A La Carte (December 12)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you on this fine day.

Today’s Kindle deals include quite a selection of interesting titles. Tim Keller’s Prayer is especially good, as is the book for worriers.

(Yesterday on the blog: Now’s the Time To Consider a New Year’s Resolution)

Christmas Words and Phrases You Didn’t Want to Admit You Didn’t Understand

This article is both seasonal and fun.

Does God Hate the Sin but Love the Sinner? (Video)

I appreciate Andrew Walker’s response to a common question.

Godliness Is Not Unattainable. Your Elders Prove You Can Be Godly

Stephen expresses something important here. “If the church recognises that the bar to eldership is not so high, and these men are there to to emulated, the fact that they’re just ordinary Christian blokes makes godliness more attainable than many seem to believe. As I said recently to my church: if you don’t think my godliness is any great shakes, and yet you can see I meet these criteria here, that should encourage every member that godliness is absolutely attainable.”

Odd Christmas Preaching Phrases (Reflections From an Outsider)

“I’m strange when it comes to Christmas – I recognise that. I didn’t grow up celebrating Christmas. So, by the time I became a convictional follower of Jesus later in life, I came to Christmas largely as an outsider. Consequently, with many of the elements of Christmas that others, including Christians, find normal, I found (find) them… unusual. Even jarring.”

The Mistake of Being Quick to Strategize and Slow to Pray

I think we are all guilty of this one, aren’t we? “We eventually get to prayer, but not as soon as we should. You would think that now that our kids are moving into adulthood, we wouldn’t still fail in this area. Yet, here we are, so we need the following two reminders from Scripture. Perhaps you do, also.”