If you’re in the mood for some Christmas music (and who isn’t in mid-December?) you may be interested in tonight’s live-streamed “An Irish Christmas” concert by Keith and Kristyn Getty. It is being broadcast live from the Museum of the Bible.
Logos is having a Christmas sale and offering up to 50% off on a variety of products. They are also offering discounts on some of the Best of 2023—some that were bestsellers and some that were judged especially noteworthy.
There’s a long list of excellent Kindle deals to look at today.
How Long Does Grieving Take?
Here’s some sweet encouragement from Paul Tautges: “How quickly you heal is not important. What is important is that you live by faith in the promises of God, resulting in more love for God and for others. As you do, often imperceptibly, you are moving forward each day—from grief and pain, toward acceptance and joy—and you are helping others to do the same.”
The Tyranny of Seeing Only Power
Brad’s article will take some time to read, but I think it’s worth the effort. He reviews a recent book and explains why it’s so destructive to see the world solely through the lens of power disparity. “Such a book might have begun with the concept of authority, a concept almost entirely absent from contemporary Western life. Both Left and Right, he might have observed, have fallen into the trap of seeing freedom only in relation to power. For the Right, freedom is always freedom from power; for the Left, it is freedom through power. But either way, it always turns out to be a zero-sum game…”
Finding Grace in Infertility and Loss
Amy writes movingly about God’s kindness to her and her family. “This useless womb, which caused me nothing but pain, inconvenience, and sorrow – turns out it was actually the impetus for the beauty in my life today. In a strange irony, it was not useless at all.”
They Came to Shepherds
This is a lovely piece of writing about God’s love for shepherds.
Connection to God That Connects Us to One Another
I appreciate Stephie’s thoughts about connection. “Relationships, at their very best, are beautiful when they are subservient to relationship with, devotion to, and rest found in God. When we are rest, and realize that our deepest longings are met by God, we will have the ability to love people without exploiting them and seeing them as commodities. This allows us to love without needing anything back.”
More Light, Lord
Esther has a brief new poem that is well worth the read.
Flashback: When God Goes Big And I Go Small
When I read Mark 11:25…my first thought is not, “God forgive me for my lack of forgiveness!” or “Okay, so who do I need to forgive?” My first thought is “Yeah, but what about this situation or that situation?” When God goes big, my first tendency is to go small.
I am throwing all my good works overboard, and lashing myself to the plank of free grace; for I hope to swim to glory on it.
—Charles Spurgeon
