Here is a collection of good reads over this past week from different blogs:
On parenting: Parenting in the Valley of Dry Bones by Kim Ransleben (click here)
There are moments as a parent when you realize you’ve done a lot less clapping for your kids than you have disciplining them for sin. It can feel like all you do is battle them between errands and events, pick-ups and drop-offs, and much of what you battle lies where you cannot reach, inside hearts which you feel so helpless to change. How can we enjoy our children in those moments when we can’t even think of them without fear of what might come?
On needing to be reminded constantly of the gospel: The Ministry of Reminder by Nick Jones (click here)
If the gospel is an ocean, then a trip to the beach does not suffice. We must continually lead our people back to the water. Each time with different gear, but back to the same ocean. We lead them back with goggles. With glass-bottom boats. With scuba gear. With depth finders. With submarines. We keep leading them back to see what they’ve already seen, to experience what they’ve already experienced, in the hopes that each trip will renew and invigorate their love for their live-giving savior.
Another on parenting and not being able to get back lost time: The Tragedy of Time by Tim Challies (click here)
This is the tragedy of time. Time is one of the few resources in this world that is given in finite measure. I can always make more money—I just need to work harder or work longer or invest better, and more money will come. But there is not a single thing I can do to gain more time. It ticks by and is gone forever.
On the past not defining your future: A Grace-Defined Future by Adam McClendon (click here)
The future for God’s children is defined by the promises of God and not their past. Such a future is exponentially greater than the pain of their past. So, the people of God do not have to carry around their pain.
On Bible reading and spiritual growth: I Read By Bible… And You Won’t Believe What Happened Next by Stephen Altrogge (click here)
When Jesus returns, we will be sanctified in “the twinkling of an eye”. However, while we live on the earth, God works at a much slower pace. God causes us to grow in the same way a tree grows – slow and sure, almost imperceptible at times. God doesn’t change us spectacularly, but he does change us steadily. You can have confidence that he’ll continue to change you.
First Baptist Church 