Good morning, my friends. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include some solid options from New Growth Press. Also, since a handful of books from Crossway were slow to show up on Monday, I have added them back to the list for today.
Recommended Reading
Lindsay Clancy and the Problem of Therapy Culture. Samuel James sees the situation surrounding Lindsay Clancy’s trial as evidence of the problems that come with therapy culture. “Clancy’s defense is obviously controversial, and for the same reason common to nearly all insanity pleas in cases of murder. It is no easy thing to weigh the reality of moral agency alongside the reality of mental illness. Complexities and social media, however, do not usually get along.” (You may also be interested in this article from First Things, though you may find it behind a paywall: Lindsay Clancy and the Trials of Modern Parenting.)
Help! My Child Is Entering Puberty. This is a wise article on parenting from Darby Strickland, who wants to ensure that parents look beyond mere physical changes. “We should be careful not to narrow the scope of puberty conversations to strictly physical matters. Sometimes children are told, directly or indirectly, that puberty mainly matters because it means one day they will be able to become a parent. That is true, but it is not the whole truth. Growing up is more important than reproduction. It includes wisdom, responsibility, courage, compassion, self-control, friendship, work, service, worship, and love of neighbor.”
The Abortion Pioneer Who Became a Pro-Life Champion. Jonathon Van Maren highlights Dr. Aleck Bourne, an abortion pioneer who unexpectedly became a pro-life champion. “The life and work of Dr. Aleck Bourne provide a sterling example for the medical professionals who seek to follow in his footsteps. He was not simply known as a pro-life advocate; he was known for his courage. Even those who fiercely disagreed with him saw him as a man of integrity; none second-guessed his commitment to each of his patients. The way in which he engaged in pro-life advocacy is a model for today, in a far more hostile culture.”
Parents, What Drives You to Frustration Might Be What Changes the World. Michael Kelley wants you to think twice about some of those aspects of your child’s personality that you sometimes find troublesome or concerning. “Think with me for a minute about that one thing in your child. That one thing that can both lift your heart and make you roll your eyes. That one thing that might even be a mirror of yourself. That one thing which, among many other things, makes your child unique.”
What Your Church Owns Is Not Ultimately Yours. Michael Jensen provides a brief and helpful theology of property stewardship for churches. “Christian ‘ownership’ is always penultimate. We may possess property legally and responsibly, but we never possess it absolutely. What we own is ultimately God’s, and therefore our possession entails responsibility rather than unrestricted entitlement.”
My Father Spent Years Preparing His Boat for Journeys He Never Took. I enjoyed reading Ed Stych’s article about his father’s passion for building a boat and the necessity of eventually handing it off to someone else. It reminds me that so much of what we set out to do in life will ultimately remain undone and so many of our dreams will remain unfulfilled. I’m so thankful for heaven.
Free Things
Ligonier Ministries recently announced that R.C. Sproul’s entire teaching series library is now free forever. You can find them all on Ligonier’s Teaching Series page.
Did you know that Reformation Heritage Books offers all kinds of Puritan books for free? There are 85 books available now, with more to come. You can read them online or download them in PDF format at ThePuritans.com.
You can get a free five-day course on prayer taught by Michael Reeves if you sign up for Union’s email list (which you can unsubscribe from at any time).
Flashback
I Used To Dream Big Dreams. I used to be a dreamer. I used to lie awake at night thinking of the great man I might be, the great awards I might win, the great deeds I might accomplish for the Lord. I would eventually drift to sleep convinced of my own potential and glimpsing visions of my own grandeur.
God receives the sacrifice of Jesus’ suffering and invites us to share, in a small way, in suffering with him. Then he uses our sufferings to help others who suffer.
—Kenneth Berding & Keith R. Krell
