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A La Carte (February 6)

monday

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

(Yesterday on the blog: A Prayer for Times of Controversy)

What Are Theologians For? The Case of Karl Barth’s Adultery

“‘It’s a shame he was an adulterous and unfaithful husband, but he sure was a great theologian and a gift to the church.’ Is this sentence intelligible? Might it be regarded as capturing the complex reality of indwelling and ongoing sin for theologians, or is it simply oxymoronic?”

The most precious and painful thing I will ever write

It is so encouraging and challenging to read an obituary of a very good life.

‘He Gets Us’ Super Bowl Ads Part of Billion-Dollar Campaign

What’s the “He Gets Us” campaign all about? And who’s funding it? CT explains.

An Open Letter to the Prayerless Church

Paul Miller: “In our prayer seminar, we ask several confidential questions about a participant’s prayer life. After doing hundreds of seminars, we have found that about 85% of Christians in a typical church do not have much of a prayer life. Praying communities are, perhaps, even more rare.”

What is Good (and Bad) about Transparency

“The rise of reality TV and then social media has radically increased transparency. Team Transparency has rallied around #nofilter selfies and sharing even the frustrating and discouraging parts of life. Team Self-Respect has rallied around calls for decency and the need for some last bastion of privacy.”

Scarcity and the Goodness of God

“Once we grab a taste of joy and pleasure we’re tempted to cram ourselves full– whether through TV binges or social media dopamine hits. We’re stuffed, yet completely dissatisfied, because deep down we still wonder when we’ll get it again. Yet those of us who belong to Christ don’t have to live in such a way. We can shift our minds to what’s true: Abundant goodness remains accessible at any time to us through our Lord.”

Flashback: As if God Had Ever Made an Atlantic Wide Enough…

In this short but sweet quote, Theodore Cuyler reflects on what we need most in our times of affliction.

We should not run aimlessly or halfheartedly, as though we signed up just to get a T-shirt, but as runners who look to receive the “well done” from our Lord and Master.

—Alistair Begg

  • Idleness

    Neither Idle nor Idolatrous

    As a new Lord’s Day dawns, it seems fitting that we remind ourselves of the power and purpose of the precious privileges of hearing from God, speaking to God, and belonging to God. As Christians through the centuries have pondered these means of grace, these key habits of the Christian life, they have always felt…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (January 24)

    A La Carte: Who is rich and who is poor? / The new rise of stoicism / A new hymn / When your daughter becomes a mother / The fruit of kindness / How we worship / and more.

  • The Humility Project

    The Humility Project for Men

    I have lots of good memories from the various conferences I have been to through the years, but there is one that often stands out. I was one of many speakers at a counseling conference and, at some point, the speakers were invited to join together for a group activity. We were given the option:…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (January 23)

    A La Carte: Escaping the touchscreen trap / A censorious spirit / John Piper on the best religion / The evil of envy / The men God uses / Managing email well / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (January 22)

    A La Carte: Suffering as spiritual formation / Save the humanities from the slop / Dying to give / Someone is getting played / Using gifts or burning out? / Preparing to pray / and more.