- Boy Donates Prize to Neighbor with Leukemia – An eight-year old boy wins a scavenger hunt and an $1,000 prize. He then immediately donates the money to his two-year old neighbor who is fighting leukemia. How do you not love this story? (H/T)
- A Loving Father & Difficult Gifts – “So sometimes, it is hard to see the goodness in what Cowper described as “a frowning Providence.” And yet, a key part of God’s self-revelation is that he watches his people, neither slumbering nor sleeping. Like a nesting hen, sheltering the hatchlings. He is a loving Father who gives good gifts. And yet the world is full of snakes.”
- Does God Love Everyone? – Referencing D.A. Carson’s book on the subject, Kevin DeYoung tackles this question that may be more nuanced that initially considered.
- Where Did All the New Calvinists Come From? – I haven’t had the chance to read all the links, but I found this post to be an interesting which looks at Mark Dever’s and others work on the historical underpinnings of the resurgence in Calvinism.
- The Death Trap of Comparing Marriages – “When a particular family dynamic works well for our lives, we easily make universal assessments about what all families should do….Where this tendency can become especially dangerous, however, is when it influences one’s interpretation of Scripture. Here we move beyond the culture wars to a kind of legalism that is not only suffocating but spiritually burdensome. “
- You Need to Change – “Sanctification is a long word. Even though we know it’s important biblically, still it manages to get stuck in the abstract. And truth be told, our old self likes it better that way. The abstract, after all, is much more comfortable. As long as we keep sin in vague terms — as long as sanctification stays out there instead of in here — things can stay the same. That’s why it’s easier to pray, ‘God, take my life,’ rather than ‘God, take my cash.’ We may love the idea of sanctification, as a theological concept, but the particular forms it should become in our specific lives, not so much. Keeping sanctification at arm’s length maintains the guise of maturity (i.e., we pray well) but nothing really changes.”