Good morning. The beginning of a new year seems like an especially good time to remember this: That right now, at this very moment, God is reigning from his throne. All will be well.
I added a large selection of Kindle deals yesterday and will go looking again this morning. Yesterday’s included Life in the Negative World by Aaron Renn, Go Forward in Love by Tim Keller, and some other great picks.
Keep Bible Reading From Being Rude
J. A. Medders explains how to keep your Bible reading from being rude.
Four Remembrances for the New Year
Here are four remembrances for the new year. “Many people consider New Year’s Day an opportunity for a fresh start. We look to the future with hopes, dreams, and plans for something better. If that longing for a better future is born out of a difficult season or a difficult life, reflecting backward can seem unappealing or downright dreadful. However, for Christians, remembering key elements of our past can provide courage and motivation as we look to the future.”
A Primer on Roman Catholic Apologetics Targeting Evangelicals
Leonardo De Chirico provides the lay of the land when it comes to Roman Catholic apologists who specifically target Evangelicals. “The call to the ‘new evangelization’ by John Paul II and Benedict XVI has repositioned a growing number of Roman Catholics from being recipients of evangelical zeal to becoming active players of ‘catholic’ evangelization. Today, it is no longer evangelicals who ‘evangelize’ Catholics, but it is also Catholics who ‘evangelize’ evangelicals with targeted and planned initiatives. Apologetic efforts are now bidirectional.”
Five Vows I Have Made
My friend Phil Hunt explains how he adopted vows A.W. Tozer once made.
Are We Trying to Be Too Clever?
This is worth considering at the dawn of a new year. “I think we often look for sophisticated solutions to complicated problems. Are we trying to be too clever? In reality, the basics are usually the most fruitful focus.”
The New Year’s Prayer Challenge
Robb Brunansky lays out a good challenge. “Happy New Year! Today, many of us are evaluating our routines, hoping to make improvements for 2025. A new year is an ideal time to take inventory of our prayer lives – both individually and corporately – which is why I want to encourage you with some ways to grow in prayer in this new year.”
Flashback: The Year of Our Dreams or the Year of Our Nightmares
We can know beyond any shadow of a doubt that whatever this year brings, it will be exactly the year God has planned for us, exactly the year God means for us to live out for the good of others and the glory of his name.
Prayer and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer.
—J.C. Ryle
