Category: Links

Links for the Weekend (2026-08-21)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

Weakness Isn’t Our Enemy

Sarah Walton reminds us that we were created as dependent creatures; needing help from others isn’t a sign that we’re doing something wrong!

We dislike needing help. We resent our physical limitations. We’re frustrated by our emotions, disappointed by our failures, and unsettled by circumstances we can’t control. We despise the weaknesses that expose how little power we actually possess.

But perhaps we’re fighting the wrong battle. Weakness isn’t our enemy. Weakness is one of God’s greatest invitations.

If you seek your calling, look about you.

Reagan Rose helps us think about our present callings (in contrast to our possible future callings). Often, what God is calling us to right now is evident around us!

It’s easy to get so preoccupied with looking to the future that we neglect faithfulness in our present responsibilities. It’s easy to miss the glory of the mundane. But all of our responsibilities are important as we do them as worship unto the Lord and love to our neighbor. 

Are you seeking to be holy as He is holy, reflecting the image of Christ in whatever roles or responsibilities you have right now? Whether you are working a job, studying for school, serving in church, or doing the dishes, your calling is to be maximally faithful to the task He’s given you. 

How To Show Hospitality When You Live in a Small Home

From his experience, Tim Challies offers some advice on how to show hospitality in a small space.

First, don’t be ashamed of your house. We are all prone to judge one another by visible symbols of wealth like cars, clothes, and houses, and we knew that people would draw conclusions about us based on the size of our home. But we understood this to be the Lord’s provision for us and never wanted to be ashamed of what he provided. So we chose to be as thankful for our small house as anyone could be of their big one, and every bit as unashamed of it.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Ecclesiastes As Invitation. 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. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-08-14)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

When God’s Plans Seem Inconsistent With His Promises

Kirsten Black writes about how the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac reveals the nature of faith. God will keep his promises even when we can’t see how that may happen.

Enduring faith trusts the character of God, even when his actions defy logic. Lasting faith believes who God says he is, even when experiences suggest otherwise. Sincere faith accepts that we cannot see the full picture. We can be certain, however, that we have a faithful God who knows and understands every aspect of what he is doing. He sees the beginning, the end, and everything in-between.

Cruising Downstream, Laboring Upstream

Tim Challies uses an analogy about canoeing on a river to help us understand growing in holiness.

You may know from experience that it is easy to take a boat downstream and much harder to take it back up. You certainly know from experience that it is easy to follow sin downstream and much harder to change your course to pursue holiness. As long as you go with the flow of your own desires, the ways of the devil, and the movement of the world around you, life is easy. You can stow your paddle and simply coast. But when you choose to turn toward the Lord, when you decide you will labor toward the Heaven he has secured for us rather than coast to Hell, you quickly learn that you are in for a struggle.

How to Fight Laziness

John Piper explains a proverb about laziness and points to our hope of transformation.

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 (2026-08-07)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

You Are Not Enough (And That is Not Failure)

Hannah Hagarty writes about realizing her insufficiency and God’s sufficiency, especially in parenting. She urges us to reject simple parenting formulas and to rely on God’s grace.

Perhaps in frustration you’ve thought, “I have tried everything and all that I have left is prayer.” You may have underestimated the magnitude of speaking to the Father on behalf of your kids but you’re about to discover how powerful it is. The God who is sufficient to transform a human heart is the same God who actively pursues the lost lamb till it’s found.

How to Read the Bible: 15 Tips for Beginners

Kevin Halloran has collected 15 pieces of advice for people starting out on reading the Bible. Maybe that describes you or a friend of yours!

You may have heard about the Bible for years, but now you want to open it for yourself—perhaps for the first time. You’re in the right place.

In the Bible, the God who made the universe speaks. He reveals who He is, why the world exists, and why humanity is broken. The Bible shows us how sin has separated us from God, and how in love, He sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and rise from the dead so we could be forgiven and reconciled to him.

I struggle with overeating. What should I do?

If you or someone you love struggles with overeating, you might consider this CCEF video by Mike Emlet. (There is also a transcript provided at that link.)

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article written by Meghan Watt called How Loss Informs Life. 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. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-07-31)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

Be Sure Your Sin Will Find You Out

Tessa Lind shares an illustration from her very own property about hiding our sin.

And we can then begin anew. No more trying to remember which lies we told to which people. No more internal knots in our gut as we consider our past deeds. Instead, we can lay a pure foundation in our lives, building on the solid rock of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will never rot or decay. We will never experience unseen sinkholes. Those who have Jesus as their foundation will survive and receive a reward.

Aging Is a Series of Relinquishments

Barbara Lee Harper shares about growing older. I appreciated how she included promises from God we can cling to in our older years!

In our forties, suddenly our body chemistry changes. I never had problems with dairy products until I was forty. When I asked my doctor why I suddenly did, he just answered “hormones.” I also became allergic to penicillin and sulfa around that time, though I had taken them for years before.

It seems the older we get, the more we lose physically. Our energy diminishes. Our health may go downhill. Our looks melt into wrinkles and greyness. Our vision and hearing may become problematic. Eventually, we might have to give up car keys. Our decreasing mobility may require walkers or canes.

Meditation XXII

Our poem of the week: Meditation XXII, by MarK Rico. This poem uses the image of walking in the water at the beach to reflect on our relationship with God.

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 (2026-07-24)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

Scattered

Melissa Edgington writes about being scattered in motherhood. I’m sure all parents can relate!

One thing I know about motherhood is that it never stops pressing me into my Savior’s side, whether I run to Him with a crushing hug of gratefulness and praise or I fall into His arms in desperation or even a longing for what used to be but isn’t anymore. While my family shifts and changes around me, Jesus stays right where’s He’s always been. When I’m scattered, He gathers. When I feel shaky, He reminds me there’s solid ground beneath my feet. When I’m teary-eyed in the kitchen, He fills my mind with good things. And when my children strike out into the world, He gets into the boat with them.

Five Myths That Keep You From Reading the Institutes

Have you read John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion? (I haven’t!) Anthony Faggiano thinks that some people resist reading this influential book because they have believed myths about it, and he’s here to correct those misconceptions.

I expected dry. What I found was closer to binge-worthy; I’d reach the end of a chapter and find it almost impossible not to begin the next. Six months later I had worked through the whole thing slowly enough to underline the key points, which turned out to be more than half the book.

Grave

Our poem of the week: Grave, by Kate Bluett. This poem puts the raising of Lazarus and the resurrection of Jesus together in the mind of one of the disciples. The last line is wonderful!

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called 10 Truths About the Holy Spirit from Romans 8. 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. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-07-17)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

God Believes In Rest. Do You?

Tim Challies wants to persuade you to rest.

But God also gives us rest for practical, physical purposes. He gives us rest because we are weak. He gives us rest because we are finite. He gives us rest because we need it and simply cannot thrive without it. We can do more good, bring more blessing, and better serve his cause if we rest. He gives us rest because he loves us, because he cares for us, and because he wants what is best for us. The fact is, God is a big fan of rest!

Did God Command Genocide in Deuteronomy 7?

Read this one with your Bible open! Andrew Wilson takes up the criticism that God commanded the Israelites to commit genocide as they entered the promised land.

Many people today find Deuteronomy 7 to be the hardest and most troubling chapter in the entire Bible. We may struggle theologically, with how to square these commands with the all-good and all-loving God we meet elsewhere in Scripture (not least in Deuteronomy itself!). We may struggle historically, with whether and to what extent Israel followed through on these commands in the books of Joshua and Judges.

Of hearts and wine and smartphones

Our poem of the week: Of hearts and wine and smartphones, by Thomas McKendry. This is the sort of poem that has you nodding your head to the evocative images throughout and then, at the end, you find your breath taken away.

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 (2026-07-10)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

‘I’m Not Feeling It Today’: Bad Reasons We Neglect the Bible

David Mathis writes about the relationship between spontaneity and habit and how this relates to Bible reading. He advocates “planned spontaneity” and gives five practical suggestions.

Joy in God’s presence disappears when I don’t make a habit of pursuing his presence. Daily communion with the living God doesn’t just happen as we go about our daily lives. Setting our minds on things above doesn’t just happen. God means for us to take some initiative and put in a little effort to do the mind-setting and heart-calibrating, and in those arrangements God loves to bless his people with surprising showers of his grace that have all the joy of the best spontaneity.

The Value of Spiritual Disciplines

Jennifer Weichmann writes about how being a runner has informed her understanding of practicing spiritual disciplines.

Like we can see the effects of a habit across years of practice, spiritual disciplines operate the same way. As consistent running makes the runner stronger and faster, so also a disciplined believer strengthens their faith across time through habits like prayer and Bible reading, and also through the easier to dismiss habits of Scripture memory, fellowship, and fasting. These rhythms of spiritual disciplines matter because habits build, habits sustain, and habits drive.

Lassitude

Our poem of the week: Lassitude, by Mark Rico. This poem is (to me) an on-the-nose description of how July heat feels.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article written by Cliff Lester called The Grace of Thinking Soberly. 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. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-07-03)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

What It Means That Christ is Praying for You Today

Dave Harvey explains how Christ’s work continues for us after his ascension.

And our Advocate isn’t distant. He’s not working remotely from some heavenly retirement home. He’s seated next to the Father, pleading our case, defending us against every accusation, and interceding for us day and night.

I Thought Healing Would Look Different

Kirsten Black writes about how grief tends to have a starting point but no obvious end point.

Healing doesn’t look like I thought it would. Before loss, I assumed healing meant the hard days would resolve; that there would be an end to the sadness. Now I realize that healing is learning to honor the sorrow when it returns. It reminds my heart that because of Christ, there is still hope, even when the sadness remains. It speaks to my still-aching heart, reminding her life is not as God intended it to be, yet the life to come will be exactly how he planned. And then it patiently waits for the sun to rise, knowing that sorrow will not have the final word.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Our poem of the week: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, by Megan Willome. This is a very short poem about the difficulty we have with silence.

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 (2026-06-26)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

When You Don’t Get Anything Out of Devotions

Ben Hicks has written a nice description about the effects of our devotions on us, using an apt comparison to diet and exercise.

Sometimes God meets with us in a special way. Occasionally a verse or a phrase or a thought can revolutionize our lives, but I have found that those times tend to be rare. Rather, it’s the slow and steady repetition of reading God’s Word, asking Him to change me, and watching as that happens little by little through the weeks, months, and years.

Let Me Dwell In Your Tent Forever

Here’s a look at David’s request in Psalm 61 to dwell in God’s tent forever. Wes Bredenhof explains how strange this request may have sounded and how we can take comfort in it now.

David isn’t a High Priest.  He wasn’t even from the tribe of Levi (the tribe of the priests) – he was from the tribe of Judah.  Even though he’s the king, David has no right to dwell in the tabernacle.  He doesn’t have the right to find shelter under the wings of the cherubim in the Most Holy Place.  He’s not allowed in there.  And the idea of dwelling in God’s tent forever?  How could it be possible for a sinful human being to do that?  The prayer David expresses here doesn’t seem to have any remote possibility of being answered.

Fieldnotes (II)

Our poem of the week: Fieldnotes (II), by Kilby Austin. This is a delightful little poem about a sunrise.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Efficiency is Not the Path to Blessing. 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. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-06-19)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

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

Does Jesus Really Expect Us to Be Perfect?

This article examines two of Jesus’s statements in the Sermon on the Mount, about righteousness and perfection.

The statements in Matthew 5:20 and Matthew 5:48 are meant to shock and shake us out of self-reliance and lethargy, but their message is not one of condemnation. Rather, they are an invitation. The problem with our interpretation of Matthew 5:48 is an English one, and the problem with our understanding of Matthew 5:20 comes from not paying close attention to the literary structure. We will examine these problems and their answers in turn.

Dear Dementia

Katie Laitkep shared some moving reflections on the final days of her grandmother’s battle with dementia.

She belongs to Jesus—now, in the struggle, as we wait and watch her sleep, not knowing if she’ll wake again. She belongs to Jesus because she’s believed, by grace through faith, that He is her only hope. He gave her eternal life, and He holds her today. No one and nothing will snatch her out of His hand (John 10:28–29).

Daylilies

Our poem of the week: Daylilies, by Kate Bluett. This spring poem is about flowers, rain, and resurrection.

Thanks to Lorelai H for her help in rounding up links this week.

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