Good morning. The Lord be with you and bless you on this fine day.
There was a pretty big batch of Kindle deals yesterday and I’m on the hunt again today. There will almost certaintly be some new ones on January 1.
(Yesterday on the blog: The 2025 Christian Reading Challenge)
Next Year, New You
Rachel Jones: “There’s a fresh-faced feeling to early January. As one year winds up and another lies open before us, anything seems possible. We’re told this is going to be the year when you—yes you—get fit, or save money, or eat healthy, or start reading, or stress less. Hey—this is the year when you can do all those things. New year, new you.”
Unpacking “New Year, New Me”
Jen Oshman also has something to say about “new year, new me.” “Here’s what’s true this New Year’s Day and every other day: you and I and all humans were made by God and for God. Therefore, we will not find purpose, peace, or satisfying soul-deep change outside of God. He is the source of our lives, the goal of our lives, and the substance of our lives. To pursue the good life outside of Christ is futile.”
Watch Missionary: Obeying the Great Commission
Experience the Stories of the Men and Women Who Followed the Great Commission. Missionary Features the Stories of William Tyndale, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, William Carey, David Livingstone, and John Paton. (Sponsored)
What Does the Bible Say About Divorce?
Wyatt Graham has spent a long time studying what the Bible says about divorce and shares some of it here.
Growing in Your Understanding of Biblical Theology
If you’d like to dedicate a portion of your 2025 to growing in your understanding of biblical theology, Mitch Chase has some suggestions for you.
‘A Man at Church Thinks We Should Marry — I Disagree’
John Piper answers a woman who has been told God wants her to marry a particular individual. “Shortly after joining a new church, a guy I barely knew asked me out on a date, and I declined without feeling any regret then or since. Many months have passed, and he’s still convinced that we are meant to be together, to the point that he corners me after church events to reiterate that I’m exactly the wife he’s prayed for.”
Missing What Was Not Meant to Be Yours
“What if we are yearning after what was never meant to be ours? What if we are holding onto that which we are meant to let go of? What if we are seeking after something which was never meant to be sought after? What if we are chasing after things that were never part of His plan for us? What if we are holding onto what we need to give up?”
Flashback: The Best Way to Begin a New Year
God blots out our transgressions so he can forget our sins. He deliberately erases from his accounts every record of what we have done wrong.
Possessions are only the traveling luggage of time; they are not the stuff of eternity. It would be sensible therefore to travel light.
—John Stott
