Good morning. By way of reminder, my family is on vacation this week so I am on a light blogging schedule. I’ve got A La Carte each day, but am not posting my own original articles until next week. We are enjoying our time together, but will also be glad to be back to the real world by the weekend.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include several excellent books from The Good Book Company like Peace Over Perfection and The Air We Breathe. Here’s a final reminder that you’ll find tons of Prime Day deals at this link.
Over at Westminster Books, you can find a great deal on a new book on the faith of George Washington. Remember that they’ve also got a deal on Calvin’s Illustrated Institutes.
Recommended Reading
Why Felix Nmecha Says Football Will Never Satisfy. I enjoyed this little profile of German footballer Felix Nmecha. “When Felix Nmecha scored Germany’s opening goal against Curaçao, he knelt down, gestured to heaven, and then motioned as if he was removing a crown from his head and placing it at his feet for Jesus. It stood out because so often players will celebrate themselves: thumping their chests, motioning that they’re number one, and standing in front of their fans as if to soak in the glory.”
Are AI chatbots like ChatGPT Politically Biased? We have all heard the concern that AI chatbots are politically biased. They are, after all, created and tuned by human beings. The Washington Post carried out a careful study and the results were pretty much exactly as you’d expect. It “tested the AI models behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and others using political questions designed by researchers to gauge how chatbots respond to hot-button political issues. The results suggest that chatbots have clear political leanings that can conflict with promises made by the companies behind them.”
Foundations Conference: Think More Biblically. Stand More Confidently. In a political climate that often misunderstands biblical convictions, clarity matters. Join ARPA Canada’s Foundations Conference this fall in Hamilton, ON or Lethbridge, AB to explore how to engage with wisdom, conviction, and confidence. Hear from leading voices, including Nancy Pearcey, Kevin Flatt, Stockwell Day, and Josh Wood. Register before September 7th. (Sponsored)
Adding Value. I pretty much always enjoy Matthew Hall’s Midweek Musings. This one on adding value is no exception. “What value do you add to the place you’re in? The people you’re around? If you aren’t adding value, not only are you likely expendable to your employer but you’re also likely unhappy and not flourishing in general.”
What Jesus Actually Meant by ‘Judge Not.’ “‘Jesus himself says not to judge.’ Thus many a conversation about Christian ethics has come to a swift end. I often hear this verse quoted to me in conversations about the Bible’s sexual ethic, especially when these conversations occur in progressive, secular spaces. But it doesn’t take much imagination to guess how it might be deployed elsewhere. When used to shut down conversations, the implicit meaning is something like this: Jesus says it’s wrong to tell me I’m wrong.”
It’s Always Because of God’s Glory. Stephen Kneale says rightly that a lot of articles wouldn’t need to be written if we could just wrap our minds around the reality that it’s always because of God’s glory. “This world is setup to the maximal glory of God. If things would glorify God more another way, and God is sovereign over them all, I suspect he would have set them up that way. Everything that happens, everything God permits, everything that is, exists because God determined it better serves his glory this way than had he set it up another way.”
Death is the Ultimate Perspective. Zachary Conover: “Death reminds us what matters most. It jolts us out of our routines and shakes us awake from our lethargic slumber. Most effectively, it takes our focus off of ourselves and our problems which seem so consuming. Death is the ultimate perspective.”
The Funniest
My friend Chris Martin maintains a Substack called The Funnies, and every Saturday he shares a few fun and silly things he found on the Internet—something I see as a modern equivalent to the comics pages that used to be in every newspaper. I asked him to share a couple with you.
Small print: The inclusion of someone’s “funny” here is neither an endorsement of that person nor a recommendation that you follow them on social media. Just laugh or roll your eyes and then move on.
Flashback
When You Want It More Than They Do. What should you do when you grow concerned about another person’s progress or lack thereof? How can you respond in the face of what appears to be their apathy toward sanctification? Here are a few suggestions.
Knowing God is your single greatest privilege as a Christian.
—Sinclair Ferguson
