"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
​1 Corinthians 10:31

Dear steward,

I pray your week is going well, and that you're putting Christ first in all that you do.

I'll be in Florida this weekend at First Baptist Church at Weston, speaking at their fall conference. If you happen to be in the area, would love to have you come out!

Also, this is a final reminder that our summer sale ends today at 11:50 PM Eastern. All Redeeming Productivity courses are 50% off til then. Just use the code SUMMER2023 at checkout.

Okay, let's jump into this week's issue!

In Today’s Issue:

• Book Recommendation: A Praying Life By Paul Miller
• On the Crushing Guilt of Failing at Quiet Time
• 50 Practical Preaching Tips from H.B. Charles
• Sermon: What Time Is It?
• App Recommendation: Nutritionix

Reagan’s Roundup

​Book Recommendation: A Praying Life By Paul Miller​

I recently read A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller and it was a great boon to my prayer life. I’ve read many books on prayer, but this one was different. It starts with the simple premise, “prayer is not the center of this book. Getting to know a person, God, is the center.”

Sometimes, I overthink the technicalities of prayer or treat it more like a procedure or mere discipline rather than, first and foremost, a relationship. This book was a good reminder that, like any relationship, prayer is something you grow in with time. It’s not a skill to perfect, but a relationship to nurture. I was especially affected by Miller's emphasis on coming to Christ like a child.

One caution. A bit of a mystical thread pervades some of Miller’s thoughts on prayer. It comes out here and there as you read, but most prominently in the latter chapters. A few parts made me think, “Boy, I wish he’d just left that out.” Particularly, I’m referring to his instructions on listening prayer.

Even with that caveat, it’s still a book I would commend to you. And perhaps the best endorsement I can give is that after reading it, I’m praying more and more earnestly. It may just be the shot in the arm your prayer life needs too.

​On the Crushing Guilt of Failing at Quiet Time (6 mins)

Kevin DeYoung / Clearly Reformed

Speaking of prayer and spiritual disciplines. I appreciated this from Kevin DeYoung.

“Spiritual disciplines are great (and necessary) when the goal is to know God better. Spiritual disciplines are soul-crushing when the aim is to get our metaphysical workout in each day, knowing that we could always exercise more if we were better Christians.”

​50 Practical Preaching Tips from H.B. Charles​

This one's for the pastors. Joshua Earl put together this list of 50 preaching tips from the inimitable H.B. Charles Jr.

​PDF version​

And here's a video of the talk the 50 tips came from.

​Sermon: What Time Is It? (50 mins)

Carey Hardy / Grace Immanuel Bible Church

When it comes to how Christians view productivity, nothing is more important than having an eternal mindset. And this sermon just knocks that point out of the park.

I was convicted and inspired after listening to this. I've already shared it with tons of friends and family and wanted to commend it to you as well. Definitely worth an hour of your time.

Shoutout to Ambar for the recommendation!

​Nutritionix - Calorie Counting App

If you do any kind of calorie or macro tracking for your nutrition, you’ve probably used something like MyFitnessPal. In my opinion, that app has gotten more and more annoying to use over the years as they’ve added more complicated features (and ads) and they've moved some essential features behind the paywall.

I made the switch to Nutritionix last week and have really been digging it. Here are a few of the benefits I think put it over the top of MyFitnessPal:

• Fewer features = easier to use
• Barcode scanner included for free
• Ability to add meals in a “basket” before committing them to your log
• Easier to copy/paste meals or food items to other days
• Simpler macro and nutrition breakdowns (protein, carbs, fats)

Nutritionix​is free and available on both Apple and Android, and in the browser.

Hat tip to Ben Mordecai for this recommendation.

Final Word

Thanks for reading!

– Reagan Rose

P.S. If you come across resources you think would be useful for the readers of this newsletter, please send them my way. Most of the best stuff I share here comes from you guys.

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