This is a timely book for our world today, especially in light of the Covid pandemic.
Drowning Screen Time by David Murrow
Category: Books
Gospel for Life
I’d like to recommend you to the ministry of a man named Jay Wegter who writes theologically rich essays on worldview and the Christian life. He also has written a variety of books. You can find all his resources on the Gospel For Life website – http://gospelforlife.org.
One of the strengths of Jay’s writing lies in the thoroughness of his research. Many of the articles I have read have numerous quotations from other scholars and thinkers. The nature of the quotations Jay chooses, along with his clear and direct style, makes his articles hard hitting in our day.
For example take this opening paragraph to Jay’s article “Abortion, The Sanctity Of Life, And The Judgment Of God” which also contains a quote from John O. Anderson’s The Cry of the Innocents.
The fundamental biblical issue in abortion is that it constitutes the shedding of innocent blood. The real question today is not when people’s lives begin, but what is the value and sanctify of human life? The blood of millions of aborted children cries to God for vengeance. Their silent screams are heard loudly by Almighty God. America’s hands, and most of the nations of the world are covered with the guilt and stain of innocent blood. “That innocent blood cries to God for vengeance. Those cries are reaching a thunderous crescendo, and God will answer in judgment just as he did with Israel and Judah” (John O. Anderson).
Jay Wegter
In an evangelical culture that has lost its way, Jay’s voice is like a light house in the fog, guiding us back to sound biblical doctrine.
Around the Wicket Gate by Charles Spurgeon
If you would like a solid dose of pure gospel, I highly recommend Around the Wicket Gate by Charles Spurgeon. Find for free as an eBook here at Project Gutenberg.
To give you a taste of it, here is a quote:
To suppose that the Lord Jesus has only half saved men, and that there is needed some work or feeling of their own to finish his work, is wicked. What is there of ours that could be added to his blood and righteousness? “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Can these be patched on to the costly fabric of his divine righteousness? Rags and fine white linen! Our dross and his pure gold! It is an insult to the Saviour to dream of such a thing. We have sinned enough, without adding this to all our other offences.
Even if we had any righteousness in which we could boast; if our fig leaves were broader than usual, and were not so utterly fading, it would be wisdom to put them away, and accept that righteousness which must be far more pleasing to God than anything of our own. The Lord must see more that is acceptable in his Son than in the best of us. The best of us! The words seem satirical, though they were not so intended. What best is there about any of us? “There is none that deoth good; no, not one.” I who write these lines, would most freely confess that I have not a thread of goodness of my own. I could not make up so much as a rag, or a piece of a rag. I am utterly destitute. But if I had the fairest suit of good works which even pride can imagine, I would tear it up that I might put on nothing but the garment of salvation, which are freely given by the Lord Jesus, out of the heavenly wardrobe of his own merits.
It is most glorifying to our Lord Jesus Christ that we should hope for every good thing from him alone. This is to treat him as he deserves to be treated; for as he is God, and beside him there is none else, we are bound to look unto him and be saved.
Around the Wicket Gate, C.H. Spurgeon
I’ve never been more encouraged by someone telling me I have no shred of goodness in me!
Children and Education
My one goal for my children’s education: that they would love to read.
I want them to love to read so that they will learn how to think. Because understanding a book is training in how to think.
I want them to read and think about the most important book ever written – The Bible – so that they will find God there.
Educating your children is not mainly about career success. It is mainly about equipping them to be ready to receive the grace of God in the pages of the Bible.
May your school-free summer be filled with real education for your children.
Recommended: Confessions of Saint Augustine
If you are looking for a book to mull over for years to come, look no further than Confessions by Saint Augustine. It is a deep and thorough examination of one man’s heart and all of its self-deceptions. More than that, it is a wonderful example of a humble, broken man, praising God in spite or (or because of) his own weakness and sin.
Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book (so far since I’m not finished).
If physical objects please you, praise God for them, but turn back your love to their creator, lest, in those things which please you, you displease him. If souls please you, let them be loved in God; for in themselves they are mutable, but in him firmly established — without him they would simply cease to exist. In Him, then, let them be loved; and bring along to him with yourself as many souls as you can, and say to them: “Let us love him, for he himself created all these, and he is not far away from them. For he did not create them, and then go away. They are of him and in him. See, there he is, wherever truth is known. He is within the inmost heart, yet the heart has wandered away from him. Return to your heart, you transgressors, and hold fast to him who made you. Stand with him and you shall stand fast. Rest in him and you shall be at rest. Where do you go along these rugged paths? Where are you going? The good that you love is from him, and insofar as it is also for him, it is both good and pleasant. But it will rightly be turned to bitterness if whatever comes from him is not rightly loved and if he is deserted for the love of the creature. Why then will you wander farther and farther in these difficult and toilsome ways? There is no rest where you seek it. Seek what you seek; but remember that it is not where you seek it. You seek for a blessed life in the land of death. It is not there. For how can there be a blessed life where life itself is not?
(Augustine, The Confessions, paragraph 4.12.18)
Fear and God’s Providence
I’ve been thinking about the providence of God, mostly because of a book called Providence by John Piper.
Specifically, what has been on my mind is how every single thing is under God’s direct influence.
In Matthew 10:29 Jesus says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”
Not even a little insignificant sparrow is so insignificant that it escapes God’s attention and control.
Is Jesus saying that God really cares about sparrows specifically? He is saying that, but that is not all that He is saying. He is using sparrows as part of a logical argument.
The verse before verse 29 says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (10:28) This is all part of a larger discussion in which Jesus is instructing His disciples in how they are to act when they are persecuted and when they suffer for Him. They are to not be afraid or anxious in the face of physical pain and suffering at the hands of others.
Jesus says that His disciples must not fear other people. Instead, they should fear God. Why? This is where the sparrows come in. Because God controls event the smallest, most insignificant part of the world.
If I let that sink in, I realized that I am totally dependent on God for literally everything. The food I eat, the air I breath, the coffee I’m sipping right now… God’s hand is in all of that, causing and allowing it to happen.
What a terrible truth that is! The God of the universe, the one I have rebelled against, is the only reason I’m alive in this moment.
And what a wonderful truth it is at the same time. Because of God’s grace and mercy, He is not against me (Romans 8). He is actually on my side (or I am on His side)!
It is amazing that really fearing the God who is in total control, can lead to the removal of all fears. For God is also in control of all of the things that I could ever be afraid of in this life. And he promises to use His control to work only good in the lives of those who love Him, the ones He has chosen for Himself.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. Romans 8:28-30
The Jesus Storybook Bible
I recently finished reading The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name to my two boys for the second time.
Sally Lloyd-Jones does a fantastic job of telling the major stories of the Bible from both testaments, while weaving a common thread of God’s plan to rescue the world through Jesus.
I loved it for this very reason. It didn’t just tell the stories and leave it at that. They were connected to the larger story.
I found myself being reminded of the grace of God through each story as I read to them. Each story is short and is easy to read as part of a daily routine.
I would recommend it especially for young kids age three to five.
Grandma had the best library.
Going to Grandma’s house, growing up, was like traveling to a new world.
My parents would load us kids in the car early in the morning, and we would make the long trip. My Grandma lived in La Quinta, California. Which was just shy of two hours away from where we lived. In other words, to a six-year-old it was on the other side of the world.
She lived in the middle of the desert. When our car finally pulled to a stop and we all stumbled out of the doors, it was like someone was trying to cook us.
Then there was the front yard. No other front yard was like Grandma’s. The word jungle comes close to doing it justice. It makes an impression on a child to walk up a driveway, with nothing but sand on either side, and then to pass through a gate into the walled front yard that was full of trees, bushes, vines, statues, and probably a bear or panther hiding in there somewhere.
The sidewalk through the front yard was like a test of courage you had to pass before you earned the honor of entering the safety and comfort of the house. Why? Because of the bees. There was this bush overgrowing the path, leaving about five inches of free sidewalk where you could walk. This bush was always swarming with killer bees. It was terrifying. “Don’t hurt them and they won’t hurt you,” my mom would say as she walked calmly through the bee cloud. Impossible! I took a breath and followed. To my amazement I passed through the trial unscathed! In the back of my head was always the thought, “But wait, I will have to do that again when we leave!”
The risk was well worth the reward, however, because once we got to the front door and walked through, we were greeted with the heavenly smell of freshly made cinnamon rolls. My Grandma would welcome us in with a smile that was repeated with each wrinkle in her happy face. She was usually wearing an apron, from making the rolls. We had made it through the portal into Narnia. Well, the desert version at least.
And then there was the library. In the back of the house, almost hidden away like a secret, was a room filled with books. Ceiling high bookshelves covered each wall. Stacks of books could be found behind the door, in the closet, on the floor. Cat hair was literally on every surface, which to my young mind only added to the other worldly feeling of the place. There was this huge chair shaped like half of a hollowed-out sphere, covered with pillows. It was the perfect spot for reading. I have always liked reading. But I think that room is responsible for my love of books.
I still love libraries. I just like walking around looking at the books, even if I never pull one out to read. Although something is always missing when I go to one now. I’m not really sure what it is. Maybe it’s the cat hair, or the comfy chair. Maybe it is just simply that my Grandma had the best library in the world, and there can’t be any better.