Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of books, one of which is especially good for families dealing with issues related to technology.
(Yesterday on the blog: EPIC Extra: Ask Me Anything Australia)
Why Did God Answer My Half-Hearted Prayer?
Kirsten McKinlay asks, “Have you ever uttered a half-hearted prayer? I know I have. Many times. And isn’t it all the more shocking when it’s these prayers that I see God answer? It takes me by surprise, as if God only listened to my prayers periodically, or only when I was 100% earnest and focused in what I was saying—as if I didn’t appeal to him on the basis of his Son and not my own performance, even my performance in prayer.”
The Word-less “Church”
“Many American churches are in a mess. Theologically they are indifferent, confused, or dangerously wrong. Liturgically they are the captives of superficial fads. Morally they live lives indistinguishable from the world. They often have a lot of people, money, and activities. But are they really churches, or have they degenerated into peculiar clubs?”
The Moral Failures of Historical Heroes (Video)
Thabiti Anyabwile offers a good answer on dealing with the moral failures of historical heroes.
Why Mister Rogers (Still) Matters
Russell Moore: “This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of public television’s Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The milestone will bring with it a major book, a feature film (starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers), and even a U.S. postage stamp. When one considers all the ephemera of children’s programming, the ongoing cultural resonance of this show is staggering. Fifty years from now will anyone note the anniversary of Gumball or Clarence? I doubt it. So why does Mr. Rogers, even long after his death, still beckon us into his neighborhood?”
Crossing Cultural Lines to Promote the Gospel (Hudson Taylor)
“In September, 1855, after Hudson Taylor had served as a missionary in China for only eighteen months, he made a decision that was very radical for that era. Rather than living in a missionary compound in Shanghai and wearing European clothing, he decided to live right among the Chinese and to adopt their native dress and other amoral aspects of indigenous culture. He desired to do this in order to lessen cultural barriers to the dissemination of the Christian Gospel and to show his high regard for the native culture of those he was trying to reach.”
Ranking the Most (and Least) Nutritious Meals for Your Dollar
“Eating healthy often gets boiled down to counting calories, but for a variety of health outcomes like improving brain health and losing weight, the key is not how much you eat but what you eat. Furthermore, it feels as though eating healthy costs more, but is that true? And are there foods that cost less that still offer a lot of nutritional benefit?”
The Library That Stands On Two Countries
I love quirky things like this. “The Haskell Free Library and Opera House has two different addresses. If you are American, you’ll say the library is located at ’93 Caswell Avenue, Derby Line, Vermont’, and if you are Canadian, you’ll insist its located at ‘1 rue Church Street, Stanstead, Quebec.’ Both addresses are correct, and either one will take you to the same building. The only thing that matters is from which way you are approaching. You see, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House is located astride the US-Canada border.”
Flashback: You Are Dust, Not Divine
God knows that we are weak. God knows each one of the trials we face, and he makes the sure promise that he can and will sustain us through each of them.
God increases our yield so that by giving we can prove our yield is not our god.
—John Piper
