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A La Carte (3/31)

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I am in Grand Rapids today, at the Author Lounge here at Zondervan. I’m surrounded by hundreds of copies of my book, each of which is awaiting a signature. Strange stuff, this. It’s a rather odd feeling to be surrounded by copies of your own book. Uncomfortable.

Slander – In this rather emotional interview, Rob Bell says that other Christians have slandered him. It always amazes me how quickly the criminal becomes the victim–how the person who sins so quickly tried to deflect the attention away from himself.

Why Canadians Shop in the US – I enjoyed this article since I’m a Canadian who lives near to the US border and who has been known (occasionally) to do some shopping over there.

Economics – Calvin & Hobbes on America’s economic issues.

Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly offers a review of my book. “As we ‘approach a frontier,’ Challies cautions readers to consider potential behavioral changes before they are written into our history. While he does not draw definitive conclusions, the questions he poses will give readers necessary pause and help them to take a careful look at technology’s place in their lives.”

Hard to Measure – John Knight: “In the pile of papers I referenced yesterday were some old test scores. Since Paul attends public schools, they assess his educational progress as mandated by various federal and state bodies. The things they want to measure, he can’t do. His scores on reading, reading comprehension, math, math concepts and the like were as low as you can score and still be breathing.”

God is more interested in our holiness than in our comfort. He more greatly delights in the integrity and purity of his church than in the material well-being of its members. He shows himself more clearly to men and women who enjoy him and obey him than to men and women whose horizons revolve around good jobs, nice houses, and reasonable health. He is far more committed to building a corporate “temple’ in which his Spirit dwells than he is in preserving our reputations. He is more vitally disposed to display his grace than to flatter our intelligence. He is more concerned for justice than for our ease. He is more deeply committed to stretching our faith than our popularity. He prefers that his people live in disciplined gratitude and holy joy rather than in pushy self-reliance and glitzy happiness. He wants us to pursue daily death, not self-fulfillment, for the latter leaders to death, while the former leads to life. –D.A. Carson


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