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A La Carte (August 4)

thursday

Grace and peace to you today, my friends.

There are not quite as many Kindle deals today as in the past couple of days, but there are still a few worth checking out.

(Yesterday on the blog: Once Again Honestly Assessing Our Decision to Public School Our Kids)

Seeking and Following God’s Guidance

Vance Christie: “Recently while seeking God’s direction about quite a significant ministry decision in my own life, I was encouraged by going back and reviewing some of the specific details of how the Lord led George Muller into his great orphan ministry.” That turned out to be a good idea.

Entrusting My Treasure

Jennifer McPhail explains how she came to entrust her treasure to the Lord and his purposes.

Honour & respect are culturally bound

“Honouring one another is most definitely a biblical concept.” But, as Stephen explains here, it’s also a concept that needs to be worked out according to context and culture. (I especially enjoyed his discussion of the difference between American and British/Canadian forms of giving honor.)

This Journal Fought Beside Me

I appreciate Grace sharing this account of throwing away a journal—a particularly significant journal.

Newsletters aren’t news anymore. But they’re not going away.

Here’s an interesting take on the rise (and perhaps settling) of the email newsletter. “The Substack frenzy seems like a thing of the past. But lots of publishers are still leaning into newsletters. ‘They’re a great minimally viable product.’”

The Filthy Will Still Be Filthy

“Sin is filth. It is soul pollution. It makes us vile in the eyes of God, and no matter how much pride we take in our sin now, we will one day even be offensive in our own eyes. As sinners, we may do everything we can to maintain our delusion that we are honorable, but every one of us has fallen short of God’s glory. We cannot roll in the mire without eventually being repulsed by our condition.”

Flashback: Who Gave You The Right?

The sanctified instinct of the Christian heart should not be to discourage but to encourage, not to further demoralize other people but to give them strength, to give them heart, to give them courage.


  • Celebrate

    How To Make the Devil Shout for Joy

    As we fall away from the company of our brothers and sisters, as we grow distant from the voice of God through his Word, as we grow lackadaisical in speaking to God through prayer, Satan smiles, he laughs, he shouts for joy. Our sorrow is his pleasure.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (January 31)

    A La Carte: Prioritizing theological maturity / What is excommunication? / Discipleship in a sexualized culture / Why motherhood can feel impossible / Giving all like Jesus / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (Reformed Free Publishing)

    Have you ever wondered what it would be like to uproot your life and sacrifice everything for the sake of your faith? Enter today’s Free Stuff Fridays giveaway to win a copy of Grace House, the story of one young Hindu girl who is forced to choose between the only world she’s ever known and…

  • Family Tech Books

    Books to Help Parents With Tech

    Christian parents are well-served with books meant to inform and equip them as they lead their families. Here are some of my top picks for parents who want to faithfully disciple their children to live well in a world of smartphones, social media, AI, and a host of other world-shaping technologies.

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (January 30)

    A La Carte: The biggest crisis ever / When God’s plans leave us distressed / The rise and fall of gay activism / Boundaries in dating / How to derail a Bible study / Kindle deals / and more.

  • New-and-Notable January

    New and Notable Christian Books for January 2026

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of books in January and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I have…