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A La Carte (June 23)

friday

It has been a bit of a slow week for Kindle deals, but there are at least a couple there worth checking out.

The History of Pews

Here’s a tongue-in-cheek history of the humble church pew. “Seating in churches didn’t really become a thing until parishioners got bored enough to wish they were sitting down—that is, about the time of the Protestant Reformation.”

We Need to Learn from Christians from Other Cultures

“When we talk about church in America with our Tanzanian friends, it’s their turn to be shocked. Your church services are only an hour and fifteen minutes long? And that’s the only service you attend all week? And you’ve never, ever done an all-night prayer vigil? Like, never? Are there even any Christians in America?”

The Silence of the Lambs

This is a devastating article about abuse within ABWE. “Over the past five years, in fact, it has become increasingly clear—even to some conservative Christians—that fundamentalist churches face a widespread epidemic of sexual abuse and institutional denial that could ultimately involve more victims than the pedophilia scandal in the Catholic Church.”

Sharing the Gospel with Your Neighbors

This is obvious but needs to be said: “In our efforts to bring the gospel to the most distant and unreached corners of the globe we must not overlook the opportunity and responsibility that God has given us to make Christ known to the folks next door—our neighbours.”

Should I Always Call for Repentance and Faith?

Steve Lawson takes on a common preaching question.

Why The US Military Made GPS Free-To-Use (Video)

This video tells how GPS came to be, and why it’s available free.

The Cost of Leadership

We know that the qualifications for leadership in the church are right qualifications of character. But we need to hear this again and again because we are so prone to drift to other factors.

A Surgeon’s Secret

This is a neat story. “A surgeon’s secret: As she operated on babies’ birth defects, a doctor hid her own diagnosis.”

Flashback: Why Making Decisions Is So Hard

Why this fear? Why this agony? Why these sleepless nights? It is the uncertainty of it, I’m sure. It is the uncertainty of where our choices may lead.

The best part of all Christian work is that part which only God sees.

—Andrew Bonar

  • When Christians Disagree

    When Christians Disagree

    Wouldn’t it be nice if Christians only ever got along? Wouldn’t it be grand if all the discord we see in the world around us was completely foreign to the church? Wouldn’t it be heavenly if believers ever only experienced peace? I suppose it would be heavenly and, therefore, more than we can realistically hope…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (July 26)

    A La Carte: Therapy and bug men / How to have joy in hard times / Can a single pastor date in his church? / Life from barren ground / Shulamith Firestone was a prophet / Different ways of reading people we disagree with / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (July 25)

    A La Carte: What does it mean to die with dignity? / Did Paul endorse slavery? / Forgiveness in marriage / 5 ways to pursue contentment / The immense value of encouragement / and more.

  • Maybe We Make Meditation Too Difficult

    Maybe We Make Meditation Too Difficult

    Of all the Christian disciplines, it is my guess that meditation may be the least practiced—though I suppose fasting might have something to say about that. Most people diligently make time to read the Bible and pray. And yet, while most people have good intentions when it comes to meditation, it so often seems to…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 24)

    A La Carte: A mother to me, too / Never look your age? / Nine reminders for the struggle with body image / A ruler who trusts in Yahweh / No, I will not stop calling the church a family / Criminalizing sexual ethics / Bible journal sale / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 23)

    A La Carte: Connection and commitment / When your mind gets stuck / Prayer postures in the Bible / Fading with age / Does God care about how I work? / 7 essential things to know about God’s holiness / and more.