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A La Carte (July 8)

thursday

Good morning. May the Lord bless and keep you today.

There is a list of Kindle deals to browse through today.

Just a reminder to Logos users that you will want to check out the great commentary sale they’ve got going on right now. (Also remember that the NICOT/NICNT are on sale as well.)

Why Does Hell Exist?

“Is such punishment too extreme? Does my selfishness or pride really deserve such treatment? How can God be loving and send someone to hell?” James Williams answers these difficult questions.

For Those with Little Faith

“‘O you of little faith…’ The words run through the Gospel of Matthew as a kind of refrain, reminding us of the disciples’ wavering trust. And perhaps of our own. Four times, we hear this rebuke cushioned with tenderness, this tenderness steeled with rebuke.”

Providential Dullness

This is interesting to consider: “The disciples failed to comprehend Jesus’ explicit and repeated predictions of his coming crucifixion and resurrection because, even while he was revealing it to them, it was being “hidden from them” by the Lord Himself. And only the Lord could remove that incomprehension — which is exactly what Luke says happened.”

Turn Your Eyes

“‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus.’ The simplest act. To move my gaze. From the task. Pain. Problems. Ordinary ins and outs of every day. It’s easy. No complicated checklist required. And yet…”

Does Your Prayer Life Need to Change?

“I would like to provide here a list of different methods of prayer that could help some who are struggling maintain a better prayer life. Some of us just need a few practical tips to give us ideas about how to best pray in their specific situation of life. Here we go…”

It Is OK for Christians to Not Be Happy All the Time

“Many of the songs we sing in church are happy songs. We sing of Jesus being Joy to the World, of the wonder of Amazing Grace, and of how great our God is. And yes, of course, these are great things to sing about! But if that is all that we sing, we might be sending the wrong message to those in the congregation. We might be inadvertently saying that Christians should be happy all the time.”

Does God Give Us More than We Can Handle?

He sure does…

Flashback: My Great Daily Challenge As a Christian

The great daily challenge of Christian living is the challenge of simply taking hold of what is mine in Christ. It is the challenge of presenting my whole self as a living sacrifice to God

The spiritual disciplines are not themselves the marks of Christlikeness as much as they are the means to it.

—Donald Whitney

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    It Is Not a Complimentary Gospel

    I think we have all felt the temptation to modify the gospel, to preach a gospel that is inaccurate or incomplete. I think we have all felt the desire to avoid the reproach that may come upon us when we preach the whole gospel and true gospel—the gospel that is so very bad before it…

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    A La Carte: Why women use pornography / I want God’s wrath on my enemy / Looking at photos with my mum / 10 things you should know about your conscience / I love being a pastor / and more.

  • A Beautiful 40-day Illustrated Devotional of Classic Literature

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing. In the newest release by Leland Ryken, A Treasury of Nature, he joins great works of poetry, hymnody, prose, and art with accessible literary analysis. As Ryken says in the Introduction to his book: “The overall goal of this anthology is to enable nature to be…

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    Four Years After Our Hardest Day

    Yesterday marked four years since Nick went to heaven. I find myself calling him “Nicky” more often now—a name I hadn’t used for him since he was a child. I wonder if it reflects that in some ways he is becoming dearer to my heart and younger to my mind. After all, I keep aging…