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A La Carte (August 27)

thursday

This is my final day of quarantine! After two weeks isolating in the US followed by two isolating in Canada, I’m very nearly free…

There are a few new Kindle deals to consider and they include a book by MacArthur as well as the ESV Prayer Bible which I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen on sale before.

(Yesterday on the blog: How Everything Became About Race, Gender, and Identity)

COVID And Culture Shock Feel The Same To Your Brain

I found this rather interesting—a comparison between culture shock and entering into a pandemic world. “As we have both watched and experienced the events of 2020, something has seemed oddly familiar. Every part of life seems to have changed, nearly overnight. Stores are different. Work is different. Interactions with friends and with strangers – it’s all different. Yet in a way this scene seems to be a re-run. Because, in a way, it is. This scene is familiar because it mirrors culture shock.”

Courage Takes More Than a Keyboard

“Everyone knows by now that our social-media projections are not true to life. But there’s a particular danger for those Christians who are more interested in curating ideas than images. It’s never been easier to ‘defend the truth’ in a vapid, performative way, like the Pharisees who made life and devotion hard on the people without even lifting a finger to help (Matthew 23:4)…”

The End of Sex Scenes

I’m skeptical but hopeful that the combination of MeToo and COVID will mark the decline of movie sex scenes.

Once More on Faith and Fecundity

Kevin DeYoung recently got in hot water for suggesting Christians fight the culture war by having more children. In this article he follows up by clarifying what was unclear and doubling down on the main point.

How COVID-19 Broke the Airline Pricing Model (Video)

This is an interesting look at how COVID-19 disrupted and broke the airline pricing model.

Longing For Home

“We all want a safe, comforting place to call home. A place where we can curl up in a comfy chair with worn arms and a cozy blanket. A place where we can have messy hair and makeup-less faces without feeling self-conscious. A place where people who we love and who love us in return are eagerly awaiting us. A place where we can cry and our tears won’t make others feel awkward. A place where the people know our sins and love us still but strive to guide us toward holiness.”

Discourse with Enemies

Lee Gatiss reflects on Jesus’s gentleness and humility before others and says, “In our own polemics and public engagement, we would do well to meditate more on this aspect of the Lord’s example, not to mention His intense prayerfulness.”

Flashback: Love Is a Risky Business

God’s knowledge of us is unlimited by the past, present, and future. He already knows our deepest, darkest secrets, and he loves us still.

God hath long contended with a stubborn world, and thrown down many a blessing upon them; and when all his other gifts could not prevail, He at last made a gift of Himself.

—Henry Scougal

  • Remember

    It Doesn’t Matter What You Remember

    I have a memory like a … what do you call it? That thing in the kitchen you use to sift the stuff you want from the stuff you don’t. A sieve! That’s it. I have a memory like a sieve. I joke about it at times, and about how I have to outsource remembering…

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    A La Carte (January 14)

    A La Carte: Always being right / Sex advice for newlyweds / Making Christianity look good / Soul care / Stop straining for shortcuts / When writing feels like a chair / Rare Kindle deals / and more.

  • Post Woke

    Are We Post Woke?

    It is too early to tell, I think, whether the “wokeness” craze has already peaked and even begun to slip into decline, or whether it’s just pausing to gather energy for another surge. What seems clear for the moment, though, is that it has lost at least some of its initial momentum, probably because it…

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    A La Carte (January 13)

    A La Carte: A cautionary tale / Raising hands in worship / Freshen your prayer life / Exposing adultery to the light / Reject the religion of efficiency / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Petty Fight

    Petty Annoyances and Minor Insults

    I wonder if you are like me in that, as you look back on your life, you realize that most of the circumstances that have troubled you, most of the annoyances and disgruntlements, were produced by circumstances that were hardly worth noticing.

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    A La Carte (January 12)

    A La Carte: Happy 80th, John Piper / Practical principles for marriage / Benefits for daily Bible reading / Philip Yancey / Stingy-generous / From sermon to article / Kindle and Bible study deals / and more.