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A La Carte (December 6)

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The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you today.

Logos users will want to take a look at the current Christmas Sale since some commentary bundles are nicely discounted. I would probably scroll down to the Mini-Bundles section and look at the Pillar, NICNT, BST, or PtW series. Perhaps also take a look at the Best of 2024 sale. Finally, the commentary series from Evangelical Press listed on this page are 40% off and excellent for Bible study and preaching.

Today’s Kindle deals include Megan Hill’s Praying Together and a selection of other helpful books.

What One Chinese Pastor Can Teach You About Suffering Faithfully

This is a fitting tribute to a little-known brother in Christ. “Wang quietly embodied so much of what I hear Christians in America today trying to figure out: how to be in the world but not of it, how the imagination gives depth and meaning to our faith, how to take seriously the call to serve the poor.”

Satan’s “Pastor’s Heart”

Rob has an important article on Satan’s “pastor’s heart.” “When we think about what Satan is doing in the world, it seems obvious that Satan’s decisive destruction will occur not in circles huddled around a pentagram chanting ‘Hail Satan’ but in Christian counseling groups where participants look one another in the eye and tell each other that God is fine with their sin.”

What No Earthly Love May Rival

This is a sweet article from a happy mom. “It is a terrible and beautiful thing to bid farewell as sons and daughters move away, skipping headlong into their own lives–with jobs, friends, spouses, and children of their own. The phantom pain is real. A physical amputation from my four beauties.”

Serious Ministry

I appreciate this plea for serious ministry. “Apparently, the great threat to disciple-making is a lack of serious, sensible, dignified character. The enemy of ministry is a flippant, foolish, careless approach.”

Fortis Institute

I’m enjoying being involved with the Fortis Institute and wanted to let you know that there is lots of excellent and update-to-date content available there. Fortis+ is a free subscription that unlocks all kinds of video content.

A Baby Brings Hope and a Future

“Recently an article about antinatalists caught my attention. The movement believes it is morally wrong to have children. An antinatalist feels everyone should stop having babies. They believe that because life is imposed upon babies who have no choice in their birth or life, the loving and compassionate thing to do is to not inflict life on a child. Without babies the world dies, but certainly something else happens as well.”

Flashback: What Matters Is Not the Size of Your Faith

What secures us in our trials is not the magnitude of our faith, but the power of the one in whom we have placed it. The smallest bit of faith in God is worth infinitely more than the greatest bit of faith in ourselves, or the strongest measure of faith in faith itself. 

The Christ who was born into the world must be born in your heart. Religious sentiment…without the living Christ is a yellow brick road to darkness.

—Kent Hughes

  • Airport

    Do You Board First or Last?

    There are some travelers who like to board an airplane at the earliest possible moment. There are others who prefer to board at the last. Some rush the gate the very second the gate agents announce that boarding has commenced, while some linger until they have sounded the final call.

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    A La Carte (February 18)

    A La Carte: Caring for other people’s children / Resisting the lure of Catholicism and Orthodoxy / Grace in the exhaustion of motherhood / Deal with sin in the church / Can AI preach my sermon? / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (February 17)

    A La Carte: Abstaining from communion / Get married young / When the world shifts under your feet / Eliminating envy / Messiah complex / Making temptation flee / Kindle deals / and more.

  • How to Evangelize and Disciple in a “Live Your Truth” World

    Our culture lacks any coherent, unifying worldview. We’ve moved on from post-truth postmodernism to “Live your truth” metamodernism, where good vibes matter more than consistent ideas. In this world, few see the conflict between “trans-affirming” and “pro-woman.” And the same person using mushrooms to aid spiritual “connection” tells us to “trust the science” about human…

  • AI

    A Simple Way To Ensure You Use AI Well (And Not Poorly) 

    Every new technology introduces both benefits and drawbacks to its users and to the wider culture. The world being what it is, there are always plusses and minuses, so that even as a new tech gives with one hand, it takes away with the other. We are quickly learning that Artificial Intelligence is no exception…

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    A La Carte (February 16)

    A La Carte: God is glad to forgive you / Gen Z needs this doctrine / The draw of Eastern Orthodoxy / Rest for the restless / Finding love after loss / Kindle and book deals / and more.