Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
I am thankful to have made it home after my trip to Zambia. It was a joy to spend several days training writers, and I’m hopeful you will soon be able to read some of their articles through A La Carte.
Coming up today:
- Loving the body God gave you
- Navigating the slippery slope
- Fencing the table
- and more …
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include a few books that have either never been on sale before or are rarely on sale. Two are by Carl Trueman, one by Brett McCracken, and another by Ray Ortlund. I’d probably recommend The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self first and The Death of Porn second. Worley’s Home with God is also on sale for the first time, I believe.
Recommended Reading
Love The Body God Gave You. Melissa Edgington: “Listen to how a woman will apologize to you about the way she looks. Often it’s the first thing she will say after hello. That’s because she is always, always thinking about it. They’re always there, those dissatisfied thoughts–those questions about how she compares to other women or to a younger version of herself. Add to these thoughts the absolute fact that women aren’t allowed to grow old anymore. When I was a child, 65 year old grandmas looked exactly like grandmas. Not now.”
How to Navigate the Slippery Slope. Greg Koukl explains how to navigate the slippery slope arguments that arise so commonly. “There are actually two distinct kinds of slippery slope appeals: a causal slippery slope and a logical slippery slope. The nature of each often becomes obvious after looking closely at the underlying circumstances related to the actions in question.”
My God, In Whom I Trust. True security is not found in changing circumstances but in the unshakable character of God. Drawing from the rich promises of Psalm 91, Sarah Ivill calls readers to a deeper confidence in God as their true refuge and fortress—one that moves beyond abstract belief into a personal, active trust that shapes how we live, endure, and rest in His faithful care. (Sponsored)
Who Is the Supper for and How Do We Fence the Table? Every church has to wrestle with who is invited to participate in the Lord’s Supper and, therefore, how we ought to fence the table. Nick Gardner offers some useful guidance in this article. “If your church is full of unrepentant sinners who Sunday after Sunday partake of the Supper as though it’s all okay, then you have a serious problem. This not only potentially deceives the partaker to their eternal detriment, but it also confuses the world on what it means to be a Christian. What lies between becoming a member and potentially disciplining members is discipling members.”
When the Call Comes Late. Most seminaries are finding that a greater number of men are pursuing ministry training later in life than they used to. “Despite this growing trend, we still hear relatively rarely about the experience of discerning a call into ministry later in life.” Stephen Jones shares some of his experience.
What Will It Undo? AI, Language, and the Stewardship of Speech. Laura Ruth wonders what AI will undo when it comes to language. “With all the opinions of AI, whether it’s helpful or harmful, progress or the destruction of humanity as we know it, I wish to add a nuanced take to the discussion. Below, I seek to address the dilemma of human communication enhanced by AI LLMs. This is not an attempt to criticize the tool, but to challenge our use of it. I leave many questions purposefully unanswered for you to ponder and seek discussion with others.”
The Greatest Invitation the World Has Ever Known. Cheryl rejoices at the greatest invitation the world has ever known.
My Books
I thought I’d occasionally introduce one of my books in case one may be of interest to you. Today:
Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms. History tells of women whose love for the Bible shaped its earliest and most prominent teachers. It tells of women who were great theologians in their own right, yet whose only students were their own children. It tells, time and time again, of Christian men who owe so much to their godly mothers. And that is the theme of the brief biographies that make up this book. (Learn more)
Flashback
The Joy of Forgetting What You Need To Remember. A strong system of productivity isn’t necessarily meant to help you do more, but to ease your mind, to calm your heart, to allow you to have confidence that your system is good enough, perfected enough, robust enough to grant you the joy of forgetting what you need to remember.
Our Lord’s resurrection…is the crowning proof that He has paid the debt He undertook to pay on our behalf, won the battle He fought to deliver us from hell, and is accepted as our guarantee and our substitute by our Father in heaven.
—J.C. Ryle
