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A La Carte (12/13)

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When listening to the winter weather forecasts, my wife is always cheering for snow while I’m always cheering for clear weather. Usually I win. When it comes to the side we cheer for, I don’t think it’s mere coincidence that I am the one who does the shoveling around here and my wife does not.

Weirdest New Animals – National Geographic lists the ten weirdest new creatures discovered in 2010. Isn’t it amazing that we continue to discover so many new species every year?

Citizen – The eldest of my younger sisters becomes the latest Challies to defect to another nation. “I have given it about 10 years or so of thought and have finally made up my mind to join Pat in his national heritage. Tomorrow, I head out down-town to cash out my on-paper Canadian citizenship, and embark on a quest to discover my Can-American self.”

10 Reasons to Preach Expository Sermons – Here they are.

Did Jesus Get a Stomach Virus? – Russell Moore asks and answers the question. This one may seem a bit trite, but do give it a read. “It just doesn’t seem right to us to imagine Jesus feverish or vomiting. But that’s precisely the scandal. It didn’t seem right to many to imagine Jesus as really flesh and bone, filled with blood and intestines and urine. Somehow that seemed to detract from his deity.”

On Being a Hand Model – Here’s a glimpse of what a bizarre form of idolatry looks like. This is probably the strangest thing you’ll see all day.

The Year in Books – Keith Mathison rounds up some of the year’s best books in a list geared squarely at theologians and scholars.

Secret, Constant Sin – David Powlison answers a very tough question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNL2mEzbsLc?fs=1&hl=en_US

It is not so much of our time and so much of our attention that God demands; it is not even all of our time and all our attention. It is ourselves.

—C.S. Lewis

  • The Phrase that Altered My Thinking Forever

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington. Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever.  Distinct yet inseparable. The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after,…

  • Always Look for the Light

    Always Look for the Light

    For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond.…

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    A La Carte (March 18)

    A La Carte: God is good and does good—even in our pain / Dear bride and groom / Sin won’t comfort you / Worthy of the gospel / From self-sufficiency to trusting God’s people / The gods fight for our devotion / and more.

  • Confidence

    God Takes Us Into His Confidence

    Here is another Sunday devotional—a brief thought to orient your heart toward the Lord. God takes the initiative in establishing relationship by reaching out to helpless humanity. He reveals himself to the creatures he has made. But what does it mean for him to provide such revelation of himself? John Calvin began his Institutes by…

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    Weekend A La Carte (March 16)

    A La Carte: I believe in the death of Julius Caesar and the resurrection of Jesus Christ / Reasons students and pastors shouldn’t use ChatGPT / A 1.3 gigpixel photo of a supernova / What two raw vegans taught me about sharing Jesus / If we realize we’re undeserving, suddenly the world comes alive /…

  • Ask Pastor John

    Ask Pastor John

    I admit it: I felt a little skeptical about Ask Pastor John. To be fair, I feel skeptical about most books that begin in one medium before making the leap to another. Books based on sermons, for example, can often be pretty disappointing—a powerful sermon at a conference can make a bland chapter in a…