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A La Carte (August 16)

A La Carte Friday 2

The God of peace be with you on this fine day.

Continue to check in for new Kindle deals and I’ll keep scouring Amazon for them. Today we’ve got books by Jerry Bridges, John Piper, and others.

Book Brief: The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson is a fast-paced, popular-level telling of the lead-up to the Civil War. He focuses especially on the Southern notion of honor and the fear of slave uprisings as among the keys that led to war. Recommended!

Believer, You Can’t. But Christ Can.

“Silently, your heart cries out to God in wordless groans that only He understands (Romans 8:26). Maybe it has already burst out from your heart like a powerful jet of water. Words erupt right up and out of your mouth in desperation, ‘I can’t do this Lord!’ It aches when you find that you are at the end of yourself. Strength gone. Self-sufficiency unmasked as the mirage that it has always been.”

From Orphanage to the Classroom: A Story of God’s Grace

This is such a neat story of God’s grace.

Growing Your Church Through Evangelism and Outreach

Learn six principles from J.A. Medders and Doug Logan in their new book, The Soul-Winning Church, to excite your church members about evangelism. Get 25% off with code SOULWIN. (Sponsored)

When Spiritual Disciplines Took Over My Life

Having spent time with Christians who deal with spiritual scrupulosity, I appreciate this article that describes the symptoms and some steps forward.

The Importance of Not Caring About Mark Driscoll

“50 years from now vanishingly few people will have any idea who Mark Driscoll was. They’ll also almost certainly have no clue who Andy Stanley was. Indeed, they will be wholly ignorant of virtually every celebrity pastor or evangelical influencer you can name, with perhaps one or two exceptions, but no more. So unless you have some very specific situation in which proper pastoral care requires caring about a certain celebrity, you should just stop caring.”

How God Used Suffering to Teach Me It’s a Blessing to Give and Receive

“It is paramount that we acknowledge everything we have is a gift from God. The job we hold, the home we live in, the money in our bank account, and even our able bodies. They are all given to us by a gracious God. He did not prosper us in this way so we could clutch tightly to the things we have, selfishly wanting more, unwilling to share. He has lavished us abundantly so we can bless others.”

3 Questions I Ask During Every Bible Study

These are good and helpful questions to ask when studying the Bible.

Flashback: Success Beyond What We Can Handle

When they gained the thing they had longed for, they lost the progress they had labored for. I have seen far more people ruined by success than by failure.

A god who is all love, all grace, all mercy, no sovereignty, no justice, no holiness, and no wrath is an idol.

—R.C. Sproul

  • Reflecting the Son – Love God with All Your Mind

    What does it mean to love God with all of our minds? Jesus not only talked the greatest commandment, he walked it better than anyone. How, then, did the greatest keeper of history’s greatest commandment love God with his mind?

  • Alice Cooper

    Is Alice Cooper a Christian?

    Alice Cooper’s new memoir Devil on My Shoulder talks openly about God. But is Alice Cooper a Christian? Here are some thoughts after reading his story.

  • A La Carte (October 12)

    Caleb Flynn and the deadly sin of greed / Do we have free will? / The (super)natural beauty of men and women serving Christ together / How patient attention nurtures the life of the church / AI is weakening pastors’ authority / The Dutch pastor who hid the hunted / Kindle deals

  • Weekend A La Carte (October 10)

    How a Boeing 737 MAX survived a nosedive at the speed of sound / One saving word / The Wild West of commercial surrogacy / The best apologetic is you / Why baseball for 6-year-olds is breaking the bank / The trouble with kids’ sports / Rise Under / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (Harvest House Publishers)

    This week, the blog and this giveaway are sponsored by Harvest House Publishers. Help your child see how the Bible is organized and how key people, events, and themes in each of its books connect. The Bible Infographics for Kids Bible Handbook uses fun, colorful, easy-to-follow visuals to give kids helpful context as they read…