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A La Carte (6/14)

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16 Ways to Find a Wife – This article from the Westminster Seminary blog outlines 16 ways to find a way according to the Bible. It’s pretty funny. For example, there’s the ultra-romantic “Find an attractive prisoner of war, bring her home, shave her head, trim her nails, and give her new clothes. Then she’s yours. (Deut. 21:11-13)”

Barna’s Statistics – I like Mike’s take on Barna and his statistics. “A new study shows that 100% of Barna statistics are skewed to lend credibility to his anti-church bias. … I am not doubting that we can gain some benefit from Barna research and that some of it is actually legit and could be helpful. However, I have become very leery of accepting anything that Barna throws at us.”

The Social Network Gospel – This is interesting to consider: “Lamar Vest, president and CEO of the American Bible Society (ABS), says we’re witnessing ‘a revival of Bible engagement. For too long we have judged our effectiveness by the number of Bibles distributed. We are determined to no longer judge our effectiveness by tonnage but by impact.’”

Care or Counsel? – I appreciate the reasoning here: “In the fall of 2011, I (Robert Cheong) made a strategic decision to replace the word ‘counsel’ with ‘care’ within our church culture.”

The Nowness of Obedience – Desiring God continues their excellent series on “Grace at Home” with a reflection on obedience. “Have you ever noticed that obedience is actually only possible in the present?”

Free eBooks – Monergism has a growing collection of excellent, free ebooks, including one by John Piper that they’ve just added.

He that is down needs fear no fall, He that is low, no pride.

—John Bunyan

  • Southern Africa

    A Trip to Southern Africa

    I don’t often write trip reports after I travel, except, of course, in the form of books and documentary projects like Epic and From the Rising of the Sun. Yet, I thought I would make a rare exception after returning from my recent journey to Southern Africa (and, strangely, Northern California). While I am accustomed…

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    A La Carte (December 10)

    A La Carte: Top 10 theology stories of 2025 / Mama, you don’t have to save Christmas / Giving up all your Sundays to advent / An empty chair at Christmas / Pray for the church in Rwanda / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (December 9)

    A La Carte: Reforming generosity / Let the young man come to church / Your wife is beauty / Combating imposter syndrome / Be known, not impressive / Dan McClellan / and more.

  • AI Slop

    The Rise of AI Book Slop

    We often hear these days of “AI slop,” a term that’s used to refer to the massive amounts of poor-quality AI-created material that is churned out and unceremoniously dumped onto the internet. This was once primarily artistless artwork and authorless articles, but has now advanced to much bigger and more substantial forms of content.

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    A La Carte (December 8)

    A La Carte: A plea to older women / Let someone serve you in suffering / Why AI writing can’t compete / Influencers / The hidden danger in online sermons / Discipling young people / Excellent Kindle deals / and more.

  • Hymns

    Pitch Perfect and Tone Deaf

    God commands us to sing. Yet while some of God’s people are gifted singers, the plain fact is that others are not. In any congregation, it’s likely that some have near-perfect pitch while others are functionally tone-deaf. Those who struggle to sing may be self-conscious, tempted to stay quiet or to do no more than…