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A La Carte (10/5)

A La Carte Collection cover image

Shannon Macfarlane Sproul – Shannon Macfarlane Sproul, daughter of Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. and granddaughter of Dr. R.C. Sproul, went to be with the Lord on Wednesday. She was fifteen years old. Do keep the Sproul family in your prayers, remembering that it was less than a year ago that R.C. Sproul Jr. lost his wife to cancer.

Love Not Lost – Here is a mom’s sweet and faith-laced reflection on loving and losing children: “I learned so much about God during the agonizing times. Ever-present. Life-giving. Faithful. Sovereign. Patient.”

How God Saved an Atheist – This is a powerful little story from the life of Hudson Taylor.

The Hardest Lesson – Randy Alcorn has a few great lines in this article: “Sometimes we make the foolish assumption that our heavenly Father has no right to insist that we trust him unless he makes his infinite wisdom completely understandable to us. What we call the problem of evil is often the problem of our finite and fallen understanding. It was the hardest lesson I’d ever had to learn.”

Here are three articles on sanctification, each of which seems to nicely complement the others:

  • Working to Behold – “We are not transformed, as we strive and work our way toward perfection. We are not transformed as we focus on our own sinfulness. We are transformed uniquely as we look on Christ: his beauty and his righteousness. Because of his holiness, we long to be holy.”
  • God at Work – “A few days ago I was talking with a man whose son has recently come to faith after many rebellious years. He now wants to make up for lost time in his Christian life and has become discouraged with the slow progress of sanctification. He was asking his father the simple question, ‘Why?’”
  • Surface Repairs – “Let us not excuse ourselves on the basis that no-one will see and no-one will know. Let us not imagine that a veneer of behaviour will remove the rottenness beneath. Let us not hope that no one will look too closely and see what is really there. We must delve deep to expose and address what is rotten, for our own sake and the sake of one another.”

This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it.

—Richard Baxter

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    Weekend A La Carte (January 3)

    A La Carte: A quiet life in the culture wars / Welcome to WALL-E’s world / How not to fall away / As far as it depends on you / When you get nothing out of your devotions / Choose your kingdom / and more.

  • Rise with the Sun

    If You’re at CROSS Conference (Or Wish You Were)

    If you are one of the young adults attending CROSS, or if you are in that demographic but were unable to attend, I want to make the 12-episode documentary available to you for free. It was filmed in 12 countries and allows you to experience worship in each of them.

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (January 2)

    A La Carte: Today’s thoughts become tomorrow’s habits / You will never reach your potential / Grieving with hope / After deconstruction, what? / What is the fruit of self-control? / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A Very “Happy New Year” A La Carte

    A La Carte: Goal setting for people with actual lives / You have time to read the Bible / The only guarantee for 2026 / Audiobook sale / Holding true today prepares us for tomorrow / A year of impossible things / Tons of Kindle deals.

  • Lists

    A Year-End Roundup of Roundups

    ‘Tis the time of year to consider the year that was. For bloggers, this usually involves a roundup of the most popular articles and favorite books. To that end, here is a roundup of my various roundups!