Good morning from Georgia. I’m here to visit family for a couple of days, then speak at the White Harvest conference. I look forward to seeing some of you there.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include several good books for parents, counselors, and others. (Note: A couple of yesterday’s deals were a bit late to take effect, so perhaps scroll down if you missed them.)
Westminster Books has a deal on Redemption Tales, a series for younger readers by Marty Machowski.
Recommended Reading
Help for Christian Couples Navigating Social Media and Marriage. “After hours upon hours of scrolling—with only an occasional glance up from the screen in my hands—Perry opened the front door. ‘How was your day?’ he asked. Entranced by my phone, I mumbled, ‘Fine.’ Then continued my scroll to the next Instagram reel. At times like this, two things happen: My husband doesn’t feel cared for. He hesitates to ask me the same question next time, out of fear he will get the same cold reply. Does this sound familiar?” For most of us, it will.
Babies Dashed Against Rocks? A lot of people recoil when they read these words in Psalm 137: “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock.” Here’s a helpful explanation of it. “This is NOT God commanding his people to go smash babies (I hope that information alone comforts you). Psalm 137 isn’t giving us a license for cruelty. No, instead it’s a psalm, a prayer, and a cry from the ashes of Jerusalem, sung by people who had watched Babylon destroy their city, burn the temple, slaughter their people, and drag the survivors into exile. Honestly, this is a deeply wounded song pouring from a very wounded heart.”
The God Party Kids will join Millie and the REAL BAD GUYS as they learn about our amazing three-in-one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Sponsored)
Neither Burnout Nor Sloth: Honoring Christ in Our Work. “The Bible did not ask for a ‘work-life balance’ but rather a ‘work-rest paradigm.’ God worked six days and rested one and then commanded that we do the same. He did that because He loves us, not because He hates us. Our drive, our burden, our pressure, our intensity, ought to be turned on for those six days. And our rest, our contemplation, our reflection, our meditation, ought to be turned on so as to reset our batteries on the other day.”
Where Was the Garden of Eden? Writing for Ligonier, T. Desmond Alexander looks at the biblical evidence to try to understand the location of the Garden of Eden. “While the geographical details in Genesis 2 suggest that the garden of Eden was a real place in the Middle East, the account provides insufficient information to pinpoint its exact location. Importantly, it is unlikely that the garden continued to exist long after Adam and Eve’s expulsion.”
Why Adult Children Are Cutting Off Their Parents. I’m glad to see some attention being focused on the issue of children cutting off their parents—a tragedy that is unfolding in too many families. “The cultural deconstruction of the family also plays a role in people’s willingness to sever connections. The family isn’t seen as a source of identity, growth, and stability but as a site of constraint, conformity, and oppression. Amid a culture seeking unbridled autonomy and individual self-expression, the family is a scandalous affront to one’s absolute sovereignty.”
The Crucifixion of Patrick Clancy. I appreciate Bethel McGrew’s take on what she refers to as Patrick Clancy’s public crucifixion. “Why do they hate this man? This poor, tormented, gentle man, this ‘software guy’ who knew nothing about psychology and had never even heard the phrase ‘postpartum psychosis’ until after his three children were dead? Perhaps it’s partly because in so many ways, men like him are already fair game—for envy, for resentment, for casual cruelty. He is the ultimately privileged man, after all: white, good-looking, well-off. By definition, nothing really bad can happen to white, good-looking, well-off men—at least, nothing so bad that they didn’t deserve it.”
What I’m Enjoying
TimeCapsule. We have had a lot of auto theft in our area over the past few months, so I put an Apple AirTag in my car just in case. Unfortunately, the batteries are quite short-lived, especially in cold weather. I was glad to learn of TimeCapsule, a neat little product that extends the battery life to years for all of $20 plus a pair of AAs.
Farmer’s Market. Every Saturday morning, there is a farmers market near us. Aileen has become a committed patron of the different stalls there, and we absolutely love being able to get fresh produce and baking every week. Because this is Toronto, there are also stalls that offer empanadas, jollof rice, and other international foods we’ve come to appreciate.
Stream Deck. One of the unusual tools I use to manage my site is a Stream Deck. As you may surmise from the name, it is meant primarily for streamers, yet I find it exceptionally helpful when it comes to giving me one-touch access to a variety of shortcuts and macros. I also use it to visualize the steps of workflows (like putting together this very article). Even if you aren’t a streamer, perhaps you would also find it a helpful tool.
Flashback
Past Them, Through Them, Over Them, Around Them. Suffering is fertile soil in which character grows and trials are dark skies and heavy rains that cause the Spirit’s fruit to burst into life. In so many ways we become who and what we long to be not apart from suffering but through it.
I prescribe to any of you who seek humility, try hard work; if you would know your nothingness, attempt some great thing for Jesus.
—C.H. Spurgeon
