Around the Web:
A Good Man Is Hard to Find

My friend Christine lives in China where she is kept busy living life and working with her husband raising their family. To my regret, this means she doesn’t post updates on her blog as often as I’d like. But when she does, they are well worth reading. Her words, in her post at her blog, Homemade in China, honoring good men.

• We are a world full of masks, of facades and personas. And the good men are out there, shoulder to shoulder with these men-as-shells. A good man, hidden among the reeds, is hard to find. A good man, whose goodness is not proved by his appearance, his words, his personality or joviality, his smoothness or even vulnerability, is hard to see. A good man is made in the secret, the quiet place. It may be that few will really find him. 

May Christine’s words inspire us to give thanks for the good men in our lives: our fathers, our brothers, our husbands, our friends…and those of the next generation we are raising to be good men. Read more.

How God Cares for Those Who Don’t

Paul Maxwell addresses a contemporary malaise: apathy. He examines how apathy has evolved in the millennial generation and how God answers the “unique mixture of haughty rebellion and suffering” by offering himself as cure.

• [Apathy] has evolved into something stronger, less condemnable by modern standards. “I don’t care” has become a parasite on something much more forceful: “That doesn’t matter.” Recently, apathy has thrown off its garments of unrespectability and taken the judgment seat of cultural prestige. “I’m not motivated” has been replaced with a bigger philosophical gun: “I’m not persuaded.” Self-indulgence now piggy-backs on self-involvement.

Read more at Desiring God.

Pumpkin Spice Latte and Our Craving for Season

Over at Christ and Pop Culture, starting with the Pumpkin Spice Latte and moving on to Ecclesiastes 3, Valerie Dunham examines our desires for seasons and their reflection of our fundamental human need for providence: “an assigned timing of things—an order of both good and bad.”

• As I mused to my husband about the mediocrity of the drink I’d craved so much, the obvious question arose: why do I care so much every year? What is the Pumpkin Spice Latte anyway? Quite predictably, the ingredients are a mix of things you’d probably prefer to ignore if you ever want to enjoy the drink again, and it costs almost four dollars just to buy a small (tall, whatever). But, aside from being highly illogical and not great for our budget, my Pumpkin Spice Latte craving affirms many people’s intrinsic desire for seasons.

Modern marketing works best when it capitalizes on our innate desires, but we can learn much if we can step back and examine them. Read more.

10,000 Little Moments and the Minute Particulars

Lore Ferguson quotes Paul Tripp and William Blake as she takes a moment to examine the particulars of the small life. She looks to Ruth for the familiar phrase, “Where you go, I’ll go” and talks of putting one foot in front of the other to follow God.

• It is the minute particulars, the 10,000 little moments, the one foot in front of another, the going that makes the difference in our lives. I have been learning, or letting God do the difficult work in me, of the little things, the small life, the life that may make no noticeable difference whatsoever. The life that may only be a hand on top of a roommate’s head, to let her know I am here and I love her, the life that may make the same two eggs and pile of spinach every morning, the life that wouldn’t be missed if it was gone because it pointed to the One who never leaves. The small life. 

“The small life is made of counting those moments, going where He goes, and this is the life to which I am not predisposed,” Lore admits. Read more.

Around the Warren:

Let the Little Children Show Us

A father of three daughters, Alan Howell looks at two Bible stories that get him every time: both of them stories about girls which teach great truths.

• This “simple” slave girl amazes me. She not only holds firm to the faith of her homeland, but she works and serves her masters in ways that earn their respect. And most incredibly of all, this girl willingly chooses to share her hope of healing with those who took what was most precious to her. Although she’s living among an enemy people, forced to serve the leader of armies that wiped out her parents, she offers them grace.

My the Lord open our eyes and ground our hearts in childlike faith. Read more.

“…a little willingness to see…”

Thoughts from Marilynne Robinson. Art by Paul Boekell.

Get a closer look.

Introducing “Tales of the Resistance”

Laura Peterson introduces us to the second book in David and Karen Mains’ Kingdom Tales series, which she says—if she’s allowed to pick one—is her favorite.

• Like Tales of the Kingdom, this book begins and ends with Hero’s quest in Enchanted City and includes several side stories in between, while setting the tone and developing momentum for the final dramatic conclusion. Hero finds a place in the city with the Taxi Resistance, a group of the King’s men and women, as the Keeper of the Chronicle of Sightings of the King. While coming back to touch on Hero’s actions at points, the narrative turns to other individuals to show what life is like in Enchanted City during this time of the Enchanter’s rule. 

Laura’s review will leave you waiting for the third book in the trilogy. Read more.

Orang-in-the-Tree

Joshua Duncan and Rex Queen are friends of the good S.D.Smith. There’s something in their history about pop, which is only slightly vague and bewildering. We’ll forgive them though—both for their friendship with Sam and for the pop thing—because the poem and the art are a lot of fun. Enjoy!

Something to Do with Your Kids:

Or, ten things. Here’s a great list of fun fall family nights, which, despite their alliteration, are actually great suggestions like playing board games together or heating chili in a can over a fire pit.The suggestions are familiar, but sometimes we need to be reminded of the value of taking time to spend an evening with the whole family.

And Something to Watch

I’ve had this song in my head for nearly a week, so of course the obvious recourse is to share it with you. With no further ado, I give you our very own Aedan Peterson, as a member of the Sons of Bheho, in what is being hailed as “the sports equivalent of ‘Friday’.”

Thank you for reading. We’re on your side.