I trust you enjoyed—as we did—a restful, worshipful, enjoyable Christmas Day. Because this is the week when few people visit blogs, I’ll be posting only A La Carte between now and Saturday. A more normal schedule will resume on January 2. Today’s Kindle deals include a nice little selection of books from Crossway. (Yesterday on the blog: Today of All Days, Be of Good Cheer) Persecution and Kingdom Expansion We know that persecution tends to go along with kingdom expansion, but this article wants us to consider that “perhaps we miss just how inevitable persecution is in missionary contexts.” Link by Link, Yard by Yard Samuel James: “We humans in the modern West are micro-beings living in a macro-society. Every square inch of our news and political culture, our entertainment, and even religion is preoccupied with “big” problems that allegedly demand even bigger solutions. Nothing is more common than to hear people talk about the real issue facing the whole nation, or the problem with the church or Christianity at large. We increasingly attribute our daily angst to systemic troubles and our ordinary frustrations to major dysfunctions with our lives. This is why there is a seeming willingness among many to blow up their lives regularly…” When Praying Hurts: How to Go to God in Suffering Vaneetha Rendall Risner: “My desire to pray when I’m suffering can swing wildly in a single day — and sometimes within the hour. Through the severe trials in my life — losing a child, having a debilitating disease, losing … Continue reading A La Carte (December 26)