Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include some choice picks like Gentle and Lowly, New Morning Mercies, Everyday Gospel, and The Lord of Psalm 23. You couldn’t go wrong with any of them!
Westminster Books has a deal on a new kids’ edition of Paul Tripp’s New Morning Mercies.
Recommended Reading
Healing Came Quietly. Kirsten Black transparently describes the journey through grief and the way healing comes. “Ever so slowly, however, the lighter days became more frequent; like the quiet arrival of spring as new life begins to peek out from under winters’ frozen blanket. Good days began to stack on top of one another. I found I could smile a little more easily; engage life with a little less duty. The hard days still came, sometimes many in a row, but as time marched on, even as those bad days came, I found hope that the easier days would come as well. The darkness began to lift. The sorrow was no longer all-encompassing.”
Mourning Our Lasts. I appreciate Bethany Broderick’s lament for life’s “lasts”—something she is reflecting on as she prepares to move across the country. “Perhaps that’s what makes ‘lasts’ so painful. They tempt us to believe in scarcity—to believe that because something is ending, something irreplaceable is being taken from us. But the gospel teaches me to live differently. The God who gave me these good gifts in Alabama is not limited by geography.”
Pastoral Fortitude: Courage in the Ministry of Word and Prayer. Joseph Lanier: “The virtue of fortitude plays a unique role in pastoral ministry. Particularly, it is seen in the ministry of Word and prayer. As the pastor shepherds the flock entrusted to him, his mode of shepherding is administering God’s Word to sinners and sufferers as he intercedes on their behalf. In other words, not only does the virtue of fortitude aid the pastor in his ability to keenly comfort the afflicted and patiently admonish the wayward, but in doing so, those brothers and sisters are equipped to endure on their pilgrimage.”
2026 Is Big Tech’s Big Tobacco Moment. Clare Morell describes Meta’s recent settlement is Big Tech’s Big Tobacco moment. “The point isn’t the 18 billion dollar price tag. The headline is the design requirements the States’ Attorney Generals are insisting on to protect kids online. This settlement gets rid of many of the most dangerous and addictive features of social media platforms and most importantly requires robust age-verification on Meta products (Instagram and Facebook) in order to keep underage users off (13 and under) and ensure these new safeguards are applied to all minors under 18. The goal is to have these same standards accepted by the other platforms in this litigation: Youtube, Snapchat, and TikTok, as well.” Yet the war is not won.
Young Woman, What’s Your Legacy? Ashley Gibson writes for younger women and challenges them to already consider their legacy. “In your teens, twenties, and even thirties, it can be tempting to focus only on what’s a few years ahead—what college you’ll attend, when you’ll get married, what job you’ll have, when you’ll have kids, where you’ll live. But as you head into each new season, remember: there are women who are coming behind you, watching your life as they step into where you’ve just been.”
When Unhealed Illness Brings Shame. “From the moment I was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, we began to hear stories. Stories of people who had lived 5, 10, even 14 years with the same kind of tumor. The intention was to encourage us that, even though the doctors warn that I have a short time left to live, people have long outlived those expectations.” Rob Edenfield helps Christians who feel some shame because they feel they should have been healed, but haven’t been.
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
So You’ve Been Told You Should Read Some Old Books… A reader of this site … has been a believer for quite a long time and along the way has heard of the value of reading “Christian classics.” Yet she hasn’t been sure where to begin and asked for some guidance.
Lord, what Thou wilt, where Thou wilt, and when Thou wilt.
—Richard Baxter
