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A La Carte (9/6)

A La Carte Collection cover image

I Don’t Remember Chemistry – I appreciate Stephen Altrogge’s thoughts here. “Is it possible we’re setting the bar too high for ourselves and our children? That maybe we’re getting a little carried away? And that maybe, just maybe, we’re going beyond what God requires of us as parents?”

New Look at the Prince of Preachers – I am enjoying Tom Nettles’ new biography of Charles Spurgeon. The Gospel Coalition recently interviewed him about Spurgeon and about the book.

The Ache of Mortality – “In the sweet seasons, the ache is bittersweet; time is moving along, and we’ll never return to the goodness that is right now. In the dark or painful seasons, the seasons of waiting, the awareness that life is quickly passing is all the more acute because lingering within is that question: When, Lord? How long, Lord?”

All His Breakers and His Waves – Jared Wilson: “Our little church is feeling a little beat up right now. What is God doing? … But I feel (fear?) that God is seasoning us. I mean, I know he is. I know what suffering is for. I’ve had my own. God crushing me was honestly the best thing he ever did for me. But I feel protective right now. And overwhelmed. The caregivers in our community — which is most of our community — are running on fumes. We feel unprepared, incapable, dumb.”

How to Criticize a Preacher – We all want to criticize a preacher sooner or later. David Murray offers some tips on doing it well.

It is almost as presumptuous to think you can do nothing as to think you can do everything.

—Phillips Brooks

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (April 27)

    A La Carte: How to talk to your teens about Taylor Swift’s new album / Soft discipleship / Why doesn’t God make his existence more evident? / Three ways God is working through your suffering / Jesus didn’t come to make any nation great / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (21Five)

    This week the blog is sponsored by 21Five, a new Canadian Christian bookstore. In recent years, many Christian bookstores across Canada have closed their physical and online doors. This is disappointing for believers, as many of the best products come from abroad and can be costly or complicated for Canadians to bring home. There are…

  • New and Notable Books

    New and Notable Christian Books for April 2024

    It is surprisingly difficult to find a list of Christian books that have been released in any given month—especially if you want that list to be filtered by books released through particular publishers. That’s one of the reasons why I close each month by coming up with my list of New and Notable books. I…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (April 26)

    A La Carte: The parable of Kanye West / Biden’s new regulation reinforces transgender “orthodoxy” / 12 wonderful responsibilities God has given to women / Slow happiness / What I wish the church would understand about disability / Discerning true repentance from fake / Book and Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (April 25)

    A La Carte: For everything there is a seasoning / Influencer culture is toxic for teenagers / The death of attention and loss of our ability to listen / Evangelism in ordinary life / On using wine in communion / And more.

  • Optimistic Denominationalism

    Optimistic Denominationalism

    It is one of the realities of the Christian faith that people love to criticize—the reality that there are a host of different denominations and a multitude of different expressions of Christian worship. We hear it from skeptics: If Christianity is true and if it really changes people, then why can’t you get along? We…