Good morning. May the Lord be with you and bless you today.
There is another little batch of new Kindle deals for those who may be interested.
Is Work Good?
“Here’s a quick word association test: What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word work? Go ahead and think about it. Regardless of your answer, I’m guessing that few of us would respond with the word good. We don’t tend to think of work as good, but rather as difficult, frustrating, and exhausting.”
Loaves and Casserole Dishes: Will Church Cookbooks Survive?
Do you remember the church cookbook? I enjoyed reading this article from CT where they ask whether it’s likely to survive.
Introducing Eikon 5.2 (Fall 2023)
CBMW has released a new edition of their journal Eikon. This edition focuses on masculinity and features articles from James M. Hamilton Jr., Richard D. Phillips, Kevin DeYoung, Alexander Strauch, and Kyle Claunch. It also offers quite a number of book reviews.
What Happened at ETS 2023?
I don’t go to ETS so always enjoy Denny Burk’s annual roundups of some of what happened there. What happens in the academy eventually finds its way to the pew.
The Goal of Our Instruction
Betty-Anne Van Rees: “When a hurting or struggling soul reaches out for care, they generally have one thing in mind—relief. We empathize. Haven’t we all felt the angst of longing for life to be somehow less difficult than it is? Less conflict, less cruelty, less inner turmoil, less pain, just less suffering. As helpers, it’s easy to get caught up in working toward that relief. What circumstances can we change that will alleviate the struggle? A different job? A new neighborhood or church? Cut ties with that difficult friend? Won’t this help?”
This & Tat in a Christian Bookshop
Paul Levy reflects on an alarming visit to a Christian bookshop. “The issue I think with my visit to the bookshop is the issue of God’s weightiness. The Christian gospel is gloriously simple and joyful and yet it is not light and weightless. God is our Father, yes, but he is also in Heaven. His glory should weigh heavily upon us. The bible is wonderfully clear but there is also a glorious depth to it. We mustn’t be content with a superficial understanding of our faith.”
Flashback: Helpful Things You Can Say to Grieving Parents
It can be awkward to reach out to those who are deep in grief. It can be hard to know what to say and easy to believe that our words are more likely to offend than comfort, to make a situation worse rather than better. We sense that our words ought to be few, but also that the worst thing to say is nothing at all.
A home, and not a grave, is the true ending of our earthly life; we depart, not to be, as we say, ‘dead’, but really to live.
—P.B. Power
