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A La Carte (June 21)

monday

Good morning. May grace and peace be with you on this day and through the week ahead.

Today’s Kindle deals are a bit of a hodgepodge, but there are lots of options.

(Yesterday on the blog: The Children’s Hour)

When I Discovered I Had 3 Fathers

This is quite an article by Blair Line. “When my grandmother died in the summer of 2019, my family bought our black suits and dresses and packed our bags. After the service, a family member commented about a poem I recited during the service, ‘Lil Man’s daughter is so talented.’ The comment caught me by surprise. It wasn’t because of the grief we shared, nor because of the generous compliment he had given. It was because Lil Man is not my father’s nickname. Dee is.”

Jen Hatmaker Quits “church” and Invites You to Join Her

Joshua Rogers: “I quit being part of a church for a few months when I was in my mid-twenties. I had been a regular churchgoer my whole life, so it wasn’t something I (or those who knew me) expected.”

The Power of Reviling and the Response of the Gospel

“I am convinced that the single biggest thing that keeps Christians in the West from being open about their faith is the specter of being reviled.” I’d tend to agree.

Why Do You Want to Be Happy?

We take it as a given that we all want to be happy. But have we considered why we want to be happy?

What Meek Family Leadership Looks Like

Justin Huffman offers some thoughts on what it looks like to lead your family while displaying meekness.

The Ordinary War with Irritability

Bobby Scott: “If your consistent response to testing circumstances or challenging people is to become annoyed or angry, then you are irritable. But I have good news for you. Because of Jesus, believers can have godly attitudes even when our patience is tried, and we don’t have to make self-justifying excuses when we don’t. We can confess our failure as sin, knowing Jesus forgives.”

7 Ways Not To Provoke Your Children

This article by Oyewole Akande was written specifically for an African context, but applies far beyond.

Flashback: God Does Not Owe Us a Happy Ending

There is danger in our dedication to happy endings. We may come to believe that God extends his goodness and grace only in those situations that end happily.

…what is the best means of cheerfulness in such a world as this? How shall we get through this valley of tears with least pain? I know no better means than the regular, habitual practice of taking everything to God in prayer.

—J.C. Ryle

  • When God Plants an Acorn

    When God Plants an Acorn, He Means an Oak

    We stood together on the crest of a hill, a gentle breeze rustling the meadow around our feet. The fields ran gently downward until they met a creek that gurgled happily in its course. A few years prior, an acorn had somehow made its way to the highest point of this hill, carelessly dropped there…

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    A La Carte (April 28)

    A La Carte: Protestantism’s Catholic converts / How healthy is your pursuit of health? / God’s special calling on your life / Considering a Christian university? / Testing the teachings of Catholicism / Kindle deals / and more.

  • New and Notable

    New and Notable Christian Books for April 2025

    It is surprisingly difficult to find a list of Christian books that have been released in any given month—especially if you want that list to be filtered by books released through particular publishers. That’s one of the reasons why I close each month by coming up with my list of New and Notable books. I…

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    Weekend A La Carte (April 26)

    A La Carte: Every pinch of pain has purpose / China closed Christian bookstores / Watch for the thing after the thing / For everything there is a time / Showers of blessing / What Pope Francis can teach us about preaching / and more.

  • What Makes You Beautiful

    What Makes You Beautiful

    I have often thought of a conversation that took place when my girls were little. Abby was perhaps 5 or 6 at the time and Michaela just working her way through the “terrible twos” (which for our kids always happened when they were three or four). A stranger saw me interacting with them one day…