Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (August 14)

A La Carte Collection cover image

May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

Westminster Books has a new book on sale for which I provided a foreword—a thoughtful and creative adaptation of the Heidelberg Catechism. It’s worth a look!

There are several new Kindle deals to look over today.

The Olympic Vision: ‘My Way’

I enjoyed Murray Campbell’s reflections on the beginning and ending of the Olympics. “I enjoy the Olympics as much as any diehard sporting fan. And watching the Green and Gold outdo the Red, Blue and White is kinda ‘slay’. There was, however, a hubris weaving throughout the Games that tarnished the gold, silver, and bronze. The alkaline isn’t achievement and success, it’s Rousseau’s imagining that set the Olympic message from start to finish: secular humanism.”

Can a Man Feel Like He’s a Woman?

Ryan Welsh considers whether it’s even possible for a man to feel like he’s a woman.

Strategies for Evangelism from J.A. Medders and Doug Logan

J.A. and Doug’s new book, The Soul-Winning Church, was written to advise Christians about how to create a culture of evangelism and outreach in the church. Get 25% off with code SOULWIN. (Sponsored)

Jonathan Noyes outlines three different kinds of doubt and offers help in navigating them.

When Criticized, Don’t Defend. Clarify.

Nicholas McDonald explains that when we are criticized we often have an ideal opportunity to clarify ourselves (rather than to defend ourselves). “I haven’t read [Megan] Basham’s book, so I’m not going to defend or refute her claims. What has been of particular interest to me … is the conversation folks have been having about how to respond to these kinds of things.”

Is the Multi-Service Model Really Practical?

Many churches end up going to the multi-service model for practical reasons, but is it really that practical? So much depends on what you believe church is meant to accomplish. “For most members, I’m convinced it’s because they just can’t see how it would be practical for their church to turn people away . . . since the church’s goal is to reach as many people as possible. And therein lies the problem. What if there is a better, clearer goal that should matter more to us than simply solving the ‘problem’ of a full building?”

I Do Not Know This Year

I enjoy Esther’s original poems, and this one is no exception.

Flashback: When You Pray With Your Children, You Are Teaching Your Children to Pray

…this is not a time to fulfill a duty or cross something off my list. When I pray with my children, I am teaching my children to pray.

The real question is not what are we to make of Christ, but what is He to make of us?

—C.S. Lewis

  • Hosting Your Own Little Haman Party

    Hosting Your Own Little Haman Party

    It often surprises me how inadvertently selfish we human beings can be and how obliviously self-centered our behavior can become. I see this in many ways, but one has stood out to me over the past little stretch of time.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 12)

    A La Carte: The pastor and the pundit / Why non-Christians oppose trans ideology / The mercy of grief / The gift of midlife friendship / Overdiscipling children / Critically ill loved ones / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 11)

    A La Carte: From addition to multiplication / The post-literate pastor / Praying for children who have walked away / To my almost-adult kits / The goal of our soul care / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Temptation

    When It Feels Like the Temptation Is Coming From Outside

    No Christian tradition is perfect, which means that every Christian tradition has its own strengths and weaknesses. Every tradition has areas in which it presses hard to understand and live according to biblical truth, but then also areas in which it inevitably fails to completely match Scripture’s teaching and emphases. Since every tradition is the…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 10)

    A La Carte: Wanderlust / Afraid to have children / When you’re struggling with joy / Autism care for families / Noisy world, quiet heart / Top 5 seminaries / Great Kindle deals / and more.

  • Prayer hands

    Nothing but a Passionate, Heartfelt Sin

    When we think of worship, our thoughts almost always gravitate to singing—the two have become inseparable and almost synonymous in our minds and in our church services. Yet singing is actually just one component of worship. We worship when we sing, but we also worship when we read Scripture, when we listen to a sermon,…