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A La Carte (January 27)

thursday

Grace and peace to you on this fine day.

(Yesterday on the blog: A Message for Young Men)

About Those Sparrows

“Five sparrows. Two pennies. Bought, crushed, ground into stew, discarded, their life snuffed out just like that. Not forgotten by God. If God ‘remembered the sparrow’…if his eye was on the sparrow wouldn’t they not be bought and sold like this?”

Preaching is different on a screen

This article makes the point that preaching is different on a screen than in-person. That’s obvious, on the one hand, but it’s still important to consider exactly why and how it’s different.

When Does God (Not Man) Consider a Couple Married?

When does God consider a couple married? That’s the question this article attempts to answer.

Worth Some Frozen Pipes

Some frozen pipes were a minor inconvenience when compared to gaining a really neat evangelistic opportunity. “‘But you have not answered my question,’ the workman said as he ate the lunch we had provided of of takeout kabab (It’s expected in this culture to provide lunch when workmen are at your house all day). ‘What do you think of Islam? Is it good or bad?’”

Virtue Signaling our Spirituality

“There is a tendency in all of us to want others to see our good works so they will think highly of us, and we often try to make our good works look better than they are. This sinful tendency reveals itself every time the boss walks by while we are loafing, and we immediately begin to look busy.”

The Ten Commandments “at-A-Glance” (Applied to Life in The USA)

Bruce Ashford has completed his series on the Ten Commandments applied to modern-day life in the USA. The whole series is available and worth reading.

Flashback: When We Failed to Count the Cost

We human beings are famous for inventing, accepting, and integrating new technologies without thoroughly assessing how they will impact us for good and for ill. We tend to see the benefits immediately but only grow wise to the risks much later on.

Old wood is best to burn, old friends best to trust, and old books best to read.

—John Arrowsmith

  • Southern Africa

    A Trip to Southern Africa

    I don’t often write trip reports after I travel, except, of course, in the form of books and documentary projects like Epic and From the Rising of the Sun. Yet, I thought I would make a rare exception after returning from my recent journey to Southern Africa (and, strangely, Northern California). While I am accustomed…

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    A La Carte (December 10)

    A La Carte: Top 10 theology stories of 2025 / Mama, you don’t have to save Christmas / Giving up all your Sundays to advent / An empty chair at Christmas / Pray for the church in Rwanda / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (December 9)

    A La Carte: Reforming generosity / Let the young man come to church / Your wife is beauty / Combating imposter syndrome / Be known, not impressive / Dan McClellan / and more.

  • AI Slop

    The Rise of AI Book Slop

    We often hear these days of “AI slop,” a term that’s used to refer to the massive amounts of poor-quality AI-created material that is churned out and unceremoniously dumped onto the internet. This was once primarily artistless artwork and authorless articles, but has now advanced to much bigger and more substantial forms of content.

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    A La Carte (December 8)

    A La Carte: A plea to older women / Let someone serve you in suffering / Why AI writing can’t compete / Influencers / The hidden danger in online sermons / Discipling young people / Excellent Kindle deals / and more.

  • Hymns

    Pitch Perfect and Tone Deaf

    God commands us to sing. Yet while some of God’s people are gifted singers, the plain fact is that others are not. In any congregation, it’s likely that some have near-perfect pitch while others are functionally tone-deaf. Those who struggle to sing may be self-conscious, tempted to stay quiet or to do no more than…