Announcing TGC’s 2024 Essay Contest for Young Adults

Writers Aged 16–22 Can Get Published

View in browser The Gospel Coalition announces its 2024 essay contest, inviting young adults (ages 16–22) to explore and write about God's faithfulness, their relationship with technology, and their heart for full-time ministry in our secular age.   Winning authors will receive a prize, and their essays will be published on TGC's website. In addition, every writer who submits an essay will receive a coupon code for $50 off the Gen-Z registration for our TGC25 conference. Find Out More The Gospel Coalition PO Box #1637, Columbia, MO Unsubscribe

How to Love, Misuse, and Disuse Romans 8:28

Heavenward. Read the latest from Scotty Smith's blog.

Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH How to Love, Misuse, and Disuse Romans 8:28 SCOTTY SMITH   "We know God works for the good in all things, for those who love him—those called according to his purpose…  to be conformed to the image of his Son." Rom. 8:28-29   Heavenly Father, I don't know of one verse in your entire Word that's more loved, misapplied, and disused than Romans 8:28. I choose those three categories because I have "personal experience" of each. As a young believer, I thought (hoped, fantasized, crossed-my-fingers) that Rom. 8:28 taught if I love you enough, a steady stream of "goodness" would flow into my life. "Good" as in minimal pain, maximum delight, and magnificent outcomes. But Rom. 8:28 promises something much better than personal peace and affluence. It declares you are at work in everything to make us like Jesus. Christlikeness, not "life-in-a-5-star-spa," is the promised outcome. When we're honest, becoming like Jesus isn't usually the first thing we pray for each day or "claim" in Rom. 8:28. We'd prefer you to be a masseuse, valet, or 3-wish-giver—not a Potter at work to make us more and more like Jesus. So we can misuse this verse on ourselves. We can, indeed, also misuse Rom. 8:28 on others. We do that when we use it to "silence their whining," or when we don't want to enter their pain, or when we apply it like a shot of Novocain or a dose of laughing gas. But deadening pain isn't dealing with pain. So, Abba, how do we also disuse—that is, ignore Rom. 8:28? Personally, I do so when, like Esau, I demand instant gratification over your timing and your ways (Gen.25:34). Or when, like Adam, when I blame others (Gen.3:10-12); or like Jonah, when I sulk in a corner (Jon.4:6-11); or like Noah, when I medicate poorly (Gen.9:20-21). You are so present, patient, and kind with me, Abba. But blessed, loving, holy, and gracious Father, I do love Rom. 8:28, because you really do love me. I really do want to become more like Jesus. I do trust you. So Very Amen. Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! The Gospel Coalition  PO Box #1637    Columbia  MO  65205    You received this email because you are subscribed to Scotty Smith's Blog: Heavenward from The Gospel Coalition. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails.

Parents of Adult Children: This New Book Is for You

From the TGC—Crossway Publishing Partnership

View in browser Gospel-Centered Framework for Navigating Relationships with Adult Children As kids grow, so do the pains of parenthood. Patterns of miscommunication and resentment can cause damage over the years, leaving parents and adult children with a fractured relationship. Confused, hurt, and sometimes angry, moms and dads can struggle to know where to turn for help and where to look for hope.    With grace and empathy, author Gaye B. Clark comes alongside readers bearing the weight of parenthood. Encouraging readers to view themselves as image bearers of God first and parents second, Clark shifts readers' focus to their relationship with Christ while showing how the relationship between parent and child can be a catalyst for understanding the gospel. Loving Your Adult Children examines the fruit of the Spirit in relation to parenting adult children, offers study questions for reflection, and shows how walking with God is the best next step for struggling parents.   Read Chapter 1 Gaye B. Clark is a registered nurse and has worked with young adults for more than 20 years. Gaye is a widow and a mother of two adult children and grandmother of three. KEY FEATURES . . .  Appeals to Parents of Adult Children: Empathetically addresses the pain and suffering associated with parenting  Lasting Gospel-Centered Hope: Shifts readers' focus from their horizontal relationship with their children to their vertical relationship with Christ  Biblical Perspective: Discusses each fruit of the Spirit and how they apply to relationships with adult children Reflective: Study questions provide tools to help readers apply the book's content  WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING . . .  "Our friend Gaye Clark has written a wise book on a weighty topic—long-term parental love. With engaging illustrations and biblical examples, Clark helps us care for our adult children more meaningfully. And even better, she helps us look to our Father God as we love our adult children. We—and they—are not alone in this journey." —Ray and Jani Ortlund, president and executive vice president, Renewal Ministries "Being a mom or dad to an adult child is complicated and fraught with potential landmines. With experience, biblical wisdom, and grace, Gaye Clark helps families move into this new season of life. You will want this book in your library." —Daniel Darling, director, The Land Center for Cultural Engagement; author, A Way with Words, Agents of Grace, and The Dignity Revolution "We never stop being parents, but what does parenting look like when our children are grown? Gaye Clark's book, Loving Your Adult Children, is a gospel-saturated, grace-infused, and Christ-exalting look at parenting adult children. . . . I needed this book. You will too." —Christina Fox, counselor; speaker; author, Like Our Father: How God Parents Us and Why That Matters for Our Parenting Buy Your Copy The Gospel Coalition PO Box #1637, Columbia, MO Unsubscribe

To Whom Have We Given the Power to Define Us?

Heavenward. Read the latest from Scotty Smith's blog.

Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH To Whom Have We Given the Power to Define Us? SCOTTY SMITH "I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere people do to me?" (Ps. 56:4). The saddest indictment ever: "They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God" (Jn.12:43). Jesus, you are my "righteousness, holiness, and redemption" (1 Cor.1:30).   Dear Jesus, the quest for heart-peace is unrelenting—especially during seasons of vulnerability, transition, disconnect, and disappointment. This is why David's question deserves our pondering. "What can mere people do to me?" Well, it depends on what math we're using, right? What currency, bullion, or treasure are we living by? Whose opinion of us matters more than any other? If we've given peers, boss, a lover—our parents, kids, or spouse the power to define us, delight us, or demean us, then "mere people" can greatly harm us. And if we keep that "right" to ourselves, we can do great damage to ourselves as well. But Jesus—blessed Lord and Savior, if you are our life, then death itself is actually a gain (Phil.1:21). And "mere people" can embarrass us, temporally hurt us—in multiple ways disappoint us, frustrate the heck out of us, and sadden us. But they cannot ultimately harm us because they do not foundationally define us. That holy prerogative, power, and right only belongs to you Jesus. Truly, you are our "righteousness, holiness, and redemption," Jesus—our reason for being, greatest delight, and fullness of hope. Keep freeing us from our "people-idolatry." Mere people make horrible substitutes for you, Jesus. Restore to us the joy of our salvation, the peace only the Gospel gives, and the freedom only you can give. So Very Amen.   Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! The Gospel Coalition  PO Box #1637    Columbia  MO  65205    You received this email because you are subscribed to Scotty Smith's Blog: Heavenward from The Gospel Coalition. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails.

Sometimes I Feel Like a Hybrid of the Two Luke 15 Sons

Heavenward. Read the latest from Scotty Smith's blog.

Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Sometimes I Feel Like a Hybrid of the Two Luke 15 Sons SCOTTY SMITH   "He got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran, embraced, and kissed him" Luke 15:20   Heavenly Father, I'm not in a faraway country—derelict, destitute, and delusional about finding life apart from you. Neither am I an angry, jaded, mean-spirited legalist—who finds pleasure in judging others. Yet, at times, I feel like a hybrid of your two sons whose stories are given to us in Luke 15. Sometimes my heart can drift to a place of temporary insanity—fantasizing about finding life in mere humans, fulfilling fleshly pleasures, and living with zero regard for your Word and ways. Then, in the same day, I can give in to my inner-Pharisee, and judge everything and everyone, even people that are already dead. I can even criticize you, when you don't give me what I want or think I deserve. I. Am. A. Mess. But, hallelujah, I am your mess. So, Father, as I come to you today—with many who join me in this prayer, we take great comfort in knowing that we'll always find you filled with compassion for us—no matter the state of our heart. As with all your children, you greet us in the Gospel, throw your arms around us, hold tight and shower us with multiple kisses of mercy and grace. Why? How? Because you don't love us to the degree we are like Jesus, but in Jesus—which is 100%. You don't make light of our current sin, but that you do make much of Jesus as our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Such kindness makes it easy for us to repent, and makes our call to holiness beautiful, and makes the Gospel so necessary and so glorious. So Very Amen.   Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! The Gospel Coalition  PO Box #1637    Columbia  MO  65205    You received this email because you are subscribed to Scotty Smith's Blog: Heavenward from The Gospel Coalition. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails.