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A La Carte (2/13)

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5 Things a Daughter Needs to Hear – Daniel Darling: “There is something about having a daughter that softens a man, adds a certain tenderness to his soul. In that spirit, I’d like to share five things every daughter needs to hear from her father”

Downton Abbey – Matthew Miller provides a compelling take on Downton Abbey. “I’m willing to concede that Downton has definite strengths–I have taken the time to watch a little over two seasons, after all–but my overall evaluation of the show is getting progressively more negative with each new episode. To explain why, I need to go back to Jane Austen.”

The Greatest of All Protestant Heresies – Sinclair Ferguson looks at church history and asks, “What is the greatest of all Protestant heresies? Perhaps justification by faith? Perhaps Scripture alone, or one of the other Reformation watchwords?” His answer may surprise you.

Center Church – Jonathan Leeman has a very long, very helpful review of Tim Keller’s Center Church. He recommends that you read the book, but also recommends that you first tear out a couple of chapters.

10 Foolish Obstacles – “God chose the foolishness of Gospel preaching to save them that believe. The Gospel message is foolishness to the world. But so is the Gospel medium – preaching. And he did it knowing that this method of communication would upset many people and cause them to find many foolish reasons for not listening. Some of the foolish obstacles I’ve come across (in myself and others) are…”

Men in general do not live as if they looked to die; and therefore do not die as if they looked to live.

—Thomas Manton

  • The Collected Best Christian Books of 2024

    The Collected Best Books of 2025

    I probably don’t need to tell you how much I love books in general, and Christian books in particular. One of my favorite times to be a reader is in mid-December when people begin to share their picks for the top books of the year. I collect all of the lists written by sites or…

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    A La Carte (December 22)

    A La Carte: The new David movie / The ghost of Christmas never / It isn’t night for the moon / Evangelism targets / Made in God’s image / What Jesus came to do / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Pastoral Prayer

    A Pastoral Prayer

    Our Father in Heaven, we are gathered here this morning like children gathered before the feet of their father. We want to begin this new day with you. We want to begin this new week with you. Before we do anything, before we go anywhere, before we engage in work, school, or even play, we…

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    Weekend A La Carte (December 20)

    A La Carte: How the West became pagan / Confronting an unspeakable truth / Freebirth in the age of hospitals / Sorrows keep getting more sorrowful / You may not see the fruit of your ministry / and more.t

  • Addiction

    Addiction and the Local Church

    Of all the pastoral issues a church can face, I think one of the trickiest may be addiction. In theory, churches are eager to provide a safe and welcoming environment for current or recovering addicts. Yet in reality, churches often feel ignorant and poorly equipped to deal with the reality of addicts and addictions and…