Links for the Weekend (2/19/2021)

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

The Seductive Sin We Never Talk About

The sin mentioned in the title of this article is self-pity, and Trevin Wax helps us think about sources of this sin as well as ways to fight it.

Boasting is usually obvious. But self-pity is more subtle. It arises from the wounded ego. The self-pitiful often appear as if they struggle with low self-esteem or feelings of unworthiness. In reality, people who wallow in self-pity are unhappy because their worthiness has gone unnoticed. “I haven’t received what I’m owed. I deserve better. No one treats me according to my worth.”

Those Who Weep

Here is an excerpt from a new book by Tish Harrison Warren, called Prayer in the Night. The book (and hence this excerpt) is about grief, sadness, and lament.

Lament is not only an act of self-expression or exorcising pain: it forms and heals us. The Psalms express every human emotion, but, taken up again and again, they never simply leave us as we are. They are strong medicine. They change us. The transformation they effect isn’t to turn our sadness into happiness; they don’t take grieving people and make them annoyingly peppy and optimistic. They never say “Chin up” or “It’s not so bad.” Nor do they tell us why we suffer.

10 Things You Should Know about the African Church

Here’s an informative post about how God is working in Africa, written by a pastor in Zambia.

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