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A La Carte (December 23)

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Toronto Ice Storm – My family headed south for Christmas Saturday morning; this hit our city Saturday evening. I’m glad we fled when we did!

5 Things Christian Should Stop Saying – Jason Johnson: “We mean well, don’t we? But sometimes our attempts to say something spiritual actually come out unbiblical, or at a minimum, not very helpful. Here’s the 5 I hear the most…”

Why Aren’t People Changing? – Mez McConnell answers some good questions: “Why do some people grow quickly and move on in the Christian life and others drift away or always seem stuck in neutral? Why do 2 young addicts profess faith, get involved in the life of the same church, have the same discipleship opportunities, gain new friendships and yet one quickly begins to flounder whilst the other grows and excels in their Christian life?”

A Christmas Memory – I enjoyed reading Ed Welch’s remembrance of a Christmas long ago.

Angels and Demons – Foreign Policy offers a warning: “Pentecostalism is the world’s fastest growing religious movement. But in much of Africa, it’s fueling witch-hunts and the spread of HIV/AIDS.”

Master of His Virtual Domain – I guess there’s not necessarily a huge amount of value in this article, but it does warn of the addictive power of some of today’s video games (which are constructed to be addictive).

What about putting Christ back into Christmas? It is simply not necessary. Christ has never left Christmas.

—R.C. Sproul

  • 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…