I have several good reads to share with you today.
God the Father: Who Am I to You? "God the Father was someone to fear, someone to please so I wouldn't "get into trouble." I knew Jesus died for me, and He's the one to whom I related. As a result, I had a warped view of myself in God, too. I don't know when it happened, but eventually I began to see the flaw in my thinking. I began to see ways in which God—and especially God the Father—loved me. Just as I am."
Why Cancel Culture Needs the Breathtaking Mercy of God's Kingdom, HT to Challies. "Cancellation is possible these days for anyone who commits actions or makes statements that one group or another considers beyond the pale. But what happens when cancel culture meets the breathtaking mercy of God's kingdom?"
What Temptation Is and Is Not, HT to Challies. "Temptation, therefore, is not a friendly voice but a deadly invitation. To better understand the nature of temptation, let's consider what it isn't and what it is."
Both Worm and Worthy, HT to Challies. "In these Scriptures and songs, we find a good corrective to the temptation to overestimate ourselves. But the answer to a wrongheaded emphasis on humanity's "worthiness" isn't to focus solely on what has sometimes been called "worm theology." There's a way of going astray here on the other side, of debasing humanity to the point we lose the power in the paradox of original sin."
Advocates, not Merely Adherents: Lay-of-the-Land Observations and Challenges for Complementarians, HT to Challies. "Over the past five to ten years, it seems to me that we have had a swing of momentum: self-inflicted wounds; moral failings by leaders; crudeness and rudeness on social media and other places; militant egalitarianism that is always on the hunt for a complementarian to shoot down. All of this and more presents those of us who are complementarians with significant challenges."
A Beautifully Mundane Life. "We live in the day of the superlative. Normalcy is so twentieth century. Everything today must be 'hard core' or 'radical' or 'extreme,' even in the church. (Bonus points if you spell it 'Xtreme.') The push for Christians to take risks and get out of their comfort zones for the sake of gospel advance is good. But an unintended consequence of all the talk about "risk-taking Christianity" is that normal Christian people—including normal Christian moms—can be made to feel left out, selfish, and useless."
How Should We Then Die? I don't usually post reviews of books I haven't read yet. But this post has some good points to consider about euthanasia.
Hard Isn't Bad, or Is It? "That is a snapshot of our current hardship; a type of 'hard' that is difficult to define with any sense of 'good'. Yes, we can try to look for a 'silver lining' or a higher purpose in hardship and loss. And as believers it's appropriate to be optimistic people with eternity in view. But I think we do ourselves and others a disservice if we gloss over every hard experience as 'good.' We might even be in danger of misrepresenting God's providence simply because we do not know his long-term plan and we make a rushed conclusion to feel better in the moment."
7 Tips for Reading the Book of Revelation, HT to Challies. My favorite point here is the first one: "The Apostle John wrote Revelation to encourage the embattled first-century church. That means that when Revelation was read aloud to the churches (1:3), everyday believers—without advanced theology degrees or fancy interpretations—were expected to understand and apply the message as God intended. If they could hear and keep that message back then, so can we today."
Sharing Even What's Sparse. "Although my logic is sound, it also reveals a lie that we all tend to believe: I only have to share if I have a lot of something. In reality, that type of thinking flies directly in the face of what Scripture teaches. If he had only one car, my son should still share it with his sister. His call to share isn't predicated on what he'll have left over when she takes one. It should be predicated on love. "
5 Simple Ways to Extend Biblical Hospitality. "Thankfully, we can live out God's command to practice hospitality in ways as different as we are. Remember—there's a huge difference between entertaining and hospitality."
Laura Ingalls Gunn (related to Laura Ingalls Wilder through Charles' brother) had the opportunity to attend the Little House 50th Anniversary Festival and cast reunion celebrating the Little House on the Prairie TV show. Laura is a talented seamstress who likes to make period costumes on a shoestring budget. She recreated many outfits from the show, like Laura's sweet sixteen dress and one of teacher Miss Beadle's skirt and blouse sets seen here. Laura has been sharing features from the festival since she got back. Someone recreated replicas of many of the LH buildings, like the Ingalls' house, The Merchantile, the church/ schoolhouse, and more. Laura got to meet many of the actors from the show. If you enjoyed the LH series, as I did, you'll probably enjoy the vignettes from the festival. Laura also has links to some videos from the festival, though I haven't seen those yet. Her YouTube channel is here.
"The gospel comes to the sinner at once with nothing short of complete forgiveness as the starting-point of all his efforts to be holy. It does not say, 'Go and sin no more, and I will not condemn thee.' It says at once, 'Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.'"
---Horatius Bonar
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