Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (5/11)

A La Carte Collection cover image

I was doing a phone interview last night and had a rather awkward moment. I was in the basement and as I was answering a question, I spotted a hamster in the window well, trying to get into our house (or get out of the window well). I hadn’t expected that. When the interview wrapped up, I managed to track down its grateful and relieved owner (who lives 2 doors down). End of story.

More Friends Online – This seems rather significant. “There really is something in that lingering suspicion that most users of social networking sites have more friends in cyberspace than reality.The average person has in fact double the amount of online friends than physical ones.”

Underage Facebook Users – I am often asked in interviews how we should train our children to use social media responsibly. Here’s a good place to start: don’t cheat the system and get them a Facebook account before they are old enough to legitimately have one. And yet there are currently 7.5 million Facebook users who are underage (who have lied or whose parents have lied to get them an account).

Starbucks, Vocation and the Mundane – Here are some interesting thoughts from Matt Perman about vocation.

Unspoken Truths – As cancer ravages his body, Christopher Hitchens is finding his voice leaving him. You can’t help but pity the man; you can’t help but pray for him.

The ‘Education’ Mantra – “One of the sad and dangerous signs of our times is how many people are enthralled by words, without bothering to look at the realities behind those words.” Ain’t that the truth! Thomas Sowell writes about “education” and how it is one of those words.

Thriving at College – Speaking of education, my friend Alex Chediak wants you (or your kids or your grand kids) to thrive at college. And that just happens to be the title of his new book. Here is a very positive review of it.

The King’s English – Now this is pretty clever. This video ties into a unique blog effort. In honor of the 400th anniversary of the King James Version, this blogger “will blog on a phrase each day that has passed into common parlance: popular phrases like ‘labour of love’, ‘beast of burden’, ‘wits’ end’ and ‘scapegoat’; but also phrases that should be more popular, like ‘filthy lucre’ and ‘gird up thy loins’.” (see http://kingsenglish.info/)

We spend our years with sighing; it is a valley of tears; but death is the funeral of all our sorrows.

—Thomas Watson

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (April 23)

    The risk of persecution / The West’s strange genius / Our best years are ahead / Hope in the face of death / Keep the Christian calendar / The grief I did not know / Book reviews / Gen Alpha / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 22)

    Aspire to be lay elders / A mundane life is a courageous life / Aim high, repent often / The problem with deaconism / What are you angry about today? / An original poem / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 21)

    The cage stage in the digital age / When did Christian music all become worship music? / Why AI worship feels empty / Grace through discipline / The messy, glorious church / Trivia / and more.

  • Church Camera

    Preaching for the Viral Video

    Is it possible to preach faithfully to a congregation while also preaching for the viral clip? This article explores the incompatibility of social-media-first preaching with genuine pastoral ministry.