The Myth of Good Christian Parenting is about the false promise of "biblical parenting" resources. It is also a pastoral reflection on our efforts to cram Scripture into the awkward shape of a manual that tells us what we want to hear. Thank you @mburtwrites.bsky.social @kkramermcginnis.bsky.social.

In Philippians 3 Paul dismisses circumcision as a boundary marker of the people of God. Rather he insists on a single-minded devotion to knowing Christ. Today, we replace circumcision with other boundary markers. What does a community that is focused on knowing Christ look like?

It is possible that people who listen to sermons are right about two things. Listening is important to our spiritual formation and sermons are seldom memorable. The formation of disciples is a slow process in which faithfully cooperating in small steps accomplishes more than trying to prompt leaps.

I asked a number of people who listen to me preach what role listening to sermons played in their spiritual growth. All agreed that listening to sermons was important. Most could not remember a single sermon from me or anyone else. Should I stop preaching or change the way I think about the sermon?

Self-deception works in concert with temptation so we can convince ourselves of the rightness of actions that are, in fact, wrong. We use deception to say that external circumstances justify reactions. Truth and lies become confused or even reversed.

Reading Snodgrass’s book on Jesus’s parables is even better with a new study stand.

Questioning does not signal a lack of faith; failing to question signals this lack, since it abdicates our responsibility for engaging the text. Plus—and let’s be honest about this—failing to question makes the subject under discussion boring. Amy-Jill Levine in Jesus for Everyone

Jesus told his disciples "Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!'" (Luke 10:4). A chapter later Jesus accepts an invitation to dine at the home of a pharisee (11:37).