Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (August 10)

friday

Yesterday my family made the long drive from Toronto to Louisville, and today we will get my son settled at Boyce College (which, of course, is at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). We dread saying goodbye to him, but couldn’t be happier for the opportunity he has here. Take good care of him, Louisville!

(Yesterday on the blog: Sex on the Silver Screen: Reader Follow-up)

How the Shared Family Computer Protected us From our Worst Selves

This is a fascinating one. “Long before phone addiction panic gripped the masses and before screen time became a facet of our wellness and digital detoxes, there was one good and wise piece of technology that served our families. Maybe it was in the family room or in the kitchen. It could have been a Mac or PC. Chances are it had a totally mesmerizing screensaver. It was the shared family desktop.”

These Docile Foxes May Hold Some of the Genetic Keys to Domestication

For some reason I found this story rather interesting. It talks about foxes and the keys to understanding domestication.

A Bored Generation?

Derek Thomas: “Ours is the first generation of Christians that has seriously asked the question, how much time can I spend on entertaining myself? In all the reading I have done in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, I have never once come across this question in any serious fashion.”

We are Not In Eden

We all have the deep longing to be elsewhere. “I pride myself in my theology of this broken world and how it impacts everything. I disdain triumphalism. I always want a healthy dose of realism when we talk about anything that seems to imply that somehow we can get Eden or perfection or curse-free living now. I just forget all of that when bugs or unwelcome animals are in the picture.”

4 Reasons You Should Preach through 1 & 2 Chronicles

I have been enjoying this series from 9Marks. “When you preach through this book, you and your church should be more convinced of the clarity of Scripture as the author reminds the reader to turn from sin, put their hope in the promised Messiah, and to seek God with all their heart while waiting for God’s plan to unfold.”

Willow Creek Elders and Pastor Heather Larson Resign over Bill Hybels

Consider this a follow-up to the stories I shared in yesterday’s A La Carte. “Lead pastor Heather Larson announced that she was resigning immediately. The church’s elder board announced that its members would also step down in an orderly fashion by the end of 2018.”

The Roots of Samoans’ Rise to Football Greatness

“This is a sports story that began with a sugar plantation and a Mormon temple. As the Kahuku Sugar Plantation fired up its boilers in 1890 and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) built a temple in nearby La`ie in 1919, the area attracted an array of proletarian wayfarers, including Samoans, Tongans and Mormons from Utah’s Great Basin. Driven by different agendas, plantation managers, and Mormon elders saw sport as a way to shape those they recruited to work and worship. “

Flashback: He (and They) Must Not Be a Novice

Authority comes with humility and humility comes with time.

Authority comes with humility and humility comes with time. Facts come easy, but character comes hard.

To walk into the unknown with a God of unqualified power and unfailing goodness is safer than a known way.

—D.A. Carson

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (May 1)

    A La Carte: Write what’s been written / The dangers and benefits of revival / Some of my best friends are inside that book / What happened in Canada / What is covenant theology? / New Kindle deals / and more.

  • Carney Trump

    How Donald Trump Upended Canadian Politics and Helped the Liberals Win

    On April 28, Canadians elected the Liberal Party of Canada to a fourth consecutive term. This is a rare feat for a political party in Canada and in this case, one of special significance, for just months ago, the Liberals seemed destined for near-complete destruction. The cost of living was spiking, the quality of life…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 30)

    A La Carte: Young men wanted / The glory and danger of apologetics / God’s guidelines for sex aren’t arbitrary / How much is our church worth? / People loved the darkness / and more.

  • Erics Greatest Race

    Releasing Today: Eric’s Greatest Race

    My new book releases today! Eric’s Greatest Race is a fully illustrated graphic novel that tells young readers the story of Eric Liddell, the famous Olympian whose steadfast courage and commitment to Christ has inspired generations of believers. It is my sincere hope that it will introduce a whole new generation to a man whose…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 29)

    A La Carte: Has the decline of U.S. Christianity finally stopped? / Holding space for joy and sorrow / No one ever hated his own body / Wisdom principles for Christian parenting / The article you don’t want to read / A new book / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Pursuit of Virtue

    God’s character is the essence of virtue. The heart of virtue is to know the Lord and to become like him, as a child resembles her father. That is the goal, privilege, and destiny of the redeemed. #Sponsored