My cat. Don't let the sweetness fool you, he is running around like a nut yelling his head off. I'll miss him as I head back to school this morning. Many of us are returning to our regular routines after the holidays. We say, well, 'back to real life!' but the real life we have is hid in Christ. The real life we have is in heaven as citizens of the kingdom of eternity. The real life we have is in His grace saved by faith, a wonder and a joy. The real life we have is eternal, begun now, but continued at death.
Have a great day everyone! Enjoy these links I've rounded up for you.
New Year 2020 is upon is, and with the turning of the calendar page to the new year is often a desire to turn a new leaf. To slay bad habits, to start new, good ones. To that end, we have Reagan Rose at Redeeming Productivity's essay on how to create a morning routine that honors Christ.
And Mr Rose has a wonderful half hour podcast on the 10 Commandments of New Year's Resolutions. I found these edifying
The annual Challies Christian Reading Challenge is here for 2020. I'm aiming for the Avid level, 26 books this year as I did last year. for 2019 I had 28 on my list but one I abandoned.
Tony Reinke has a slew of good books. I like reading them because they are well written, because I'm interested in his topics, and also because they are readable and short. Here is his essay on How to Prioritize Reading. Like his other written material, it's well done, practical, and not too long.
This was first published in 2015 from The Master's Seminary but was republished a few weeks ago. I'd missed it the first time so I'm glad it was put out again. It's about the verses from Acts 19:1-10 that show Paul creating the first seminary. Very interesting.
Singer-songwriter Dallas Holm gives a holiday update on his family and the trials they've gone through this year. It's been rough but it's comforting to see someone give glory to God through it all.
Words matter. They are the lens through which we construct our reality, rest on our memories,and come to shared understandings. This is even more true for Christians. And people are changing the meanings of words at an increasing pace. See Josh Buice's essay on The Power of a Word for a Denomination.
How to Behave Like a Christian on the Internet. I loved when the internet was invented. Post-salvation I decided very consciously to use it for ministry and Gospel advance. Reagan Rose at Redeeming Productivity coalesced my thinking on the greatest use of these platforms. Rather than abandoning it completely or using it minimally for personal purposes, what should Christian communication look like?
The good folks at Media Gratiae have put together their book recommendations, all the books they had recommended in 2019 in one pdf. Get it here.
Simple, powerful, interesting, and well-written. Brave Heart and the Great White Shark
amberlee has some thoughts on The Last Funeral.
DB Harrison's piece on sad love songs and theology is pretty great, as only DB can do!
Susan Lafferty has some thoughts about waiting.
