I have returned home from the G3 Conference a little bit early so I can get my son back to Boyce College for his second term. It was wonderful to meet so many of you there!
Westminster Books has discounted the excellent God’s Word for You series of devotionals. They are a great way to enhance your devotions or Bible study.
Today’s Kindle deals include a few books that may be of interest.
(Yesterday on the blog: My Three Essential Writing Tools)
Learn How to ‘Adult’ Before You ‘Missionary’
I hate using the word “adult” as a verb, but I’ll allow it in this article because it makes a really good point. “Rally-cries have their role, but God’s program for our lives always winds through lengthy valleys of ordinary faithfulness. This requirement is intrinsically good and is divinely hard-wired into the sanctification process for our maximal maturity and God’s greatest glory.”
Is the Old Testament Law Useful Today?
Costi Hinn: “Certain principles help us see the Law for what it is, and what it’s not. … To get you started, here are some basic principles that can help in a variety of ways including, protecting you from false teachers who twist the Old Testament, and helping with the difficulty of applying your morning reading from Exodus:”
Is Marijuana as Safe as We Think?
I finally had time to read Malcolm Gladwell’s longform article about marijuana and am glad I did (since it’s just become legalized here in Canada and lots of people are taking advantage of that fact). He essentially just points out how little we know about the drug so how cautious we should be using it.
All Ways of Family Building are NOT Equal
Mirah Riben is not writing from a Christian perspective but raises a lot of incredibly important concerns about surrogacy. She asks, “Is having a baby that results from a loving relationship the same as having a baby being created via a business transaction?” The answer is a strong no. “Will we continue down this path and invent artificial wombs, further denying neonates’ needs and creating human commodities? Are we totally obsessed with capitalism, consumerism, and entitlement of those who can afford to buy whatever they want that we are willing to ignore the harm? Or will we reverse this path and put the rights of children first and truly become a great and humane nation instead of a nation that caters to those who can afford to buy whatever they want – even a human child?”
What Is Textual Criticism, and Why Is It Necessary?
Logos has a short introduction to textual criticism that you may find educational. This is the important distinction: “The word ‘criticism,’ which today often connotes negativity, derives from an older usage, meaning ‘to analyze or investigate.’ Textual criticism involves analyzing the manuscript evidence in order to determine the oldest form of the text.”
Better Late than Never – Thoughts on Deathbed Conversions
You may have heard Matthew Henry’s quote, “True repentance is never too late; but late repentance is seldom true.” Yet sometimes it is. Warren Peel reflects on those who turn to Christ in their final days or moments.
Confessions of a Feminist Heretic
Abigail Favale recently became Roman Catholic. What’s interesting is the story she tells of how she turned away from her feminist beliefs, largely through pregnancy and motherhood. “I can trace my paradigm shift on abortion to two underlying recognitions that dawned slowly during those two short years: a recognition of unborn personhood, and a recognition that the feminist ideal of autonomy sets a woman at war with her own body.”
Flashback: Reading Out of Love for Others
Even though reading is a solitary pursuit, it is not necessarily a selfish one. Reading can actually be an important way to love others. Here are five ways to love others in your reading.
The voice of sin is loud, but the voice of forgiveness is louder.
—D.L. Moody
