I apologize that many email subscribers received a security warning when they tried to open links yesterday. My newsletter service botched a setting, and this caused the warning. Please know that there was actually no security concern on my side or yours, and that all is well.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include several volumes in the excellent Gospel According to the Old Testament series from P&R. You’ll find others as well, like Nancy Pearcey’s timely Love Thy Body.
If you’re interested in a new ESV Journaling Study Bible, you’ll find it on sale in various covers and styles at Westminster Books.
Recommended Reading
7 Ways Your Phone Is Harming You. It is taking a long time, but I see more and more people expressing discomfort with the way their phones are impacting, changing, and even harming them. In this article, Doug Eaton describes seven ways your phone is hurting you. Don’t let yourself think that this applies only to teens or young adults, because it is true for all of us.
The Most Awkward, Important Part of Prayer. Rebekah Matt offers counsel for what she considers (and you will probably agree) is the most awkward or difficult part of prayer. She wants to convince you that it may also be the most important part of prayer.
Cradled: Christ’s Care for Postpartum Moms by Annie VanderHeiden. The postpartum season can feel deeply disorienting, especially your first time through, but you aren’t as unseen or overlooked as you might feel. In his humanity, Christ came to walk where you walk and suffer as you do, and he understands the loneliness and exhaustion you feel. And in his deity, Christ meets you there with the comfort and care of a perfect Parent. (Sponsored)
This Is Why You’re Drowning in Busywork. I found this article in the New York Times quite helpful. It explains how tools like ChatGPT that ostensibly make our lives easier also have ways of making them busier. “We have been told that A.I. will take people’s jobs. What no one mentions is that many of those jobs are landing on us. The A.I. revolution involves a massive transfer of labor — not from worker to machine, but from worker to consumer. The ability to do everything ourselves may be satisfying, but it can gradually overload us with busywork without our noticing.”
The Cost of Rushing Grief. Cole Douglas Claybourn offers an interesting thought here: That the pace at which we are expected to process grief is often set by the world of business (though he says a lot more than that). “Many companies offer as few as three to five days of bereavement leave — barely enough time to plan a funeral, let alone process a loss that upends your entire life. According to one report, only one in five companies offer more than five days, even as some experts suggest taking closer to 20 days after the death of a close family member to handle the emotional and logistical toll of a major loss.”
The Missing Reformed Doctrine for Spiritual Formation. Kyle Strobel writes about a doctrine related to spiritual formation that has largely gone missing from Reformed thought in the past century. “Have you had the experience of feeling like your prayers simply bounced off the ceiling? Or your Scripture reading ceased to feel as meaningful as it once did? Have you looked back at seasons that felt like lush gardens of excitement, passion, and zeal for the things of God—but now feel more like you’re in the desert, spiritually barren, dry, and lifeless?”
Habits for Sunday Rest and Worship. I appreciate reading Wairimu Thiauri’s explanation of how she and her family work hard to make Sunday a day of true rest. “As a mother and wife, I am aware that I have to plan my days well to have the maximum impact on my family. This includes a day of rest. Usually, my family gets to rest on Sundays. We rest in that we do not engage in usual home routines and office work like on other days. We also rest by attending the gathering of the saints in our local body, where we contemplate God’s goodness alongside other saints.”
Currently
Coding. I have long been an avid user of Keyboard Maestro, but was constrained in my use of it by my poor programming abilities. Claude has helpfully stepped into this void and allowed me to expand the power of the macros that bring greater efficiency to many of my repetitive tasks. (For those who use Claude, it seems like Opus 4.7 has been more successful at this than previous versions.)
Enjoying. Aileen’s homemade granola. I always assumed I’d never get to the age when I began to take my own food with me when I travel, but lately, I have been bagging it up into meal-sized portions and carrying it with me. Not only is it good, but it’s undoubtedly far healthier for me than most hotel breakfasts.
Reading. I’m actually in a bit of a reading lull just now. I have tried a few different books lately, but none have really gripped me. That’s the joy of reading on Kindle, though—I can download endless samples and keep trying until I find one that holds my interest. I’m sure it won’t take long.
Flashback
The Joy of Self-Discipline. We don’t just need to discipline ourselves away from unpleasantness but toward joy.
By “free will,” not one person can be saved. But by free grace, many will be saved.
—Martin Luther
