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A La Carte (10/26)

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Pastors Who Write Books – Here is some good advice from Barnabas Piper for pastors who want to write books of the sermon series. “When I receive proposals for books or book ideas from pastors I often get something like this as an accompanying comment: “I am the pastor of a X,000-person church, and based on their response to this message I think there is a large demand for this material.” This seems like a reasonable assertion. 80% of the congregation loved the messages, therefore a large percentage of like-minded Christians will also like the message. Unfortunately there is almost no correlation between what a pastor’s congregation thinks of his sermons and the audience size when that is turned into a book. “

Evangelistic Prayer Meeting – My friend Paul does evangelism on the streets of Toronto and writes about some of his experiences. Yesterday’s post models a way to engage in spiritual conversation.

The All-Digital Library – “Two years ago, Cushing Academy of Ashburnham, MA made a bold move when it got rid of Fisher-Watkins Library’s 40,000 books and replaced them with electronic sources. During the overhaul all resources were converted to digital formats, and the library’s Web site was redesigned to provide students and faculty with online resources and tools on a 24/7 basis.”

Hermeneutical Hall Passes – “Have you ever read the New Testament and wondered if the apostles would have passed a contemporary hermeneutics course? Sure, the apostles quoted and alluded to the Old Testament. But carefully considering the original context wasn’t very high on the apostolic priority list. Or was it?”

There Is No Sin That I Have Done – Here’s a new hymn that speaks of some great truths.

How Sermons Work – This commerical for David Murray’s new book is really, really clever.

The primary test of life is not service but love, both for man and God.

—William Still

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    A La Carte (October 8)

    A La Carte: A Christian response to polygamy, incest, and pedophilia / 10 diagnostic questions for you and your spouse / neither despair nor blind optimism / To confront or to cover / Did Jesus lie to his brothers? / Huge book and commentary sales!

  • What Is “The End” of Religious Liberty?

    This week, the blog is sponsored by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. This article is adapted from Jason G. Duesing’s chapel message, “A Portrait of the End of Religious Liberty,” given during the Spring 2024 semester at Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College. You can watch the full message here.   The beautiful hymn in Philippians 2 tells of the humbling, sacrifice,…

  • We All Want More of God

    We All Want More of God

    We all want more of God. Anyone who professes to be a Christian will acknowledge a sense of sorrow and disappointment when they consider how little they know of God and how little they experience of his presence. Every Christian or Christianesque tradition acknowledges this reality and offers a means to address it.

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    A La Carte (October 7)

    A La Carte: Lighten my load or strengthen my back / Why Gen Z men are staying in church / Do hurricanes just happen? / Failure happens slowly before it happens suddenly / A tale of two wisdoms / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Breadth and Depth

    Breadth and Depth

    One of the key principles of properly understanding and applying the Bible is this: Scripture interprets Scripture. Christians sometimes speak of “the analogy of faith” to express the fact that we have properly understood one part of the Bible only when we have interpreted it in the context of the whole Bible.

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    Weekend A La Carte (October 5)

    A La Carte: Reminders for parents of wayward children / Those who make them become like them / Suicide pods and the trivialization of death / Thoughts on pastors’ pay / What does it mean to preach Christ? / and more.