Reactivity: How the Gospel Transforms Our Actions & Reactions (Crossway) by Paul David Tripp
Digital media and technology are altering the way people act — and react — toward each other. Criticism, outrage, and controversy dominate social engagement, and unfortunately many Christians have joined in the chaos. It’s a troubling contrast to Jesus’s words in John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Award-winning author Paul David Tripp instructs believers to view digital media and technology through the lens of the gospel and points them toward a biblical framework for communication. Explaining how God wants the church to engage with culture and each other, Tripp encourages Christians to think wisely about their interactions and be a beacon of light in an age of toxicity. This helpful volume:
• Gives a biblical look at social engagement: Discusses wholesome talk, the effects of “cancel culture,” and five false identity temptations including attention, power, and acceptance.
• Applies Scripture practically: Gives a gospel-centered framework for navigating digital life without confusion or destructive reactivity.
• Is meant for pastors, parents, and youth ministers: Helps readers understand who they are in Christ so they won’t be swayed by a chaotic digital culture.
Holiness by Grace: Delighting in the Joy That Is Our Strength (Crossway) by Bryan Chapell
“Be holy, for I am holy.” Without Christ we would hear this command and shudder. How can God expect us to be holy as He is? But thanks to what Christ has accomplished on our behalf, God accepts us because of His Son’s righteousness. Yet the call to holiness remains.
Bryan Chapell puts good works and obedience in proper perspective. He traces the relationship of holiness and grace in three parts, outlining the principles of grace, the practices of faith, and the motives of love. This excellent work demonstrates that holiness arises out of the gospel, out of Jesus Christ and not of our efforts at keeping the law.
Gospel-Powered Parenting (Christianaudio.com) by William Farley
“How can I hope to be an effective parent today when attacks on the family are stronger than ever before?”
The answer, says William Farley, is the gospel.
Parents who claim the gospel as their own have an enormous effect on their marriage, their integrity, and their love for their children. Keeping the gospel at the forefront of every aspect of marriage helps parents fear God, sensitizes them to sin, motivates them to enter their children’s world, and causes them to preach the beauty of the gospel to their children through their marriage.
Taming the Tongue: How the Gospel Transforms Our Talk (The Gospel Coalition) by Jeff Robinson
It’s been estimated that the average human being utters between 10,000 and 20,000 words per day. Consider that fact in light of Solomon’s words in Proverbs 10:19: When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent, and you have 10,000 to 20,000 opportunities to sin.
We are fallen people, and we utter fallen words. But we serve a communicating God. In Taming the Tongue, Courier Editor and President Jeff Robinson, a self-described “paid talker,” reminds us how in the gospel the Lord gives us a remedy for our troubled talk.