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A La Carte (January 18)

Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of worthwhile deals.

This week’s deal from Westminster Books is the Living Word Bible Studies series. They are helpful guides to various books of the Bible.

Pray for Your Church Leaders

Please do! Not only do your leaders need your prayer, but it’s your responsibility to pray for them. Christina Fox explains why and how.

The Joys of Obligation

Melissa Edgington says this well: “a huge part of living the Christian life is just doing the things that friends do.”

Breaking Down the Dividing Wall of Hostility

Harry Kumar writes about one of the amazing realities of his church in Lucknow, India. As it happens, I’ve visited his church and seen it with my own eyes.

Compassion Has Very Little Hope

Speaking of India (where I saw Compassion in action), this is very sad: “We want to be honest with you, there is very little hope.” So wrote Compassion International to its 130,000 sponsors of Indian children this past Friday.

Fishing in the Twilight Zone

You’ll need to do some on-the-fly replacement of “evolved to” to “created to,” but you’ll enjoy this article on the incredible abundance of fish living in the so-called “twilight zone” deep beneath the ocean’s surface. “Until relatively recently, some believed that domestic chickens were the most abundant vertebrates on the planet with numbers estimated at around 24 billion. In fact, this figure is dwarfed by some fish in the twilight zone.”

Preaching Versus Teaching

Barry York does a great job of breaking down the differences between teaching and preaching.

This Day in 1951. 66 years ago today missionary Amy Carmichael died. During her time in India, Carmichael rescued many children from temple prostitution and wrote over 35 books. *

Why I’m not Catholic

Steve Hays offers 7 big reasons he isn’t (and can’t be) Roman Catholic.

The Danger of Entertaining Lies

Tish Hedger writes about the grave danger of entertaining Satan’s lies. “When the father of lies has come to tempt me, instead of immediately banishing him with truth, I have often invited him in, asked him to sit on my couch and engaged in chats with him to hear his perspective.”

The Benefits of Marijuana

You’ve probably heard people tell of all the medical benefits of marijuana. Well, an analysis of 10,000 studies finds out it’s mostly bunk. Be sure to read far enough to see the list of known risks and to do the comparison.

Flashback: There But for the Grace of God Go I

I want to model my life after the kind of man who can humbly say, “That sin is unthinkable to me.”

I don’t want to model my life after a “There but for the grace of God go I” kind of person. I want to model my life after a man who battles hard against every appearance and manifestation of sin. I want to model my life after a man who receives and revels in the grace of God and then exerts every effort in actively, tenaciously putting sin to death. I want to model my life after the kind of man who can humbly say, “That sin is unthinkable to me.”

One of the clearest examples of the extent of our pride is how quickly it infiltrates even our attempts to ‘be humble.’”

—Hannah Anderson

  • 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…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    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…