If you lived in Jonah’s day and he came to your door asking for help—help for his soul—what might you say to him? First you would want to see the good in him, and there is plenty of good. Hard-hearted people usually don’t receive words from the Lord, so he was a worthy prophet. And he volunteered to be thrown to his death in a devouring sea so others could be spared. I think that is very impressive, even though the storm was basically his doing. Ugh, it reminds me how I don’t like the idea of drowning, and it is hard for me to imagine that I would volunteer for it.

How convenient. A proof text for polite revenge. This doesn’t sound very nice, unless having burning coals on your head is a good thing. If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. (Romans 12:20, citing Proverbs 25:21-22)

Read "Tired of Trying to Win Approval and Escape Rejection?" a review at CNN.com of Ed Welch's new book What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care? Answers to the Big Questions in Life. Excerpt from the review:

One criterion for evaluating proposals about how we should live as Christians is this family of questions, “Does this work for peasants and factory workers? Would this be plausible for a mother of pre-schoolers or a lonely man who is dying?” Jesus has a way with people facing trouble. The Bible works with people who get sweaty, weary or teary, who worry about money, who find pain and sickness a long hard road. It is for war-weary sufferers. Ministry works to make unassuming warriors with quiet courage and perseverance.