Good morning from Padua, Italy. I am here to speak at a conference and to preach at a church and am very much looking forward to it.
Today’s Kindle deals include a whole big selection of good books. There is a timely one for students, one for married couples, and a couple to help you study the Bible.
I know many women have benefited from Keri Folmar’s “Delighting in the Word Bible” studies. I thought you’d like to know there is a new one (in a great new look and format) on the book of Romans.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Dutiful Introvert)
Religious Movies Are Sweeping Hollywood. Rich Investors Are Pouring In Millions.
This is an interesting one from the Wall Street Journal. I think you should be able to read it for free. “In a rock quarry south of Athens, more than 100 actors dressed as soldiers in an ancient army are waiting for the order to charge. Blowing dust mixes with white plumes from artificial smoke machines. Thirty horses shift under their riders armed with prop swords and shields. Facing them is another small army: the production crew transforming one of the most famous tales in human history—David versus Goliath—into a television spectacle.”
Why Didn’t God Clearly Explain Every Theological Issue?
Robby wonders why God didn’t clearly explain every theological issue and suggests one reason God may have chosen to do things this way.
TikTok: Now Serving Deconstruction
“The problem is that TikTok’s algorithm (or any other platform’s algorithm) doesn’t know or care what the difference between #progressivechristianity and #biblicalchristianity is. So, interest in one might as well be interest in the other as far as the robots are concerned. Someone who is genuinely interested in fairly normal, if not milquetoast, Christian content on social media can easily have a rabbit hole open up under their feet as the algorithm begins to mingle in people who sow seeds of doubt about the reliability of scripture.”
Suffering Is . . . a Gift?
Caleb Davis: “Many times, I’ve asked God to change my suffering. I’ve had sleepless nights and stomachaches. I’ve studied, sought coaching, made plans, and pursued best practices. I’ve poured out prayer after prayer, asking God to take my pain away. I’ve wanted it to end. I find it easy to see all that suffering takes, all I miss out on. I see what I’ve lost. But it’s easy to miss what God gives me in trials.”
The Blessing of Godly Grandparents
Writing for Ligonier, Robert Carver has counsel for children, parents, and grandparents.
Are You Running Well?
This article strikes some of the same notes. “I have some dear friends, whom I love very much even though they run. I mean really run. On purpose. Because they like it. They have a few years up on me, yet they are forever completing some big mileage run. They do this with smiles on their faces. And they look good. And they have at least one million grandkids for whom they pray and spend time with while remembering all their names.”
Flashback: Thank God For Your Job (Doesn’t Matter What Your Job Is!)
The Bible’s warnings about laziness and idleness are many and stern. So when God puts you into a vocation that is legal and moral, he has done you a great benefit.
One of the great mistakes made, generation after generation, through Church history, is to slather rules onto our behavior and think that external behavior is what fosters, or even accurately reflects, vital spiritual growth.
—Dane Ortlund
