Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent theological texts from Crossway. You’ll also find a good edition of Preaching and Preachers and Jonathan Holmes’ Counsel for Couples.
Recommended Reading
God’s Plan for Your Prayers. John Piper answers a really good question from a listener of Ask Pastor John. Essentially, the listener wants to know how a high view of God’s sovereignty should shape our prayers. “I think there are two basic things that we can say in answer to this question about what the sovereignty of God does to our prayers. First, it provides a tone and conviction of submissiveness and reverence and worship. And second, it provides a deep confidence that nothing is too hard for the Lord, so nothing can stop him from answering our prayers when he sets himself to do it.”
How to Guard Your Women’s Ministry Against False Teaching. Sarah Ivill discusses some of the guardrails that can guard a women’s ministry, or any other ministry for that, from false teaching. “As women are increasingly influenced by social media, where anyone can claim to be a Bible teacher or women’s ministry leader without training or vetting, we can’t overemphasize the importance of teaching sound doctrine. It equips women to recognize unsound teaching when they encounter it.”
Inspire Others to Be Better Christians. I’m certain there have been people in your life who have inspired you to be a better Christian. But here’s the question: are there people in your life who are being inspired by you to be better Christians? “By the grace of God, I want to live a life that inspires others to be better. I am not saying that we should build a name for ourselves. Rather, I am saying that we offer our lives to God so that our lives would be used as instruments in His hands to inspire others to be better Christians.”
Get Joshua: The Christian Standard Commentary today! Written by David M. Howard, Jr., Joshua is part of the Christian Standard Commentary (CSC) series. By balancing rigorous scholarship with practical application, this series helps readers understand each biblical book’s theology, its place in the broader narrative of Scripture, and its importance for the church today. (Sponsored)
When We Despise Ordinary Help. Staci Eastin says that we can all have a tendency to despise ordinary help and long for extraordinary help instead. “We should not disdain the ordinary things that can make our lives better. Like Naaman, it may seem too small when compared to our problem. But God often sustains us through ordinary things: sleep, medicine, prayer, the encouragement from other believers, and other expressions of his grace. And even though we might have to receive the ‘helpful suggestion’ through gritted teeth, reflection might prove to us that it has its merit.”
Does the Church Need Your Worship Song? Andrew Osenga writes for those who have written a worship song and long to have it make its way into the wider church, but what he says applies equally to all kinds of creative endeavors. “I know that Spotify gets served anywhere from 200 to 500 new worship songs every Friday. I know that Christian radio gets served 50 to 100 new worship songs every month. I know that churches add, on average, five new songs a year to their repertoire. Good luck. The Bible tells us at least eight distinct times to sing a new song unto the Lord. He delights in hearing the songs of His children. The rest of the world? They are generally not that interested.”
“Yes, Lord”: Bowing Our Heads to the Providence of God. Bekka French: “Do you have trouble accepting the providence of God in your life? Perhaps you are suffering, overwhelmed by sorrow or pain. Perhaps you are caught in sin, every impulse of your heart resisting the Lord’s way. Whether in suffering or sin or a combo of both, the duty (and delight) of every Christian is to bow their head in submission to God. But how in the world do we get there?”
Your Recommendations
Once a week, I like to ask what you recommend. What books, products, videos, sites, or experiences do you recommend to others who read this blog/newsletter? Let me know, and I’ll share a collection on Saturday. (If you’re reading this via email, you’ll need to visit my site to fill out the form.)
Flashback
The History of Nothing, No One, and Nowhere. A right view of history is one that acknowledges his existence and displays how he is glorifying himself through this world and through all the affairs of men. It’s not a history of nothing, no one, and nowhere, but a history of the works, the acts, and the glory of God.
Sin plagues us all, and it particularly plagues our pursuit of happiness precisely because sin makes us unhappy, yet we willingly sin anyway, convinced that each new sin will somehow have a different result.
—Jen Oshman
