I am grateful to 21Five for sponsoring the blog this week. 21Five is a new Christian bookstore meant to resource Canadians with great books. I’m all for that! Today’s Kindle deals include a few books that are worth considering. (Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books for April 2024) Fish Story (Video) This is such a neat little video—well worth watching. Soft Discipleship Through Friendship Serena Wang introduces a term that could be quite helpful: soft discipleship. How to Talk to Your Teens About Taylor Swift’s New Album I expect many parents are having to talk to their tee ..read more

It is surprisingly difficult to find a list of Christian books that have been released in any given month—especially if you want that list to be filtered by books released through particular publishers. That’s one of the reasons why I close each month by coming up with my list of New and Notable books. I comb through what I’ve received in the past month (and scour all the publishers’ websites) to come up with a list of titles that are interesting to me—and may just be interesting to you. Here are my picks for April. In each case I’ve included the publisher’s description. Heavenward: How Ete ..read more

May the Lord be with you and bless you today. Because I’m out of my normal time zone, I’m adding Kindle deals a bit later in the day than I usually do. But I do continue to add them most days. Westminster Books is offering a deal on a new book that explains five biblical models for making ethical decisions. The Parable of Kanye West Samuel James: “A question is bothering me. Is Kanye West’s professed conversion to Christianity thrown into more doubt by his brazen antisemitism a couple of years ago, or by his recent announcement of his own “adult film” company? I am forced to admit that, for ..read more

It is one of the realities of the Christian faith that people love to criticize—the reality that there are a host of different denominations and a multitude of different expressions of Christian worship. We hear it from skeptics: If Christianity is true and if it really changes people, then why can’t you get along? We hear it from Roman Catholics: If the Protestant faith is biblical, then why is it splintered while the Catholic Church remains unified? I do not deny that both skeptics and Catholics ask valid questions. But while believers have become accustomed to responding to this criticism ..read more

The God of peace be with you, my friends. Westminster Books is offering $20 off a new book meant to help you better understand Covenant Theology. Want to Grow in Hospitality? Start with Your Inner Circle “I’ve always thought of hospitality as opening my home to outsiders. And, of course, hospitality is not less than that . But as I’ve pondered this topic over the past few weeks, it has occurred to me that I I need to start my journey of hospitality with the people who make up my innermost circle. Hospitality to outsiders will be both hollow and shallow if I don’t practice it with my own fami ..read more

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today. I didn’t find a lot of Kindle deals yesterday, but will search again first thing in the morning. (Yesterday on the blog: The Path to Contentment) Climate Anxiety Paralyzes. Gospel Hope Propels. “Christianity has been accused of being pessimistic because of the doctrine of original sin, but it looks downright cheerful in comparison to much of climate activism. It has the best antidote to the problem of climate anxiety because it offers a vision of hope to a culture in despair.” Living What God Has Written This is such a sweet article from ..read more

I wonder if you have ever considered that the solution to discontentment almost always seems to be more. If I only had more money I would be content. If I only had more followers, more possessions, more beauty, then at last I would consider myself successful. If only my house was bigger, my influence wider, my sales higher. Then, at last, I would achieve the contentment that has been so elusive. The trouble, of course, is that “more” is a changing and escalating standard rather than a stable one. No matter what you have, there is still more to be had. Even if you earn more there is still mor ..read more

Good morning. Grace and peace to you. Today’s Kindle deals include several excellent titles like Andrew Wilson’s Remaking the World, Sinclair Ferguson’s The Whole Christ, and the updated edition of Kent Hughes’ Disciplines of a Godly Man. (Yesterday on the blog: It Begins and Ends with Speaking) Why My Shepherd Carries a Rod David Gibson explains why his shepherd, who I trust is also your shepherd, carries a rod. There’s comfort in the metaphor! When Mandisa Forgave Simon Cowell I am not really familiar with the Christian musician Mandisa (who recently passed away), but this tribute focuses ..read more

Part of the joy of reading biography is having the opportunity to learn about a person who lived before us. An exceptional biography makes us feel as if we have actually come to know its subject, so that we rejoice in that person’s triumphs, grieve over his failures, and weep at his death. There is a sense in which the Bible is a biography, in which it is the story of God. It reveals God by describing what he has done and what he has said, for if the living God is to be known, “He must make Himself known, and He has done this in the acts and words recorded in Scripture.” The Bible begins wit ..read more

My thanks goes to ChurchSocial for sponsoring the blog this week. Church Social gives congregations a safe place to communicate, share information, and manage membership online. There are a few new Kindle deals to close out the week. (Yesterday on the blog: The Great Rewiring of Childhood) Rome Is Not Our Home: Live Counterculturally During Election Season This article offers some helpful perspectives on living as Christians during politically-charged times. Borrowing a Death “When was the last time you were at a funeral when someone didn’t take the opportunity to talk ab ..read more