My gratitude goes to Zondervan for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about their excellent book Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth (which, coincidentally, was one of my top-10 books of the year). It is sponsors and patrons that keep this site going.
Logos has begun their annual 12 Days of Logos promotion and there are already lots of good deals to be had. You can save right now on the Logos software itself or on resources for it. Then, each day, they’ll unveil a new special on top of these.
Today’s Kindle deals include some classics and some contemporary works.
(Yesterday on the blog: 2021 Christian Reading Challenge)
After Child Porn Accusations, Mastercard, Visa Drop Payments To Pornhub
This is a great outcome from that New York Times exposé of the world’s biggest porn site. “Major credit card companies have been under pressure to block payments to adult websites that cannot ensure the legality of their hosted content. This year, a host of women’s and child’s rights groups urged payment processors to bar transactions with porn sites. The advocates contend that financial institutions play a supportive role in facilitating the spread of abusive and illegal pornography.” May this be only the beginning of the woe that site faces!
Why Does Choral Music Sound So Good?
This video showed up on my YouTube recommendations after I listened to several versions of Handel’s Messiah. I quite enjoyed it.
What the Bible Teaches about Ethnic Harmony
If you’re up for some substantial reading, take a look at Andy Naselli’s journal article about ethnic harmony (available here in PDF format).
It’s Not Real If There’s No Certificate
This is a very interesting article about the differences between cultures and how that can impact churches and church planting.
An Irish Christmas
If you’re up for some Christmas music, the Gettys have been uploading and updating lots of playlists of their Irish-flavored Christmas music.
Don’t Preach a Christmassy Christmas
“The first Christmas was no fairy tale. So we should not preach Christmas to satisfy the nostalgic yearnings of a weary public. Nor should we sprint past the stable to get to a post-Christmas presentation of the Gospel in order to satisfy the more robust preaching critics from pew four.”
A Short Biblical Theology of Sickness
Just like the heading says, this is a short biblical theology of sickness.
Flashback: When God Goes Big And I Go Small
When God speaks universally, my first thought is to look for exceptions, for the nuances that allow me to wiggle out from under his commands.
Jesus is for life, not just for Christmas. He’s not just the reason for the season; he’s the meaning of everything. He’s not just the point of Christmas; he’s the purpose of life.
—Tim Chester
