share a collection on Saturday. (If you’re reading this via email, you’ll need to visit my site to fill out the form. Go here to read last week’s recommendations.)
Flashback
Lessons in Becoming a Better Listener. Good listening requires patience. We must not succumb to hasty or inattentive listening, but be willing to listen patiently and thoroughly…We must listen in such a way that we are not already planning what we will say to combat the speaker or to defend ourselves.
We forget that God’s primary goal is not changing our situations or relationships so that we can be happy, but changing us through our situations and relationships so that we will be holy.
—Paul David Tripp
