Links for the Weekend (2025-02-28)

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

You Are a Burden

In this post, T. M. Suffield offers a great perspective. Perhaps we should stop apologizing for being a burden on others.

You are a burden. That’s good news. Why? Because it means you aren’t meant to do this on your own. You are meant to need a community around you. Humans are made for cities not smallholdings, even if we haven’t figured out how to make cities humane yet. We need each other.

The Indispensable Inefficiency of Prayer

We need to face the glorious truth that prayer is not at all efficient.

Prayer looks inefficient. There’s no getting around that. Spending time bringing our praise and thanks and needs to God feels like a delay. After an hour of prayer, you still won’t be able to tick any items off your list, or progress your agenda for the day. Then again, is your agenda really as good as the plans and promises of your Creator? Will a whole day—or a year, or a decade, or even a whole lifetime of effort and strain with your own little arms and mind and powers—be able to accomplish even a tiny fraction of what the Maker of heaven and earth can do with just one simple command?

Epistle to a Former Friend

Our poem of the week: Epistle to a Former Friend, by A.M. Juster. This short poem is about anger and unforgiveness.


Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2025-02-21)

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Don’t Let Your Fears Hold Back Your Children

Melissa Edgington writes about trusting God in our parenting.

This is why we shouldn’t hold our kids back from going to far away colleges, from pursuing careers outside of the areas where we live, from following the callings that God has placed on their lives just because those callings make us scared. A big part of raising children is God teaching us to trust Him, and when it comes to experiences and adventures that are reasonably safe, we shouldn’t hold on so tightly that our kids aren’t allowed to see what reliance on God feels like. They won’t need to rely on Him if we keep them so bound to our own side that they never have to make a decision or figure something out without us.

Wikipedia Founder Embraces Christianity: Larry Sanger’s Testimony Highlights

It seems the founder of Wikipedia has become a Christian. Trevin Wax has read his testimony and points out a few features from which we can all learn.

Last week, Larry Sanger, the man who started Wikipedia in 2001, published a lengthy essay laying out his journey from skepticism to Christianity. For most of his adult life, Sanger was a committed skeptic, trained in analytic philosophy—a field dominated by atheists and agnostics. Though he spent 35 years as a nonbeliever, he never saw himself as hostile to faith, only unconvinced, and his testimony is geared toward those who share that rational, open-minded skepticism.

Not All Fear Is The Same

Here’s a link to an episode of the Ligonier Ministries podcast Renewing Your Mind entitled “Not All Fear Is The Same.” Michael Reeves speaks about the fear of the Lord on this podcast, and interested readers might want know that the following four episodes of this podcast feature Reeves diving deeper into this topic.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Ask Questions to Expose Idols. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!


Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Ask Questions to Expose Idols

What is an idol? I’ve addressed this at greater length elsewhere, but here’s a quick definition. An idol is anything we worship that is not the true God.

This definition of an idol includes the statues and poles shaped from wood and metal that we read of in the Old Testament. But it also includes more common things—even good things—we see and enjoy around us every day.

Family. Church. Reputation. Lack of conflict. Influence. Wealth. Knowledge. Success.

Because our hearts are expert in twisting and fashioning idols from good, God-given parts of our lives, identifying idols is a difficult task. In fact, it’s a task we cannot do on our own.

Idols Kill Relationships

Andy Crouch’s book Strong and Weak has some excellent advice for Christians who long to kill their idols.

The first things any idol takes from its worshipers are their relationships. Idols know and care nothing for the exchange of authority and vulnerability that happens in the context of love—and the demonic powers that lurk behind them, and lure us to them, despise love. So the best early warning sign […] is that your closest relationships begin to decay. It is those relationships, after all, that could grant you the greatest real capacity for meaningful action. But they also demand of you the greatest personal risk. — Andy Crouch, Strong and Weak, pp. 106–107

The more we give ourselves to an idol, with its false promise of success or peace or power or happiness, the more our closest relationships wither.

Exposing Idols

Relationships may be a casualty of idolatry, but they also offer a strong defense against the same. The strategy is as simple to state as it is difficult to implement.

Ask your friends, consistently, about their closest relationships.

By asking your friend about her relationships with her sister, her mother, her best friend at work, or her husband, you may help her identify some idol currently gaining a foothold in the dark.

Part of the beauty of the church of God is that we’re not alone in the battle against sin. Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we have a valuable role to play in our friends’ spiritual lives. Having these conversations can be uncomfortable and awkward—they involve real risk!—but these interactions are a tangible way for us to “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thess 5:11).

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Links for the Weekend (2025-02-14)

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Never Too Busy to Pray

What does it look like to prioritize prayer in our lives? Scott Hubbard points to Jesus for lessons.

The idea of prioritizing prayer sounds wonderful — until prioritizing prayer means not doing something we would very much like to do. We can talk about prioritizing prayer all we want, but we don’t truly do so unless we regularly set aside second-best priorities, some of them pressing, to get alone with God. The life of our Lord provides the best illustration.

To Those Living in Secret Sin

Esther Liu pleads with those living in secret sin, reminding them of the gospel and assuring them how much better it is to walk in the light.

Yet, I plead with you. I know what it can feel like to live in secrecy—the way it deadens your soul. And whether you are ready to face it or not, you are not truly doing well. You live a fractured life. As gratifying as your sin may be in the moment, when all is said and done, this life you are living doesn’t feel full. Imagine the joy of having a clear conscience, not because you are sinless, but because your lifestyle is one of honest confession and repentance. Imagine being able to have people in your life walk alongside you to support and encourage you in your struggles—you won’t have to face it all alone.

Club Escape

Our poem of the week: Club Escape, by Aaron Poochigian. This is a short poem which raises the question about where real satisfaction can be found.


Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2025-02-07)

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Your Phone Habits Aren’t Just About You

Trevin Wax writes about our phone habits and the way they affect people around us.

You’ve likely seen this phenomenon elsewhere. If you’re on a hike with friends, enjoying conversation and the beauty around you, the moment someone pulls out a phone to capture the moment for social media, the dynamic shifts. The scenery is no longer just scenery—everything is potential for content or a possible background for a selfie. The hike is no longer only about you and your friends—it’s something to be broadcast, something open for evaluation and discussion online.

To (Almost) Die is Gain

Heidi Kellogg reflects on a scary surgery and how she was affected by the prospect of facing death.

Weeks after my craniotomy I received a call from the doctor’s office. A new patient was asking to speak with someone who had faced a similar diagnosis. I happily agreed to talk with her. She was close to my age and, like me, she had a husband and two young-adult sons. She asked me, “How do you prepare to die?” I couldn’t help but think it’s best to start long before you get a diagnosis like ours. Four days was not enough time for the most important preparations, but thankfully, I had been preparing for a long time.

Near Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Our poem of the week: Near Vanderbilt University Medical Center, by A.M. Juster. It’s a short, punchy poem about our finitude as humans.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Sorrow: An Engine of Christian Hope. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!


Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Sorrow: An Engine of Christian Hope

Hope may not be a fruit of the Spirit, but it is a Christian virtue. And the authors of the New Testament presume that those who are in Christ will grow in hope just as they grow in love and faith. (See Romans 15:13, 1 Peter 1:13, and Hebrews 6:11, for example.)

How therefore do we grow in hope?

The Christian life—and human life in general—offers scores of opportunities to increase our hope reflexes. In this post we’ll address the path to hope through sorrow.

Recognizing All That is Not Right

Here’s my definition of Christian hope: hope is the joyful expectation that God will keep his promises. Some events in our lives offer a brief taste of those kept promises, making us aware of the great fulfillment that is to come. (This will be the subject of a future post.) Yet some circumstances make us see just how far we are away from that fulfillment.

In a world marked by sin, we are bound to see misery and sadness all around us. God does not expect us to pretend that everything is fine; he has given us lament as a category of prayer for just these confusing, dispiriting, and gut-wrenching times.

However, properly understood, lament ends in hope. So, these times of great sadness can be opportunities to grow in this powerful Christian virtue.

Injustice

We do not need to search very hard for examples of injustice in the world. Many Christians have been the target of unjust actions or policies, and all of us have observed gross acts of injustice throughout the world.

We rightly cry out when the wicked flourish and the righteous are victims of hatred and violence.

God is just, and he promises that justice will rule one day. A key part of growing in hope is learning these promises, resting on them, and expecting God to keep them.

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
    I have put my Spirit upon him;
    he will bring forth justice to the nations.
    He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
    or make it heard in the street;
    a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
    he will faithfully bring forth justice.
    He will not grow faint or be discouraged
    till he has established justice in the earth;
    and the coastlands wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:1–4)

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:5–6)

Additionally, the notion of hell depends in part on God’s justice. Because God is holy and humans sin against him, these offenses must be dealt with. For Christians, the wrath of God was satisfied at the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and for unbelievers, God will be vindicated in hell (see Matthew 25:31–46, Revelation 21:8).

Sickness and Death

Sickness and death are one of the greatest causes of our sorrow. And we rightly lament this reality because this is not the way things should be. And, of course, this is not the way things will be!

Jesus’s resurrection is the sure sign that resurrection is to come for those united to him. We have these sure promises.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:50–53)

The promise of bodily resurrection from the dead is fundamental to Christian hope. But we must not let familiarity with this promise dull its extravagant audacity. Raised from the dead! New bodies!

Loneliness

Many commenters have written about a modern epidemic of loneliness, but a sorrowful aloneness has been a part of the human experience for millennia. We rightly mourn the loss of relationships and the absence or coolness of friends, but our mourning can point us to a better day on the horizon.

Yes, God is present with his people now and has promised not to forsake them (Hebrews 13:5). But a greater sense of God’s presence awaits us.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Revelation 21:1–3)

God will be with us as our God; he will dwell with us—in fact, that will be his dwelling place.

For those in Christ, all loneliness has an expiration date. God has promised.

From Sadness to Hope

Sorrow is nothing to seek out, but rightly understood it is an opportunity to grow.

Our prayers of lament begin with complaint but they end in hope. We realize that our aching and sadness is a longing for something God has promised. We can build a solid foundation on God’s promises, joyfully anticipating the way he will keep them and turn our sadness on its head.

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