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A La Carte (July 18)

A La Carte Thursday 1

May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent picks from The Good Book Co. Among them are Alistair Begg’s Christian Manifesto and both volumes of Tim Keller’s Romans for You. You can’t go wrong!

Book Brief: The Wager by David Grann narrates one of history’s most famous (or perhaps infamous) shipwreck and castaway stories. It’s a fascinating bit of history and Grann tells it well. I read it over the course of a weekend and enjoyed every page. It’s perfect summer reading.

(Yesterday on the blog: Protecting the Family Name)

Does Christian Sex Need Rescuing?

Writing for TGC Australia, Izaac Cowling has a helpful review of Sheila Wray Gregoire’s influential The Great Sex Rescue. “The Great Sex Rescue is, at heart, a protest book: ‘What if our evangelical ‘treatments’ for sex issues make things worse?’. It’s a response to perceived flaws in teaching about sex by popular Christian books and arising from the purity culture of nineties American evangelicalism.” But it has some significant flaws.

15 Resolves for Maintaining Spiritual Balance in Severe Interpersonal Conflicts

Imagine how we, our families, and our churches would be different if we all abided by these 15 resolves.

How Sweet!

Ashley Kim celebrates her favorite Greek word and the joy of sweetness—especially the sweetness of knowing God. “A full response to the Word, then, is more than mere affirmation or belief in propositional truth, more than acquisition of knowledge, and more than conviction and trembling before the Lord.” A full response is to savor its sweetness.

What Can Senior Pastors Do to Help Associate Pastors? (Video)

In this video, several associate pastors discuss things that senior pastors can do to make their calling easier. There’s lots of help to be had there.

It’s OK to Be OK

We live at a time when authenticity is equated with struggle. Does this mean it’s not okay to be okay? “Everyone’s doing it. People type their diagnoses on their social media bio lines. If you don’t struggle with something, you’re the problem. You’re not authentic. We’ve gone from saying, ‘It’s OK to not be OK’ to needing to say, ‘“’It’s OK to be OK.’”

Don’t Be Proud of What You Had No Say In

That’s sound advice, isn’t it? Don’t be proud of what you had no say in.

Flashback: An Army Without Supplies

Behind those missionaries are support-raisers, graphic designers, videographers, accountants, and a host of others. Though these people have far less contact with the “enemy,” they are still crucial. 

Nothing built for the glory of man will survive God’s scrutiny. But what is done for His glory will endure forever.

—R.C. Sproul

  • 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.

  • Planted in the Word

    Planted in the Word

    There are a lot of Bible study guides out there. However, the need is not nearly saturated because there are also a lot of Bible readers, many of whom study the Word carefully and repeatedly throughout their Christian lives. For that reason, we cannot have too many guides to assist in reading, understanding, and applying…