Hard Cases No. 1: “No One Noticed”

‘After the evening service, Mark, one of the elders, is stacking chairs when Daniel asks if they can talk. His wife, Rachel, stands beside him, quiet but visibly tired. Their concern is simple and painful, as Rachel says, “When Dad was in hospital, it felt like no one from the church really noticed.” Mark feels the words land in his chest. He remembers the hospital visit. He remembers the text thread. He also remembers the other three crises that same week, the funeral planning, the marital breakdown, the young man confessing hidden sin, and the sermon he barely finished. But none of that changes what Daniel and Rachel are saying. They felt alone.’

Mother, Give Yourself Away

‘I’m just writing this as a reminder to myself and to all of the moms out there who profess Christ. We can easily spend all day on social media where we will absorb every godless thought about being a mom. We can absolutely drown in the type of soul searching that leaves us empty and unhappy and looking for reasons to resent all the ways that we’re called to serve and care for our children. We can take advice from people who not only don’t live according to Scripture, but who laugh at it. We can take in everything that people who have a hopeless worldview want to tell us about how to think and feel.’

Just bury your trash

‘Every child is taught that landfill is the worst place our trash can end up. It is the sad consequence of a failure to recycle: a mountain of waste leaking chemicals and smells, blighting the land forever. What if that picture is wrong? What if landfill, properly done, is actually one of the cleanest, cheapest, and most environmentally sensible things we can do with our waste? It turns out that for much of what we throw away, the humble landfill beats the recycling bin.’

What Does It Mean That God Is Our Comforter?

‘As Christians, we are identified as exiles (1 Peter 2:11). Adam was cast out of the garden because of sin, and now all his posterity live east of Eden. We reside in the wilderness of this fallen world, where we face many dangers, toils, and snares. We are hounded by sin, attacked by enemies, and squeezed by afflictions. Yet God has not left us. He comforts us in our troubles. What does it mean that God is our Comforter?’

Why God goes by Elohim, El Shadday, and Yahweh in the Pentateuch

‘These names reveal something about God, and some of them have particular associations with covenants and signs. I tend to see God revealing himself as Elohim in relation to the world, El Shadday to t Patriarchs, and Yahweh to Israel. These names are not exclusive to these categories or covenants, but are specially related to each category through a covenant and sign.’

How Skipping Church Helped My Soul

I’m not sure this one really qualifies as “skipping church”, but I appreciated the reflection on how not being there served the soul of this particular pastor. I have had (and written about) similar experiences.

From the archive: Four reasons church discipline matters

‘Many people view church discipline negatively. Words like unloving or unkind frequently get bandied about whenever it is mentioned. The culture of affirmation – that we must all affirm everything about everyone – is as prevalent in the church as anywhere else. Any suggestion that somebody might be straying away from the Lord can quickly get batted away with a handwaving reference to love or a dismissive claim of legalism. But these arguments really don’t stack up.’