Lately there have been several resources Christian ladies may find beneficial so today I’m posting some links specifically (though not exclusive) for the ladies:

1. Carolyn Mahaney; audio message; “Beauty.” Her message to the ladies of Covenant Life Church last Friday evening (Oct 17 2008) was excellent! “I have to confess: Many times I have knocked myself out on the treadmill not because I am seeking God’s glory…but Carolyn’s glory.” Humble, honest, practical, and valuable. Worth every second of the 63-minute investment. As a husband, I found the message helpful in caring spiritually for my wife. Listen or download here.

2. Carolyn McCulley; book; Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World (Moody, 2008). Carolyn traces out the history of the three distinct waves of feminism and how God’s ever-relevant Word gives direction and hope to women. As the title suggests, to be a godly woman is radical! The book is fantastic and will easily finish in our top 10 books of the year. Very important content that I doubt could have been written more engagingly. Actually, Carolyn is one of my favorite authors and I find in her an excellent blend of a journalist’s eye with an objective and personal tone. And Wayne Grudem wrote the foreword. Carolyn is a friend and fellow co-laborer in the office! If you want more information about her latest book, click over to her book website here (the video on this page is excellent). And Carolyn’s blog is one of the finest in the blogojungle.

3. GirlTalk; blog. Ladies, likely you are already aware of the excellent GirlTalk blog. At some point this week I noticed my precious wife was being especially generous (I think it sunk in after we had grilled salmon one night for dinner and grilled steak the next). Something extra-special was happening and I think I discovered the culprit. The GirlTalk ladies have been discussing and carefully applying the words of Proverbs 31:12 to wives—“She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.” A wonderful series that started on Oct 7th. Thank you, Carolyn, Nicole, Kristin, and Janelle! Ladies, please consider extending the series on until, oh, say, Thanksgiving?

4. Margaret Elizabeth Kostenberger; book; Jesus and the Feminists: Who Do They Say That He Is? (Crossway, 2008). A more scholarly book. I read the manuscript a while back and really appreciate this work by Mrs. Kostenberger (wife of N.T. scholar Andreas). She focuses in on so-called “evangelical feminists.” Her challenge to them is clear: Are you willing to take Christ at his word? “The diminishment of biblical authority in feminism has left a vacuum that has been filled by a vast array of feminist readings of Scripture and interpretations of Jesus. These readings make Jesus an extension of feminist aspirations, domesticating him rather than allowing him to speak with his own unique voice to today’s world and church” (p. 34).

Happy clicking, watching, listening and reading, ladies!

Tony

Sifting through the online manuscripts of Jonathan Edwards, I came across one of my favorite lines in all of his works. In his sermon on Song of Solomon 5:1 (“Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!”) he developed this doctrine: “That persons need not and ought not to set any bounds to their spiritual and gracious appetites.” A precious truth he developed in many of his works. See the full page here.

John Piper has used this quote and sermon in a number of places. Here is one …

Jonathan Edwards argued for this in a sermon that he preached on Song of Solomon 5:1. The text reads, “Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!” Edwards drew out of the text the following doctrine: “Persons need not and ought not to set any bounds to their spiritual and gracious appetites.” Instead, he says, they ought

“to be endeavoring by all possible ways to inflame their desires and to obtain more spiritual pleasures. . . . Our hungerings and thirstings after God and Jesus Christ and after holiness can’t be too great for the value of these things, for they are things of infinite value…[Therefore] endeavor to promote spiritual appetites by laying yourself in the way of allurement…There is no such thing as excess in our taking of this spiritual food. There is no such virtue as temperance in spiritual feasting.”

Therefore, be encouraged that God made you to rejoice in him. Do not settle for any lesser joy. Lay yourself in the way of allurement. That is, fix your eyes on the all-satisfying treasure of Jesus Christ who loved us and gave his life as a ransom for our everlasting joy. [What Jesus Demands from the World, pp. 90-91]

Corresponding to the launch of the beautiful Jonathan Edwards Online 2.0 website, the Yale University Library (aka the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library) has released a series of stunning hi-res images of the writings of Jonathan Edwards. These images represent a gracious gift to the Edwards community. You may view the large sampling here. Included is a photo of the first page of his diary…

On my desk sits a copy of the ESV Study Bible. Soon I’ll give you my thoughts (i.e. 10 reasons why you need to consider buying one).

Good prices online from Westminster:

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Gene Veith today:

Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. He came across in the debate as presidential and as connecting with the American people. He did so much more than John McCain did. That’s all Obama needed. We might as well start playing “Hail to the Chief.” I’m not glad, but there it is. I don’t see what can stop him. The Age of Obama is upon us.