If you’re interested in some new books, you won’t do much better than this: up to 60% off bestsellers from the recent Coram Deo conference.
Today’s Kindle deals include a pair of top-quality commentaries that cover Ecclesiastes and Galatians, both heavily discounted from their standard prices. There are other options too, of course.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Great Need of Reformed Churches Is Not Great Preachers)
Check Your Guns at the Door
This is a much-needed reminder that the ways Christians interact with one another online should be different from the ways that non-Christians interact. “In most cases, we are not enemies but brothers, seeking to work out the truth. But, frankly, believers should not respond even to their enemies the way some do. You certainly should not write your comments to Christian writers or fellow bloggers like you intend to bruise them with your words. You should not write so as to put down the person.”
Counseling the Victim Identity
This article helpfully explains how victimization can turn into an identity and how to gently lead people to their true and better identity. “A victim identity forms when someone begins to interpret their entire life primarily through the lens of what was done to them, while God’s redeeming work fades into the background. Suffering becomes the dominant lens through which everything is interpreted.”
Christian Sexual Ethics Between the Ages
David VanDrunen writes about the Christian sexual ethic for those who live between the ages. “Is the Christian sexual ethic universal? Is New Testament sexual morality designed only for Christians, or for all people? I suspect most readers will incline to say the Christian sexual ethic is universal. That answer would be correct—mostly. Is the New Testament’s sexual ethic the same as the Old Testament’s? Many readers will incline to answer that question in the affirmative too. That also would be correct—for the most part.”
Leaders Are Readers
You have probably heard the phrase “leaders are readers.” This article says that if the phrase is true, we need to work to create a reading culture. “Surely, therefore, this is the world of blog posts and podcasts, not books? Surely ‘leaders are readers’ needs to be revamped so that we instead think of leaders as consumers of quality content? Those who learn and stretch themselves? There’s nothing inherently wrong with blog posts and podcasts, though the medium is in some fashion the message. Both can be excellent media that grow us; the opposite is also true.”
Nations Rage, God Reigns: Missionary Meditations from the Middle East Conflict
Here is a dispatch from a missionary serving in the Middle East. “A deep rumbling echoes through the air. The sky is overcast today and it sounds like thunder, but I know it isn’t. Its source is more sinister. Though I can’t see them, Iranian missiles and attack drones soar far overhead, threatening destruction. I thank God for His common grace to the country where I live in the Middle East as it launches interceptors to neutralize these powerful weapons. As I begin to breathe out prayers on behalf of my family and church, the ominous rumbling continues.”
Does Every Person Have a Calling?
Does every person have a calling? If so, in what areas of life are they called? These are questions Gene Edward Veith answers in a brief article.
Flashback: Why Do We Add To Our Trouble?
If life is already so difficult, the path already so rough, why do we so often add to our trouble? Why, instead of laying aside every weight, do we gather more weights to ourselves?
Happy is the man who is happy in his wife.
—C.H. Spurgeon
