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A La Carte (December 1)

Today’s Kindle deals include quite a few books covering a variety of publishers and genres. Enjoy sorting through!

This month’s free book from Christian Audio is Why the Reformation Still Matters by Michael Reeves & Tim Chester. Also, Christian Audio is having their twice-yearly sale where most books are discounted all the way down to $7.49.

Logos users will want to grab their free book of the month, an excellent commentary from James Montgomery Boice. (Scroll down to get it.) Also check out all the other specials and giveaways.

The Loss of a Friend: A Tribute to Simon

Stacey Hare pens a stirring tribute to her friend Simon.

How do Fish Make Electricity? (Video)

How DO fish make electricity?

5 Reasons We Switched from Small Groups to Sunday School

Jim Davis writes, “This fall we did something that will seem crazy to many. We moved from a small group model to a Sunday school model. Most church-growth material over the past 20 years would advise against this move. We are a young, growing, contemporary church. Why would we make that change?”

Sip It, Don’t Dip It

“Should a church’s partaking of the bread and the cup in the Lord’s Supper keep the elements separate (eating and then drinking), or combine the elements by dipping the bread into the wine and then consuming both together?” I’m with him: Sip it, don’t dip it!

Why Is Parenting So Incredibly Hard?

“Our culture thinks of children as innocent and impressionable; blank slates awaiting the external influences of education and culture. The Bible says something very different: ‘Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him’ (Proverbs 22:15 ESV).”

Why Did Matthew Write His Gospel? Here Are 4 Possible Reasons

This is an interesting article on four of the possible reasons Matthew wrote his gospel.

Metaphors for a Minister of the Word

“How does the Bible describe a pastor? What are some of the figures of speech that the Spirit of God employs to describe this calling?” Even just studying the words tells you a lot about what God calls him to be. (Also, I’d like to see some biblical evidence to back up his first sentence; I hear that all the time, but don’t necessarily see it in Scripture.)

Flashback: 5 Ugly Qualities of the Anti-Elder

In the book of Titus, Paul writes to a young man and charges him to appoint elders in every church in Crete. He tells him what kind of man to look for and as he does this he gives a glimpse of the anti-elder, the kind of man who may seek the office but who is absolutely unsuited to it. Paul offers 5 anti-qualifications, 5 things an elder must not be.

I don’t struggle with prayer. I struggle with priorities.

—Nathan W. Bingham

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    A La Carte (October 14)

    A La Carte: The mother I meant to be / A theology of preaching / Forgiveness / Resist the machine / Evangelists with cheerful confidence / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Paradoxes of Christianity

    Learn how to engage with cultural issues in a deeply countercultural way. When we embrace the paradoxical character preached by Jesus in the Beatitudes, we experience rich and surprising blessing.

  • Foggy future

    On the Far Side of Obedience

    To be human is to be finite—to be limited in our knowledge of past, present, and future. We exist within strict boundaries of time and space, so that we cannot see beyond our present location or beyond our present moment. This is a feature of our humanity and not a bug…

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    A La Carte (October 13)

    A La Carte: I miss the stars / Count the cost / Shame as the vicious trap of sexual sin / Clouds of shame and unbelief / When you’ve been blindsided / Book and commentary sale / and more.

  • For All the Noise We Make…

    We must be as eager to hear the Scripture as to hear the sermon, and we must be as expectant that God will speak to us through the Word as through the message. Rightly do many churches preface their Bible reading with words like, “Listen as I read God’s holy Word.”

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    Weekend A La Carte (October 11)

    A La Carte: Why dads still matter / Character in absurd times / Don’t get baptized in the Jordan / Gen Z is spiritually hungry / Extending hospitality to children / and more.