A La Carte (August 6)

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include some choice titles like Christopher Ash’s The Book Your Pastor Wishes You Would Read. I’ve also included a bunch of commentaries that are all theologically sound while also being relatively easy to read.

You’ll find a couple of noteworthy deals at Westminster Books: Dave Harvey’s The Clay Pot Conspiracy and Vern Poythress’ Making Sense of Creation & Fall.

Recommended Reading

What Unique Platform Has God Given You to Glorify Him? Randy Alcorn wants you to know that God has given you a unique platform to glorify him. “So if God has wired you to be good at what you do—whether business or art, manufacturing or farming, music or medicine, or anything that allows you to freely help the needy and further the cause of Christ—rejoice! This is a great use of your life. No matter who you are, God has given you your physical and mental and spiritual gifts to provide you a platform from which to draw attention to Him.”

You Are Not Enough (And That Is Not Failure). Hannah Hagarty: “These limitations as a mother reveal my weakness in comparison to Christ’s all-sufficient power and perfection. He alone is the source of our salvation. When I reach the end of my own resources and fully surrender, I am reminded of Christ’s declaration to Paul, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’. I confess: ‘I am weak. I am weak. I am weak.’ I am not enough, and yet this is not failure but an invitation to trust the One who is.”

Are You as Connected to the Church as You Want to Be? Benjamin Vrbicek asks whether you are as connected to the local church as you want to be. “I have found that the biggest wet blanket in pastoral ministry is not people who leave our church with a big stink, making all kinds of noise after all kinds of meetings. I mean, I don’t love that. But vocal departures have the advantage of bringing clarity; they don’t leave me wondering if restrictions existed and, if so, what they were.”

There Is Almost Always a Need Behind the Need. This is a good reminder from Michael Kelley that there is always a need behind the need. “There is almost always a need behind the need, one that we often are not aware of or at least not ready to acknowledge when we experience our own kind of trouble. We find ourselves in pain, or desperation, or in need of something in the moment, and we call out to the Lord. But most of the time, there is a need behind the need. So let’s say, by way of example, that you are out of work, and so you pray that God would provide you a job.”

We Don’t Have to Turn Every Bit of Art Into a Jesus Juke. Stephen Kneale overstates things here, but I’m quite sure that’s a deliberate writing technique to help him make a good point. “Whatever film comes out, particularly if it is well regarded, long-awaited or just a big budget film, you can bet your bottom dollar Christians will write articles and blogs mining it for allusions to the gospel or to make some sort of serious Christian point. And I’m just going to say it: I’m pretty sick of Christians ruining every film by turning it into a Jesus juke.”

Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs. “Wait! Don’t stop reading! I know what you’re thinking. ‘We’ve all heard this before. Why even write on this?’ Because you need to hear it. Because I need to hear it. So you’ve heard it before? Good. Listen close then. If you really want to show Christian love, then something has to happen when ‘wrongs’ occur.” I agree—don’t let yourself just pass over this one.

Poetry

Do you enjoy poetry? Here are a few poems I’ve bookmarked over the past couple of weeks.

• The Last Summer by Havalah Peirce is about the sadness of summer’s end.
• A Given by Seth Lewis is about not taking life for granted.
• Kevin Twit surfaces a classic from James Montgomery: Our Saviour’s Prayers.

Flashback

We Cannot Be Faultless (But May Still Be Blameless). We may well be blameless before the Lord when we do our work to the best of our ability and when we do our utmost to cleanse our hearts and purify our motives. God accepts and treasures such work, not because it is perfect, but because it proceeds from faith and love.