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A La Carte (December 21)

wednesday

Crossway has begun to publish The Complete Works of John Owen and Westminster Books has the first volume (of 40!) on sale now.

There are at least a couple of Kindle deals to look at.

What Your Nativity Really Means

Pierce Taylor Hibbs considers “our little, neat, illuminated manger scenes. Such a precious thing: the coming of God in the flesh to two happy, carefree parents, just enjoying the stars on a Bethlehem night. Too bad that image doesn’t seem to fall off the pages of Luke’s Gospel. In truth, that nativity scene means a whole lot more than you think. It’s a deep portrayal of tragedy, shrouding a light that should spark us to even greater worship than any comfortable manger scene could conjure up.”

Was Christmas Like This?

This article is similar—an imaginative but perhaps more faithful telling of the story we have all read so many times. “The thing is, the Bible doesn’t actually give a lot of detail about the first Christmas and so we have filled in some details through tradition, sentiment and a misreading of what the Bible actually does so.”

Recapturing our awe of the incarnation

And then there’s this from Aaron Armstrong who considers “the problem that we all face: we can fall prey to familiarity. Boredom, even. I find this happens a lot at Christmas, especially when we’ve tried to use or reuse Advent reading plans. We become so familiar with them that we lose our sense of wonder.”

Essendon apologizes to Andrew Thorburn

This is good news from Down Under. “Religious freedom received an early Christmas present this year with Essendon Football Club today issuing an apology to Andrew Thorburn.”

An Apologia regarding the Lawsuit against SSU Officials

Meanwhile, Nicholas Meriwether tells why he filed “a lawsuit against officials at Shawnee State University for violation of my First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion, as well as for other freedoms.”

It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Like This

“The bang of the heavy front door as Louie came home from work each day broke the silence of a hushed house where serious illness had taken up residence. His days were busy at the barber shop and hardware store he co-owned with his older brother but there was no falling away of tensions as he entered their house. Cancer had ravaged his wife’s body and she had been gravely ill for some time, although she was not yet 44.”

Flashback: On Following Mediocre Leaders

How do we follow mediocre leaders? After all, we will spend much of our lives doing exactly that. While we may wish we’ll be called to follow the few who are great, the law of averages makes it far more likely we’ll be called to follow the many who are not-so-great.

No pastor can give to others what he himself has not received.

—Harold Senkbeil

  • Prayer

    Spread Too Thin

    With so much to do, we can easily begin to wonder whether prayer is an appropriate use of scarce time. Wouldn’t it be better to give my attention to something that would let me cross something off my to-do list?

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    Weekend A La Carte (July 12)

    A La Carte: Where art thou Rob Bell? / The case against in vitro fertilization / Praying and weeping for those suffering in Texas / Greet each other with a holy hug / The example of Jimmy Swaggart / and more.

  • Thriving Marriage

    Thriving Marriage

    I have often wondered about the best time to write a book about marriage. When a couple is young, there is so much about marriage they have not yet experienced. They can still impart wisdom and teach lessons, of course, but there is so much of marriage that remains unknown to them. Yet when a…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 11)

    A La Carte: Falling out of repentance / Tattoos as confession / The Epstein List and secret sins / Teaching generosity / Lessons from a former youth pastor / Bedbugs in the bowels of the city.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 10)

    A La Carte: Questions for a maturing marriage / The lesbian seagulls that weren’t / But mommy, why? / A time to be tired / The modern rise of Stoicism / and more.

  • The Stranger

    The Stranger: A Short Film For You

    Based on a true story and inspired by the truth that character comes before competence, “The Stranger” is an honest, light-hearted and meaningful picture of what it means to truly serve others.