Good morning. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include some strong choices like Respectable Sins, Live Your Truth and Other Lies, and a few volumes in the excellent Gospel in the Old Testament series from P&R.
Logos users will want to look at this month’s free and nearly free books. On the main page, on the slides that change every few seconds, you can find information about some other deals, like up to 50% off certain titles and an August sale.
Recommended Reading
Twenty Two & Engaged. I enjoyed Karis Lai’s article on finding herself almost surprised to be engaged at a relatively young age. “While I was aware of idolatry at either end of the spectrum, I was not immune to the pulls of culture on either side, and felt oddly stuck in the middle of both. It seemed like I was somehow betraying my Asian Americanness and prestigious education by choosing to get married so young without having a clear 25 year plan. At the same time, I stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the broader Texas ‘ring-by-spring’ culture: I hadn’t planned a wedding Pinterest board since I was eight, I didn’t know about the ‘something borrowed, something blue’ trend.”
The Unwelcome Intruder. Kimberly Wagner writes about an intruder many of us will encounter. “He creeps in slowly. He works silently and his theft is hardly noticed. He’s stealthy and insidious. His tactics are unique to each individual case, but as he steals valuable assets from a loved one it always results in the same loss. Dementia is an unwelcome intruder. It robs our loved one of their memories and often their recognition of faces most dear to them. It removes mental clarity and often personality as our loved one morphs into an unrecognizable character.”
The Porn Buster. Barry York: “During thirty-five years of pastoral ministry, one of the greatest plagues on men, marriages, and the church is pornography. Porn is so prevalent that I have had to devote significant time to counseling and teaching on it. At RPTS, I have sections of pastoral classes in which I address this subject. As the president, I have had to discipline students over it. The RPTS and church community know that I label this topic Pornolatry, for Christians indulging in pornography is not just a problem of immorality – it is a worship problem. The pornolatrist is an idolatrist.”
What the Spurgeon Family Scandal Teaches Us About Failure. Someone recently unearthed a scandal in Charles Spurgeon’s family, and Rob Tervet explains what it can teach us about failure. “It explains why Charles was raised by his grandparents from such a young age and why John so sternly warned his son about the dangers of debt—which also explains why Charles repudiated debt. But it’s a devotionally rich finding as well. This unlikely ground zero for the greatest preacher of the 19th century reminds us of wonderful truths.”
Pastoral Time Guilt. “Every pastor knows the feeling. You leave the hospital wondering whether you should have stayed in your study. You leave your study wondering whether you should have visited another family. You finally sit down with your wife and children only to remember the unanswered emails, the counseling appointment you need to schedule, or the sermon that still feels unfinished. Ministry has a way of convincing us that wherever we are is exactly where we should not be. The result is a quiet burden many faithful pastors carry every day: time guilt.” Joe Keller offers encouragement to pastors who feel that guilt.
What About Animal Suffering? Some skeptics consider animal suffering an unsolvable problem for Christians. Greg Koukl explains why it isn’t. “It would require near omniscience to affirm that there is no good reason for God to create a world that included suffering. Who could know that with any confidence? By contrast, evidences for God’s existence are legion. Clearly, the premise “God exists” enjoys the most support. Thus, the second argument is the most credible, and the charge that suffering is gratuitous is deflected significantly.”
Book Short
Lois Romano’s An Inconvenient Widow is a fascinating and even-handed biography of Mary Todd Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln’s wife suffered deeply in life. She lost three of her four sons, witnessed her husband’s assassination, was unfairly confined to an asylum by her remaining son, and had her reputation savaged. After all this, and much more, she went down in history as an ignominious figure. Yet Romano is convinced the record has been unfair. While she doesn’t defend her subject’s many shortcomings, she does emphasize her virtues and show how she was treated especially poorly, both in her day and in the century-and-a-bit that has followed. She shows how she likely suffered from issues related to mental health, how she was not afforded sympathy for her grievous losses, and how so many people simply loved to hate her. This book helps show what Lincoln loved and admired about his wife and redeems a reputation that has been unjustly besmirched. (Learn more at Amazon)
Flashback
The Financial and Spiritual Principle of Compound Interest. The lessons learned on a mother’s knee, the principles taught in family devotions, and the catechism questions memorized in Sunday school are the small amounts of principal that can grow and expand into spiritual riches throughout a lifetime.
Why expository preaching? Because God knows what his people need better than you do.
—Bobby Jamieson
