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Best Blogs

From the Blackest Kid to Believer to the Highest Bench: The Life of Clarence Thomas | Desiring God

Getting the Gospel Right: An Interview with R.C. Sproul by Steven Lawson | Ligonier Ministries Blog

The English Reformation and the Puritans: A New Teaching Series from Michael Reeves by Nathan W. Bingham | Ligonier Ministries Blog

The Days of Creation and Death Before the Fall | For His Renown

The Days of Creation and Exodus 20:11 | For His Renown

‘Mindfulness’ or the mind of Christ: A false dilemma – Reformation21

A life-long debt of gratitude | TGC

I can’t get no satisfaction | Don’t Stop Believing

I Know God Loves Me, But Does He Like Me?

11 Questions Every Pastor Should Ask | TGC

Biggest Mistakes Preachers Make – pt.2 | Biblical Preaching

I Was Born Weak | Challies Dot Com

Why Mike Wittmer Thinks You Should Be a Worldly Saint | TGC

What Are Some Of The Dangers & Pitfalls Single Christian Women Face? – 20schemes

10 Tips for Ministering to Singles in Your Church – ChurchPastor.com

Why Is the Number of the Beast 666? | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

3 Most Important Times to Teach Your Kids Theology – The Wardrobe Door

Reading as Parenting « THE CHRISTIAN PUNDIT

5 books our kids should read

God, Protect My Girls | Challies Dot Com

Do Secular Family Values Even Exist?

New Research on Same-Sex Households Reveals Kids Do Best With Mom and Dad | Public Discourse

No Grey Area | TGC

Why “50 Shades” is not the same as biblical submission | Denny Burk

Fifty Shades of Nay: Sin Is a Needle, Not a Toy | Desiring God

‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Doesn’t Deserve A Happy Ending

Fifty Shades Of Shame

Twenty Twitter Tips | Blog | Think Theology

Top 10 Podcasts for Entrepreneurs to Learn Personal Finance From | Inc.com

Brian Williams and the Tragedy of the Male Ego – Reformation21 Blog

President Obama and the Problem of Religious Conviction | TGC

A Presidential Blunder: My Response to Obama’s Address at the National Prayer Breakfast | RZIM

Yeah, Well, But What About the Crusades? | TGC

Best Videos

My Dad’s Story: Dream of My Child

What’s the Difference?

Bob & Kim: Hallmark #PutYourHeartToPaper

The Stand Up Kid

2Cellos & Lang Lang: Live and Let Die

5th Grade Boys Synchronized Air Swimming Talent Show Skit
Human creativity at its very best

I, Pencil: The Movie

The brain is the most important organ in our body, and yet we hardly ever give much thought about how to care for its health.

We go to the gym to work out our arms, legs, back, core, etc. We jog to exercise and strengthen our heart and lungs. We moderate and balance our diet to improve our digestive abilities, and so on.

But we rarely take conscious steps to care for and exercise our brains. Yet, as neuroscientist Dr. Norman Doidge points out in a Wall Street Journal Essay, “Our brains are far more likely to waste away from underuse than to wear down from overuse.” In a summary of recent brain research he points to findings which indicate:

- Exercising the brain becomes more important as we get older.

- Although the rule for a machine is, “Use it and lose it,” a more accurate rule for our brains is, “Use it or lose it.”

- Exercise, both mental and physical, can lower the risk of experiencing dementia in general and Alzheimers in particular.

But here’s the really good news: when you’re working out at the gym to strengthen your body, you’re also working out your brain and strengthening your mental faculties. Research findings include:

1. Men can strengthen their brains and reduce their risk of cognitive decline and dementia by 60% by following five simple steps:

• Eating a healthy diet (at least three to four servings of fruits and vegetables a day)
• Maintaining a normal weight, with a body-mass index from 18 to under 25
• Limiting alcohol to about a glass of wine a day
• Not smoking
• Exercising

As Dr. Doidge says: “Imagine if there were a drug that could reduce the risk of dementia by 60%. It would be the most talked-about drug in history, but this astonishing finding has been fairly quietly received.”

2. The activity with the biggest impact on reducing risk was walking at least 2 miles a day or engaging in some other regular, vigorous physical exercise.

3. Exercise triggers the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus. It also triggers the release of “neurotrophic growth factors”—a kind of brain fertilizer, helping the brain to grow, maintain new connections and stay healthy.

4. Recent studies have also found that exercise can reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s with one scientist concluding that “exercise deserved a central place in the treatment of Parkinson’s.”

In the same article, there are also some amazing reports about the advances in audio and electrical treatments which are reducing symptoms of autism, MS, and brain injuries.

And just in case you’re thinking this is only for those with brain problems, Dr. Doidge warns everyone:

The basic neuroplastic principle of “use it or lose it” and the benefit of forming new brain connections through intensive learning also apply to people without brain problems. Physical exercise produces some new cells in the memory system, but mental exercise preserves and strengthens existing connections in the brain, giving a person a “cognitive reserve” to fend off future losses and to perfect skills.

Read the whole article here.

In a sermon entitled “The Pleasantness of Religion,” Jonathan Edwards draws the following doctrine from Proverbs 24:13-14:

“It would be worth the while to be religious if it were only for the pleasantness of it.”

Although we might expect him to go straight to spiritual joys to prove his point, he starts out by proving that Christianity increases joy through the bodily senses – not just joys of the soul, but the joys of the body; not just spiritual joys but sensual joys (meaning “the five bodily senses” not “carnal” or “fleshly”).

He takes a further surprising turn by using three Christian experiences, normally thought of as painful, to argue for the pleasantness of Christianity: repentance, self-denial, and persecution.

Read more about these three strange pleasures at The Christward Collective.

Here are a number of articles on disability and special needs I’ve collected over the last several years.

Let’s start our focus on disability with a couple of series from parents with special needs children. Then there are some articles grouped under Autism and Down Syndrome, before moving on to more general articles. Videos are marked with an *. [Catalog of other online resources here]

KARA DEDERT SERIES

We See You, Calvin | En Route

Little Lamb | En Route

Little Chick | En Route

Real Talk with Kids | En Route

Place of Regret | En Route

Disability and the Gospel (1) | En Route

Disability and The Gospel (2) | En Route

GREG LUCAS SERIES

Wrestling with an Angel: Great Grace In The Small Things of Life

Wrestling with an Angel: There is Hope!

Wrestling with an Angel: “Family” is Intentional; Not Always Conventional

Wrestling with an Angel: “I Will Not Let You Go”

Wrestling with an Angel: Indispensable

DOWN SYNDROME

A Real Happily-Ever-After for Babies With Down Syndrome | Her.meneutics | Christianitytoday.com

News Flash: Not Everyone With Down Syndrome Is Suffering | Her.meneutics | Christianitytoday.com

A Generational Shift in Understanding Life With Down Syndrome – Theo Malekin – The Atlantic

How a child with Down’s syndrome can teach you about life

The Tragic Tie Between Abortion and Down Syndrome

DEAR FUTURE MOM | March 21 – World Down Syndrome Day *

Cathy McMorris Rodgers and the Politics of Down Syndrome | Her.meneutics | Christianitytoday.com

Dear mom with a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis

A Real Happily-Ever-After for Babies With Down Syndrome | Her.meneutics | Christianitytoday.com

AUTISM

Five Things I’ve Learned from Kids with Autism | Desiring God

The Autistic Brain – Temple Grandin | Alex Chediak

A View From The Sycamore Tree: Communicating With Carly About Autism, God, and the Struggle to Touch the Intangible 

How My Son with Autism Transformed my Business | Amy Julia Becker

Six Ways You Can Help Families Facing Autism | True Woman

Woodstock Chimes Presents – Chimes for Autism: Tyler’s Story – YouTube *

Tapping the Potential – YouTube *

Dear ‘Daddy’ in Seat 16C | Shanell Mouland

Growing Up With an Autistic Brother in the 1990s – Matthew Moore – The Atlantic

The gospel and autism | The Briefing

What Asperger’s Is Like | The American Conservative *

Thinking about Autism from a Christian Perspective – Justin Taylor *

GENERAL

“I made them.” Some thoughts on God’s word and children with disabilities | The Works of God

12 Pillars of Faith for Parents of Special Needs’ Kids | Counseling One Another

Let No Special Need Hinder the Spread of the Gospel | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

Finding Hope for an Often-Fatal Genetic Disorder | Her.meneutics | Christianitytoday.com

The Disabilities Dilemma | Challies Dot Com

Some Lessons From the Life of Johnny Farese by Jeffery Smith « Burning and Shining Light

Why it matters when we rub our bellies and say “so long as it’s healthy”. | Life Rearranged

True Woman | “God Only Gives Special Needs Children to Special People” (Or Does He?)

Disabilities and the Gospel: An Interview with Michael Beates by Nathan W. Bingham | Ligonier Ministries Blog

A blind man talks about what attracts him to a woman – 22 Words *

Amy Julia Becker: Missing Out on Beautiful

A Church without the Disabled Is a Disabled Church | Counseling One Another

The Struggles and Hopes of a Disabled Dad – Desiring God

Jack’s ALS Journey

Disability and Dads — Where Desperation Meets Delight – Desiring God

When Disability Hits Home by Nathan W. Bingham | Ligonier Ministries Blog *

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Shannon – R.C. Sproul Jr. *

Just Keep Pedaling – The Gospel Coalition Blog

God Is Up to Something – Desiring God

Disability and the Sovereign Goodness of God (Free eBook) – Desiring God

Disability and the Gospel: How God Uses Our Brokenness to Display His Grace – Justin Taylor

When Disability Hits Home | Joni and Friends *

I’m trying out something new. What do you think? « The Works of God

The unfortunate things people say (repeat) « The Works of God

Who is this God who creates some to live with disabilities (Exodus 4:11)? « The Works of God

What John Piper Has to Say About Disability – Desiring God

Her.meneutics: Disability Is Beautiful: How the Gospel Changes the Way We See

Battling the Bitterness of Parenting a Disabled Child – Desiring God

Invisible Needs | Leadership Journal

When the Anchor Holds: Or, Why I No Longer Say “God Didn’t Cause This Birth Defect in My Child” – Justin Taylor *

The Glory of God in the Valley of Disability – YouTube *

To Cade and the Eight Percent by Gabe Lyons

To my friends who face Christmas with an acute mingling of joy and sorrow « The Works of God

“That happens to be my place of healing.” « The Works of God

Grace | Permanent Things *

Let’s talk like this 8-year-old boy! « The Works of God

John Piper Interviews John Knight on Disability – Desiring God *

Is God Sovereign Over Human Disability? :: Desiring God

8 Ways to Help the Children Love Different People – Justin Taylor

You can browse my catalog of other online resources here. Scroll down that page to find resources like Top 500+ Online Resources on Preaching, or 150+ Online Resources about Seminary.

“It is so difficult for non-Christians to understand what it is that makes Christians happy.” Jeremiah Burroughs.

A Christian walks into the office on Monday morning full of joy and energy.

“Whoa! You’ve had a great weekend! What was his name?” asks one of the glum Monday morning faces.

“God!”

“Pardon?”

“Yes, I was at church yesterday and met with my great God and Savior.”

“You’re weird!”

The Puritan pastor Jeremiah Burroughs listed six puzzles about Christian happiness that non-Christians find utterly baffling.

Read the rest at HappyChristian.net

As we experience an unprecedented level of hatred and hostility towards Christians today, we find ourselves asking continually, “Why do you hate us so much?”

Politicians, judges, journalists, producers, educators, and many others are sympathetic to, and tolerant of, every kind of false religion and every kind of perversity, except when it comes to Christian teaching and values. Then the sharpest knives are out.

And we ask again, “Why do you hate us so much?”

We pay our taxes, we pray for our leaders, we give generously to charities, we volunteer in local schools and community projects, we love and educate our children, we feed the homeless, we send millions of dollars and thousands of people abroad to help needy nations, and make many other positive contributions to society and the world.

What have you done?
So why do you keep lining up against us and lining up with those who do little or nothing for society or the needy? You love the new atheists, the philosophers, authors, and comedians who launch vile diatribes against Christians and their God. Why doesn’t someone somewhere ask these elite men and women, who have devoted their lives to destroying Christianity, “What have you ever done for the poor? How much money and time do you devote to your neighbors, your community, the poor at home and abroad?”

And yet, it’s us you hate? Why?

R. C. Sproul supplies the best explanation for this seemingly irrational enmity in chapter 4 of The Holiness of God. He gives two examples, first the Peter Principle and then the Curve-Breaker.

The Peter Principle
This principle, named after its creator, Laurence Peter, says, “People tend to rise to their level of incompetence in the corporate structures.” People keep getting promoted until they end up in a job that is beyond their abilities and where they cease to do well. The super-competent are one of the rare exceptions to this rule. They tend not to succeed by moving up the ladder because their bosses feel frightened and threatened by their competency. The result is that they often have to leave a company to move up. But the point is, their advancement is hindered because their bosses are scared of being shown up.

The Curve-Breaker
Dr. Sproul then tells the story of a brilliant female student who deliberately failed an exam because her excellent results made everyone else look bad by breaking the grading curve that other students were relying on to get their marks up. By committing this social unpardonable sin, she was treated like a pariah.

Using these two illustrations as a springboard, Dr. Sproul then applies this to Christ. “Jesus was the supreme curve buster. He was the ultimate super-competent.”

And that’s why the Pharisees and Saducees hated him so much. Although these men were renowned for their so-called holiness, “here authentic holiness appeared; the counterfeiters were not pleased.”

“With the appearance of Jesus, their righteousness took on the luster of unrighteousness. Their curve was broken too…The super-competent had to be destroyed.”

And insofar as Christians reflect the holiness of Christ or remind others of the holiness of God, they too will experience this same hostility. It may seem irrational, but it’s really quite rational. “Your virtue makes us look bad and feel guilty; you must be damaged and destroyed.”

The truth is that many in the world, especially the elites, would far prefer to be surrounded with homosexuals, thieves, polygamists, criminals, and every false religionist under the sun, than to spend time with a holy Christian. The former make them feel good about themselves, the Christian makes them feel guilty.” The Christian must be destroyed.