Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (January 30)

A La Carte Collection cover image

The Lord be with you and bless you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Fallen Planes and Fallen Pastors)

Evangelicals Need a Constructive Vision

Here’s a thought-provoking article. “Critique is easier to make compelling than charity. This explains why the books consistently generating the most conversation—both from fans and detractors—follow a similar format: a book length dismantling of a problem followed by a single chapter or epilogue offering a positive vision forward. When was the last time you read a book (on evangelicalism and culture) that spent one or two chapters on a problem, and then the remainder offering a constructive alternative?”

Keep Singing the (Whole) Gospel

Rebekah looks at a few Christian songs that have had “offensive” lyrics removed. She encourages us to make sure that we sing the whole gospel.

He’s With You; No Matter What Row You’re In

This is an encouraging and transparent reminder that the Lord is with you, no matter your situation. “Fear is an expert at making me believe I’m in the farthest seat from God. How could He see me and my problems in the flood of others—many, I’m sure, far more important than mine?”

Abundant Life in Room 129

“She spent Christmas in our small town hospital, a full week of therapies, breathing treatments, medications, coughing, and pain. She’s 89 years old. Being with her is like dipping a toe into the rivers of Heaven–she speaks almost exclusively about Jesus and her eternal home.”

On Pastors and Professors

Jonathan offers a bit of a mea culpa here, then celebrates the distinctions between pastors and professors. “Pastoring and being a seminary professor are two different things. This is not to say that pastors can’t be seminary professors and seminary professors can’t be pastors: in many cases they effectively fill both roles. But both vocations require a distinct set of skills, and thus a distinct course of training.”

Was Jesus Confused by the Cross?

John Piper answers an interesting question here: Was Jesus in some way confused by what was happening on the cross?

Flashback: The Decay of the World and the Love of God

God’s love for his people is so great that he will continue to tolerate all of this sin and rebellion, all of this hatred toward him, until the last of his chosen and beloved children has been born, has heard the gospel, and has been saved.

A Christian is not of hasty growth, like a mushroom, but rather like the oak, the progress of which is hardly perceptible, but, in time, becomes a great deep-rooted tree.

—John Newton

  • God overrules

    God Must Sometimes Overrule Us

    When we pray to God and bring our petitions before him, and then say in earnest “thy will be done,” how should we expect God to respond? Is asking God to overrule our will with his own admitting that he may actually bring us harm?

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (May 10)

    A La Carte: Pope Le XIV / A gift continually unfolding / Hopefully broken / This Mother’s Day / Support the caregivers in your church / One of the hardest things you’ll ever do / and more.

  • Proud of Her

    Proud of Her on Mother’s Day

    I can’t even tell you how brave she has been, how resilient, and how determined. The Lord alone knows all the ways she has had to exercise her faith and submit her will to his. But she has. She has, and it has been a blessing and an honor to behold. We come again to…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (May 9)

    A La Carte: The one life dream that makes a girl blush / Will I be single forever? / Should I go to seminary? / The clearest indication of our evil’s depth / Treasures in heaven / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (May 8)

    A La Carte: She forgot our names / “Gender-affirming care” for children / The woman who saved her church / The Trojan horse of a bad dictionary / Piper’s myths about eternal rewards / Tell your kids stories / and more.