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A La Carte (April 18)

Today’s Kindle deals include three books you might like to check out.

Westminster Books has a deal on a solid new resource on worship.

(Yesterday on the blog: Christians, Mentors, and Mentoring)

God’s Metrics

“God’s metrics are not our metrics. The way in which we seek to measure fruitfulness and faithfulness is often quite skewed. No one understood the issue of faithfulness and fruitfulness so well as the great Apostle Paul. In 1 Corinthians 3, he first explained the nature of a fruitful Gospel ministry by drawing off of the farming metaphor”

Why Do Many Historic Buildings in The UK Have Bricked Up Windows?

I had often wondered about this. “There was a time in Great Britain when having windows in homes and buildings were prohibitively expensive. That time began in 1696 with the introduction of the much-despised window tax, that levied tax on property owners based on the number of windows or window-like openings the property had. The details of the tax kept changing with time, but the basic premise was that the more windows the house had, the more tax the owner had to pay.”

The Design Tricks That Get You Hooked on Your Phone (Video)

“Feel like you have to always use your phone? You’re not the only one – technology companies use psychological tricks to get you hooked to your phone.” It’s good to know about them.

Church Life: Our True Political Witness

There is a new issue of the 9Marks Journal available for reading online or free download.

Racial Reconciliation: What We (Mostly, Almost) All Agree On, and What We (Likely) Still Don’t Agree On

Kevin DeYoung tries to bring clarity to the confusion.

How to Save Your Privacy From the Internet’s Clutches

Here are some simple and some not-so-simple ways to protect yourself from the internet.

10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity

Here is the first of these 10 commandments of progressive Christianity. “Jesus is a model for living more than an object of worship.”

Flashback: What We Gained When We Lost Our Hymnals

When our churches turned away from hymnals to instead sing lyrics projected on a screen, here is some of what we gained.

God’s promises are longer than life, broader than sin, deeper than the grave, and higher than the clouds.

—C.H. Spurgeon

  • I Regret to Inform You That Heaven Tourism Is Back

    I Regret to Inform You That Heaven Tourism Is Back

    I regret to inform you, dear reader, that heaven tourism is back. The genre possibly never went away entirely, but it did at least disappear from the bestseller lists for several years. Sadly, it has returned in Gabe Poirot’s 18 Days in Heaven.

  • A La Carte (November 6)

    Don’t despise the red flags / Your thoughts are shaping your life / Can’t you just love everyone? / Selfies are not the self: forming embodied youth in a disembodied age / Effective altruists and the spreadsheet gospel / 4 Applications for the order of love—from the home to the ends of the earth /…

  • A La Carte (November 5)

    When you feel guilty about your giving / The missing piece in John Mark Comer’s quiet time / A manifesto for phone-free church / The pull of Rome / 4 Misconceptions about spiritual warfare / Slouching toward Narnia / Kindle deals, and more

  • A Daring Suggestion for Netflix

    A Daring Suggestion for Netflix

    Netflix appears to have fallen on hard times and I have some suggestions that I’d like to think would help it: cut the sex, nudity, and profanity, and gain back the viewers it’s long been alienating.

  • A La Carte (November 4)

    Can I love my enemies while addressing wrongs and protecting myself? / Is missions too costly for kids? / Don’t stock the pantry with temptation / Churches face a shortage of worship leaders / AI brought a mathematician to Ecclesiastes / Discerning between godly and worldly grief / Harvest in fearful times / and more.

  • This Week in Christian Books

    This Week in Christian Books (November 3, 2026)

    Tuesday is the day most publishers release their new books. Here is a look at the Christian books that came our way this week, including Prodigal Culture, Scroll Less Live More, and a graphic novel of Pilgrim’s Progress.