Despite the fact that I’ve been blogging for around 16 years, I learned this week that people generally don’t read blogs as much during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I guess other bloggers have figured this principle out, because I had a very difficult time finding posts to share with you. Please accept this small collection of articles. Hopefully next week’s Sampler will have more goodies.

Much to my dismay, it’s still popular to believe that God speaks to us personally, as a supplement to Scripture. Refuting this false teaching, Mike Abendroth discusses Secret and Sinister Messages From God: Does God Speak Outside Of His Word? (1) in his article for The Heidelblog, Although I am beginning to question certain things about R. Scott Clark and his influence on Mike, I do recommend the particular article for its contribution to the conversation. Also see Part 2 and Part 3.

Have you made a New Year’s resolution to read the Bible regularly? If you don’t know where to start, Michelle Lesley offers a wide variety of Bible Reading Plans for the New Year — 2023 for you to consider. She even includes plans and tips for children. And if a commitment for the whole year intimidates you, she mixes in a few short-term plans that you might find more manageable.

In a similar vein, Elizabeth Prata of The End Time gives us Ministries to Follow: Recs & Lists. Elizabeth wants women to receive solid Biblical teaching, which each of the podcasts she links to provides. She shares some of my favorites. and maybe some will become favorites of yours as well. As a bonus, she gives suggestions on how podcasts can fit into busy schedules to nourish us spiritually.

Although I haven’t fully vetted Jacob Crouch of Aliens and Pilgrims, I love his perspective on making New Year’s Resolutions. He writes both 3 Reasons Why You Should Make a New Year’s Resolution This Year and 3 Reasons Why You Should NOT Make a New Year’s Resolution This Year. Before you decide that Jacob contradicts himself, give these two posts a chance (they’re both very short anyway, so they won’t eat up a lot of your time). You’ll be surprised by how they fit together.

Writing for the Ligonier blog, Nick Batzig lists 5 Things You Should Know about Sanctification. He begins with the Westminster Shorter Confession, but finds that Scripture itself offers a much more dimensional understanding of the various aspects of sanctification. You’ll be encouraged by his insight into this important topic.