Good:

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/loneliness-has-been-my-faithful-friend

Great video about the resurrection!

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/waiting-for-god-alone

"He ran on a platform of ‘Make America Kind Again,’" Chad said. "He’s a face that almost didn’t exist." https://world.wng.org/content/safe_havens_for_babies
Mayor Charlie's website: https://www.mayorcharlie.org/

Good Bible verse:
"...one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

Also, two good articles:
https://www.desiringgod.org/art…/god-behind-me-god-before-me
https://www.desiringgod.org/a…/all-you-need-for-another-year

Here are some recent book reviews.  For more, see http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/ .

My Brother's Keeper: Christians who risked all to protect Jewish targets of the Nazi Holocaust, by Rod Gragg
This is a powerful, encouraging, beautiful book.  As the subtitle says, it is a series of several short biographies of Christians during World War II who took great risks to help the Jews during WWII.  Some of them survived, some did not.  It is encouraging to see what ordinary people did to uphold justice and mercy and show love and follow Christ during times of war. I think all Christians should read this book!

The Righteous Outlaw, by Brother J (translated from Korean by Sarah Kay Grzech)
This is the story of Brother J as told by his diaries.  He grew up in N. Korea during the 1990's and was a commune work group leader during the great famine in the mid-1990's.  He came to believe in the Lord Jesus through an interesting combination of circumstances.  He then led his work group of ~100 people to follow Christ... however, they only had one Bible, so they split it and J was given only Leviticus and First Samuel. Unfortunately he picked up some very bad doctrine (militaristic, anti-communism, stealing from the rich to feed the poor, etc) by not having the New Testament and thinking that the Old Testament commands given to Israel and Saul were for today.  He later had to escape to a neighboring country to the north, and was able to read the full Bible and understand the Gospel.  He then worked to bring the gospel into NK.  He was captured and executed in 2012.  This book has a lot of vulgar language because that is the translation of what he wrote in his diaries, and it is a very rough, raw, read.  But it presents an informative picture of what life was like 20 years ago in NK, and it is relevant even for today.  It shows Christ's power to change people, and how our discipling others can have powerful effects.  One powerful story was of a 16 year-old girl who escaped to the country to the north, then found Christ, then decided to come back into NK to share about Christ.  She was given the task of teaching brother J.  She taught him for 3 days, before he had to leave.  Shortly afterward, that girl was captured and executed.  Brother J was the only person she was able to disciple.  But her sacrifice of coming back into NK was not in vain... hundreds of people learned of Christ through her, through J.

Hidden In Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts, by Lydia McGrew
This book is fascinating and matter-of fact.  The author brings out many places in the New Testament where the authors "accidentally confirm" other accounts by mentioning little details in passing which clarify and confirm that they are based on eyewitness accounts.  This is how detectives and lawyers can ascertain in courts whether a witness is telling the truth or not.  Highly recommended book.

Confronting Christianity: 12 hard questions for the world's largest religion, by Rebecca McLaughlin
Excellent book, discussing representative questions from our generation (slightly different than the question of the previous generation).  The 12: Aren't we better-off without religion? Doesn't Christianity crush diversity? How can you say there's only one true faith? Doesn't religion hinder morality? Doesn't religion cause violence? How can you take the Bible literally? Hasn't science disproved Christianity? Doesn't Christianity denigrate women? Isn't Christianity homophobic? Doesn't the Bible condone slavery? How could a loving God allow so much suffering? How could a loving God send people to Hell?
She presents very "balanced" answers, covering all the proper responses, with warmth and both personal and cultural anecdotes (and excellent quotes from many sources).  This is similar to Tim Keller's book "Making Sense of God"... they're both aimed at answering the same questions for the same audience.  McLaughlin had very good answers regarding homophobia, since she herself experiences same-sex attraction.  She also had excellent responses on suffering and Hell and slavery and the other questions (her weakest response was about science and taking the Bible literally, because she takes a 'big tent' approach toward the various views on Genesis, but many people will appreciate this).
One good quote, out of many... from page 101... "We are inclined to assume that we are more sophisticated than a text written thousands of years ago.  But the more we read the Bible, the more we will find we are not.  MIT professor Rosalind Picard discovered this when she was a teenager and a 'proud atheist'.  She thought the Bible would be 'full of fantastical crazy stuff', but she was surprised: 'I started reading the Bible,' she recalls, 'and it started to change me.'"

The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS, by Robert Spencer
This book is exactly what the title implies.  It tells the history of the Islamic wars and conquests, from the ancient historical records, starting in the 7th century and going all the way to the modern era (book published in 2018).  It shows that the Islamic militias have been waging war against the rest of the world since the beginning, with only a few periods of peace, and even then, imposing "dhimmi" second-class citizen status on non-Muslims within their territory and imposing the "jizya" tax on non-Muslims.  The book includes the history of the various European Crusades, both their positive (self-defense) and negative (massacres and atrocities) aspects.  The book is well-written in style, and well-documented (40 pages of endnote citations, 7 pages of bibliography), containing many fascinating historical stories.  Along the way the history of the Islamic religion is documented (including the various splits and sects, and various famous Muslim scholars and leaders).
This book is accurate and enlightening, but I do NOT recommend that most people read it, because of the terrible atrocities documented from the history.  Like Foxe's Book of Martyrs, I read some things here that I wish I had not read.
However, I do recommend the two final chapters, for everyone's reading.  Chapter 9 and 10 are about jihad in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  They contain fascinating history and historical perspective (about Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, etc), which are often ignored in modern discussions.
I found it interesting that the author did not have any suggested solution to the problem of jihad.  He points out how jihad is seeping into western media/academia/political avenues, but titles his final chapter "The West loses its will to live: Jihad in the Twenty-First Century".   Of course, those of us who believe in the Bible know that the ultimate solution to jihad is not political, but spiritual: the person of Jesus Christ.  Muslims (whether peaceful or militant) need to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ and experience the peace, joy, love, hope, and eternal life that comes from Him.  As Jesus said, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’" John 7:38   Best to know him now, before He returns with a sword bringing justice to the nations.
Regarding jihad, it is very likely that it will continue to increase and that the whole world will become subservient to Islam in the political sense (see "Will Islam Be Our Future?" by Joel Richardson, https://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/JR/Future/index.htm ).  But this is not the end... only the prelude setting the stage for the return of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will bring an end to jihad and bring perfect "shalom"/"salam", peace.
In summary, accurate historical book, but I only recommend that most people read the last two chapters, and understand about the persecution/martyrdom that is coming in the future for non-Muslims, and prepare for it spiritually by getting to know/love/follow/believe-in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Ultimate Guide to Christian Singleness, By Mark Ballenger (https://applygodsword.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-christian-singleness/)
This book seems to be a collection of a series of blog posts.  It covers a huge array of topics, and he is quite opinionated, so there is much to like and dislike here.  Overall there's a lot of good, common-sense, Biblical stuff.  The best parts are when he talks about God's goodness, and finding one's satisfaction in Christ, and how to use the time of singleness for eternal profit.  He has good scriptural advice about not dating non-Christians.  The parts that were less helpful in my opinion were when he tries to get really practical about "how to find a Christian spouse", because there is no advice that works for everyone's situation (though he tries) and God has not promised a spouse for everyone.  He has discussion questions after every chapter, so it might be useful for some groups, but many of his suggestions need to be taken with the proverbial 'grain of salt.'  I would probably recommend Ben Stuart's book ("Single, Dating, Engaged, Married") instead of this one, for most people.
A different resource by a different author has excellent thoughts on how to 'preach to one's own heart' in this area.. https://feetcrymercy.com/2019/02/13/single-ladies-catechism/  It was written for single Christian women but is useful reading for any single person.

Fight Your Way To A Better Marriage: How Healthy Conflict Can Take You To Deeper Levels of Intimacy, by Greg Smalley
In this book, Smalley shares about how conflict can be extremely helpful in marriage, and shares how to have healthy conflict with your spouse.  First, recognize that there are unspoken value-motivations underneath the spoken words, driving why your spouse does/says what they do/say.  Open your heart ('hit the pause button' when an argument starts, identify your emotions, and apply God's truth from the Bible to your emotions) and remove the log from one's own eye first, before arguing. Engage in 'L.U.V.E. tAlk' (Listen, Understand, Validate, Empathize, Apologize) to help keep the spouse's heart open. Seek win-win solutions in every argument (verbalize desire for win-win solution, discover the 'win' for each person, seek the Lord Jesus' opinion, brainstorm different solutions, then pick a solution that satisfies both people), and if you can't find one, then either keep discussing, or let it go if it's not a high-importance item, or let the 'best-qualified' person decide if it is a time-critical decision.  He shares many stories from his own and others' marriages (he is a marriage counselor)
This book has many useful and positive contributions.  There are some drawbacks.  On page 226, he talks about Ephesians 5 ("husbands love your wives... wives submit to your husbands") and says "... guys, please don't pull the submit card.  It's so anti-relational!  Don't forget that the verse right before the infamous submission verse, Ephesians 5:21, says, 'Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.' Paul is telling both spouses to submit."
I think Smalley goes too far here, and misinterprets the passage.  Paul's context about submission there talks about three situations: slaves should submit to their masters, children should submit to their parents, and wives should submit to their husbands.  (Arguably, Paul is not discussing a situation of abuse.)  In telling people in the church to be "submitting to one another in the fear of Christ", Paul is not saying that parents should submit to their children, or masters to their slaves, nor is he saying that husbands should submit to their wives, in general.  Saying that something is "anti-relational" is not a good reason to set aside Scripture's clear commandment.
However, I agree with Smalley that if a husband tells his wife that she must submit to him, it will mostly likely not be the best way to have a friendly, profitable, conversation that keeps their hearts open and growing closer together in relationship.  It is not a 'best practice' in having a healthy marital argument. (Same thing if a wife tells her husband that he ought to love her- not a 'best practice'.)  I agree with this comment Smalley made (also page 226) - "When speaking directly to husbands, Paul instructs, 'Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.' (Ephesians 5:25). Paul is telling us to follow Christ's example and 'lay down our life' for our wife, as Christ did for us on the cross.  Headship doesn't mean you make decisions on your own.  Only a foolish leader would ignore the insights, intuition, and wisdom of his teammate."
Overall, this book has some good insights and is worth reading, especially for people whose marriages are struggling.
The Mystery of Catastrophe: Understanding God's redemptive purposes for the global disasters of the last days, by Joel Richardson and Nathan Graves
This is a fabulous book.  It talks about all the catastrophes (wars, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, etc) taking place around the world and raises the question of why God allows these, and what good purpose He is enacting, according to Scripture, through allowing these tragedies.  It talks about the coming rise of Islam throughout the world (and likely Islamic one-world government of the last days), and how God is using disasters to move people around so that the gospel will reach every people group (e.g. refugees moving to countries where they hear the gospel, etc).  It has a lot of good helpful suggestions on how to respond to the current disasters, and how to prepare for coming persecutions, and how to pray.  I highly recommend this book for every Christian!
Patterns of Evidence, the Moses Controversy (DVD), by Timothy Mahoney
This documentary follows up on his excellent earlier documentary ("Patterns of Evidence: Exodus") and deals with the question of who wrote the first five books of the Bible.  The Bible claims that Moses compiled them, but many modern scholars say he did not, for various reasons (JEDP hypothesis, and the alleged fact that the Hebrew alphabet was not in existence in Moses' time). Mahoney shows that recent archaeological discoveries of proto-Siniatic or proto-Canaanite alphabet is essentially the earliest Hebrew alphabet, and it arose in Egypt at the time of Joseph, so hundreds of years before Moses.  So it is very plausible that Moses did write/compile the Pentateuch.  This documentary was very slow-moving and semi-autobiographical, but the archaeology is very much worth knowing about and the expert interviews presented are good.
Zeal Without Burnout: Seven Keys to a Lifelong Ministry of Sustainable Sacrifice, by Christopher Ash
He discusses burnout in life and ministry, and discusses his own and his friends' experiences of burnout.  He talks about ways to prevent burnout... God designed us to need sleep, friends, sabbaths, and times of inward renewal (activities that refresh us).  Very good book.

The Kindness Challenge: Thirty Days to Improve Any Relationship, by Shaunti Feldhahn
She proposes that kindness is a miraculous thing that can help any relationship (workplace, marriage, etc), and proposes a kindness challenge: for thirty days, do these three things every day in a particular relationship: (1) Don't say anything negative, (2) Find something about the other person to praise, (3) Do some small act of kindness to the other person.  Good book.
When People Are Big And God Is Small, by Ed Welch
The point of this book is that we are often "controlled by" other people, and do not have a sufficiently large view of God.  The point is a very good and important one.  He talks about how important God is, etc.  The content of the book is "ok", but for me the title was the best part of the book.

Thought-provoking article, about prayer: what has God actually promised us?

https://disrn.com/opinion/opinion-bethel-leaders-praying-for-god-to-raise-dead-2-year-old-are-believing-god-for-promises-he-hasnt-made

Thirty years ago, November 29, 1989, I was lying in bed listening to a preacher on the radio talk about the importance of being "saved" by the Lord Jesus Christ... how to have one's sins forgiven, and receive eternal life guaranteed as a free gift from God, because of Jesus' death in which Jesus paid for our sins.

The preacher said that this was extremely simple to do - simply ask Jesus to save me. I realized that I had never done this, and that it was something everyone should do.

Quote: “I may not understand God’s big plan, but I can be sure that He has never been absent from history. So I know that no matter how bad things can still get, when we get to the future and look back, we will find the meaning.”

https://world.wng.org/2019/11/cries_for_vengeance_prayers_for_justice

Ron Hamilton wrote this song 38 years ago (3 years after he lost one eye to cancer).

God never moves without purpose or plan
When trying His servant and molding a man.
Give thanks to the LORD though your testing seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.