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A La Carte (January 13)

thursday

Grace and peace to you, my friends.

Today’s Kindle deals include two good books I don’t think I’ve ever seen on sale before.

(Yesterday on the blog: Don’t Be Reckless With What Others Count Precious)

The Vertical, Horizontal, and Inward Realities of Sin

“Sin is never done in isolation. In fact, there are vertical, horizontal, and inward effects of it.” David Qaoud explains.

How Paul Measured the Missionary Task

This article makes some good and useful points about the missionary task.

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

“‘Imaginary gardens with real toads in them.’ That’s how one writer has described the parables of Jesus. They are imaginative stories, but they relate to real life. They are imaginary gardens, but they have real toads in them. Often those toads are us.” This is a short but helpful look at one of those parables and an explanation of why establishing context is so important to the task of interpretation.

The Success Of Others

Seth considers all he sees of others through social media and asks, “how does my own life measure up to theirs? Is my life still important if it doesn’t include the same kinds of successes that I see other people achieving and enjoying? If they reach higher and go further than I do, am I just one more loser bringing up the rear in some kind of cosmic reality show competition?”

How Much Can the Most Famous Dead Sea Scroll Prove?

Here’s a look at some of what we learn from the most famous of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

What Are Your gods of 2022?

Sylvia Schroeder considers the old god Dagon and what we can learn from a strange story in 1 Samuel.

Flashback: The Greatest Christians and the Most Visible Gifts

…is it possible we tacitly communicate that some gifts are better than others, that some are more desirable than others, that some are more essential than others? Is it possible we suggest that the greatest Christians are those with the most visible gifts?

The cross and tomb are where we are invited into the kingdom, and where chaos begins to be transformed into peace.

—Alistair Begg

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  • Discernment

    What Does a Discerning Person Do?

    Some Christians seem to be specially gifted when it comes to spiritual discernment. Others take a special interest in discernment and expend the hard effort of growing in the discipline of it. But they may sometimes wonder: What should I do with this discernment?

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    A La Carte (May 19)

    A La Carte: Dangers of theological controversy / No confidence? No problem! / The goodness of gardening friends / Jeff the low stakes prophet / Hurting people / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Prayer

    The Reward They Longed for They Received

    Jesus, who knew what was in the heart of men, warned of the hypocrisy of those whose prayer life is only ever public. “When you pray,” he said, “you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen…

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    Weekend A La Carte (May 17)

    A La Carte: Generalizations are not stereotypes / Hospitality and reaching the dechurched / Essential lessons for pastors / The rise of Islam and the resilience of the church / Gossip and godly church / Fear takes you where grace has not yet gone / and more.