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A La Carte (12/2)

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The Country Parson
Tim Keller: “Young pastors or seminarians often ask me for advice on what kind of early ministry experience to seek in order to best grow in skill and wisdom as a pastor. They often are surprised when I tell them to consider being a ‘country parson’ — namely, the solo pastor of a small church, many or most of which are in non-urban settings. Let me quickly emphasize the word ‘consider.’ I would never insist that everyone must follow this path. Nevertheless, it is worth thinking about. It was great for me.”


Free Audio Book
This month’s free audio book at ChristianAudio is The Brothers Karamazov. You and I both know you’d never read it, so why not download it and listen to it?


Google Zeitgeist 2009
Google maintains its annual tradition of releasing the year’s Zietgeist report. “Another year has come and gone, and as always, we’re taking a moment to look back at the happenings of 2009–the people, events and memories that made this year unique. Each year, we examine the billions of queries that people around the world have typed into Google search to discover the zeitgeist–the spirit of the times. As we welcome the new year, we hope you enjoy this glimpse at the past.”


Patriarch
WORLD has a profile on J.I. Packer. They break the news that in the future Packer may release a systematic theology.


NEXT 2010
NEXT has just released information about their 2010 conference (including the speaker list which, as always, is excellent).


  • ESV Expository Commentary

    The Best Complete Commentary Set for any Christian

    Those who are serious about collecting commentaries will almost invariably say that it is better to think in terms of individual volumes than complete series. And I agree: it is generally better to focus on acquiring the top three or four commentaries on each book of the Bible than to focus on collecting complete series.…

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    A La Carte (December 17)

    A La Carte: Marketing as stewardship / Intercultural humor / Freedom in devotions / When people leave your church / Calvinistic gospel partnerships / Sentimentality / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (December 16)

    A La Carte: The Scopes trial at 100 / How do we measure maturity? / A pogrom on Bondi Beach / Are Evangelicals obsessed with sex? / Do the next thing / Book sales / and more.

  • Service

    You Are in the Circumstances in Which You Can Best Serve

    There are times when we all find ourselves lamenting our circumstances. These may be times in which we grieve life’s losses or suffer life’s indignities, or these may be times in which we grapple with the frustrations that come with life in this world—when our skills are underutilized, or our contributions are underappreciated.

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    A La Carte (December 15)

    A La Carte: Blood soaks into the sand of Bondi Beach / This year’s biggest religious trend / The best Christian music of 2025 / The challenges this Christmas / Micromanaging your habits / Notable Kindle deals / and more.

  • A Moving Picture of the Gospel

    A Moving Picture of the Gospel

    As we gather on Sundays, we preach the Bible, read the Bible, pray the Bible, and sing the Bible. But that is not all, for we also “see” the Bible. Here’s how Mark Dever expresses it: “The ordinances are the dramatic presentations of the gospel. They are the moving pictures that represent the spiritual realities…