I spent a few minutes hunting down some Kindle deals and did manage to find a handful of books and Bibles that may be of interest, including the Spurgeon Study Bible edited by Alistair Begg.
Nitoy Gonzales has created a Freebie Round-up you might like to poke through.
(Yesterday on the blog: How Evangelism Is Kind of Like Fishing)
Self-Control, the Leader’s Make-or-Break Virtue
Drew Dyck: “Over the past 10 years, my work in Christian publishing has brought me into close contact with Christian leaders across the country. I’ve lost count of how many I’ve known who have torpedoed their ministries by failing to control destructive impulses. Unlike Mark, most of them didn’t have such obvious character flaws. They seemed stalwart and faithful, but ended up disqualifying themselves just the same.” The solution? Developing that virtue of self-control.
A Living Memorial
This is a sweet reflection based on a sweet story. “As an eight-year-old in 1944, Tony Foulds was playing in the park with his friends when a damaged US bomber plane flew overhead. It circled above the park, and would have been able to land safely if the children weren’t there. Instead, the pilot chose to crash into a tree-covered hill. All ten men onboard were killed. Now, at the age of 82, Tony regularly tends the memorial for those men, which was set up in the 1970s.”
Student Cracks Theologian Andrew Fuller’s Religious Code
This is a fun story. “A divinity student from the University of St Andrews has cracked a religious code that has baffled academics for generations. Jonny Woods has worked out how to read shorthand notes left by leading Baptist theologian Andrew Fuller.”
Don’t Ignore the “Speed Limit”
“Unbelievers see things more clearly than we think. They sniff out our attempts to market Jesus. They see through our sales pitches. They’re far more serious about their worldview than we give them credit for. And I think our ignorance of this fact offends them even more than the content of our worldview. Why do we carelessly condescend in trying to reach our unbelieving friends? We could list a few answers. Here’s one. We ignore the speed limit we see in the Bible.”
The Audacious Invincibility of Meekness
Jared Wilson reflects on masculinity. “The hyper-masculine evangelical man comes across the apostle Paul telling the Judaizers to emasculate themselves (Gal. 5:12) and builds an entire persona around the verse while disregarding the vast amount of ink spent on gentleness, quietness, peaceability, and self-control. None of those qualities are conducive to the kind of power these aspiring alpha males want. But they are exceptionally conducive to the kind of power Jesus promises us through the Spirit.”
He Won’t Be Silent Forever
This question applies to America, of course, but also Canada and many other nations. “When I was a boy, my father used to say, ‘Our country has got to stop slaughtering babies. It’s only a matter of time before God judges this country for all the innocent blood we have shed.’ He said that 30 some years ago. So, Why hasn’t God overthrown us yet? Why has He allowed this demonic evil to persist?”
The DNA “Magic Box”
You look at some new technologies and immediately see how they can be used for great good and great evil all at once. This “instant” DNA tester is like that…
Flashback: Do You Believe God Will Save Your Kids?
I do what is right and trust his grace, pleading not my own merit, but the merit of Christ, trusting not in my own works, but in the work of Christ. And I pray–I pray that the God who graciously extended favor to undeserving me, would extend it to my undeserving children as well.
Humility is not a mere ornament of a Christian, but an essential part of the new creature: it is a contradiction to be a sanctified man, or a true Christian, and not humble.
—Richard Baxter
