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A La Carte (7/26)

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The Trellis and the Vine – The paperback edition of The Trellis and the Vine is now out and Westminster Books has it for sale at half price. It is an excellent book and as close to a must-read as they get. Buy one for yourself and one for your pastor!

The Good Christian Girl – I like the beginning and middle of this article more than the end, but either way it still has some good and interesting things to say about loading young women with expectations. “Once there was a good Christian girl who dreamed of growing up, getting married, and having children. She read all the right books and did all the right things. She read about how she was a princess in God’s sight and how he wanted the very best for her. She committed herself to sexual purity, to high standards, and to waiting for the good Christian man that God was going to bring her.”

Humbled(?) Haggard – You knew this was going to happen sooner rather than later. “The Rev. Ted Haggard stood at a pulpit made from stacked buckets one recent Sunday and announced his resurrection.” Notable bits from the story: “He acknowledged grave lapses of judgment in the episode he refers to as ‘my crisis.’ But Mr. Haggard also said that in his sorrow and shame, he accepted too much guilt after the scandal broke. ‘I over-repented,’ he said.” And “Mr. Haggard, who said he draws a weekly salary of $300 from St. James, said he founded the church as an act of humble repentance, because it forces him continually to confront his sin.”

A One-Pixel Sun – This graphic (which takes a while to load) starts with the sun being a single pixel and shows the relative size of some of the other stars in the universe.

New Calvinism – R.C. Sproul was recently featured in the Orlando Sentinel. “At 71, Sproul is one of the old guard in what’s known as the ‘New Calvinism’ movement, which Time magazine identified in 2009 as one of the ’10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now.’ Sproul has influenced a generation of younger conservative evangelists and this month announced the creation of a Bible college on his Sanford compound that could extend his influence for generations.”

Sketchy Characters – How accurate are police sketches? Here’s a round-up. The results are, well, not so good.

Information Overload – Here’s an old video where Ted Koppel discusses an issue that is still relevant.


  • Disrupted Journey

    Disrupted Journey

    I am convinced it is appropriate to acknowledge those who bear with chronic pain and illness and that it is especially fitting to give special honor to do those who do so with a deep sense of submission to God’s mysterious purposes in their suffering. But if that’s true, I believe it is also appropriate…

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    A La Carte (March 7)

    A La Carte: Anora and Andrew Tate / The other side of the pew / The myth of the easy answer / Are Christians happier? / Shared meals / Gentle and holy / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (March 6)

    A La Carte: Mystic at heart / The complexities of Bible translation / Pastors are not political pundits / The workism trap / Virtues gone mad / Book and Kindle deals / and more.

  • My Son Would Be 25 Years Old Today

    Nick Would Be 25 Years Old Today

    I don’t why we place more emphasis on some birthdays than others. Why is 16 more significant than 17? Why are multiples of 5 more significant than multiples of 4 or 6? I don’t who decides these things or on what basis, but I suppose 25 is significant because it marks a quarter of a…

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    A La Carte (March 5)

    A La Carte: When U.S.-Canadian tensions run high / Before you cut off your parents / Christian Nationalism / Praying for an unmet desire / Preaching from brokenness / Recruiting and caring for volunteers / and more.

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    A La Carte (March 4)

    A La Carte: A case study of tribalism / Women pastors / Daughter or daughter-in-law / Life and death / John Piper on being God’s enemy / For God and country / and more.