I’d like to express my gratitude to The Good Book Company for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about Alistair Begg’s new book The Christian Manifesto (which I earlier reviewed here). Sponsors play a key role in keeping this site going, so I am grateful to each and every one.
You’ll find just a few new Kindle deals today if you’re into that sort of thing.
This week I read Going Infinite, Michael Lewis’ biography of the notorious Sam Bankman-Fried—a book timed to be released just as SBF began his trial. While I found the book interesting, I also found the author naive—he seems to absolve his subject of too much blame for the collapse of FTX and the billions of dollars that evaporated with it. I did enjoy his look at the Effective Altruism movement and its obvious shortcomings and failures. It’s a relatively brief book and one that was written before the trial that will determine SBF’s guilt or innocence. Though certainly not Lewis’ best, I still found it worth the read. Next up: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson.
And now, without any further ado, some links:
What No Eye has Seen…
“Let’s keep going. Christ has already gone to prepare a place for us in going to the cross and bearing the wrath of God against your sins and mine. When all you can see is the fog in front of you, let your heart swell at the thought that ‘no eye has seen , nor ear heard, nor the hear of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.’”
What Does It Mean That God Is Sovereign?
At least as far as I’m concerned, no one has taught God’s sovereignty better than R.C. Sproul. This article is so good, comforting, and clarifying.
Knowing God as Our Refuge
This article is about the ways in which we can know God as our refuge.
Encircled, Enclosed, Squeezed In
“We don’t always feel that the Lord is near. When life is hard, when grief is deep, when loss is the biggest thing in the room, we quickly wonder where God is. Surely he has left me in the darkness of my pain. Surely he isn’t present when I hurt this much. But Scripture can tell our hearts how to feel when we fear we are alone. Scripture tells us what is real in the depths of sadness and pain.”
The Sin Breaker
Though I’m not part of this church, I enjoy the pastor’s letters to his congregation. This one is about the kingship of Jesus and the battle against sin.
Flashback: Can We Enjoy Heaven Knowing Loved Ones Are in Hell?
We cannot imagine how we could be content in heaven while loved ones are in hell because we think too little of the beauty of glorification. Until we are glorified, our sympathies will rest more easily with human beings than with God—his glory and perfect justice.
When people say, ‘I know God forgives me, but I can’t forgive myself,’ they mean that they have failed an idol, whose approval is more important to them than God’s.
—Tim Keller
