A La Carte (July 2)

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include a lot of great options, headlined by Matthew Bingham’s A Heart Aflame for God and Stephen McAlpine’s Being the Bad Guys. Bridges’ Transforming Grace is highly recommended as well.

Logos users will want to check out this month’s big commentary sale. You can also grab your free book of the month, plus the discounted ones beneath it. When you’ve worked your way through those, consider browsing through the monthly deals.

Recommended Reading

The FAQs: SCOTUS Says States May Reserve Women’s Sports for Biological Females. I was glad to hear this good news from the far side of the border. It could be further evidence that the tides are slowly turning when it comes to the farthest reaches of transgender ideology. Joe Carter explains the decision and tells why it matters.

Don’t Change What You Believe Just Because People Are Bad. Samuel James: “When someone talks about why they’ve changed their convictions about something, they increasingly refer to negative experiences more often than persuasive arguments. Just in the last few months, I’ve seen prominent figures change denominations and talk more about the unkind or foolish people in their old tradition than about the new biblical evidence pushing them toward new convictions about baptism or polity.”

Forgetting Forever. Paul Tripp is concerned that Christians are forgetting forever. “Embedded in the promise of future eternal grace is the guarantee of “right here, right now” grace for what you’re facing today. And when you begin to understand your story from the unique perspective and promises of Forever, you begin to live with unshakeable hope and confidence today as you wait for the promise of Forever. The opposite, however, is also true. When you forget Forever and live as if today is all you have, then your life and faith will be anything but unshakeable!”

Encouragement for Heading Off to College. You (or your children) may not be heading off to college quite yet, seeing as it’s only July, but if you/they will be in the near future, this article should be helpful and challenging. “Somewhere between your first midterms and your first group project, you may discover an unpleasant truth: College is not all about school spirit and Friday night basketball rallies. You will fail a test or let down a friend. You will mismanage your time. The question is not whether you’ll get knocked down, but how you’ll learn to get back up and keep going.”

What about Pet Idolatry? Randy Alcorn has a forthcoming book in which he provides a biblical view on animals and pets. Here he answers a question about idolizing pets. “This can be a serious problem. I believe when it is properly held and demonstrated, our love for animals reflects God’s own nature and affection. The problem is almost never with the object of our affection, but that we love it more than we love God. That’s when devotion to pets—or anything else—becomes idolatry.”

When You Wonder: ‘What Did I Do to Deserve This?’ Scott W. Kay: “Often, I’m assuming that good things happen to me because God is blessing me for doing good. And if something bad happens, God is trying to teach me a lesson to correct some mistake I’ve made. If I can figure out what I’ve done, I may be able to turn things around so all can be well again.” So how can we think through whether bad things may be related to the things we’ve done?

Puritan

Reformation Heritage Books has just posted the full-length documentary Puritan: All of Life to the Glory of God for free on YouTube. Speakers include Albert Mohler, Conrad Mbewe, Gloria Furman, Ian Hamilton, John MacArthur, and many more.

Flashback

Is It Fair of God? Is God fair to punish those who have never heard of Jesus Christ? There are many ways to consider the issue and many ways to answer. Here is just one of them.