A Few Good Reads

“9 Things You Should Know about Harriet Tubman“
With the announcement that Harriet Tubman would grace the front of the $20 bill, Joe Carter tells us nine things we need to know about her. Some of these facts bring her sacrificial heroism into greater focus. “Throughout her life Tubman remained either in poverty or on the verge of destitution. She managed to scrape by on her labor, her husband’s pension, and donations from admirers.”

“How Do You Explain the Trinity to Children?“
Parents typically wrestle with explaining theological concepts to children and few basic Christians doctrines can be more difficult  to explain than the Trinity. Russell Moore offers wisdom on explaining this important truth to our children. “God is one God, and God is three persons in an everlasting relationship with one another, a relationship into which we are invited. That’s not contradictory. God is not one in the same way he is three, or vice-versa. But who can reduce this to some sort of formula or easy analogy?”

“Moms, Your Secret Sacrifices Matter”
We have four children ten and under, and the last two were born less than two years apart. This post struck a chord with me because I see the sacrifices my wife Beth makes every day. This post reminds moms that their work matters to the Lord and is filled with potential to bring great glory to him. “This is why our humdrum, ordinary, simple days are important: Because we believe they are important to him. In every moment, he is with us. He is in us. He hears us. He sees us. He is, in our days at home as anywhere else, working out his purposes in a thousand ways we cannot see and like and comment on in this life. “

“Success is Dangerous“
Jared Wilson reminds us of the temptations which accompany what many would refer to as “ministry success.” Something about working through difficult times in ministry make us focus on walking more deeply with Jesus while seeing successes might tempt us to trust in ourselves. “We all prefer success to failure but, really, success is more dangerous. In failure, we know we rely totally on God’s approval and sustaining arm. In success, it is easy to begin looking around, surveying all the territories claimed, all the peoples gathered, all the ministry renown redounding, and we think, ‘Well, lookee here. Look what has been built with my talents, my gifts, my skills, my strategies, my visions, my sweat, my sacrifice.’”

The Whole Christ
I’m hoping to start this new work from Sinclair Ferguson soon as the reviews have been stellar. Combining systematic and historical theology, he helps us understand how to avoid both legalism and license by growing in our love for Christ. “Ferguson shows us that the antidote to the poison of legalism on the one hand and antinomianism on the other is one and the same: the life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ, in whom we are simultaneously justified by faith, freed for good works, and assured of salvation.”