A Few Good Reads

“3 Pieces of Marriage Advice from Spurgeon’s Mother-In-Law“
Married couples, especially those in the ministry, can learn much from reading about the marriages of pastors and their families throughout history. Christian George recounts what Charles Spurgeon’s future mother-in-law told her daughter after Spurgeon abandoned her one afternoon in a throng of people before he preached. “Ministry is a unique calling with unique burdens that demands unique sacrifices. The problems Charles faced are common to most ministers: constant criticism, controversy, and conflicts. Susannah had to pick her husband off the floor when the weight of ministry prostrated him. She supported him when friends and family betrayed him. Bursts of depression were common to the Spurgeon household. Charles sometimes wept without knowing why.”

“Understanding Sola Scriptura“
Michael Kruger helps us gain a greater appreciation of the truth that God’s word is the ultimate standard and authority for all of life. We are tempted to leave this behind in a world with competing truth claims and increasing attacks on the message of the Bible. We need a revival of trust in the Bible and Kruger begins moving us in that direction. “Only the Word of God has the power to transform and reform our churches. So, we should not only talk about sola Scriptura, but we should demonstrate it.”

“Brave New World 85 Years Later“
Some of the books from the early and middle twentieth century pointing towards a dystopian future seem more prophetic with each passing year. Last year I read Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451 and have found myself thinking about each of these books at some point this year while reading the news. Brave New World celebrates its 85th birthday this year and Alistair Roberts helps us think through the enduring legacy of this important novel. “Against these things we must reassert the importance of moral self-mastery, of the relation between man and woman and the bestowal of life that can be occasioned by their love, of moral boundaries restricting the reach of the market and development of technology, and of the Lord and Giver of life to whom we are all beholden. If we fail to do so, we risk subjection to a bondage more insidious than any the world has seen.”

“5 New Rules for Digital Parenting“
We now have a daughter in middle school and she has friends with smart phones. As we’re trying to think about what we might do in the future about getting her a phone, I’ve been trying to read what others are doing. Jon Acuff shares some rules he laid down for his children with their phones. Part humorous and part serious, Acuff’s advice is common sense and our kids need to hear it. “My wife Jenny got so frustrated that everyone kept stealing and losing power cords that she bought a 12-pack. Let me repeat that sentence because I don’t think you heard me. My wife bought a dozen power cords. Teach your kids battery responsibility.”

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus stands at the center of the Christian faith and all of human history. We understand that Jesus gave himself as a substitute for our sins to bring us back to God, but there are constant questions and objections to this cardinal doctrine. In this helpful little book from the “Questions Christians Ask” series, Marcus Nodder explains why Jesus died and what this means for us today.