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A La Carte (December 6)

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The Lord be with you and bless you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include a number that are worth checking out. You’ll find several by John Stott, David Wells, and so on.

Pain Needs Interpreting

“Rather than just react to pain, the Bible calls us to act towards it. We’re not to just be subject to our pain, blown about in every direction by it. Rather we’re to respond to it, and subject it to the light of God’s word.” In other words, we need to carefully interpret it.

Your Love for Jesus Is Measured by What He Asks of You, Not by How You Treat Christmas

Stephen offers some level-headed thoughts here about Christmas, and about the fact that some Christians celebrate it while others do not.

Is Predestination Unfair?

“A common objection to unconditional election is that it’s unfair. Isn’t God unfair to choose to save only some humans not based on any human condition but solely on his sovereign good pleasure? Isn’t there injustice on God’s part that some people are not elect?” Andy Naselli answers the objection.

9 Biblical Methods for Encouraging One Another

This article by Caleb Davis traces 9 ways that Christians can encourage one another.

Wise Friendship Is Unwaveringly Committed

Al shows that wise friendship is committed friendship. “Fast food is OK if you need a quick hit of sugar and fat, something to give you just enough energy to do what you need to do. But we all know it isn’t good for us, it doesn’t nourish us, it doesn’t build us up. Fast friendship is the same – it has no depth, provides no nourishment, and doesn’t give us life.”

Themelios 48.3

If you are interested in some slightly more academic reading, you may want to take a look at the new issue of Themelios. It offers plenty of articles and book reviews.

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.

Loving your neighbor as yourself, when the category of neighbor includes everyone you meet, including your enemies, is a supernatural action, and it is an action that is the proof of our salvation.

—Alistair Begg

  • Science and God

    Do You Have to Choose Between Science and God?

    Whatever else young people know today, they know that science and God are opposed to one another. At least, they think they know this, because it has been taught to them in a hundred formal and informal settings, from the classroom to the television. They have been taught that they must choose between science and…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (February 13)

    A La Carte: You don’t have a LGBTQ neighbor / Satan doesn’t use rubber bullets / John Piper on criticizing God / Tales that celebrate traditional families / The little things matter / and more.

  • 12 General Market Books I Have Enjoyed Recently

    While I am committed to reading and reviewing Christian books, I also enjoy reading a steady diet of books published for the general market. I suppose my interests lean toward history, but I do read other books as well. Here are a few of the titles I’ve enjoyed over the past couple of months.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (February 12)

    A La Carte: When a crack becomes a chasm / That viral AI article / Artificial theologians / Christian witness in a divided world / Well our feeble frame he knows / Book and Kindle deals / and more.

  • Performative Grief

    Performative Grief

    We all know what it is to perform grief—to ensure that others are aware of our sadness by forcing them to see our sorrow. We may do this to gain their attention or compel their sympathy. We may do this because we make grief an idol and are only validated when others feel sorry for…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (February 11)

    A La Carte: Life without a phone / “Yours Alone” (a new song) / Loving your wife through the rough patches / Godly mothers-in-law / All the answers / Kindle deals / and more.