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A La Carte (July 26)

thursday

For some reason, Kindle deals have been reduced to little more than a trickle. I sure hope they pick up again! I did find a few, at least…

(Yesterday on the blog: How an Emerging Church Pastor Inadvertently Changed My Life)

Old, Resting, Reformed

This one is worth reading even if just for the quotes. It turns out that cage-stage Calvinism and the need to go deep into Reformed theology is not a new phenomenon.

A Brief (But Global) History of Ketchup

“Canada recently slapped a tariff on U.S. exports of ketchup, and the EU plans to do the same. But is the condiment all that American?” Here’s a surprisingly interesting history of ketchup.

When Re-Conversion Is Easier Than Repentance

“Re-conversion offers many evangelicals the emotional catharsis of acknowledging sin without the social shaming or awkwardness that comes when people who claim to be Christians acknowledge sin. If you weren’t really a Christian but you are now, wonderful! Enter into our joy. But if you actually are a Christian and you have to talk about sin that you’re not entirely sure how to address, well, how close should we stand next to you? How contagious is it?”

Why American Elites Support Same-Sex Marriage

This is an insightful review of a new work. “Marriages between two persons of the same sex represent the dislodging of the gendered hierarchy in marriages between men and women. Same-sex marriages are less a shared commitment to the demands of a natural institution ordered toward the bearing and raising of children, than they are a potent symbol of individual autonomy, self-realization, and expression. When marriage isn’t a male-and-female reality, gender stereotypes associated with parenting and labor can be undermined. Indeed, for these and other reasons, in many quarters elite opinion swiftly moved to present same-sex marriages as the ideal, not just an exception to be tolerated.”

The $20 Billion Question for Guyana

When an impoverished nation looks ready to gain great wealth, there are serious challenges on the horizon. “Can oil wealth help Guyana overcome its history, or will the windfall that will flood government coffers merely turn the page to a new tragic chapter?”

The Morning Before a Sexual Fall

“Two voices vie for your sexual purity. If you think the battle is just about images and videos, you won’t be ready to fight. This is a war of words. According to Proverbs 2, whom we listen to — each morning, throughout the day, late at night — will determine whether we give in to temptation or resist with the strength of God.”

Parking Has Eaten American Cities

Traveling through Europe you soon realize how much more space America dedicates to parking. “A new study documents the huge amount of space taken up by parking, and the astronomical costs it represents, in five U.S. cities. Parking eats up an incredible amount of space and costs America’s cities an extraordinary amount of money. That’s the main takeaway of a new study that looks in detail at parking in five U.S. cities: New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, Des Moines, and Jackson, Wyoming.”

Flashback: Four Sources of Discord in Your Church

In Paul’s letter to Titus he offers four sources of discord and warns us to avoid them…Here, for your consideration, are four sources of disunity that may just exist in your church.

God cannot at times hear the prayer of your lips because the desires of your heart after the world cry out to Him much more strongly and loudly.

—Andrew Murray

  • Pastoral Prayer

    The Pastoral Prayer: Examples and Inspirations

    Of all the elements that once made up traditional Protestant worship, there is probably none that has fallen on harder times than prayer. It is not unusual to visit a church today and find that prayer is perfunctory, rare, or absent altogether. If that is true of prayer in general, it is particularly true of…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (September 11)

    A La Carte: Pro-natalism / Why a good God commanded the destruction of the Canaanites / An encouragement to husbands / Pastoring, productivity, and priorities / I had a horrific childhood / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (September 10)

    A La Carte: Why we worry when choosing a Bible translation / Why Christian parents should resist school-issued devices / Take your worst to the table / The quickest to anger and the slowest to forgive / A big batch of Kindle deals / and more.

  • What Is God’s Calling For Me?

    This week the blog is sponsored by Reformed Free Publishing Association. Today’s post is written by William Boekestein, author of the  new book, Finding My Vocation: A Guide for Young People Seeking a Calling. William is a pastor and husband. He and his wife have four children: a college student, two high schoolers, and a…

  • Past Through Over Around

    Past Them, Through Them, Over Them, Around Them

    It is inevitable that we face times of difficulty and impossible that we escape them altogether. To be born is to suffer and to live is to endure all manner of trouble and trial. Just as none of us escapes death, none of us escapes all hardships. And when we face such hardships, we invariably…