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A La Carte (December 16)

wednesday

Logos users, remember to check out the 12 Days of Logos. The deals include a bunch of my recommendations for OT commentaries, a number of complete commentary sets (NICOT, Welwyn, etc), and the complete NSBT set. There are some really good deals to be had.

Think You Know the Christmas Story? Here are Five Common Misconceptions

Michael Kruger, a New Testament scholar, addresses five common misconceptions about Christmas.

Is Christmas a Pagan Rip-off?

Meanwhile, Kevin DeYoung answers this question: Is Christmas a pagan rip-off?

Give the Gift of AGTV

Christmas is fast approaching, and what better way to love your friends and family than with sound, biblical teaching. You can gift someone the new streaming service, AGTV, for just $5.99 a month or $64.99 for a year, so they can watch films and documentaries like American Gospel, Luther, Calvinist, Christianity Explored, and Epic. (Sponsored)

Vaccines and the Christian Worldview

Al Mohler has written a long article about the COVID-19 vaccine and its implications for Christians. “What should Christians think about vaccines and their use? What ethical and theological questions arise? Do the COVID-19 vaccines bring unique moral questions? What does the Christian worldview have to say about the entire set of questions? Let me offer seven points for consideration.”

Thoughts on My Anxiety

Todd Pruitt: “I have assembled a few thoughts on anxiety which I hope will at least help sufferers make sense of what they are experiencing. I also hope that those who do not struggle with anxiety chronically will gain a little insight into the lives of those who do.”

Shepherds Abiding in Their Field, Keeping Watch

“Picture a couple of shepherds. They’re just watching the sheep under the stars, like they have for years, maybe decades. And two of the guys, buddies, lean against a boulder, watching the flock. Two months earlier they were leaning against that same rock, like they had so many times before, and one shepherd — let’s call him Sal — says to the other, ‘Hey, Ernie.’ (Let’s pretend the other guy’s name is Ernie.) And Ernie says, ‘Yeah?’ ‘Do you ever sit and think to yourself,’ Sal says, ‘if any of that Messiah stuff is true?’” Jared Wilson imagines it…

Lessons for the Hospital

Kathryn Butler: “Whatever the circumstances, illness can stir up fears we never knew we harbored. Although medication can dull our pain, and therapies can slow cancer in its march, no pat answers can sponge away such fears. The wounds course too deep, and the nightmares linger too long after we’ve awoken from anesthesia.”

Flashback: The Visionary Worrywart

Where a visionary has an optimistic view of the future based on his ability to see current patterns and predict a better alternative, a worrier sees the future in great detail, but always in gory detail.

Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by his rules.

—Jonathan Edwards

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    A La Carte (April 18)

    A La Carte: Good cop bad cop in the home / What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh? / The sacrifices of virtual church / A neglected discipleship tool / A NT passage that’s older than the NT / Quite … able to communicate / and more.

  • a One-Talent Christian

    It’s Okay To Be a Two-Talent Christian

    It is for good reason that we have both the concept and the word average. To be average is to be typical, to be—when measured against points of comparison—rather unremarkable. It’s a truism that most of us are, in most ways, average. The average one of us is of average ability, has average looks, will…

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    A La Carte (April 17)

    A La Carte: GenZ and the draw to serious faith / Your faith is secondhand / It’s just a distraction / You don’t need a bucket list / The story we keep telling / Before cancer, death was just other people’s reality / and more.

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    A La Carte (April 16)

    A La Carte: Why I went cold turkey on political theology / Courage for those with unfatherly fathers / What to expect when a loved one enters hospice / Five things to know about panic attacks / Lessons learned from a wolf attack / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Night Is Far Gone

    The Night Is Far Gone

    There are few things in life more shameful than sleeping when you ought to be working, or slacking off when you ought to be diligent. When your calling is to be active, it is inappropriate and even sinful to remain passive. This is especially true when it comes to contexts that are of the highest…

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    A La Carte (April 15)

    A La Carte: Personal reflections on the 2024 eclipse / New earth books / 7 questions that teens need to answer / Was there really no death before the fall? / How to be humble instead of looking humble / Kindle deals / and more.