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A La Carte (5/6)

A La Carte Collection cover image

Consumer Debt Is Not Your Friend – Seth Godin explains why you need to get out of debt (or better yet, not get there in the first place).

Deacons Are Shock Absorbers – Thabiti’s got a roundup of the content from the latest edition of the 9Marks eJournal (which looks particularly helpful this time around).

Why Words Matter in Worship – Stephen Altrogge, who recently shared some ways to write really bad worship songs, responds to this common belief: “What matters most in a worship song is the heart behind the song. If it comes from a person’s heart and is a sincere act of worship, then it’s a good worship song.”

How Expositional Preaching Protects Pastors – “During the second T4G panel discussion Mark Dever and Al Mohler discussed evangelism, preaching, and the hesitancy among some Christians to speak openly on tough subjects like God’s judgment. The conversation moves from evangelism to a discussion of how expositional preaching helps steady the preacher against the temptation to avoid tough topics.” Tony Reinke provides a transcript.

What Happens When You Don’t Obey “Be Fruitful and Multiply” – “Japan had fewer youngsters celebrating Children’s Day for the 29th straight year Wednesday, highlighting concerns that the country may face difficulty finding enough workers and taxpayers to support a rapidly aging population.” (HT:Z)

I Can Only Imagine – In this review of the latest album from MercyMe i noticed an interesting fact: Their song “I Can Only Imagine” was recently awarded platinum status in the digital domain for 1 million downloads, a first in Christian music.

The Jesus Cookie – It’s delicious, I’m sure. But what exactly is the purpose of the Jesus Cookie?


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (July 27)

    A La Carte: Godly living vs God-like ambitions / A glorious competition for every marriage / “Scarlet Thread” (a new song) / How the cross reveals the truth about who God is / Are you a good chef with your words? / Kevin DeYoung on a shift in church-state relations / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (Matthias Media)

    This week the blog and the giveaway have been sponsored by Matthias Media. Matthias Media is hosting Evangelize 2024 in Denver, Colorado on October 7-9, 2024. We have partnered with 10ofThose, Calvary Family of Churches and Vinegrowers to help you raise the evangelistic temperature at your church. We want to motivate and equip people to…

  • When Christians Disagree

    When Christians Disagree

    Wouldn’t it be nice if Christians only ever got along? Wouldn’t it be grand if all the discord we see in the world around us was completely foreign to the church? Wouldn’t it be heavenly if believers ever only experienced peace? I suppose it would be heavenly and, therefore, more than we can realistically hope…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (July 26)

    A La Carte: Therapy and bug men / How to have joy in hard times / Can a single pastor date in his church? / Life from barren ground / Shulamith Firestone was a prophet / Different ways of reading people we disagree with / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (July 25)

    A La Carte: What does it mean to die with dignity? / Did Paul endorse slavery? / Forgiveness in marriage / 5 ways to pursue contentment / The immense value of encouragement / and more.

  • Maybe We Make Meditation Too Difficult

    Maybe We Make Meditation Too Difficult

    Of all the Christian disciplines, it is my guess that meditation may be the least practiced—though I suppose fasting might have something to say about that. Most people diligently make time to read the Bible and pray. And yet, while most people have good intentions when it comes to meditation, it so often seems to…