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A La Carte (June 11)

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The Lord be with you and bless you today, my friends.

(Yesterday on the blog: Young Man, Don’t Even Make that First Sports Bet)

The Blessing of Constant Curiosity

Scott is right that constant curiosity is a great blessing. “Curiosity keeps life from becoming boring and monotonous. Even as we crank through multiple weeks in a row of following the same daily routine, if we are.”

Church Discipline in the Digital Age

“For life in the church, things aren’t much different today than they were in the days that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians: the unbelieving world looks on and into the church and sees a group of hypocrites in part because we so often fail to discipline the church and in part because, when we do, we are prone to butchering people. If we want to be faithful to our mission as Christ followers, church discipline is simply not optional.”

Don’t Be Too Easy to Join

T.M. Suffield explains why your church isn’t too easy to join. “You cannot welcome people without a threshold for them to come over. If joining your church doesn’t mean anything—if there are no duties to being part of it—then it’s not possible to be part of it. As a result, it’s very difficult to welcome people, because you have nothing to welcome people into.”

Body Matters in Genesis

This article offers some helpful biblical truths about the human body. “The first human is not a disembodied being for whom a body is created, as if the body is just a container to hold our true self or a tool through which we can interact with the physical world. The body comes first. It is central to what it means to be human.”

The Local Church Is a Sandbox

“When we participate in the local church, the Holy Spirit changes us to resemble Jesus more. Think of church as a sandbox where we practice and experience the reality of our faith. Whether you picture a sandbox where children play and develop cognitive skills, or a sandbox in engineering terms where a product is tested and refined, the local church fosters growth and endurance.” That’s a useful analogy.

Seasons in a Pastor’s Life

Any interested in doing some more-involved reading may want to read the new issue of the 9Marks Journal. This one focuses on the different seasons in a pastor’s life.

Flashback: When God Interferes With Our Plans

God’s kind providence keeps us from being as sinful as we would otherwise be. So, Christian, thank God for his providence, and prepare to be amazed when, in eternity, God gives you the gift of seeing how often and to what extent he has kept you from sin.

Unity without the gospel is a worthless unity, it is the every unity of hell.

—J.C. Ryle

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    A La Carte (July 15)

    A La Carte: Sharing our struggles / The danger of inaction / “You don’t love your daughter” / A godly sense of humor / Three excuses for not reading your Bible / A closer look at Noah’s ark / and more.

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    A La Carte (July 14)

    A La Carte: Distorted doctrine destroys lives / Making sense of bad things / Be the Jonathan / A bridegroom of blood / Administrative sludge / Musical elements / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Prayer

    Spread Too Thin

    With so much to do, we can easily begin to wonder whether prayer is an appropriate use of scarce time. Wouldn’t it be better to give my attention to something that would let me cross something off my to-do list?

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    Weekend A La Carte (July 12)

    A La Carte: Where art thou Rob Bell? / The case against in vitro fertilization / Praying and weeping for those suffering in Texas / Greet each other with a holy hug / The example of Jimmy Swaggart / and more.

  • Thriving Marriage

    Thriving Marriage

    I have often wondered about the best time to write a book about marriage. When a couple is young, there is so much about marriage they have not yet experienced. They can still impart wisdom and teach lessons, of course, but there is so much of marriage that remains unknown to them. Yet when a…

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    A La Carte (July 11)

    A La Carte: Falling out of repentance / Tattoos as confession / The Epstein List and secret sins / Teaching generosity / Lessons from a former youth pastor / Bedbugs in the bowels of the city.