May the Lord be with you and bless you today.
Westminster Books is offering a deal on some Christmas Outreach resources that you may want to consider in the month ahead. There are options for both kids and adults.
Today’s Kindle deals include several excellent biographies of Christian women, some written for adults and some for younger readers. (I haven’t seen those prices drop yet, but they should by morning, hopefully!) There are plenty of other options as well, such as several volumes in the excellent New Studies in Dogmatics series.
Grief, Memory, and the Hope We Hold in Christ
“Sometimes Christians think we should to get to a point where we no longer grieve. That is a mistake. Many things in this life are worth grieving. Broken marriages, wayward children, death…they all bring piercing sadness. Instead of grief plunging us into a pit of despair, though, it should remind us of our ultimate hope.”
Hannah’s Holiday
This is such a well-written poem. It was a joy to read.
Negativity Bias and the Praying Imagination
“Recently, I received simultaneous news about two separate situations—one good and one bad. Each one involved people connected to the church I pastor. In the first scenario, a person for whom our church had been praying for years repented and believed the gospel. The second situation concerned a minor complaint against our church’s ministry. I could not stop thinking about the second situation.” This is very common.
It’s the Little Things
Here’s a reminder to value the little things. “In the Thanksgiving season, we are provided with so many opportunities to practice being thankful by helping others. We give prayers of thanks for God’s grand plan for our redemption, but we also give thanks for His simple daily provisions.”
Broody God
Vanessa expresses how much she loves being a mother. Yet, “in my youthful daydreams, however, I never pictured just how hard being a mother would be. I never imagined I would echo words spoken to me by generations past like ‘I would take your pain upon myself, if I could.’“
When Spiritual Disciplines Seem Dull
I suppose we all have times when the spiritual disciplines seem dull to us. Barbara offers some ways to press on in such times.
Flashback: Why Christian Kids Leave the Faith
Several years ago Tom Bisset carried out a study of people who had left the faith. Wanting this to be more than a statistical analysis, he actually sat down with people to interview them and ask for detailed information on when, why, and how they abandoned their faith.
Remember that the tongue is a sharp instrument; it cuts deep, it often draws blood; you may commit murder with it as truly as with a dagger or a pistol. Alas! how many there are who limp along wounded, or carry the ugly scar which cruel slander has inflicted!
—Theodore Cuyler
