The God of peace be with you today.
There is a substantial collection of Kindle deals to browse through today.
(Yesterday on the blog: Always Look for the Light)
How to Know if You’re Using God
Casey asks some important questions in his article. It begins like this: “It was the first and only time I’ve ever been called to perform an exorcism. It wasn’t a person that was possessed, the frantic lady on the phone informed me, it was her house. It had not one but two spirits. She had already tried a medium, a Catholic priest, and the strategic placement of crosses. You know you’re desperate when your last best hope is a Baptist pastor.”
The Soul-Poison of the Little Word ‘Should’
This article considers the way the little word “should” can become such a poison.
We Won’t Understand All, but We’ll Trust More
I tend to agree with Barbara that in heaven we will understand more than we do now about God’s acts of providence, but not necessarily everything we’d like to know. “I don’t know if we’ll understand everything that God did and allowed while we were on earth. Because He will still be God and we still won’t be. He is omniscient, and we will never be.”
Unless the Seed Dies
What a sweet bit of writing. “We come from unique backgrounds and paths of life as diverse as the potluck table: chile rellenos and chow mein sidled next to green bean casserole. We are white and colored, Asian and other, a mottled crew from nursery to our nineties. We vote on different ballots and think in different ways. Surely strangers who engage in such an intimate act of worship have no business with one another this side of glory as we learn again to be the church.”
True, False, or Heresy?
This excellent article looks carefully at what’s true and what’s false, what’s orthodox and what’s heretical.
Truthful Thinking Is Greater Than Positive Thinking
That’s a good line that counters something so common in society (and even in the church): truthful thinking is greater than positive thinking. “I regularly meet people who promote a worldview of positive thinking. In fact, there are religions and schools of thought that major in it. Such belief systems claim, to a greater or lesser degree, that positive thinking saves people from sin, grief, pain, brokenness, and even eternal damnation in hell. They’re attractive because they give us a sense of control. And in an age of chaos, a little control feels comforting.”
Flashback: It Takes a Church To Raise Your Child
This “village” is not there just to keep them in line when they get unruly, but to experience the joy of seeing them grow up in God and grow up for God.
Faith does not pretend that a situation is not painful or scary. What faith does do is take our problem to the One who really cares and can do something about it.
—Matthew Mitchell
