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A La Carte (June 25)

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Called to Be Uncool Christians – N.D. Wilson: “Cows like to turn their backs to the wind. At least, all the cows I know do. Slowly, awkwardly, eventually, all that beef will run parallel to the breeze. People aren’t too different. We align ourselves safely into herds, comforted by the hot breath of others breaking on the backs of our necks and ears. Then we huff and we puff and we blow at the fools turned in the wrong direction.”

A Plea to Come Forward – Paul Levy takes on one of those issues that every churches faces: Getting people to move to the front.

Potshots Are Not a Spiritual Gift – “This sounds like a no-brainer, but in our social media age, it’s not a given…” Indeed.

Naming the New Calvinism – Timothy Paul Jones takes a shot at coming up with a better name than “New Calvinism” or “Young, Restless, Reformed.”

The First 10 Minutes of Your Day – How do you spend the first ten minutes of your workday? Here’s some sound counsel on spending it well.

Cool at 13, Adrift at 23 – “At 13, they were viewed by classmates with envy, admiration and not a little awe. … They were cool. They were good-looking. They were so not you.” But it looks like they didn’t turn out so well in the end.

Charles

Passion is not a substitute for clarity. Volume is not a substitute for content. Emotion is not a substitute for conviction.

—H.B. Charles Jr

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    A La Carte (April 23)

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  • The Path to Contentment

    The Path to Contentment

    I wonder if you have ever considered that the solution to discontentment almost always seems to be more. If I only had more money I would be content. If I only had more followers, more possessions, more beauty, then at last I would consider myself successful. If only my house was bigger, my influence wider,…

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    It Begins and Ends with Speaking

    Part of the joy of reading biography is having the opportunity to learn about a person who lived before us. An exceptional biography makes us feel as if we have actually come to know its subject, so that we rejoice in that person’s triumphs, grieve over his failures, and weep at his death.

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    Weekend A La Carte (April 20)

    A La Carte: Living counterculturally during election season / Borrowing a death / The many ministries of godly women / When we lose loved ones and have regrets / Ethnicity and race and the colorblindness question / The case for children’s worship services / and more.

  • The Anxious Generation

    The Great Rewiring of Childhood

    I know I’m getting old and all that, and I’m aware this means that I’ll be tempted to look unfavorably at people who are younger than myself. I know I’ll be tempted to consider what people were like when I was young and to stand in judgment of what people are like today. Yet even…