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A La Carte (July 12)

A La Carte Collection cover image

If you’re interested in some new books, Westminster Books has an interesting new resource by Nancy Guthrie that is up to 50% off. Remember also that Mark Vroegop’s excellent new book is on sale as well.

On the Kindle front, you may want to look at the book on prayer or, perhaps if you’re sharing the gospel with Roman Catholics, the book on Mary. (This morning I also added Mike Wittmer’s excellent Urban Legends of Theology.)

On Repetitive Worship Songs

It is easy to pick on worship songs that have repetitive words, but I appreciate the distinctions John Piper makes in this Ask Pastor John. “The issue’s not repetition per se but whether there is enough substance, enough rich content of truth about God woven into the repetitions to justify them, to warrant them. That’s the issue. There’s a difference between repetitions that are called forth by the repeated crescendo of new, glorious truth, and repetitions that serve as a kind of mantra without sufficient truth that is simply used to sustain or intensify a mood.”

Don’t Fear the Marks in Revelation

Jen Wilkin explains why you don’t need to live in fear of the marks in Revelation. “Because I was too afraid to read Revelation, it was years before I learned it holds multiple scenes in which people receive marks, and not all of them are terrifying. Some are extremely reassuring.”

Hope Beyond Politics in Europe

Carl Trueman, having just returned from a long speaking trip through Europe, explains why he’s hopeful and encouraged, despite the political situation in many European nations. “Radical politics, left and right, is too often dehumanizing. It reduces its opponents to a set of beliefs and in so doing dehumanizes its adherents too, leading them to despise those also made in the image of God. Christianity, by way of contrast, offers a cause worth living—and dying—for that places a true humanity at its core, a humanity in communion with God through the work of Jesus Christ.”

Do Angels Have Free Will? (Video)

Bruce Ware’s answer goes far beyond angels and helps explain what the Bible teaches about free will.

John Rodgers Davies: A “Wond’rous Miniature of Man”

Log College Press shares a really interesting (and tragic) look at the children of Samuel Davies, “the great Presbyterian ‘Apostle of Virginia’ and President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton).”

How Teens Can Contribute Right Away

It is wonderful when teens come to Christ and become eager to serve within the church. Yet for obvious reasons, not every ministry is immediately available to them. This article suggests several meaningful ways that teens can serve right away.

Flashback: Are You in the Dangerous Time In Between?

It’s so often the ones who seemed to be at their greatest moment of success who were on the precipice of destruction. Like blind men about to blunder off a cliff, they were oblivious to their impending doom. 

If we would learn to serve as Christ did—it would make us think of others around us, not as those from whom we may get some gain, exact some attention or promotion—but as those to whom we may impart some good, render some service.

—J.R. Miller

  • Prayer

    Spread Too Thin

    With so much to do, we can easily begin to wonder whether prayer is an appropriate use of scarce time. Wouldn’t it be better to give my attention to something that would let me cross something off my to-do list?

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    Weekend A La Carte (July 12)

    A La Carte: Where art thou Rob Bell? / The case against in vitro fertilization / Praying and weeping for those suffering in Texas / Greet each other with a holy hug / The example of Jimmy Swaggart / and more.

  • Thriving Marriage

    Thriving Marriage

    I have often wondered about the best time to write a book about marriage. When a couple is young, there is so much about marriage they have not yet experienced. They can still impart wisdom and teach lessons, of course, but there is so much of marriage that remains unknown to them. Yet when a…

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    A La Carte (July 11)

    A La Carte: Falling out of repentance / Tattoos as confession / The Epstein List and secret sins / Teaching generosity / Lessons from a former youth pastor / Bedbugs in the bowels of the city.

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    A La Carte (July 10)

    A La Carte: Questions for a maturing marriage / The lesbian seagulls that weren’t / But mommy, why? / A time to be tired / The modern rise of Stoicism / and more.

  • The Stranger

    The Stranger: A Short Film For You

    Based on a true story and inspired by the truth that character comes before competence, “The Stranger” is an honest, light-hearted and meaningful picture of what it means to truly serve others.