Thursday August 24, 2006

Theology: Nathan Busenitz quotes John MacArthur who says that everyone is a dispensationalist. “Everybody is a dispensationalist, everybody. I dont care who they are in theology, theyre dispensational. It’s only a question of how many you have. Let me show you why.”

Feminism: I remember wannabe feminists in my high school trumpeting the annual “Take Back The Night” marches. Well, now apparently these marches are being geared for men as well since men are even more likely to be victimes of nighttime violence. Fox reports.

Children: “Christianity Today” has a list of suggestions for helping children sit through a church service. Some of them are quite good and are surely better than the oft-used tactic of brute force.

Church: And speaking of CT, it has an article about America’s youngest megachurch pastor. “With a Matt Damon smile, short-sleeve button-up shirts — no tie — and an aw-shucks demeanor, Platt seems to put an audience at ease, then stuns them with his apparent near-memorization of the New Testament.”

Tuesday August 23, 2006

Literature: Dr. Mohler discusses “The Tragic End of Children’s Literature” and the “Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature.” “The anthology reflects the new postmodern ethos in which ‘the distinction between heroes and villains is often blurred.’ No kidding. As a matter of fact, there are very few heroic figures left.”

Music: Alex Chediak has an article on the moral neutrality of musical genres. “God or the devil can be glorified by classical music, depending on whether it is produced and enjoyed by hearts that prize God or hearts that prize human achievement or self-reliance.”

Canadiana: “The Calgary Sun” has a spooky article about a Christian who was arrested for praying in public. “Maybe if Artur Pawlowski had been holding a flag of the outlawed terrorist organization Hezbollah, Calgary Police would have left him alone.”

Culture: Joe Carter has an interesting article entitled “Pop Semiotics:Whore and Pimp Chic.”

Tuesday August 22, 2006

Culture: Here is one from the “of course” file: Sexy Music Lyrics Prompt Teens to Have Sex. “The more teens listened to degrading sexual music content, the more likely they were to subsequently initiate intercourse and progress in [other], noncoital activity,” Martino and colleagues report. “These music effects held, even though 18 other predictors of sexual behavior were taken into account.”

Humor: Phillip Bethancourt linked to a humorous chart created by Randy Stinson, dean of the Leadership School at Southern Seminary.

Web: “Light Along The Journey” has a glowing and encouraging review of Discerning Reader. “Hundreds of reviews, well-designed site, why go anywhere else?”

Monday August 21, 2006

Bible: ESV blog has a roundup of Tony Reinke’s successful attempt to build his own blank Bible patterned after Jonathan Edwards’ similar Bible.

Humor: Nathan Busenitz shows once again the danger inherent in allowing just anyone to own a copy of Photoshop. This time, he has created a list of his favorite slightly revised book covers.

Du Jour This was posted last week by Phil Johnson. It is an excellent, must-read article entitled “Regarding Guilt by Association.” Great stuff.

Humor Bonus: The Riddleblog has a funny list of “You know you’re not Reformed if…”

Wednesday August 16, 2006

I am on vacation this week. A La Carte will return when I return on the 21st of August.

Wednesday August 9, 2006

Theology: JD Wetterling has a good article introducing his forthcoming book “No One…” which has just been released by Christian Focus Publications. “I pray that our merciful God will speak to you in the pages of this book. If you or someone you love cannot see the kingdom of God, I pray that Christ’s crystal clear “No one…” declarations will, through the power of the Holy Spirit, do a miraculous work, and grace will give you or your loved one a joy that No one can take away (John 16:22b).” The book even has an endorsement by yours truly!

Anniversary: My wife and I celebrated our eighth anniversary yesterday. A hopeless romantic, I bought her something she declared the best anniversary gift I’ve ever gotten her: The first season DVD of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” I got her some chocolate too, which I hope redeems me.

Du Jour: Carolyn McCulley tenderly answers a letter from a single woman who feels she just cannot go on without a relationship.

Video: This is an exceptionally entertaining video. I have no idea what they’re singing about because I was too busy watching them. This is great entertainment!

Tuesday August 8, 2006

Photography: Tony at “The Shepherd’s Scrapbook” shares a series of photos he snapped of the Princeton Cemetary.

Prayer: Justin Taylor has collected a couple of prayers for seminaries. He asks, “Have you prayed for the seminaries today?”

Celebrity: In case you haven’t already heard, the current issue of “Newsweek” features quite a long article on Billy Graham. Is it just me or is he getting increasingly wishy-washy on the issue of universalism?

Video: Two videos, actually. The first shows what may well be the world’s most expensive pile-up. The second is the still and always hilarious “Mr. Bean Goes To Church.”

Monday August 7, 2006

Du Jour: In a particularly interesting article, Phil Johnson answers the question of why the emerging conversation is going nowhere.

Blog: Aaron, who runs Theopedia (the Christian-focuses answer to Wikipedia), has begun a new blog at theopedia.wordpress.com/. “The Theopedia blog seeks to serve the church as a resource for theological study and discussion. This blog will host commentaries on current issues as well as short articles on theology, church history, biographies, etc. in hopes of informing and encouraging its readers. ”

Announcement: Eric and Jenny Schumacher have announced the birth of Elijah Ames. Congratulations to the Schumacher family!

Sermon: Matt at What Else Floats blogged about the sermon John Piper preached upon returning from his lengthy sabbatical. “We just returned from worship at Bethlehem, all together on one site in the parking lot in Mounds View. Our pastor, John Piper, preached God’s Word to us for the first time in nearly 6 months after returning from his writing sabbatical in England.”

Photography: Carla snapped a great photo of a storm that was featured on the web site of a local news station.

Friday August 4, 2006

Eschatology: Jason of Fide-O fame, having recently adopted an amillennial understanding of the end times, has written an article explaining this viewpoint. He also lists many highly-regarded Christians who share the belief.

Evangelism: John R. Sittema has an interesting article entitled “Popeye, Evangelism, and the Reformed Faith.” He “offers some practical thoughts on evangelism
and why reformed people have such difficulties with it.”

Humor: A reader of this site, David, sends along “the ultimate boss key” for the internet surfing office worker. Workfriendly will copy the contents of a web page to what looks like Microsoft Word. It’s amazing how much time people will invest in brilliant responses to sinful desires!

Blogging: Is it just me, or is the blogosphere pretty quiet these days? I suppose summer is coming to an end for many Americans and perhaps they are distracted with real life. Either way, it has been a tad difficult gathering A La Carte items!

Thursday August 3, 2006

Church: Lisa links to an article about “Days of the Dead” at Cornerstone “Christian” Youth Camp. While the article is perhaps a little dramatic, it contains some rather startling information.

Humor: Nathan Busenitz, Personal Assistant to John MacArthur, began my Wednesday with a “LOL” moment by sending me this link to a cover of “Preaching Illustrated” covering the big Piper-MacArthur trade.

Theology: Mark at “A Spot of Blogger” is writing a series on the subject of universalism.

Mormons: John DiVito has an interesting link to an article discussing Mormon missions (and those white-shirted guys who knock on your door every year or two). “While many missionaries have friends who are enjoying college life, young elders and sisters are asked to knock on strangers’ doors teaching church doctrine or volunteer in the community 62 to 64 hours a week.”

Abortion: This rates as one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen in a long time. “Ms. Magazine” is asking American women to sign a petition proudly proclaiming they have had an abortion. They are also looking for money for their “Reproductive Freedom Fund.” Since when is abortion reproduction?