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A La Carte (December 15)

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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

  • Thoughts

    Can Satan Put Thoughts Into Our Minds?

    Each of us is familiar with the experience of being tempted to sin. Sometimes these temptations arise from outside of us and sometimes they arise from within. Each of our three sworn enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil—has the ability to tempt us to do what God forbids or fail to do what God…

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    A La Carte (December 3)

    A La Carte: Christ or Christian culture? / How to see your own blind spots / Kevin DeYoung’s questions for Christian Nationalists / Beware of desensitization / I want to be the princess / and more.

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    A La Carte (December 2)

    A La Carte: Lab rats for gender drug tests / How your church can serve the poor / Cross-cultural ministry / Cross-cultural marriage / The gift of nothing to do / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Self Loathing

    Don’t Think Lower Thoughts of Yourself than God Does

    I can be prone to self-loathing. Sometimes this takes the form of thinking about things I’ve done or recounting words I’ve said and detesting myself for them. Sometimes it takes the form of thinking about who I am and hating who God has made me to be, or thinking about the way God has gifted…

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    A La Carte (December 1)

    A La Carte: Should I stay or go? / Dust / Worshiping God at the ends of the earth / Why many reject penal substitutionary atonement / We have not arrived yet / Every human an image bearer / and more.

  • Sing

    Singing Is Not Filler Time

    While it may be rare to find a church that dedicates a substantial portion of the service to prayers and Scripture reading, it would be rare to find a church that fails to dedicate a substantial portion of the service to singing. Christians love to sing, and we have always regarded it as an essential…