1. 60 Reasons Jesus Is Better Than I Think
2.

1. Advice for Parenting Young Kids
2. Do You Know Your Neighbours' Names?

1. Nick Bogardus, in '3 Things You Need to Know About Sin' :

Many men [and women!] stand idly by, like their father Adam, believing the lies that if they just ignore it, it will go away. They can just deal with it next time it comes up or "it's just how the other person is.” At the bottom of it all is selfishness and the idol of comfort. It does not love the person the way the cross shows us to. The cross shows us that God saves by first condemning, God heals by first wounding, God builds up by first crushing, God makes alive by first killing. You cannot get to the gospel without suffering, and trying to circumvent that is what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” The sin of omission is giving someone else cheap grace. It belittles both sin and Jesus.

2. "[S]aint...[=] someone who is clean-cut, lives upright and has strong standards" (from this article). Thankfully, this is NOT TRUE. "Paul says [in Ephesians 1:1] that if we're 'in Christ Jesus,' which is simply a say of saying we're true Christians, then we're 'saints'" (Mark Driscoll, Who Do You Think You Are, p. 30).

1. Christian Hedonism in 155 Words: Sally Lloyd-Jones on how to explain 'glorify' to a child. 
2. How Prayer Glorifies God: John Piper. 'If we come to him thinking he needs our help, we make him look needy. But if we remember that his strength is shown in working for us, then we are motivated to come with new confidence. Okay, Lord, here is my impossible situation. Please show yourself strong. Help me.'

1. This short film on adoption from the I Like Giving campaign, via Justin Taylor.

2. This article, Joy Comes to the Rescue, from Desiring God, about keeping our hearts.

3. This article from Ravi Zacharias in response to the tragedy at Newtown last week.

1. Standing on Your Tiptoes, by Elyse Fitzpatrick. 

What I need to remember is that the Father didn’t spare his own Son, but gave him up for me. If he would do that, wouldn’t it stand to reason that he will grow me in the way I need to be grown, when I need to be grown? He’s already graciously given me everything I need to be pleasing in his sight. So I can rest in his work and wait for the fruit of it to appear in its season, in his time.  I can trust that even when I fail he’s using my failure to make me more like him–more humble, more dependent, and more thankful for grace.

2. On Stereotypes, Risk, and Jesus--Mark Driscoll interviews John Piper. 3. Just added Beasts of the Southern Wild to my film list after reading this review. 

1. It's always someone's first Sunday at your church. Josh Reich: Resurgence.

2. New favourite song. "Only at Mars Hill can you turn a song about war into a song about Christmas."
3. New favourite album: Joy Has Dawned, by King's Kaleidoscope.