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A La Carte (January 13)

A La Carte Collection cover image

Today’s Kindle deals include several books designed to help you understand and overcome various challenges to the Christian life (e.g. forgiveness or wayward children). You’ll also find a newer book by Tim Keller and a good one by Randy Alcorn. On the general market side, the Andrew Carnegie biography is excellent.

(Yesterday on the blog: Petty Annoyances and Minor Insults)

Rabbits and Social Media: A Cautionary Tale

I am convinced there are many people who would benefit from reading this cautionary tale. While it is set in a specific denomination, there’s a lot for everyone to consider. (On a similar note, see Answer Not a Kinist according to His Folly.)

Are Raised Hands in Worship Just Showing Off?

I appreciate John Piper’s wisdom here as he considers raising hands in worship. “Should Christians ever be concerned that lifting hands, closing eyes, or expressing emotion in worship might cross the line into practicing our righteousness before others? Or does worship fall into a different category?”

10 Ways to Freshen Your Prayer Life

There are some helpful tips here for freshening up your prayer life. “If you’re in a season where you want to try something new in your prayer life, here are ten ideas to get started.”

Book Brief. Those with an interest in the Second World War will enjoy An Army at Dawn, the opening volume in Rick Atkinson’s “Liberation Trilogy,” which follows the U.S. military in its three major European campaigns—North Africa, Italy, and Western Europe. It strikes just the right balance in being thorough but not exhaustive (and, therefore, exhausting). I’m looking forward to pressing on with the next two volumes in the series.

An Uplifting Story (Video)

I always enjoy the videos from the John 10:10 Project as they celebrate God’s extraordinary design in the natural world. This one celebrates something you’ve probably never thought about before (or if you have, only to be annoyed by it).

Exposing Adultery to the Light

Kyle Borg: “In a society saturated with sexual immorality — in entertainment, media, politics, and even churches — our moral instincts have become really desensitized. Few of us hate adultery with the seriousness it deserves. If we are to recover a biblical hatred for this sin and a biblical love for holiness and purity, we must shine God’s light on adultery from several angles.” (See also Randy Alcorn’s Moral Failings of Christian Leaders Should Make Us Examine Ourselves Closely.)

Reject the Religion of Efficiency

Samuel James tells us why it’s sometimes neither good nor wise to pursue every avenue for efficiency.

Flashback: Who Is the Greatest?

“Jesus doesn’t condemn the quest for greatness,” warns Piper. “He radically transforms it. Go ahead and pursue it, he says. But the path is down, not up.” Where is God calling you to go low?

The future is a series of small decisions to live the new life and not to fall back into the old.

—Sinclair Ferguson

  • 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.

  • A La Carte (June 8)

    The humbling I needed / There must be blood / How to read the Bible when your heart feels cold / The delightful duty of married sex / Are we forgiven for the sins we can’t remember? / All things without complaining or arguing