Good morning. May the Lord be with you and bless you today.
Remember that on Saturdays I love to share reader recommendations for whatever you’re enjoying these days, whether that’s something you’re reading, listening to, watching, eating, or otherwise experiencing. Please let me know by filling out this form.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include my favorite book by Christopher Ash, a book by Kristin Couch that I gladly endorsed, and an important one by Shelby Abbott.
If you prefer printed books, you can get a great deal on Dane Ortlund’s Finally Home, one of the most anticipated fall releases, at Westminster Books.
Recommended Reading
A Warning for the Living Dead. Kimberly Wagner offers a sober warning for those she describes as “the living dead.” “Today seeing our thirsty surroundings, I feel the cry rising, ‘All of creation is groaning.’ And these conditions are echoed by my morning prayer. Each morning when I wake, I wake thirsty for my drink from the River of Life. I’m ready to drink deeply, and before my eyes open in the earliest waking moments, I whisper to Him…”
The Mark of the Beast and the Mark of God. John Beeson has been writing lots of interesting articles about Revelation. In the most recent one he considers that mysterious mark of the beast. “We are all familiar with the mark of the beast. Fear and confusion surrounding it seem to swirl around it. As a child, I remember hearing a preacher declare that the birthmark on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s head was the mark of the beast. We were warned that Visa cards or barcodes might be the mark. Today, rumors abound that the mark is a QR code, a vaccine, or something connected to artificial intelligence. Such speculation dramatically misunderstands John’s explanation of the mark of the beast in the book of Revelation.”
We Were Waiting to Die. “Tyler Markson shares about his own experience of suffering as a missionary in Central Asia, including an occasion on which he and his teammates expected to die after a grenade exploded in their compound. Reflecting on his experience, Markson identifies four biblical realities of suffering to help missionaries and all Christians respond to suffering faithfully and with hope in God’s promises.”
The Lost Art of Manners and Why Children Still Need Them. Manners change over time and vary by culture, so I think it’s okay that we don’t hold our children to a bygone or irrelevant standard. Yet, as this article explains, it’s still good to expect that our children are well-mannered. “Whatever picture you may have in your mind, I want to suggest that manners are indispensable, especially in the education of children, and that the failure to train our children in them harms those we are called by God to teach.”
10 Reasons Why Marxism Is Bad News for Humanity. Writing for AiG, Patricia Engler offers a response to those who think Marxism may not be so bad. “‘Marxism isn’t so bad. If we only had the right cultural conditions, different leaders, more devotion, and better technology, we could make Karl Marx’s dreams of communism work!’ This type of message may be popular. But is it true? Hardly. Beginning with God’s Word as our standard for truth, let’s look at 10 reasons why Marxism is bad news for humanity.”
Who’s Calling the Shots? Raising Kids to Love Jesus in a Sports Obsessed World. Mark Hallock helps parents think through the level of their children’s involvement in sports. “How much is too much? How do we encourage our children to pursue excellence without making sports an idol? How do we prioritize the local church when tournament schedules seem to consume every weekend? And perhaps most importantly, how do we help our children enjoy sports in a way that honors Jesus?”
News Headlines
Andrew Walker Named SBTS Theological Dean. I was glad to read that Southern Seminary named Andrew Walker dean of the School of Theology. It’s great to see a key seminary continue to strengthen itself for the future. WORLD reports.
Christians Came Together to Help Defeat UK’s Assisted Dying Bill. Christianity Today reports on Christians coming together to defeat the U.K.’s assisted dying bill. “Members of the Evangelical Alliance, which represents 30,000 individual members and 3,000 member churches, let the organization’s leadership know early in the bill’s journey that they were concerned, Edmund said. It was not difficult to mobilize them to campaign against its passage.”
Third of Young People Now Turning to AI for Friendship. Christian Today offers a report that is both alarming and unsurprising. “Over a third (35 per cent) of young people report using an AI companion, rising to 45 per cent among those aged 13 to 15. A majority (60 per cent) of those who use an AI companion say they feel more comfortable sharing their problems with AI than with real-world friends and family.”
Flashback
The Ones Who Sow and the Ones Who Reap. Though some may go unrecognized here, they shall be commended by the one who sees and knows all things. The ones who sow shall rejoice as much as the ones who reap, the ones who supported as much as the ones who accomplished.
If any man should ask me what is the first, second, and third part of being a Christian, I must answer, “Action!”
—Thomas Brooks
