Good morning. Grace and peace to you today.
Today’s Kindle deals include several excellent titles. Among them are Kevin DeYoung’s Crazy Busy, David Mathis’ Workers for Your Joy, and John Piper’s Rethinking Retirement.
Book Brief. In Bad Therapy, Abigail Shrier turns from examining the transgender craze among young girls (see Irreversible Damage) to the massive over-diagnosis of mental illness and remedy of therapy among the younger generation. If you’ve wondered why younger people today seem to struggle to cope with life, this book explains. It is strong in cultural observation but prone to overstatement and lacking in biblical worldview.
Be Vexed by the Olympics Opening Ceremony
Stephen McAlpine thinks Christians should be vexed by last week’s now-infamous opening ceremony. “I’ve read lots of Christians say ‘Oh it’s no biggie’, as if somehow those Christians who are vexed by it are somehow less mature, less hip and urban as Christians. Away with that idea. Actually this is a biggie.”
Confessions of a Chronic Yeller
“I didn’t set out to be a yeller. There were many aspects of my childhood I vowed not to repeat in my own family, but yelling somehow didn’t make the list. I was Portuguese Italian, after all. Portuguese Italians had dark hair, ate pasta, and yelled.”
Forget Your First Name: How to Live for Legacy
Greg Morse explains that he keeps “hearing stories about young couples who do not want children.” I have heard many say the same and share Greg’s concerns.
Disturbed Faith at the County Fair
Doug says he recently “woke up thinking about something I had witnessed long ago that had disturbed my young faith. The years have stolen most of the details of that night from my memory, but the impactful aspect of the event still lingers. It was one of those moments when the simplicity of youth is confronted with the complexities of reality.”
The Sine Qua Non of Christian Ministry
Jim Elliff explains why his ministry does not solicit donations. You don’t have to agree with that position to benefit from reading the article. “In our ministry, we believe God has guided us to never solicit, but we do not believe this practice is commanded. … We recommend such an approach for people doing what we do, because by doing so we can spend all our time in ministry and none in fund raising, and because we believe it promotes interest in trusting God as sufficient and loving toward his own people, but we do not demand it of anyone else.”
Acknowledging Levels of Offense in Destructive Relationships
“In Christian circles, we are fond of saying, ‘The ground is level at the foot of the cross.’ This is true. No one needs a double dose of Jesus’ blood to cover their sin. However, it would be a false conclusion to infer that this means all our sins are equally destructive or should have the same temporal consequences. We can be equally sinful and not equally destructive.”
Flashback: Why We Fail at Family Devotions
I think the main reason we fail is that we make it too hard. Family devotions are the simplest thing in the world. We just need to get the family together, and then read the Bible and pray. Anything beyond that is gravy.
The message of every preacher is to declare the kingship of God over every soul.
—Steven Lawson
