I’m so grateful to Zondervan for sponsoring the blog this week. They want you to know about a new book by John Lennox that discusses how AI informs our future. This is an important topic!
Considering it’s the weekend, the quality and quantity of today’s Kindle deals is quite surprising. Be sure to take a look at Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory and Andrew Peterson’s The God of the Garden.
(Yesterday on the blog: On the Other Side of the Wall)
Adult Children: Navigating Biblical Submission to Parents
This article by Michael Teddy has lots to share about the relationship of grown kids to their parents. “Biblical submission is not just about rules and obligations. It’s a path to wisdom, teaching us that God’s design for family doesn’t expire at adulthood but transforms, becoming something stronger and more resilient. We carry forward our parents’ lessons, seek their wisdom, and care for them in return. In this way, we keep God’s command alive—not by mere compliance, but through mature, Christ-centred honour that serves as a witness to the watching world.”
The Post-Christian Morality of ‘Wicked’
Brett McCracken reviews a new film. “We can praise elements of Wicked as a well-told story and creatively rendered world. The songs and costumes are fun. The vibes are pleasant. But the moral ideas—however well intentioned—are ultimately incoherent and unhelpful.”
Wanting What I Already Have
I very much understand this: “My children once asked me what I wanted most when I was growing up. As I sat at the dinner table looking at my wife and children looking back at me I remembered my childhood dreams for my life and the answer was suddenly obvious: ‘This. Exactly this.’”
Gifting Is Not Godliness
This is so important to understand. “Years ago, an older pastor warned me that giftedness is not godliness. It stuck with me. It is true but easily ignored when someone’s oratory skill sweeps us away. Learning how to communicate and deliver a powerful sermon is not holiness. Sometimes, it is the effective cover utilized to pursue a life of ungodliness and rebellion.”
Suffering and Our Sovereign
Kristin tells about the confidence she has as she faces her fears. “For nine years I have known that I am at a heightened risk for cancer, due to family genetics. Armed with this knowledge means that every twelve months I park in a pretty, tree-lined lot and enter a formidable brick tower filled with women waging war.”
Ashamed of the Gospel
Peter Ijioma admits that for many years he acted ashamed of the gospel, then tells how he began to overcome that fear. “Thankfully, God led me into the world of books, where evangelism became less of a chore and more of an act of love. I began with the understanding that introversion was not a stumbling block to evangelism. Instead, it was a tool God needed to use. I saw evangelism not as an item to check off my list but as an integral component of the Christian lifestyle.”
Flashback: Unjust, Unkind, Unfair, Un-humble?
Our claim is that, by the grace of God, we’ve got it right and they’ve got it wrong, that we know the way to be made right with God and they do not.
People may not agree with our theology but they shouldn’t be able to argue with our lives.
—John McGowan
