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Unseen – “In a world where faith in Jesus may seem foolish or outdated or irrelevant, the definition of faith in Scripture stands by the better country—even if at times it eludes us. Like Abraham who looked for the city of foundations and the housekeeper who sang of unseen things, we are strangers to our own lives, setting out in the dark to look for the country we were meant to know, guided by the Spirit who wants us to see.”

The Discipline of Choices – “The choices we make, and therefore the habits we develop, are formed by obedience to the Word. ‘It is only through making the right choice to obey God’s Word that we will break the habits of sin and develop habits of holiness. This is where we desperately need the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to make the right choices. So cry out to God every day for His help for that day, and then cry out again each time you are confronted with the choice to sin or to obey.'”

Beautiful Submission – In writing about submission and loving leadership, Luma Simms writes “To understand any of our roles we first have to understand the Godhead. Only then will any of this stuff make sense. Only then will it be shown that these roles are not cultural or social constructs but part of the warp and weft of objective reality.”

Dear Moms, Jesus Wants You To Run – This is a great follow-up to a post I shared earlier this week. Jen Wilkin writes “In matters of legalism, rest – yes – but in matters of holiness, run. Run like your hair is on fire. Cast off everything that hinders: all false measures of righteousness cloaked as homemade bread or spotless kitchen surfaces. But let your newly-found chill mentality toward Pinterest and June Cleaver free up energy to run the race that counts. Because this good work of loving God and loving others is a race for the fit and the fleet, particularly if you’re a mom.” (H/T)

John Calvin on Prayer – Calvin’s four rules for prayer are instructive for developing a more robust prayer life. This post also serves as a reminder that “Our checkered prayer life is often attacked by doubts, but such struggles show us our ongoing need for prayer itself as a ‘lifting up of the spirit’ and continually drive us to Jesus Christ, who alone will’“change the throne of dreadful glory into the throne of grace.'”

God Is Not the Gospel – “Lately I’ve noticed that Christians in general (and I include myself in that number) have been equating the Father, Son, and Spirit with the gospel…..Now, why does this bother me? Is this just another example of me being a nitpicky jerk who doesn’t have enough to do? Quite possibly. But I don’t think so. The reason this phenomenon bothers me is because it seems to rob the Trinity of some of their glory.”

There Was No Golden Age – “I often ask my students to give me a quick summary of church history. It’s a good way to see what they know, and, more importantly, what they think they know. The results are fascinating. Beyond the unsurprising fact that most know very little about the story of God’s people between the end of the New Testament and the day before yesterday, the stories usually have at least one thing in common: a Golden Age.” (H/T)

What’s a Christian business owner supposed to do? – The president of Tyndale House publishing writes about the effect of the HHS mandate on them and why they are joining the lawsuit against the government. (H/T)

I’m Going to Vote – “So my suggestion to all who wonder if they should vote is: Tell as many people as you can the good reasons why you are disaffected with the whole thing; then go to the polls and take a burden-bearing, pro-active risk rather than staying home and taking a burden-dropping, reactive risk.”

A Cure for the “Most Christians” Blues  – “Well, here’s something the Lord has been convicting me of lately; the use of “most Christians” or “many Christians” when describing something I think is important when evaluating the Evangelical landscape. And I know I’m not alone. Since I’ve been more cognizant of it,  I’ve noticed that others do it too – in conversations, on social media, in blog posts and even in books. It’s normally accompanied by a lament of something that is wrong that these “most” or “many” are guilty of.”