May the Lord be with you and bless you on this fine day. I have collected my usual six recommended articles below, then followed them with some interesting headlines drawn from the news. I hope there’s something that catches your eye and feeds your mind!
Sales & Deals
Amazon just put a list of the year’s bestsellers on sale (in print, not Kindle formats) and included a few Christian titles: Happy Lies by Melissa Dougherty, What Is Wrong with the World? by Tim Keller, and The Way of the Wildflower by Ruth Chou Simons. You can find a complete list here.
Today’s Kindle deals include a variety of good books for readers of all kinds. The list includes Vaneetha Risner’s brand-new This Was Never the Plan.
Recommended Reading
Don’t Let Envy Poison Your Soul. I think Daniel Darling is exactly right: Few sins poison the soul quite as thoroughly as envy. “In today’s modern culture, we have been conditioned to nurture envy at anyone who is perceived to be ahead of us on the career, economic, or social ladder. Envy is at the heart of our politics on all sides. Envy fuels the marketing machines. Just watch the ads. Someone owns a product/gadget/service that is making them happy, and you don’t have it. That’s not right, we are told to tell ourselves, I must have it.”
Biblical Self-Examination: Questions for Growth. Stacey Pardoe explains the necessity of biblical self-examination, but warns that just as it can be neglected altogether, it can also be done poorly. “Self-examination is a biblical concept, but we can be swept too far into this introspection. We need to always examine ourselves in the light of God’s truth, keeping the Gospel at the center of our examination.” She offers a series of useful questions to help guide Christians in the practice.
10 Tips for Becoming an Excellent Bible Interpreter. This seems like a fitting article to pair with the last one. “Becoming a skilled interpreter of Scripture is not a complicated task. It is hard, but it isn’t complicated. God does not hide the riches of his Word from the simple; he hides them from the proud and ungodly. Right interpretation, then, is first a matter of personal character and piety, and then a matter of methodology. Here are ten basic tips. There is much more to say, of course, but you must start here.”
Why NOT to Build a Bigger Sanctuary. I think this article and the idea behind it merit a lot of consideration. “I know the blessings and the very real challenges that come with having a church sanctuary that is full. I also understand the arguments for building something bigger. … The size and use of your sanctuary will greatly affect the culture of your church moving forward. Let me humbly offer a little different perspective on this topic, especially for those of you in churches that are outgrowing your space. Here are 5 reasons to potentially NOT build a bigger sanctuary.”
Five Points in My Pain. Joni Eareckson Tada tells how the doctrines of God’s sovereign saving grace sustain her through her trials. “Here I am, afflicted with sores and scars, increasing pain, quadriplegia, and the constant threat of deadly pneumonia. How is it, then, that I am consoled by the doctrine of God’s absolute dominion over every moment of my pain and paralysis? Why would I even encourage Christians to view God’s providence as the ultimate source of great comfort? The answers are found in the doctrines of grace, those treasured canons of our faith that extol God’s sovereignty in our salvation past, present, and future.”
Confessing Sin, Then and Now. This is an interesting piece from Steven Wedgeworth, who is relatively new to Anglicanism. He goes looking through different editions of the Book of Common Prayer to see how some of its most beautiful prayers and confessions have been softened through the years. (And truly, the Book of Common Prayer historically contains some excellent examples of both.)
Headlines
MLB Players Reclaim the Rainbow. The Christian Post reports on Christian ballplayers who are doing their little piece to reclaim the rainbow for its true purpose. “While professional sports teams continue to put their players through the ritual humiliation of donning rainbow attire that espouses a pro-LGBT agenda in which many players do not believe, some athletes have turned to understated protest.” I am sure I am not the only church leader who has had members of my congregation ask me for counsel this month as they navigate the expectation or demand that they celebrate what they believe is immoral. I know the Lord is every bit as proud of the ones who resist in small office contexts as those who resist in massive stadiums.
Adoption and Fostering. On a similar note, it was good to read in Christianity Today that Bethany Christian Services, “long described as the country’s largest Protestant adoption and foster care agency, will no longer allow LGBTQ couples to foster or adopt.” You may recall that several years ago, Bethany began placing children with same-sex couples. However, they have since clarified and reinforced their Christian faith commitments and formed this new policy.
Your Ecclesiastical World Cup. For whatever reason, most denominations hold their annual meetings in June. David Hall kept tabs on some of the highlights and lowlights and put together this somewhat casual recap of what transpired in Presbyland, Wesleyland, and Baptist Nation. Of course, his own PCA still has their meetings coming up.
Flashback
Two Ways to Dishonor God With Your Money. We can be mastered by our money by spending too much or too little, by thinking about it too often or too seldom. It’s God’s money so of the highest importance, but it’s also merely money, a tool that passes through our hands and goes as easily as it comes.
Ignorance of the Scripture is the root of all error and makes a man helpless in the hand of the devil.
—J.C. Ryle
