Nature

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. Is our view of Satan too small? Peter Mead, “For many Christians, the devil appears to be a very limited antagonist.  He might get some vague credit (for want of a better term) for any temptation we consciously notice. Still, he gets specific credit for very little activity.”

  2. Aging peacefullyMelissa Edgington reflects, “As I age I feel the constraints of a culture that equates youth and beauty with value. For women, an essential quality, desirability, is always at the forefront of our training as humans. It isn’t explicitly spelled out in most cases, but is more of an underlying current of subconscious understanding: to be admired and desired is one of the ultimate purposes of a woman’s life.”

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. Every nightmare starts as a dreamErik Raymond warns us, “No one sets out to bring misery upon themselves. Quite the opposite. They are looking for fulfillment. They want happiness. They are chasing the dream. But remember, every nightmare starts as a dream.”

  2. Pain needs interpreting: Simon Arscott, “My job is to help people interpret their pain. Pain itself – though very unpleasant – doesn’t tell us much. It hurts. It’s uncomfortable. It’s upsetting. We don’t want it. Often, we just want it to go away! But good spiritual care requires interpretation of our pain.”

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. Preparing children to suffer well: Curtis Solomon with an excellent article. This is a must-read for any parent or grandparent. “We don’t have to wait until trauma strikes to prepare the hearts of our children to face the most intense forms of suffering. There is no way to completely protect our children from suffering in this world, and we can’t guarantee they won’t face lasting challenges from traumatic experiences, but the following measures can help our children be prepared to respond well to suffering.”

  2. Let suffering lead to gentleness, not bitternessLara D’Entremont in a similar vein, “Gentle people aren’t gentle because they simply bottled all their frustration and anger inside. A gentle spirit isn’t cultivated through gritted teeth, clenched fists, and a strained smile. Gentleness grows in a heart set on this truth: the Lord is near (Phil. 4:5b)”

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. Finding contentment in a world of want: Lara d’Entremont is always excellent. She explains, “We miss the mark on this, however, when we seek the virtue of contentment only through positive thinking and gratitude lists. Yes, we should be grateful for all God gives us, but we mustn’t ground our contentment in what fails, fades, or falters. Contentment takes our sights off ourselves and our possessions and focuses on Christ.”

  2. How to pray for a loved one struggling with a mental illness: David Murray concludes this wise article, “For the believer, mental illness can be like a little taste of hell on earth. As such, it can help us to see the horrors of the hell we have been saved from, as well as to long for the health and holiness of heaven, the place where all our diseases and disorders of mind, emotions, and soul will be immediately and fully healed upon entry—a healing our bodies will also fully participate in after the resurrection.”

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. ‘Bothsideism’ about Hamas is moral failure: Russell Moore offers clarity on the horrifying atrocity in Israel. He begins, “Sometimes certain moments in history reveal in minutes what was concealed for decades. And sometimes those moments of revelation come with hearing oneself say the words, “Yes, but …” or “But what about …” The aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel is not one of those times. In this case, saying who is to blame—and who is not—is not factually or morally difficult at all.”

  2. The baobab: the strangest tree on earth: Have you ever seen one in person? They’re wild. Don Batten and Jerry Bergman share, “They are among Earth’s longest-lived flowering plants, and under normal conditions can grow for over 1,000 years. One baobab was estimated to have lived for 2,600 years. They grow to over 22 metres (75 feet) tall, with a trunk circumference that can exceed 26 m (85 ft).”

  3. As Jesus sleeps: Ed Welch encourages us, “There are, it seems, reasons to worry. Some of his disciples would live homeless and hand-to-mouth. To be penniless is as dangerous as a severe storm. But our God does not worry. His face toward you reveals his rest and favor. During the turbulence of life, his face also reveals his compassion and care.”

  4. On the other side of a church split: Abigail Rehmert, a pastor’s wife, shares, “The heartbreaking drama of the last year beckoned my heart toward resentment, bitterness, and pride. I have been reminded that each day, I must inspect my heart and eyes for the planks that lodge there.”

  5. Every state’s most popular Halloween candy: This is a pretty fun list. Arizona is Hershey Kisses… go figure.

  6. Clone-a-lisa: Need a silly diversion that puts your art skills to the test? Vole has you covered.

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. Love it or loathe it: Instacart reveals America’s top 15 most polarizing foods. To show you how weird I am, I like all 15! How about you?

  2. A forgetter’s prayer: Melissa Edgington confesses, “I forget. I forget who my Father is. I forget what my Savior looks like. I forget “fear not.” I forget “come to me, and I will give you rest.” All of the reasons to be courageous fade.”

  3. There is something greater than the great commandment: Jacob Crouch begins, “When the lawyer asked Jesus which commandment was the greatest, Jesus gave Him the perfect answer. We call it “The Great Commandment,” and as we read the impeccable wisdom of Jesus, we are encouraged, challenged, and humbled. Christians throughout all time have been, rightly, energized to love God more through this high calling. But I have to say this: There is something greater than the Great Commandment. Before you strike me off as a heretic, hear me out.”

  4. 50 preaching tips in 15 minutes (video): HB Charles’s wisdom is gold.

  5. Bird’s impressive courtship dance moves fail to impress partner: I feel like I’m watching myself in middle school. Poor guy.

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. Don’t think about elephants: Simon van Bruchem begins, “How good are you at resisting the anxious thoughts that enter your mind? Most of us can find all kinds of things to worry about. It might be our family members, our sin, our finances, any number of things. And this general underlying anxiety is fed when we scroll through the news or social media. What can we do about these things that are making us unhappy, especially when we know that this kind of anxious thinking doesn’t accomplish anything?”

  2. The sermon on the mount is not an impossible standard to make us feel bad: Kevin DeYoung cautions us, “Too many Christians instinctively set aside the commands of Scripture as utterly impossible to obey on any level. The danger with this mindset is not only that we might be disheartened when we shouldn’t be, but that we might not be warned when we should be. Once we convince ourselves that failure is the norm…we won’t take seriously the many warnings given to us in Scripture that people unchanged by the gospel prove themselves to never really have been saved by the gospel.”

  3. The utter folly of the cross: Jeremy Treat helps us look at the cross with fresh eyes, “When the Bible talks about crucifixion, however, it emphasizes not physical pain but rather social shame. Reserved for the scum of society (rebels, slaves, and outcasts), crucifixion was a public spectacle meant to humiliate and dehumanize the victim.”

  4. The astounding diversity of ocean life: Laurent Ballesta’s magnificent photography is on display here.

  5. Wings of wonder: Fun video about “nature’s helicopters.”

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. They will never understand how much I love them: Jacob Crouch speaks to the heart of every parent. “God has now given me five children, and with each new birth, a strange thing happens.

  2. Jesus said more about hell than anyone in the Bible: Speaking of love, how do we square Jesus’ love with this hard truth?

  3. The list on the door: Andrea Sanborn asks us to consider eternity

  4. Which is the best position to sleep in?

  5. Nature inFocus photography festival winners: India’s annual photography festival has some amazing shots.

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. How Naples reinvented the Catacombs of Rione Sanita into a must-see attraction: Wow! This is about as close as you can get to visiting the catacombs without being there.

  2. God knows I love you: Kyle Borg considers Jonah and a conversation with a fellow pastor. He asked his friend, “’Do you love pastoring your church?’ I knew that it was a searching question. I also knew that an honest answer wouldn’t come easily and could be very costly. He paused, and then said: ‘I imagine I feel about my congregation how Jonah felt about Nineveh.’”

  3. What is humility? Nick Thompson begins, “When asked in the early fifth century what three graces a minister needs most, Augustine didn’t think twice before responding, “Humilitas; humilitas; humilitas.” When it came to pastoral graces, the great African bishop awarded humility with gold, silver, and bronze medals.”

  4. The moment animals lock eyes with a photographer: Take a look at these photos! Oh, and you’ll want to click play on the very short videos as well.

  5. The five stages of Costco: I’m sure you don’t relate at all 

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. What Americans drink: Interesting infographs on what Americans drink and how that changes by age and how it has changed over the past fifteen years.

  2. Oneness not just faithfulness: Al Gooderham asks, “What’s the goal of marriage? I wonder how you answer that?”

  3. Should we live together before we get married? Les and Leslie Parrot look at the data to respond (obviously the moral and biblical grounds are much more important), “While cohabitation might seem practical on the surface, research suggests that it’s actually not as good for your relationship as you think. Before you make this life-changing decision, it’s important to think about the potential outcomes.”