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A La Carte (January 3)

thursday

There is another batch of Kindle deals for you to sort through today. Also, by popular request, I believe the clicks will now lead to your regional Amazon (.ca in Canada, .co.uk in the UK, and so on).

CBD has some pretty good deals, including The Songs of Jesus by Tim Keller, the ESV Reader’s Bible 6-volume set in softcover, hardcover and leather, the ESV Children’s Bible, and the ESV Archaeology Bible.

(Yesterday on the blog: Comforting Quotes for Those Who Are Suffering)

Why Twitter Is Even More Toxic Than You Think

I’ve been planning to write about Twitter, and apparently I’m far from the only one. Here’s David French: “Real-world decisions continue to be made in response to temper tantrums by a surprisingly small number of people. Because, after all, those are the only voices heard in the heat of the moment, and they are always more influential than those who remain silent. Twitter takes underlying trends and makes them more extreme. To borrow from Spinal Tap, it turns everything up to eleven, all day, every day.”

52 Ideas for Inviting Someone to Church This Year

We all know it: “The simple act of inviting friends and acquaintances to your church can impact eternity.” So here, from Facts & Trends, are “52 ideas to help you get started. Some are for individuals; others can be adapted for your small group or the entire church.”

You Can Memorize Scripture This Year

Yes, even you. “When you think about memorizing the Bible, do you feel guilty and defeated? It’s one of those activities that you know is good for you but that can be hard to do consistently — like praying or exercising or eating well or managing money wisely. With the New Year here, I want to encourage you: you can memorize Scripture this year. It does not take superhuman skill or fanatic devotion to write God’s word on your mind and heart.”

The Father Was not Angry with the Son at the Cross

Wyatt draws a very important distinction here. “At the cross, the Father was not angry at the Son at the cross. And neither do the Gospels emphasize Jesus’ pain during in his ordeal although he surely suffered physically. What they do emphasize is Jesus’ cry of dereliction (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”). The notion that the Father (or God) is angry with the Son misunderstands Trinitarian orthodoxy, Reformed theology, and the clear emphasis of Scripture. Here’s why.”

How Much of the Internet Is Fake?

How much of the internet is fake? An awful lot of it. ” What’s gone from the internet, after all, isn’t ‘truth,’ but trust: the sense that the people and things we encounter are what they represent themselves to be. Years of metrics-driven growth, lucrative manipulative systems, and unregulated platform marketplaces, have created an environment where it makes more sense to be fake online — to be disingenuous and cynical, to lie and cheat, to misrepresent and distort — than it does to be real.”

Belonging Before Believing?

What’s the problem with the notion of belonging before believing? Michael Lawrence answers in this brief video.

Seven China Stories to Watch

WORLD lists and explains seven China stories to keep an eye on this year. Several of them are directly related to Christians and Christianity.

Flashback: The 100 Most Influential Evangelicals in America

Whatever Newsmax’s evangelicalism is, it’s broad enough to encompass the very best and very worst of Christian teachers.

Just as my assurance of salvation rests in the fact that God cannot change, my hope of sanctification rests in the fact that I can.

—Jen Wilkin

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    A La Carte (August 26)

    A La Carte: How much church can I miss? / Gentleness / I miss the pews / Teaching children (and adults) to read / It’s a virtue / Extraordinary results and ordinary means / Book and Kindle deals.

  • Go Into All the World: Embracing the Mission Mandate of God’s Covenant

    Though unashamedly committed to the Biblical doctrine of election, the Reformed faith does not allow the believer to attempt the impossible task to curiously investigate God’s decree, and to speculate about who is and who is not elect. Rather, the Reformed faith emboldens the church to proclaim the gospel to all people, nations, and tongues…

  • Vulnerable

    The Times When You Are Most Vulnerable

    This is an opportunity that exists in any suffering: To answer the sneers of the world. So you can show the world around that no matter what God takes from you, you will continue to love him, you will continue to praise him, you will continue to cling to his promises. To show that as…

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    A La Carte (August 25)

    A La Carte: A world of opinions / Don’t hand education over to AI / A reflexive fear of AI doesn’t serve Christ / The hidden blessing of being a single parent / 3 things to avoid in Christian bookstores / Many Kindle deals / and more.

  • Grounded

    Are You Grounded?

    Psalm 92 commends those who do not merely go through the outward motions of religion, but who genuinely and from the heart love to praise and honor God. “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the…

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    Weekend A La Carte (August 23)

    A La Carte: The changing of the Evangelical guard / Open homes in a closed-off world / Don’t dismiss brain rot / We were made for less / The praise of men / A godward focus / and more.