News From the Frontlines: September 5th, 2026
- Joshua Budimlic
- 7 minutes ago
- 3 min read
September already! I hope you and yours have the opportunity to enjoy the last few days of summer before life gets busy again. It’s been a truly unforgettable past couple of months for our little family, the highlight being plenty of much-cherished time with our little boy as we enjoy our first summer as a family of three. I will miss these days, but I thank God for the sweet gift of this summer.
As a complete aside, don’t you just love this style of painting? I certainly do. There’s something so warm and homey about it, as though it’s inviting you in for a spell of rest—it’s almost as though our souls long for rest. Huh, what a thought... That being said, enjoy these recommendations on this edition of News From the Frontlines!
News From the Frontlines:
Recommended Reading, Listening, & Watching
In this article, Phil Cotnoir over at The Gospel Coalition Canada considers the influence of Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, Jordan Peterson, and others, as they grapple with some of humanity’s oldest questions—questions that can only be answered in Christ, though these men fail to realize it.
This was a bittersweet article, sure to touch the hearts of all godly mothers and fathers. “Next week, we will pack up the car with my son’s clothes and most important possessions, and we’ll hit the road and drop him off at University. He’s a boy, so he has not started packing yet. I don’t think he has started thinking about packing yet, but I am not anticipating that he will pack his Bible. Not out of oversight, I think he will choose not to pack it. I had developed some ideas about what this day would look like throughout the years, but as it draws near, I have to accept that he will be moving out as an unbeliever.”
This is a great—albeit convicting!—article wherein Zak considers the many “Better is” statements found in the book of Proverbs. “Over the past few years, the Lord has kindly but directly exposed an assumption operating within my heart that goes something like this: God owes me a middle class lifestyle. What I mean by that is that I feel, deep in my heart, that I should be able to live my life with an ‘American’ degree of financial security and comfort. Let me flesh that out for you.”
I’ve often pondered this myself—though not exhaustive, Tim Challies offers a helpful and likely answer. “Have you ever wondered why pastors who have been disqualified from ministry so rarely concede to the reality of their disqualification and just move on? Have you ever wondered why they so often disappear for a year or so and then turn up at another church or in a different denomination? I have wondered often and have formed a theory about the matter.”
And, writing specifically to pastors who choose to stay rather than walk away (here for the right reasons), Casey McCall has some words of encouragement—words which will bless you no matter where the Lord has stationed you. For remember, your employment is your deployment until God says otherwise!
John Beeson gives some practical advice on how to lead your family in worship for each stage of family life so that, no matter the season, you can be faithful and fruitful in it.
A few months back, I linked to the first episode in this video series, which is itself drawn from Sproul’s popular book of the same name, The Holiness of God—one of my personal favorites. In my opinion, this is the most important of his six messages from the series, and one that I cannot recommend highly enough (though you should certainly watch the whole series!).
Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust, Unsplash
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