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A La Carte (December 29)

Today’s Kindle deals include a list of three classics by Francis Schaeffer. They are nice and short which is ideal if you’re participating in a reading challenge this year. Yet they also pack a punch.

Borrowed Convictions

This is a helpful reflection from Jeremy Walker. “A list of gurus is not the same as a developed set of theological convictions. Neither is it the same as having a spiritual home with true shepherds caring for your soul.”

The Great American Word Mapper

This is brilliant. You can plug in words and see where in the US those words are used. Be sure to click the “foods” button (and probably avoid the swear button).

Pro-Lifers Look Forward to 2017

Whatever else 2017 has brought, it’s brought a new sense of optimism to the American pro-life movement. WORLD explains.

One Reason To Dedicate Yourself to Bible Reading in 2017

Here’s just one more good reason to commit yourself to reading your Bible in 2017.

Suffering is a Doorway, Not a Dead End

In that moment of suffering, “one of the most helpful things is to remember what is on the other side of that door. Suffering for Christ is not a dead end (though it might feel like it!). Rather, it is always a doorway to greater joy and life. Here are three ways that is so.”

Did Ellis Island Officials Change the Names of Immigrants?

Smithsonian takes on the persistent myth that officials at Ellis Island changed the names of immigrants.

This Day in 1876. 140 years ago today hymnwriter Philip P. Bliss and his family died when a bridge collapsed under the train they were riding. Bliss composed ‘Man of Sorrows—What a Name!’ and the music for ‘It is Well.’ *

We Need To Talk About Church Scheduling

Here’s a challenging article about church scheduling and how a church can unintentionally harm its people by demanding or expecting too much of them.

Of Golf Balls and Badminton Birdies

This is a good little analogy that is particularly appropriate to pastoral ministry.

How To Protect Your Children From Abuse

I dislike the clickbait headline for this one, but it’s still worth reading as a pediatrician tells parents how to protect against sexual abuse.

Flashback: How Should Christians Use Guns?

John Piper sparked a firestorm in a response to Jerry Falwell Jr. on Christians and guns. Then a whole lot of other people added to the conversation.

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A single day in hell will be worse than a whole life spent in carrying the cross.

—J.C. Ryle

  • A La Carte (June 11)

    We lost the baby / The Bible is cessationist (and wondrous!) / Thinking about Eastern Orthodoxy: a primer for evangelicals / Virtue signalling in the church / What is God’s providence? / Restlessness / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Conform

    You Can Conform to Christ Even if You Don’t Conform to Me

    One of the aspects of the Christian faith that I find particularly perplexing is the freedom God gives his people to obey him in different or even opposite ways, so that one person’s obedience is another person’s disobedience. Even as two people take the same action, one might be obeying him and the other disobeying…

  • A La Carte (June 10)

    Does prayer make a difference? / Portrait of an abortionist / Pushing back against the black tax / Bring your whole self to work / Blessed are the weak / When service isn’t a transaction / A pastoral analogy / Bill C-9 will soon be law in Canada / and more.

  • A La Carte (June 9)

    Thawed embryos, reproductive rights, and the grey marshlands of ethical ennui / 14 World Cup stars who follow Jesus / The God of small churches / How a critical theorist influenced the sexualization of everything / When culture trumps strategy / Fasting and feasting / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Six Counsels for a Sending Church

    Sacrificial obedience to the One who sends is what it will take to reach every language. Join us October 14 to 16 in Dallas–Fort Worth for The Lord Who Sends as we reflect on God’s word and the lives of missionaries who followed the Great Commission.

  • The Two Kinds of Content You Consume

    The Two Kinds of Content You Consume

    At some point we all began to refer to articles and video as content. And today we are drowning in it! Here is a simple filter for telling content created to serve you apart from content created to serve its maker.