Today’s Kindle deals include some top-notch books on prayer and some others as well.
Don’t Title People “Pastor” If They Aren’t An Elder
Yes to this. “Ministry titles abound in the church today. Student Pastor. Children’s Pastor. Creative Environment Pastor (No idea). Senior Pastor and Worship Pastor are pretty standard fair on the leadership page of a church’s site. And what is also becoming standard is the willy-nilly way people use the word pastor.”
Goodbye Toys ‘R’ Us—So Long American Retail?
Speaking personally I won’t miss this chain, but it does represent an interesting sign of the times, so to speak. “Last week, the iconic retailer Toys ‘R’ Us unexpectedly announced the closure or sale of every one of its U.S. locations. The bankruptcy of this ‘category killer’ certainly marks the end of an era, as many news reports have noted, but as of now there’s a chance that part of the chain, or some of the stores, will remain open under new management. There’s even talk of an Amazon acquisition.”
The Foolishness in a Child’s Heart
“The Word of God declares in Proverbs 22:15 that foolishness is bound up in a child’s heart, and it is the rod of discipline that removes it [the foolishness] far from him. What kind of foolishness is bound up in our children’s hearts?” Here are a few…
Let’s Stop Over-Interpreting the Greek Words For Love
Kenny Burchard writes about those Greek words for love and how we shouldn’t make too much of the distinctions between them.
It’s Time to Reckon with Celebrity Power
Andy Crouch has a good one: “It was not a great week. In three separate cases in my immediate circles, a person with significant power at the top of an organization, each one a subject of flattering major media exposure during their career, was confronted with allegations of sexual misconduct and related misdeeds. In one case, the person resigned from his role and board memberships, accompanied by a direct and remorseful confession. In the second, the person resigned, but not without posting a defiant denial of all allegations against her. In the third, the person likewise denied all allegations in the strongest terms—at one point with physical force, banging on a table—and, as I write, remains in his position”
Sin-Drenched Nations
This is a really important one and speaks to many Western nations: “Contempt specifically for America, including among many Christians, especially in academia, reflects partly the dominance of the Howard Zinn perspective, which chronicles American history as primarily a catalog of repressions. These recalled injustices are often very real, but the distortion is tagging America as uniquely perfidious, racist, sexist, greedy, militarist, etc. America is sinful, like all nations, but it never had a monopoly on sin. And more often than not, American ideals have provided a level of human justice unusual in world history.”
The Pessimists Might be Right
“The Cambridge Analytica scandal is the latest in a series of incidents that, taken together, have contributed to a rising sense of alarm over the effects of social media — on human behaviour, on civil discourse, on democratic politics. A growing number of commentators have concluded that social media — shorthand for Facebook, Twitter and Google — are more a force for harm than good, whether in their own lives or society at large.” Hmm. We are all starting to wonder, aren’t we?
Flashback: How to Pray All Day
Begin the day with God. Spend the day with God. Close the day with God.
Sanctification is no meek and mild affair, no mere rearranging of spiritual furniture. It is an electric process, an exhilarating experience of the power of God within us.
—Owen Strachan
