A La Carte (February 6)

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

(Yesterday on the blog: The Parenting Book Too Few Parents Read)

The MrBeast Within

Izaac Cowling takes a look at the famous YouTuber MrBeast. This seems like key information: “YouTube has a growing cultural influence which Christians need to think about. For many believers under twenty-five years of age, YouTube is TV. It’s where they get their entertainment, news, and sports highlights. This means YouTubers, such as MrBeast, have the cultural influence that the biggest television stars and shows had in the past.”

The Ones Who Cook

This is a tribute to the ones (especially in the local church) who cook.

Simple Donation Tracking for Churches

Church Social makes tracking member contributions a breeze. Treasurers can input and track donations to various funds, and then generate statements and tax receipts. It works with your existing accounting software. Members can even log in to view their own giving history and download tax receipts. (Sponsored Link)

You Can’t Appease the Unreasonable

Aaron explains why he had to ditch Twitter. “It’s all so unreasonable. I don’t have much interest in that. Part of why it’s so unpleasant is that factionalism requires you to draw hard lines on virtually every issue. While Christianity has hard lines that need to be upheld, not everything needs to be a disagreement. We can agree to disagree on some matters and it’s okay.”

Anna Who Waited: How the Means of Grace Sustain the Grieving

“When my dear wife stopped breathing, I instinctively and instantaneously began yearning for the wholeness that had been. Though I longed for a quick fix, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does not guarantee his members two-day shipping. At times, we will have to wait weeks, months, years, and even lifetimes for God to restore and heal what has been lost. In other words to grieve well, we must learn to wait well.”

Names Repeated Twice

There may not be a lot of application to make here (or maybe there is and I just haven’t discovered it yet), but I found it interesting to consider names in the Bible that are repeated twice. “Plenty of Old and New Testament passages have dialogue where a character’s name is mentioned. But there are occasions—and you can hold them in two hands—when the Lord calls someone’s name twice in a row.”

When Small Frustrations Boil Over

Barbara reflects on one of those occasions when she allowed a small frustration to boil over.

Flashback: The Scariest Book I’ve Ever Read

Sin aims always at the utmost. Owen employs anthropomorphism to make sin something living and active, a being with an evil mind and insidious design.