Blessings to you today, my friends.
Today’s Kindle deals include quite a lengthy list.
(Yesterday on the blog: God Doesn’t Need You To Do His PR)
Candlelight
“My wife and I were on the way to church for the annual Christmas Eve candlelight service. The traffic was dense in the night, a dissonance of glaring white headlights, fuming red taillights, and a looming, bristling pall of impatience.” This is the beginning to a compelling and poetic article.
Shattered
“Shattered. The word I heard describing the damage the bullet had done to my husband’s voice box. This onomatopoeia could be our theme word for the last year. Entering 2022, Tommy and I were overjoyed and expectant, facing our bright future together. We were fulfilled in our dream careers, part of a flourishing church family, looking to buy our first house, and planning to start a family. Then, one by one, these joys and expectations were taken away from us.”
Reclaiming Joy in Teaching
You may enjoy this interview with Tom Schreiner.
What Are You Calling a Church?
“The word I am referring to here is church. And when it comes to communication between missionaries and Christians back in their supporting churches, this word is used often, but almost never defined. What often results is a failure in communication that leaves both parties feeling good, but ultimately failing to serve one another well.”
Do Angels Carry Our Prayers to God?
John Piper answers a good question here. “Millions don’t believe that the infinite, blazing holiness of God is so great that no angel, nor the mother of God, Mary, could be a better protection for us than Christ. Let me say that again. That’s just so crucial. She didn’t believe, and millions don’t believe, that the infinite, blazing holiness of God is so great that no angel and no mother of God could be a better protection for us than Christ.”
Don’t Be A Fig Leaf
“As recipients of grace and forgiveness, Christians should be quick to be gracious and forgiving. But extending grace should include encouraging fellow believers to admit and confront sin so that they can experience the grace and forgiveness that only comes from Christ.” This is very true!
Flashback: Was It A Waking Dream?
I became aware that I was in my living room, not the cemetery. I became aware that it had been a dream, not reality. But I also became aware that my face was wet with tears and my heart rich with joy. For though it was only a waking dream, it was a dream grounded in the best of all promises, the surest of all hopes.
He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace.
—Joni Eareckson-Tada
