Each Wednesday we share some recent links that we found informative, insightful, or helpful. These are often related to Crossway books, Bibles, or authors—but not always. We hope this list is an interesting and encouraging break for the middle of your week.

1. Andreas J. Köstenberger and Justin Taylor highlight 5 errors to avoid when thinking about Easter

3. Don’t say the same crowds worshiped Jesus on Palm Sunday and then cried out for his crucifixion on Good Friday.

This kind of statement makes for a powerful sermon point to illustrate the fickleness of the human heart when it comes to Jesus the Messiah. But a couple of qualifications need to be added. First, it is not entirely clear that the “Hosanna!” crowd acclaiming Jesus’ triumphal entry is the same group of people as the “Crucify him!” crowd gathered before Pontius Pilate.

2. The Gospel Coalition interviews Kevin DeYoung on Taking God At His Word

What Scripture-related error is most “live” among evangelicals today? For what issue on the horizon will we need to be most equipped?

I see several. Let me briefly mention two. At the level of praxis, many evangelicals do not believe in Scripture’s perspicuity. Once they see that some Christians view an issue differently, they pack it in and give up ever knowing what the Bible says. We’ve seen this recently on the issue of homosexuality with certain voices calling for a moratorium on debating the issue because there are obviously two good positions out there and who are we to try to settle things. But, of course, PhDs disagree on almost everything in almost every field of human investigation. Evangelicals can be too quick to say “that’s just your interpretation” instead of actually making an argument from the Bible for their position.

3. Nancy Guthrie on the focus of her own funeral

I just got home from another funeral. Seems we’ve gone to more than our share lately. And once again, as I left the church, I pled with those closest to me, “Please don’t make my funeral all about me.”

We were an hour and fifteen minutes in to today’s funeral before anyone read from the scriptures, and further in until there was a prayer. Resurrection wasn’t mentioned until the benediction. There were too many funny stories to tell about the deceased, too many recollections, too many good things to say about the things she accomplished to speak of what Christ has accomplished on her behalf.

4. Books at a Glance reviews Acting the Miracle, edited by John Piper and David Mathis

The strength of the book is the repeated emphasis that sanctification is not monolithic. There is not merely one motivation, it is not only an individual thing, it does not only flow from justification, it takes a range of personal means of grace, and our act in it as Edwards says is simultaneously “wholly passive and wholly active.”

Welch’s chapter in particular was helpful as he gave years of wisdom in dealing with difficult cases. His emphasis on humans being embodied souls is a needed corrective to the overemphasis on the cognitive. Readers will benefit from this chapter’s test cases which ring with wisdom and much patient thought. Pastors and counselors dealing with depression, panic attacks, and ADHD should consult this chapter especially.

5. Gloria Furman reflects on treasuring Christ in the trenches

Do you think that moms can have a tendency to just give up on communing with God because of their season of life?

Sometimes we think that if only we could have peace and quiet in the house then we will have peace and quiet in our heart. How easy it is for us to relegate Jesus’ presence to an easy chair in a picture-perfect living room (with an accompanying cup of hot coffee)! For the mom facing that challenge of finding quiet time, I’d want her to know that, solitude or circus, it makes no difference in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ to give you everything you need for life and godliness.