Prata Potpourri: Women's discipleship, Librarians on horseback, reviving prayer time, more

A selection of links I've come across that you might find edifying, interesting, or amusing!

Rachelle Cox at Each Passing Phase wrote about Getting Real About Women's Discipleship.

In his book Discipling, author Mark Dever offers a to-the-point definition of discipleship as "helping others follow Jesus". This doesn't seem to be the definition many women are applying in their personal lives. If Instagram is any clue, most Christian women think discipleship is limited to hosting thoughtfully curated Bible studies in tasteful homes where shrieking children and dirty dishes don’t exist. This glossy ideal sits like a yoke on many women's shoulders rather than spurring them onward in Christ’s Great Commission.

From The Master's Seminary we read How to Revive a Lifeless Prayer Time

I want to share with you ten practical ideas to stimulate our times in prayer. If we are honest, most admit that a consistent life of prayer can be a struggle to sustain. But it need not be that way since prayer is truly a vital aspect of our walk of faith.

From Christian Book Shop Talk On the Smell of Books, and Bookstores

If you've been in this business for awhile, you know there's nothing like walking into a bookstore or book warehouse and breathing in the smell of books. Perhaps you're one of the people who cracks open a recent arrival to the middle page and inhales deeply.

Founder's Ministries writes about Fear and the Christian

Fear is a natural emotion common to all human beings, and it is neither inherently sinful or godly. Our fears are often connected to the things we love the most. We may fear losing something or someone we love. Or we might fear that we will fail to obtain something we desire. We may fear offending one we love. Or perhaps we feel a reverential fear of something or someone we admire. The cause of our fears is often the love or admiration of some created thing or of God Himself.

Christa Threlfall at Brown Sugar Toast writes about Sacrificing Holiness for Authenticity

It was Saturday morning. Driving home from an early morning run, I stopped by a yard sale and snagged the classic game of Battleship for the low, low price of $1. I had fond memories of playing this game in elementary school and looked forward to wowing my family with my incredible skills. Only that’s not quite what happened.

Nicholas T. Batzing at Feeding on Christ reminds us that when speaking of Jesus' Church we speak of His Bride in this piece, When speaking about Jesus' Bride

The visible church–in whatever shapes or forms it may take–is the bride of Christ. We must resist the urge to speak critically of her without giving her the requisite love and care that Jesus wants us to give those for whom he has shed his precious blood.

GotQuestions isn't a static repository of articles. The authors there constantly publish new ones. Here's a new article, answering the question, What does it mean that "to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21)?

What does it mean that "to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21)? How can I come to the point that I consider dying to be gain?

History:

Female Librarians on Horseback Delivering Books, ca. 1930s

In the 1930s, many people living in isolated communities had very little access to jobs, let alone a good education for their children. In Kentucky, they had isolated mountain communities which could only get their books and reading material from one source… librarians on horseback.

Photography:

Photos taken by helicopter reveal stunning symmetry of airports