Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (April 26)

tuesday

The God of love and peace be with you today.

Westminster Books is doing some spring cleaning which means they have some really good deals for you.

There are quite a few more Kindle deals to consider today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Why Do Billionaires Want to Live Forever?)

What We Need is Power

Jared Wilson: “Should we go into God’s inerrant, infallible, inspired word looking only for things to do, we will come away with God’s good instructions for the good life but without the power to actually do them. The power to obey does not lie in the commandments. The power to get through the day does not come from the instructions on how to get through it. The power to glorify God is in the glorious gospel, which says not ‘Do’ but ‘Done!’”

Jesus, Friend of Sinners

“Some Christian circles assume that if a pastor or church is drawing in sinners, they must be compromising the message of the Bible. Maybe they’re seeker-sensitive, watering down the more offensive doctrines of Christianity. On the flip side, pastors who have a reputation for castigating sinners, faithfully exposing the sins of society, must be doing something right. But the truth is, neither approach captures the complexity of Christ’s gospel ministry.”

Why is it important to study the Christian creeds, confessions, and catechisms?

Steven Lawson, Derek Thomas, and W. Robert Godfrey all comment on creeds, confessions, and catechisms in this clip from a Ligonier conference. Also, good on Lawson for rattling off all the different headings of systematic theology.

You’re So Vain, You Probably Think This Post Is About You

This one may cause you to think and confess.

Is the Concept of a “Self-Authenticating” Bible a Modern Invention?

Michael Kruger discusses one important way we can know that certain books belong in the Bible. “Christian theologians—especially in the Reformed world—have long argued that there is a more foundational way we can know books are from God: the internal qualities of the books themselves.”

Keep It Simple

“What do you feel when someone asks you to disciple them? I imagine you’re excited because a hungry, likely younger Christian, wants to grow. I imagine there’s probably also stress because you don’t know where to begin. A wealth of good resources is at your fingertips, but that can make things more complicated. So where do you start?”

Flashback: Being the Answer to Prayer

If we pray that God will comfort those who have endured a great loss, we ourselves should be eager and willing to be used as the means of comfort, to be the ones God uses to weep with those who weep, to bear another’s burden and so fulfill the law of Christ. Pray and then act to see the prayer answered.

In many homes the sorrow over the living is greater far than that for the dead who have passed to sweet rest.

—J.R. Miller

  • A La Carte (September 15)

    Emotional affairs: am I in one? How do I get out? / Who’s ruling your home? / You think you’re willing to die for Christ, but will you work in the nursery for him? / Gluttony in the age of GLP-1s / Invite God into your anxieties / Vipers in diapers? / Book sale.

  • Your Life is a Sermon

    “God saves us just as we are, but he is not content for us to remain just as we are. No—God’s great purpose for us, having saved us, is to conform us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29).”

  • A La Carte (September 14)

    The kind of mom I’ve become / Young Christians, you need older Christians in your life! / 6 observations about ‘online’ church / An age of mechanical providence / God’s people don’t become angels at death / Why women are celebrating Lindsay Clancy / Kindle deals / and more.

  • weekend 3

    Weekend A La Carte (September 12)

    It’s 10 p.m., and your kids want to know where you are / The dark side of mindfulness / Planet of bots / How to love your local public school / The beautiful complexity of the human eye / Hard cases: no time to talk / Reader recommendations.