Good morning. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
Just a reminder that I am doing light blogging this week, which means only A La Carte will be posted each day.
The Beautiful Meaning of Marital Sexual Intimacy
If you’re up for quite a long read, you may enjoy this look at the beautiful meaning of marital sexual intimacy.
Reading and Talking about Sexuality
If you are looking for resources on sexuality for kids and teens, this is an excellent guide.
Pray for Other Members
“Every Christian knows they should pray for others (1 Tim. 2:1). Yet every Christian also knows how terribly trite it feels to ask God over and over again to help out your fellow church members with their health, safety, or money problems. So how do we pray without just repeating ourselves?”
On the Longing to be Seen, Heard, and Known
Rebekah Matt: “The desire to be seen, heard, and known is universal. We all want to feel significant, worthy of attention, and validated by others. It’s painful to feel ignored, anonymous, or irrelevant. Yet we often find ourselves in situations where we feel exactly that…”
How to Prepare a Sermon When You are a Bivocational Pastor
Pastors, whether bivocational or full-time, will appreciate this article, I think. “One of the biggest challenges in moving to bivocational ministry was in the area of sermon prep. When I was full-time, I had a sermon prep rhythm that allowed me to finish my sermon on Friday at noon. Even though prep and writing only took around 12 hours, my weekly schedule usually revolved around sermon prep.”
Award Day
“A young pastor interviewed me recently for his podcast. He asked me to share a story of ministry success. I was stumped because, as I told him, ministry success often comes so slowly that you can’t see it…”
Why Biblical Literacy Isnt Our Biggest Problem
“I suggest that in evangelical churches this issue is not the first issue. I suggest that the key issue is not primarily one of the head but of the heart. It’s not that we don’t know what the Bible tells us but that we (and I absolutely include myself) know what it tells us but don’t do it. It’s not knowledge but rather discipleship (by which I include evangelism which I regard as an essential part and proof of discipleship) which is the issue.”
Flashback: Joy Is for the Generous
Money can’t buy happiness, right? We have all heard the maxim and on an intellectual level know it’s true. But still, it certainly looks like money could purchase us a little fix of joy.
Our sense of sin is in proportion to our nearness to God.
—Thomas Bernard
