Here is a collection of good reads gathered from across the internet this past week. Enjoy!
On parenting: The Disciple-Making Parent, a book review by Tim Challies
As long as I am a parent, and especially a parent of tweens and teens (parenting babies and toddlers is straightforward by comparison!), I want to stay sharp, to be challenged, to be equipped. A good book helps me better understand the purpose of parenting and helps me better fulfill my God-given duties. Chap Bettis’s The Disciple-Making Parent is a good book, exactly the kind that challenged me and, I trust, better equipped me as a dad. It offers what, to my knowledge, is a unique angle in a crowded genre: Its focus on discipleship as the heart of parenting. (click here to read more)
On marriage and prayer: Husband, Pray for Your Wife! by Geoffrey Kirkland
Husband, do you pray for your wife? Not just a few words here or there. But do you really pour out your soul to God in desperate pleadings, fervent cries, and intercessory petitions on behalf of your most treasured possession on earth, your bride? If God were to affirmatively answer all of your prayers right now, at this instant, how much would really change in your marriage, or in your wife’s life?
Pray with frequency for your wife. Seek the Lord early for your bride. Prayerfully lead her to the throne before she even brings herself to the throne of grace. Beg God for strength to equip her to stand strong in almighty grace and to ward off the devil’s wily schemes. Seek the Lord that she may grow in grace, in wisdom, in love, in patience, in holy zeal, and in evangelistic opportunities. (click here to read more)
On preaching: 21 Thoughts on Preaching by Jared C. Wilson
Passion, brother, passion. Give us your theology, yes. Don’t short-shrift us on the text. Don’t confuse yelling for preaching. That’s not what I’m saying. Give us your rhetoric and your logic sure, but give it to us affectionately. “Preaching,” as Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it, “is theology coming through a man who is on fire.” (click here to read more)
On reminding ourselves of the gospel truths: When Preaching the Gospel to Yourself Becomes Like Brushing Your Teeth with Your Finger by Mike Leake
Precious truths which come from the character of God cause Micah to have great hope even in the midst of this season of discipline. But he knows that he isn’t sovereign over the matter and that he’d only further confirm his obstinacy if he runs from the rod to apply his own balm. He must let the Lord do the work of putting him through the fire (bearing the indignation) and wait upon the Lord to apply the healing. (click here to read more)
First Baptist Church 