The God of love and peace be with you today, my friends.
Today’s Kindle deals include, among other options, Christina Fox’s challenging book Idols of a Mother’s Heart and Mez McConnell’s heartbreaking memoir The Creaking on the Stairs.
If you’re looking for something good to read, Westminster Books has a sale on P&R’s spring catalog, which features lots of good options—commentaries, children’s books, and more.
The Christian Alone
Michael Jensen considers the need for solitude, but also how Christians can be unrealistic or legalistic in it. “We struggle to find a command in Scripture for Christians to seek solitude. Much spiritual writing that encourages solitude as a vital component of the Christian life flirts with a terrible legalism. It also promotes the establishment of a spiritual elite, who have the time and the resources and the immense self-discipline for a largely solitary existence. … However, the very shape of the Christian life encourages us to seek an inwardness that solitude certainly helps.”
When Dieting Becomes Worship (And How to Keep It in Its Place)
Though she writes specifically for women, Staci’s article is relevant to all of us. “We know gluttony is wrong. We know vanity is wrong. What we don’t always know is how to tell when our good desire to be healthy and strong has become something ultimate.”
What is Coram Deo?
Coram Deo is a Latin phrase meaning “before the face of God.” It is often associated with John Calvin and other Reformers who summoned the Christian to live all of life in God’s presence. The Coram Deo Pastors Conference was created to remind pastors of our great God, to recharge preachers to teach with clarity and conviction, and to reinvigorate the weary soul for a life of ministry faithfulness before the face of God. (Sponsored)
“Let the Little Children Come”: A Brief Case for Welcoming Children into Corporate Worship
Zack DiPrima makes the case for welcoming children into corporate worship, and does so well. “While including younger children may initially have its challenges, the opportunities it provides for evangelizing and discipling the next generation far outweigh any potential costs. The church’s gathering shapes children as they are exposed to God’s Word and the gathered worship of his people.” (I think it is crucial to point out that DiPrima is not advocating for family-integrated church, which is much broader in its aims.)
We Want to Believe
“Over a century ago, long before people believed that sharks were swimming in the subways of New York during Hurricane Sandy or Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined the immigration debate on the Senate floor using an AI-altered photo that included an ICE agent without a head, young Francis Griffiths and her cousin took pictures of fairies dancing in the forest. What began as the imagination of little girls turned into an international sensation known as the Cottingley Fairies incident of 1920.” This column at Breakpoint draws a contemporary application from a strange historical phenomenon.
What Every Christian Should Know
Kyle Borg lists just some of the things every Christian ought to know. “Knowing Bible trivia isn’t the same thing as knowing the Bible. A person can remember scattered facts but still struggle to know what the Bible is, how it fits together, or what its message is. The Scripture isn’t given to us so we can win a game. It’s given so that we can read, meditate, understand, and be trained in righteousness and holiness. With that in mind, there are certain things every Christian should know about the Bible—not obscure details or academic debates, but foundational truths that shape how we read, study, and receive God’s Word.”
When Depravity Becomes Entertainment
Hopefully you still have some of this month’s allotment of free articles remaining at WORLD so you can read this article, especially if you’re into true crime. “True crime podcasts, docuseries, and dramatizations are everywhere. They dominate streaming platforms, climb podcast charts, and fill long commutes and late nights. According to industry reports, true crime is now one of the most popular podcast genres in the world, with tens of millions of regular listeners. Streaming platforms have leaned into the demand, producing an endless supply of serialized stories about real murders, real victims, and real evil. The appetite seems insatiable.”
Flashback: When Parents Feel Like We Are Mostly Failing Most of the Time
Most of us hesitate to properly manage our children’s use of their devices at least in part because we don’t care to manage our own. There’s nothing intrinsic to being a parent that gives you the right to watch endless amounts of YouTube while capping your kids at a half hour.
What answer that can be given to many an irritating word, and even to a just provocation, is as effective as dignified silence? What eloquence there is sometimes in lips sealed tight by self-control, by patient fortitude, by the serene sense of right!
—Theodore Cuyler
