Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Today’s Kindle deals include some good picks from Crossway. Also, Eerdmans has all of their commentaries on sale at an 80% discount. That includes the excellent New International Commentary on the Old Testament, New International Commentary on the New Testament, New International Greek Testament Commentary, and the Pillar New Testament Commentary.
(Yesterday on the blog: Important Commentary Releases in 2023)
Turning on the Lights on Sin
“All around our world, darkness looms. It takes our once-vital bodies, our most precious relationships, or even our loved family members from our arms. We call it a curse of sin and use words like poison, brokenness, or death to describe the sin that covers the world on this side of the fall. While these aren’t bad words to use, their frequent use can provide us with a skewed perspective of sin.”
My Husband Lied to Me. How Do I Know if I Can Trust Him Again? (Video)
Sadly, many people find themselves in this situation and need to ask this question.
The Overture
If you’d like to read an ongoing Christmas devotional, perhaps consider this one which is based on Handel’s Messiah.
Cooperating Under Persecution
“When I moved to China as a 23-year-old, I wanted to see how the gospel could take root and thrive in a place where the government, education system, and culture were arrayed against it. Naively, I assumed a rather simple equation: gospel preaching + persecution = church growth. The reality, of course, isn’t that simple.”
Grief Oblivion
Brittany Allen: “Grief floats through the air like smoke above us, entering our lungs—a breath thief. I look around to see hands wiping tears from eyes, looks of shock and helplessness. Death has shaken us again. My four-year-old sits under the smoke, unmoved, unaware. He flips through the pew Bible and smiles up at me, then at his daddy. He doesn’t notice the tears glazing my eyes; he can’t see the lump in my throat.”
Oversharing
Karen Wade Hayes considers the phenomenon of oversharing.
Flashback: I Fear God, and I’m Afraid of God
I do fear God. But these days I’m also finding myself afraid of God. I fear him in that sense of rightly assessing his power, his abilities, his sovereignty. But I’m also afraid of the ways he may exercise them.
The reason many people find so little comfort in their troubles, is because they do not accept them as sent from God, nor expect to receive blessing from them.
—J.R. Miller
