Curated content for Christians
That Part of Gospel-Centeredness We Avoid There is truth to this. “One aspect of gospel-centrality remains under-emphasized among us: interpersonal reconciliation.” 43 Giant, Crumbling Presidential Heads in a Virginia Field Smithsonian: After an ambitious monument went bust, big dreams—and big heads—remain. To Your Daughter, Speak the Truth Jen Wilkin has a word for dads. Does…
Fear, Trust, and Missionary Kids “Threat of physical harm and death do not keep missionaries off the field, but there is something that does. I have heard it from the mouths of Americans unwilling to consider missions, and ringing in my head these last few weeks: my kids could die.” Death, the Prosperity Gospel and…
Israel’s Women-in-Combat Experience “Whenever anyone at National Review … writes in opposition to opening all combat jobs to women or (even worse) drafting women into ground combat, there is predictable hue and cry from the Left. ‘But Israel! You conservatives couldn’t possibly be criticizing Israel, could you?’” Here’s why Israel isn’t the trump card. Bivocational…
The Creepy, Mysterious, & Interesting History of Valentine’s Day I really enjoyed this article on the history of Valentine’s Day. Scripture’s “Top Two” List “The Apostle Paul has a tendency to give us lists of sins. He gives us at least five of them. At first glance, it feels like he is simply piling it…
Conscripted for Life, Not War There are a couple of key lines in this article. “God gave women marvelous strength. Strength that wasn’t meant to be compared or measured against a man. Last time I checked, I’d never met a man able to give birth. I’ve also never known a man able to handle months…
Speedos or Shorts? Bikinis or Bathing Suits? I appreciate the big point in Carl Trueman’s article, but it’s equally worth reading for the one-liners like this: “quackery has never been a bar to influence.” (And he’s not even writing about the presidential primaries.) You Won’t Be So Passionate When You’re 40 Erik Raymond describes an…
Please Keep This Between Us “Please don’t tell anyone else this, but I wanted to process something with you. If you could just keep it between you and me? I assume you know I wouldn’t want it to get around, I want to make sure people really understand my side of things and that can…
Four Things to Help Overcome Gridlock in Your Marriage “Have you ever found yourself in a place in your marriage where you and your spouse disagree and it seems like there is no way forward?” We have all been there at one time or another, haven’t we? We Will Never Let Our Daughters Die for…
This has been a bit of a slow week for Kindle deals. That is, in part, because so many of the deals cycle on a regular basis and I try not to link to them if they’ve come up recently. There should be some new ones on Monday. Until then, here’s some reading for you:…
From Slum to Shining Sea “Growing up in a solid, Christian, God-fearing home, at some indefinable point between child-like faith and adolescent angst, my two-dimensional version of God had become synonymous with rules, broken rules, and never-ending failure. So I left.” Calvin’s 4 Rules of Prayer Joel Beeke explains what Calvin believed about prayer. (Also,…
True Reformation You’ll enjoy Burk Parson’s short but powerful meditation on true reformation. Counseling Wives of Addicts The most recent episode of Mortification of Spin begins with a discussion of counseling women whose husbands are addicted to pornography, then goes on to discuss a host of other important areas. This is a very helpful discussion.…
Your 7 Job Responsibilities as a Church Member Just imagine what a church can be when all the members are functioning like this. 5 Reasons You Should (Probably) Leave Your Attractional Church Jared Wilson is a big believer in the local church, so he isn’t being flippant when he tells you to consider leaving your…
The 2016 Reading Challenge is well underway and it has been fun to see people doing their own roundups. Here are a few: Nate Claiborne, Eric Dodson, Julie Thompson. There are way more at Goodreads. Facing a Task Unfinished This is a great idea: “Getty Music is inviting thousands of churches around the globe to…
Patient Parenting Sometimes parenting is really, really hard. We’ve been experiencing some of those times lately, so this article was a joy to read. You Can Trust God with Your Kids Speaking of parenting, here is encouragement that you can trust God with your kids. Ten Biblical Truths on the Obedience of Children Sticking with…
Don’t Theologize or Spiritualize Ministry Mediocrity This is an important challenge to churches that love good preaching. “Why is it that so many churches that profess a commitment to the primacy of expository preaching, settle for mediocrity in so many other facets of the church’s ministry?” The Most Dangerous Place On Earth And speaking of…
A Matter of Inches You will eventually breathe a sigh of relief. “My wife and I got into the car and drove across town to the hospital, fearing the worst and yet trying to hope for the best. We offered short, pathetic prayers as we went.” Uncool Coins There’s probably a sermon illustration in this…
Our Prayer Instincts Are Backwards “Approaching the Queenstown airport in mid-winter—with mountain ranges on both sides and a huge lake straight ahead—we were caught in a giant wind tunnel. The plane was shuddering and sporadically dropping 50 feet at a time. The cabin filled with shrieking and praying. Many people were crying out to a…
Announcing the all-new PrayerMate v5 One of my favorite everyday apps has gotten an update. I was part of the beta test and have already enjoyed this new version. Do Something Small For God I think we all need these reminders from time to time. “We can feel like if we don’t do something great…
Sex Abuse in the Church Catherine Parks writes about the ugly reality of sexual abuse in the church. “In recent months, I have thought frequently about abuse allegations in the church. I have read story after story about abuse victims who went to church leaders and either were not believed or were blamed in part…
Scruffy Hospitality This is good: “Scruffy hospitality means you’re not waiting for everything in your house to be in order before you host and serve friends in your home. Scruffy hospitality means you hunger more for good conversation and serving a simple meal of what you have, not what you don’t have.” The Most Important…