Faith in Crisis - You’ll have to be sure to read all the way to the end of this article from Iain Campbell. He begins by reflecting on how depressing the news has been lately, and then searches for hope. It will start your week in just the right way.

No Better Critics - “I'm a female veteran. I deployed to Anbar Province, Iraq. When I was active duty, I was 5'6, 130 pounds, and scored nearly perfect on my PFTs. I naturally have a lot more upper body strength than the average woman: not only can I do pull-ups, I can meet the male standard. I would love to have been in the infantry. And I still think it will be an unmitigated disaster to incorporate women into combat roles. I am not interested in risking men's lives so I can live my selfish dream.” (Meanwhile, Joe Carter has an excellent FAQ on the issue.)

Better than Gun Control - Clint Archer writes about some of the realities of life in South Africa. “South Africa is the violent crime capital of the world. It's nice to be known for something other than Apartheid. Indiscriminate rape, murder, and armed robbery may actually be a step in a better direction.”

13 Reasons - “Fear is like the monster under my kids' beds -- its power is fueled not by what's really there, but by what might be, what we imagine could be. Fear is a hollow darkness in the future that reaches back through time to rob our joy now by belittling the sovereign goodness of God.” In a letter to his church, John Piper gives 13 reasons Christians do not need to be afraid.

Galaxy M74 - When you see art like this, you are a fool to fail to acknowledge the artist.

Eternity will be too short fully to recount His praise. Let us not shorten our joy by neglecting to begin on earth. —Henry Law

The Real Cessationist - C. Michael Patton’s articles are always a little bit on the long side, but they’re also quite helpful. In this one he looks at the difference between charismatics and cessationists.

Without Adam the Good News Turns Bad - This is what Michael Reeves argues over at the Desiring God blog, that without a historical Adam, the good news turns bad.

5 Reasons Christians Need to Hear the Gospel - “In his opening chapter of Preaching Christ from the Old Testament, Sidney Greidanus lists five reasons for preaching Christ today and five reasons why committed Christians as well as non-Christians need to hear explicitly Christ-centered sermons.”

Being Forgiven - Elisha offers a reflection on sin and forgiveness. “ sit slumped forward, discouraged, and hope runs thin as I replay the conversation. Why did I choose to be annoyed? Why did I choose to speak harshly? Why did I choose to let it get under my skin instead of absorbing the offense?”

Airport Logic - Air travel is not known for being entirely rational, is it?

North Korean Propaganda - North Korea must be the most fascinating country in the world. “The Arirang mass games in Pyongyang, North Korea, are the largest and most bombastic exercise of state propaganda in the world. Few foreigners are permitted to watch this summertime spectacle extolling the founding myths of the communist state.”

To be biblically evangelistic, we must be certain that what we do leads men to faith, not just to decisions. —Jim Ehrhard

Jesus, the Propitiation of God’s Wrath - “God propitiates his own wrath. Know anybody else like that? Will China pay off the US debt? Will any of the victims of Bernie Madoff personally pay his financial debts? When does the offended personally provide the means to take away his own offense? Only God. This is why he is love.”

Microwave Maturity - This is worthy of some reflection: “We can't microwave people into maturity. They need to be marinated and often slow-roasted in the truth. After all, Jesus used the mustard seed to talk about the kingdom advancement.”

Mark Driscoll Isn’t My Pastor - First off, this article is neither for or against Mark Driscoll. I’ve read several like it over the years and think it is good to remind ourselves that the preachers we love but don’t know aren’t our pastors.

Work at Remembering - Barnabas Piper offers a great reminder that we need to consciously remember, we need to work at remembering.

2012 Bestsellers - Here are the bestselling Christian books of 2012. Read it and weep. 

Science and St. Helen’s - “St Helen’s Bishopsgate have produced a series of short videos on Science and the Christian named ‘Science - A personal view’. Various scientists from their congregation address common questions and misconceptions outsiders have regarding the gospel.”

God desires to exercise mercy as much as you desire to feel it. —Thomas Manton

Best American Books - If you are into anthologies you may be interested in today’s “Gold Box” deal from Amazon. They’ve got 7 of the “Best American” series marked down to $1.99 for the Kindle. They include anthologies of American mystery stories, essays, short stories, sports writing, and more.

Stand for Life - This interview is well worth watching. John Ensor and Scott Klusendorf interview John Piper and discuss the still and always-urgent topic of abortion.

Triumphs of Grace on the Mission Field - Conrad Mbewe shares some encouragement from some of the pastors he meets with. “Today, eight of the men shared how the year 2012 was in the providence of God. The situations in which these men labour varies. However, it was a source of great joy to hear stories of progress in each church plant. Here are summaries of what they shared with us.”

When You Just Can’t Pray - “Sometimes silence is the best you can do. Maybe you want to pray and just don't know how. Maybe the press of life is so bad that you're not even sure you want to pray. Either way, the prayers won't come. You're stuck. Now what?” (Here’s another article on a similar topic: When He Feels Far Off)

Women in Combat - Denny Burk responds to the news. “Our civilization just took a gigantic leap backward today, though I'm wondering if anyone will notice. Today Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta removed a rule that restricts women from serving in the front lines of combat.”

Facebook Makes Us Miserable - Two years ago I wrote an article titled “Facebook Makes Us Miserable.” Facebook Envy is a new study on Facebook that says the problem persists: “The researchers found that one in three people felt worse after visiting the site and more dissatisfied with their lives, while people who browsed without contributing were affected the most.”

You must keep all earthy treasures out of your heart, and let Christ be your treasure, and let Him have your heart. —C.H. Spurgeon

Pastoral Confidentiality - There have been various articles about pastoral confidentiality. I really appreciate what Tom Ascol says; he seems to strike a healthy balance between the extremes.

Boycotting Companies - R.C. Sproul Jr. answers this question: “Do Christians have a moral obligation to boycott companies that support unbiblical causes?”

D.A. Carson on Complementarianism - Here’s a Q&A with D.A. Carson. He answers questions arising from his thorough argument for the equality of men and women but their different purposes under God. (Here’s a message from the same event.)

Authors and Interviews - Authors or anyone else who is interviewed would do well to read this: “Interviews. They can be enlightening and entertaining. But all too often they’re thoroughly irritating for everyone involved. I know about this from personal experience. After producing radio shows for a number of years, I’ve heard more bad interviews than I’d like to count.”

God Came Down - Kim Shay shares Juanita Stauffer’s story. Stauffer’s teenaged daughter was murdered four years ago and now her mother tells how the Lord sustained the family in that time.

Train Your Kids in Cell Phone Use - “Apart from giving them the Gospel, the single best thing we can do for our kids' college, career, and marriage prospects is to train them to be self-disciplined in their cell phone use.” David offers ten benefits of doing this.

How a Key Works - A short animated gif finally explains it in a way that makes sense.

God loveth the lowest saint more than the highest angel loveth God. —Thomas Manton

Don’t Be Engulfed - This is a brilliant quote on both the allure and danger of so many of our new technologies. It begins this way: “I would suggest that modern technology and entertainment have done great damage to young people's sense of vision and purpose-especially among young men. I'm not anti-technology. But never before in the history of the world has triviality and mind-numbing shallowness been so tantalizingly seductive and so pervasively omnipresent.” (In a similar vein, you may like to read this article by Seth Godin.)

Reading Luther Wisely But Well - I enjoyed reading Carl Trueman’s article on Martin Luther. This line is pure brilliance: “Does it not seem only yesterday that Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion, was being trumpeted by evangelicals as ‘the greatest outreach opportunity of the century’? In retrospect, The Passion surely stands somewhere between A Muppet Christmas Carol and Dave and the Giant Pickle in the honour roll of celluloid contributions to world evangelisation.”

Fierce Women - Fierce Women by Kimberly Wagner has been marked down to $1.99 in the Kindle edition. I haven’t read it, but it comes with endorsements by Carolyn McCulley and Mary Kassian among others.

Our Messy Individualism - There are some very interesting thoughts in this article. “I've been looking into adoption numbers over the last several decades, and there's a general pattern across Australia, the UK, and the US. The numbers and dates are slightly different in each country due to differing legislation, although the overall trends are similar.”

Joy in the Task - This is a little off the beaten path for A La Carte, but interesting nonetheless. “Even the finest restaurants are serving coffee made with capsules. Have we completely lost faith in the human touch?” Turns out those machines crank out pretty good coffee.

A Roomful of Yearning - The New York Times has a powerful article about the awful cost of an affair. “What you don't know, or perhaps what you don't allow yourself to think about, is that your life will become an unbearable mix of yearning and regret because of it. It will be difficult if not impossible to be in any one place with contentment.” (HT)

You Can Change Our Culture’s Mind - From Stand to Reason: “Making the pro-life case is completely within your ability, I promise you. You just need to arm yourself with some information, a game plan, and some tools to help you get started. So I've put together a short list of resources, chosen for their simplicity, clarity, and accessibility.”

Works make not the heart good, but a good heart makes the works good. —Stephen Charnock

In case you missed it on the weekend, Christian Focus has several Kindle deals: J.I. Packer's 18 Words ($2.99); Art Azurdia's Connected Christianity ($2.99); Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Magnify the Lord ($2.99); Alan Stibbs' His Blood Works ($0.99). And don’t forget about Crossway’s long list of titles: What Is the Mission of the Church? by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert ($3.99); Word vs Deed by Duane Liftin ($3.99); Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church by Michael Lawrence ($3.99); Bryan Liftin's trilogy of novels: The Sword, The Gift and The Kingdom ($3.99 each); Sex, Dating and Relationships by Hiestand and Thomas ($3.99); Work Matters by Tom Nelson ($3.99); The Liberal Arts by Gene Fant ($2.99); Community by Brad House ($3.99). Finally, remember that RC Sproul’s Abortion is still free.

A Weapon of Mass Destruction - Aaron Armstrong shares a couple of powerful quotes on abortion from John Ensor. He calls abortion “the greatest weapon of mass destruction ever unleashed” and warns, “Our capacity to simply ignore the influence of abortion is crippling the effectiveness of the gospel.”

9 Things About MLK - Here are 9 things you ought to know about Martin Luther King, Jr.

Not Recommended - Ray Ortlund shares how the Lord provided for them through a difficult time (and why he keeps an old stack of bank deposit slips). “Two years into a three year program (that took four years), our investments failed.  Suddenly, we had no income.  In fact, we were so broke we didn't even have the money to buy plane tickets home and quit.  And my visa did not allow me to work there.”

Grammar Lesson of the Day - Just ignore people who tell you never to begin a sentence with “but.”

Don’t Put the Bible Away - Local pastor Darryl Dash says we open our Bibles during the sermon but they then “stay closed as elders meet to give oversight to the ministry of the church. They stay closed as deacons administer the the church. They stay closed as pastors meet one-on-one with members of the church. They stay closed as committees meet.”

Small numbers make no difference to God. There is nothing small if God is in it. —D.L. Moody

Here are several new $2.99 Kindle ebook deals from Christian Focus: J.I. Packer’s 18 Words; Art Azurdia’s Connected Christianity; Alan Stibbs’ His Blood Works; Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ Magnify the Lord.

Is Anxiety Really Sin? - Julian begins an article on anxiety in this way: “‘Stress’ is not a biblical word. ‘Worry’ and ‘anxiety’ are. And they are sins. That's the thought that started a conversation the other day. Can we actually say that something like anxiety is sin? What makes it a sin? Isn't it just a weakness to be delivered from? Or, rather, shouldn't we conceive of it as a mental illness?”

Ask John Piper - Desiring God relaunches the feature “Ask Pastor John.” “The point of the podcast is to connect more frequently with Pastor John throughout the week and hear his thoughts on the Bible, theology, ministry, and leadership, as well as his answers to theological questions and reactions to current events.”

30 Things - Here are 30 things you may not know about C.S. Lewis.

How God Solved My Grandfather’s Problem - I enjoyed reading this short story of how God solved one man’s seemingly impossible problem.

Digital Tabletalk - Ligonier Ministries has announced that Tabletalk magazine is now available on Kindle Fire, iPad and Android tablets.

Flowers Timelapse - This is a beautiful timelapse video.

We stand in the present but dwell on the past in order that we can be steadfast for the future. —Dale Ralph Davis

He Smelled of Urine and Infection - “Amy Julia Becker recently linked to the story of a couple named Greg and Tesney who adopted a son, Kirill, from Russia. I would say the story of his condition when in Russia was ‘heartbreaking,’ but I would not be doing that word justice.”

$5 Friday - Ligonier Ministries has some great items for sale in their $5 Friday, including R.C. Sproul’s newest book Are We Together? in hardcover (it’s a really good one). There are several other books and teaching series at the same price.

What Pastors Shouldn’t Tell Their Wives - Here’s a follow-up to an article I shared a couple of days ago (that is also linked in the first paragraph of this article). It addresses this question: How much should pastors tell their wives?

Theology and Doxology - I love this! “Theology that doesn't make us sing has failed in its mission, no matter how correct it may be. Worship that doesn't take us deeper into Christ has also failed, no matter how glorious the music or how applicable the sermon.”

No Matter How It Was Conceived - Randy Alcorn addresses a very difficult issue. “What if you found that your spouse or adopted child was fathered by a rapist? Would it change your view of their worth? Would you love them any less? If not, why should we view the innocent unborn child any differently?”

9 Things to Know - Joe Carter tells you 9 things you ought to know about Roe v. Wade.

From a Prison Cell to Planting Churches - Mez McConnell shares his testimony in this video. His new blog 20Schemes is one worth following.

The truths that I know best I have learned on my knees. I never know a thing well, till it is burned into my heart by prayer. —John Bunyan

Guilt Is a Chauffeur - Erik Raymond says that guilt is a chariot meant to drive you to the cross.

My First Arrest - Some of my favorite blogs are those that are written from the mission field. I enjoyed reading this article from a missionary serving in Togo. It describes his first, and hopefully his last, arrest.

Don’t Blame Wayne - “Wayne Dobson doesn’t have your cellphone. Even if it looks like he might. In the past two years the 59-year-old retiree has been pestered by people showing up at all hours of the day and night at his house, demanding their phones. They’ve yelled, shown him evidence, called the police - sworn that their phone is in his house.”

The Rise of Reformed Theology Among African Americans - “Reformed theology is nothing new. So why do more African Americans seem to be adopting it now?” Jemar Tisby offers 5 factors that have contributed.

Blogging Etiquette - This is a worthwhile read for anyone who runs a blog or anyone who comments on one.

Interview with Rosaria Butterfield - Marvin Olasky recently interviewed Rosaria Butterfield, author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert.

If you are idle in Christ’s work, you are active in the devil’s work. —C.H. Spurgeon