Here is a collection of good reads gathered from across the internet this past week. Enjoy!
On worshiping together: Why We Worship on Repeat by David Mathis
Take Psalm 136 as a flashing red light from the divine that our newfound intolerance for repetition is out of step with what it means to be human. The psalm is 26 verses, and each verse ends with “for his steadfast love endures forever.” It rehearses God’s goodness and supremacy, his wonder-working and world-creating, his delivery of his people from slavery and provision for them in a rich land. (click here to read more)
On joy and the Christian’s life: 3 Killjoys in the Christian Life by David Qaoud
The Christian religion is not a religion of misery, but a religion of joy. God is after your highest joy — a joy that is found in him. We Christians know this intellectually. But because of the world, the flesh, and the devil — our joy easily escapes us. Our sin sometimes gets the best of us. The enemy sometimes wins. I’m sure, like me, you desire joy. You want that for yourself and others around you. But as I examine my own heart, and see the lives of others, how come many of us are often joyless? (click here to read more)
On parenting and sex: Guiding Your Son to Respond Well to Sexual Attraction by Daniel Huerta
Images mixed with mirror neurons begin to interact with a tween boy’s visual response, sexual curiosity, hormones and physical development, which creates a powerfully stimulating moment that the brain wants to duplicate. Boys may not have control over an initial attraction to a person or an image, but they do have control over how they respond. As parents, we can help our sons understand what is happening in their brains, help them talk through those feelings, and provide them with a strategy to help them make choices that are good for them now and in the future. (click here to read more)
On hope in the face of chronic illness: I Will Boast in My Weakness by David Bronson
Since I was diagnosed over ten years ago, Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:9 have always rattled around in my head: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (ESV) I expect every minister with chronic illness keeps this scripture close. Our weakness is always before us, staring into our bleary eyes from the mirror every morning. (click here to read more)
And finally some wisdom from Charles Spurgeon…
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