Good morning from Tasmania, where I am enjoying the Grace & Truth conference while doing my best to cope with the kind of jet lag that comes with leaping 14 time zones in 24 hours.
Westminster Books has a deal on a new book I’ve been planning to read, titled Paradox People.
Today’s Kindle deals include a selection of new books dealing with isolation in marriage, lust, the book of Isaiah, and much more. Don’t forget there are some extraordinary deals to be had on academic books from Zondervan and InterVarsity Press.
My Life’s Journey With Dr Voddie Baucham Jr
It was a blessing to read Conrad Mbewe’s account of the years in which his life and Voddie Baucham’s overlapped in Zambia.
The Evil That Stuns Heaven
John Piper gently answers those who feel that their sin doesn’t rise to the level of deserving divine punishment. “I consider myself to be a good person, and when I look around at most people, I would say the same about them. I know I am not perfect, and I cannot hold God’s law perfectly, but I don’t consider my thoughts and actions to be so terrible that they need to be punished by death. Should I really need to die because I disobeyed my parents as a child or told a lie?”
God Is Our Guide on Paths We Did Not Choose
“When I was fifteen, I made a promise to the Lord that I would obediently go wherever he led. Back then, I was sure he’d call me to an impoverished country to serve as a missionary. I was open to that.” Glenna is like so many of us in that God’s calling on her was not what she thought it might be.
The Hollow Comfort of AI in Worship and Grief
“In a recent Sunday service at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, pastor Jack Graham paused his sermon to play an audio clip of the late Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, who was tragically assassinated earlier this month. What made the clip from the service go viral, however, was that the audio was entirely fake.” It’s a strange moment and one that offers an opportunity to think about AI.
The Nuance of Healing
Kirsten once again proves a helpful guide to grief and the long aftermath of a terrible loss. “As we close out year three, I notice a shift happening; a lifting in many ways. I see a bit of capacity returning. I see God enabling my husband to not simply endure his work anymore, but he has more drive and vision. I see that my kids have far more good days than hard days. For myself, I see that I require less time to heal; less silence and solitude. I also see more hope on the horizon.”
Made for Approval, Just Not Theirs
This article explains why and how we were made to desire and pursue approval.
Flashback: Christian, Do You Expect to Face Persecution?
Our holiness confronts their sinfulness. They see Christians living as God truly made us to live, living in the joy of the Lord—and it challenges them; it confronts them; it convicts them. And many respond with hatred, with persecution.
Discipling is not merely about accountability and behavior modification. Jesus tells us to make disciples by teaching people to obey, but they cannot obey what they haven’t been taught. We first have to teach.
—Mark Dever
