I’m grateful to Lithos Kids for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about their new The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook.
This new episode of WTS’s The Afterword features an interesting discussion with Timothy Brindle on CRT. Also, they have a sale on some excellent books by G.K. Beale.
With the beginning of a new month, there are some Kindle deals to be had.
(Yesterday on the blog: Why Are We Often So Boring?)
Protect Teens from Sextortion
This is important. “Last month, international law enforcement agencies released a warning: ‘In 2022, the FBI received thousands of reports related to the financial sextortion of minors, primarily boys, representing an exponential increase from previous years. Unfortunately, the FBI is also aware of more than a dozen suicides following these incidents.’”
The Shadow is a Small and Passing Thing
“In Return of the King, the last book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sam and Frodo are in the final stage of their journey: Crossing Mordor to Mount Doom. The heavy hand of darkness seemed to clamp over them from the pure weight of their griefs and fears. They had little hope yet of completing their task and even smaller hope of escaping to their former lives if this nightmare ever ended.”
From Death to Life
“‘I don’t think people fully grasp how much of Protestant Christianity is going to die off in the next 3 decades.’” Kevin DeYoung considers a recent report.
On membership processes
I always enjoy hearing how other churches emphasize and practice membership.
Vanity Fair
Derek Thomas: “For John Bunyan, a Puritan to his fingertips, the Christian life was an experience of conflict and tension with this world. Imprisoned for upwards of twelve years, he experienced firsthand the world’s hostility. Cheerful and sanguine by temperament, his portrayal of what believers can expect from this world is both solemn and dark.”
Flashback: Always Read the Story to the End
When we are persecuted we must not determine we have been abandoned, but know that we are being made ready for some great usefulness to God’s plans and purposes. We must wait, we must withhold judgment, we must read to the end!
This is the heart of prayer—not getting things from God, but getting God.
—David Mathis
