A Few Good Reads

“Please Address Me as Mister. I Insist”
Our culture tends to think of formality as inauthentic and informality as inauthentic. This has led us to jettison many of the ways we used to address each other based on our station in life. Michael Strain believes this informality hurts us and calls for a return to thinking through how we address other people. “And, ultimately, equality in all things is false. A PhD has added to the stock of human knowledge; an undergraduate hasn’t. A priest can transform bread and wine; a layman can’t. Chancellor Merkel can affect the near course of history; I can’t. My friend’s father has successfully raised four children; I haven’t. The way we address each other should reflect these differences because these differences are real and material, and obvious.”

“Answering ‘No’ to One of These Questions Will Kill Your Evangelism”
Those who follow Christ want to see our friends and neighbors come to faith in Jesus. We know Jesus died to save sinners and that people are in peril apart from Jesus. Trevin Wax shares six questions we must answer ‘yes’ to in order to increase our evangelistic passion. “Sometimes we talk about Jesus but never arrive at the point of inviting someone to repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ. We spend time sowing seeds but are reticent to reap the harvest. Maybe it’s because we are afraid they will say no, but maybe it’s because we are afraid they will say yes! If someone receives Christ, we now have the responsibility to bring them into the church through baptism, and “teach them to obey everything Christ has commanded.”

“Death to the Chicken Finger”
We have four children and often deal with picky eaters. Adam McDowell had the same kind of childhood I did where children ate what the parents ate and offers some thoughts on how parents can help their children eat healthier. “Sit with children and serve them the same meal you get. Serve them challenging foods and encourage them to eat, but don’t force them. Fighting about it can create negative associations for that food. Listen to kids’ ideas about what they want to eat, but don’t turn the menu into a point of negotiation once dinner has been decided upon. Involving children in food preparation sharpens their appetites, so involve them whenever possible in grocery shopping and gardening, and let them watch you cook.”

A Great Kindle Deal
I recommend Jared Wilson’s Gospel Wakefulness often and it is only $1.99 for Kindle right now. ” Wilson reminds us of the death-proof, fail-proof King of kings who is before all things and in all things and holding all things together, and of the Spirit’s power to quicken our hearts and captivate our imaginations. The message of Gospel Wakefulness will make numbness the exception (rather than the norm) and reawaken us to the multifaceted brilliance of the gospel.”