Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (December 26)

A La Carte Collection cover image

I trust you enjoyed your Christmas as we did—remembering the birth of Jesus and spending time with friends and family. The Lord is good to give us days of rest and celebration.

I wasn’t able to track down new Kindle deals before scheduling this post for 12:01 AM, but I did add some good ones yesterday. I will check again in the morning.

A Biblical Framework for Deciding Workplace Moments of Conscience

You will need to set aside a few minutes to read this article, but I think you’ll find it rewarding. The author essentially sets out a theology of getting fired for your faith.

Respectability and Hospitality (And Friendship & Fidelity)

Chad Van Dixhoorn considers the qualifications for elders (which are character expectations for all Christians) and focuses on a couple we are perhaps prone to ignore.

Free eBook: How to Build an Effective Missions Program

When discussing the specifics of church missions programs, it is critical to begin by understanding the motivation behind missions. Properly understanding “God’s Mission” will result in a more deeply rooted mission program and, ultimately, a more effective gospel witness. So, today, The Master’s Academy International (TMAI) is offering How to Build an Effective Missions Program as a free ebook. Download your copy today at tmai.org/challies to develop a strategy for an effective missions program in your church. (Sponsored Link)

What’s the Point of Waiting?

Justin Poythress: “In a sense, all of our lives are waiting. Waiting to grow up. Waiting to leave home. Waiting to finish school. Waiting to get married. Waiting to have children. Waiting for those children to grow up and fly the nest. Waiting for your first job. Waiting for your career. Waiting for your dream job.” And so on.

Reading Scripture Rightly

I really appreciate the heart of this article—to not immediately dull the impact of a passage by too quickly interpreting it through the lens of systematic theology.

What’s the Real Cost of Our Giving?

“Last month, the Lord convicted me that my giving is like that of the rich men in the temple – they were happy to give from their excess because it didn’t pinch them. But the poor widow gave God her all. The little she gave was everything she had. She might not have had enough for her next meal, but Jesus saw her sacrificial offering and honoured it.” That is worth pondering.

Dear Pastor . . . Let’s Cultivate Honesty in Our Churches—Starting With Us

This call to honestly applies to pastors, but to everyone else as well.

Flashback: When I Get to the End of the Way

“So when I am weary in body, and sinking in spirit I say, all the toils of the road will seem nothing, when I get to the end of the way.”

If [God] had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a Savior.

—D.A. Carson

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 14)

    A La Carte: Distorted doctrine destroys lives / Making sense of bad things / Be the Jonathan / A bridegroom of blood / Administrative sludge / Musical elements / Kindle deals / and more.

  • 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?

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    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.