A La Carte (9/15)

Aileen and I were in Costco the other day (for the first time in years) and found several aisles stuffed full of Christmas trees, bows, wreaths, wrapping paper and all the other trappings of Christmas. Already. Mid-September and already the stores are preparing for the Christmas rush. Unbelievable.

Parenting by the Book [2] - I’m hearing good things about this video series on parenting from Heritage Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky. One new class will be added each week.

Sentencing Day [3] - Several times I’ve mentioned Terry Stauffer whose daughter Emily was killed in a vicious attack. Yesterday was sentencing day for the man who killed her and the National Post has a report.

How to Write Less Badly [4] - “Rachel Toor and other writers on these pages have talked about how hard it is to write well, and of course that’s true. Fortunately, the standards of writing in most disciplines are so low that you don’t need to write well. What I have tried to produce below are 10 tips on scholarly nonfiction writing that might help people write less badly.”

Evaluating Your Ministry [5] - Brian Croft asks and answers this question: How are pastors most tempted to evaluate their ministries in ways God does not?

Fastest Growing and Largest Churches [6] - Bob Kelleman: “The Largest and Fastest-Growing lists are based on February and March weekend attendance averages. The 2010 Largest list includes churches with an attendance of more than 5,500 while this year's Fastest-Growing list includes churches with attendance greater than 1,000; a numerical gain of 250 or more; and a percentage gain of at least 3 percent. Rankings for Fastest-Growing Churches are determined by factoring both percentage growth and numerical gain.”

Bean at Church - I stumbled upon this video the other day. It had been a whlie since I last saw it, but it’s still plenty funny.

When God issues a call to us, it is always a holy call. The vocation of dying is a sacred vocation. To understand that is one of the most important lessons a Christian can ever learn. When the summons comes, we can respond in many ways. We can become angry, bitter or terrified. But if we see it as a call from God and not a threat from Satan, we are far more prepared to cope with its difficulties. —R.C. Sproul