Good morning. Today’s A La Carte has articles on prayer, bringing your whole self to work, selfless service, and more. You’ll also find some interesting news headlines down toward the bottom. I hope you enjoy it all!
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include several good books published by New Growth Press. You’ll find lots of other Christian and general market titles besides those ones.
Recommended Reading
Does Prayer Make a Difference? I think we probably all need to refresh our convictions on this matter on a regular basis. “David Brainerd observed, ‘The idea that everything would happen exactly as it does regardless of whether we pray or not is a specter that haunts the minds of many who sincerely profess belief in God. It makes prayer psychologically impossible, replacing it with dead ritual at best.’ The answer to the question ‘Does prayer make a difference?’ is definitely, ‘Yes!’. But let’s consider how and why the Bible teaches us that prayer matters so much.”
In Africa, Workers Are Expected to Give Money to Parents. Gen Z Is Pushing Back. I was really interested to read this article at Christianity Today. It tells of young Africans who are pushing back against the “black tax,” through which they are expected to provide for other members of their families. “In Kenya and throughout Africa, older relatives often expect adult children to give up part of their salaries to support the family—known as a ‘black tax’—as payback for the sacrifices their elders made. In some cases, extended families and even neighbors expect a young adult to meet their basic needs.”
Group Pricing for the 2026 Missionary National Conference: The Lord Who Sends. Bring a group to the Missionary 2026 National Conference. Invite your pastors, missions team, and church members to gather around God’s word for the glorious and sacrificial work of sending missionaries to the unreached. Speakers include John Piper, Kevin DeYoung, Mark Dever, and more. Register a group of 10 or more to save. (Sponsored)
Bring Your Whole Self to Work. A few years ago, major tech companies began the trend of bringing your whole self to work, and other non-tech companies soon followed suit. In this article, Michael Jensen explains why you actually shouldn’t bring your whole self to work. “It was a lovely dream while it lasted. With tech companies competing for the best Gen Y/Z graduates, they cast themselves not just as workplaces, but as places for identity, belonging, and moral formation.” (For whatever reason, you’ll need to click to read it in PDF.)
When Service Isn’t a Transaction. Dave Harvey wants us to consider our motives when we serve others. “Love stoops low, even when there’s nothing to be gained. Just think about it: When we remove transaction from service, it becomes love. … Who are we serving that cannot pay us back? Where are we investing without return? Who in our lives is receiving care, not because they deserve it, but because Christ compels it?”
Paying Attention: A Pastoral Analogy. Pat O’Keeffe provides a really helpful analogy to describe pastoral ministry, and perhaps especially ministry in a new setting.
Portrait of an Abortionist. Jonathon Van Maren has written a very powerful portrait of Dr. Bernard Nathanson. Once one of the United States’ most prolific abortionists, he had a change of convictions and spent the rest of his life trying to atone. “Nathanson was ‘shaken to the very roots of my soul by what I saw.’ So was his friend, who never did another abortion. The footage was turned into a film called The Silent Scream, which was aired on national TV, screened in the Reagan White House, and viewed by millions. In the film, Nathanson describes a pre-born child desperately tries to escape the suction aspirator; at one point, ‘we see the child’s mouth wide open in a silent scream.’”
Headlines
U.S. missionary who caught Ebola out of hospital, with family. A couple of weeks ago, I linked to a story about an American missionary to the Democratic Republic of the Congo who contracted Ebola and was subsequently flown to Germany for treatment. I also linked to a story about the MAF pilot who evacuated his family (link). I was glad to read in WORLD that the missionary has now been cleared and released from the hospital, and that his family is also well.
Canada’s Bill C-9. In Canada, Bill C-9 continues to make its way through the process, and it looks like it will soon become law. WORLD reports on Freedom concerns as Canada to decide broad hate crime bill (Possible paywall). The Association for Reformed Political Action also covers it in Bill C-9 will soon be law … But there’s still time to take action. It is one of the laws whose consequences will only be understood well after it’s passed and the powers that be decide to interpret it strictly or loosely. But it certainly leaves open the possibility that preaching or teaching what the Bible says on sexuality could lead to criminal charges.
Flashback
Blessed Are the Weak! It is embedded deep within our depraved nature to regard weakness as misfortune, feebleness as failure, lack of physical strength as lack of divine favor. But nothing could be further from the truth, for weakness draws the eye of God, the heart of God, the strength of God.
The man who has once fallen under strong temptation, and has been mercifully lifted up by the divine arm, should not only walk more carefully; he should use his experience for the warning of others.
—Theodore Cuyler
