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A La Carte (February 22)

Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of noteworthy titles.

(Yesterday on the blog: Which Country Sends the [Second] Most Missionaries?)

9 Things You Should Know About Billy Graham (1918–2018)

“The Rev. Billy Graham passed away today at the age of 99. Here are nine things you should know about the man who was considered one of the most influential evangelists in modern history.”

10 Point Sermon Checklist

Here’s a helpful checklist for pastors to go through after they finish preparing a sermon.

The Cynical J.K. Rowling

Samuel James writes, “For the past decade, J.K. Rowling’s relationship to her own work has been incredibly cynical and stunningly mercenary. As a serious fan of the Harry Potter books, I’m thankful for her obvious talents and the richness and beauty of the mythology she’s made. Her mammoth wealth and fame is just. What is much harder to empathize with is the way that Rowling seems determined to dry up all the wonder and joy from her stories and turn them into low-rent cultural memes.”

I Have Forgotten How to Read

“For a long time Michael Harris convinced himself that a childhood spent immersed in old-fashioned books would insulate him from our new media climate – that he could keep on reading in the old way because his mind was formed in pre-internet days. He was wrong.”

When Did Evangelicals Start Observing Lent?

This is an interesting take on how Evangelicals began observing Lent. (Also, I don’t observe Lent.)

Why Transgenderism Threatens Parental Rights

“According to CNN, the parents refused to call the boy by his chosen name and would not allow him to undergo hormone treatment. The parents’ attorney had argued that the child was not “even close to being able to make such a life-altering decision at this time,” while the county prosecuting attorney argued the parents wanted to stop the treatment because it violated their religious beliefs. The judge not only gave custody of the teen to the grandparents, but said they could legally change his name in probate court and could help make medical decisions for the child going forward.”

I Won’t Let Cancer Take Away My Sundays

“The profundity of her mumbled explanation for why she hadn’t stayed home this Sunday or any in the last year for that matter hit me hard. I’ve always said that there’s no place I’d rather be than with God’s people on Sunday morning and Sunday night but I’ve never had cancer in my lungs.”

Flashback: Why Papa of The Shack Is not Aslan of Narnia

If it is wrong to portray God the Father as the human Papa, isn’t it equally wrong to portray God the Son as the lion Aslan?

A Christian husband sees his wife not as a woman to manipulate or dominate, but a treasure to serve and protect.

—John Piper

  • 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.