I’ve returned home from my recent journey to Asia, having spent time in China, the Philippines, and Korea. I was blessed to be there and am, as always, very glad to be home.
Today’s Kindle deals include actually just a single book. But it’s a good one!
(Yesterday on the blog: Four Categories to “Act the Miracle”)
How a Christian Witnesses with Good Deeds
D.A. Carson handles an important questions. “For a variety of reasons, Christians have lost this vision of witness and are slow to return to it. But in better days and other lands, the faithful and divinely empowered proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ (who himself is the light of the world par excellence [John 8:12]) so transformed men that they in turn became the light of the world (Matt. 5:14).”
Let Your Internet Yes Be Your Real-Life Yes
Jared Wilson has been doing some great writing about the online life. “We weren’t designed to be double-minded. We weren’t made to playact, to posture. It’s impossible to keep The Persona from taking over. Whatever we put our heart into, whatever we worship, we will become. So if your online persona is abrasive, domineering, argumentative, critical, you don’t get to say for long, “That’s not really me.” You is who you is. Let’s take care that our online yes and no match up with real life, in the right way.”
Imperfections Make Sundays More Beautiful
“I’ll admit it: these human quirks and errors sometimes exasperate me. I’m here to focus on the Lord! Your awkwardness is distracting me from worship! So mutters my self-righteous heart. Perhaps the real problem isn’t with the clumsiness of others, but with our expectations for corporate worship.” Please do read this one and take it to heart!
I Am Ashurbanipal: King of the World, King of Assyria
“On December 20, 1853, an Assyrian from Mosul, in northern Iraq, wired the British Museum. Hormuzd Rassam, although only 27, had already made a brilliant name for himself. For seven years he had been excavating outside Mosul and studying at Oxford. His record had won him fame as the Near East’s first archaeologist. Now, five days before Christmas, he was sending news to the museum of an early present.”
Eric Chien 2018 Fism Grand Prix Act -Ribbon (Video)
Even if you aren’t a fan of magic tricks, this is one to watch. It is simply incredible up-close magic.
Battered by Donne: A Personal Appreciation of the Religious Poetry of John Donne
Donne has always been one of my favorite poets. “If you have studied John Donne at university you probably know him for his early (and racy) love poetry. But Donne had a very different career later in life becoming an Anglican minister, Dean of St. Paul’s cathedral and a passionate evangelist. His Christian poems are humble, honest about his own sin and frailty; and unashamed in the confidence they express toward Christ and His atoning death. “
How Does the Church Help With My Assurance?
This is a helpful look at how assurance and church membership work hand-in-hand.
Flashback: 9 Steps to Putting That Sin to Death
God is for you and loves to help you put your sin to death. It is his delight.
God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the most loving thing. Anyone else who exalts himself distracts us from what we need, namely, God.
—John Piper
