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A La Carte (December 15)

A La Carte Collection cover image

May the Lord be with you and bless you today. 

I continue to marvel at the amazing Kindle deals that are so consistently available to us. What a blessing to be able to build a substantial library at just a couple of dollars a book!

(Yesterday on the blog: 2024 Christian Reading Challenge)

Tasting Heaven Now

Casey McCall raises a valid concern about beginning evangelism with the question “If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?” “The promise of eternal life is a powerful motivator for faith and a precious promise of hope and comfort for God’s people. However, I fear that the church has so emphasized ‘going to heaven when you die’ that we sometimes give the impression that’s all faith is good for.”

Called to Ministry?

This is a helpful article about the internal and external call to vocational ministry. A legitimate call is best understood as involving both of them.

Still Talking About It

Karen Harmening: “‘When will they stop talking about it?’ A question that is perhaps thought more often than spoken regarding grieving parents who continue to talk about their children and their sorrow. I’ve only heard it asked a couple of times, but have thought of it countless times since, and this month in particular.” She explains why she can’t and won’t stop talking about it.

The Second Advent

Barnabas considers Christ’s first and second advent and the dramatic differences between them.

Six Reasons for the Virgin Birth

Here are six reasons that the virgin birth was necessary.

Bridging Your Real-Life and Virtual Identity

Justin considers relationship online and offline. “As Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) improve and gain prominence, proximity will seem less important. It’s not. God made us with physical bodies to live in a physical world. Technology brings us closer, but digital connection is like frozen pizza, it tastes like the real thing but can never replace it.”

Flashback: He Gives His Beloved Sleep

Though we crave rest and need it so very badly, too often it simply will not come. But always we can rest on this sweet promise: God gives his beloved sleep.

Christ went more readily to the cross than we do to the throne of grace.

—Thomas Watson

  • An Ideal Resource For Your Family Devotions

    An Ideal Resource For Your Family Devotions

    There is a lot I miss from the days when our children were young. High on the list is family devotions. Nick once described our family as having a “Spartan-like commitment” to them, though I remember as much failure as success and as many misses as hits. Still, there’s no doubt that over the 26…

  • A La Carte (June 12)

    The curious case of extra resurrections / Are kids too expensive? / Why hot takes are the enemy of conviction / Piper on preaching outrage / A daily rhythm of prayer / Forgetting and pursuing / A La Quiz / The funnies / and more.

  • A La Carte (June 11)

    We lost the baby / The Bible is cessationist (and wondrous!) / Thinking about Eastern Orthodoxy: a primer for evangelicals / Virtue signalling in the church / What is God’s providence? / Restlessness / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Conform

    You Can Conform to Christ Even if You Don’t Conform to Me

    One of the aspects of the Christian faith that I find particularly perplexing is the freedom God gives his people to obey him in different or even opposite ways, so that one person’s obedience is another person’s disobedience. Even as two people take the same action, one might be obeying him and the other disobeying…

  • A La Carte (June 10)

    Does prayer make a difference? / Portrait of an abortionist / Pushing back against the black tax / Bring your whole self to work / Blessed are the weak / When service isn’t a transaction / A pastoral analogy / Bill C-9 will soon be law in Canada / and more.

  • A La Carte (June 9)

    Thawed embryos, reproductive rights, and the grey marshlands of ethical ennui / 14 World Cup stars who follow Jesus / The God of small churches / How a critical theorist influenced the sexualization of everything / When culture trumps strategy / Fasting and feasting / Kindle deals / and more.