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A La Carte (June 25)

thursday

Lately I’ve been catching up with episodes of the Reformanda Initiative podcast. It’s a fascinating analysis and discussion of Roman Catholic theology and practice from an Evangelical perspective. Highly recommended!

There is just one Kindle deal today, but it’s a relatively new book by Alistair Begg and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it on sale before.

(Yesterday on the blog: A Gasp of Pain, A Sigh of Relief)

What John Stott Learned about Theology from Bird-Watching

I love these kinds of anecdotes. “John Stott is well known as an evangelist, preacher and writer, and a major influence of contemporary evangelicalism. But he was also a passionate bird-watcher. As a child, he collected butterflies. But, in the midst of a sibling squabble, a cushion landed on his collection. It was destroyed. So Stott turned to birds. The church council at All Souls wisely insisted that whenever he traveled overseas he take some time out to go bird-watching. He was known for his ability to wait patiently, sometimes lying flat to the ground, while looking at birds.”

Why Is ‘Mayday’ the International Distress Call?

Why do pilots call out “mayday” when they are in distress? This article answers.

Be an Intentional Encourager

In the last little while I’ve seen a number of articles and books about encouragement. That’s a good development!

Waiting on the Lord Is Not a Waste

“Why is waiting so difficult? Because it feels as if we’re not doing anything. And that’s the point. You’re not doing anything, but God is. However, waiting is one of the greatest applications of the Christian faith. You are putting your trust in God, placing your hope in him, and expressing confidence that he is in control. Waiting puts us in an uncomfortable place where we’re out of control of our lives. This is ‘active patience’? That season is when God will shape and define us the most.”

It’s the End of the World as We Know It

Keith Mathison: “Most of us don’t have a lot of control over the kind of things that are happening in the larger world around us, but what we have to remind ourselves as Christians is that God does have control, complete control. Not only is He in control, but all of what is happening is also part of His plan. God is sovereign. God is not wringing His hands right now crying, ‘What am I going to do?’ He is sovereign and He knows what He is doing. We don’t have to know the reasons for it. We simply have to know that he is good and trust Him. In short, we need to know the biblical doctrine of God. We need to know theology, and we need to trust our Father.”

Who Really Killed Emmanuel and Juliana Bileya

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra writes about the tragic murder of Emmanuel and Juliana Bileya in Nigeria.

Christian, You Are Able Not to Sin

What an amazing ability God has given us! We are able not to sin.

Flashback: Writers Write

It’s the most obvious advice in the world, I know. But it’s advice every writer needs to hear and take to heart. Writers write.

While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves—blessed riddance.

—A.W. Tozer

  • Past Through Over Around

    Past Them, Through Them, Over Them, Around Them

    It is inevitable that we face times of difficulty and impossible that we escape them altogether. To be born is to suffer and to live is to endure all manner of trouble and trial. Just as none of us escapes death, none of us escapes all hardships. And when we face such hardships, we invariably…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (September 9)

    A La Carte: iThink therefore iAm / Is hyper-cessationism a fair term? / 10 ways to fracture your church / Sometimes growing is shrinking / Are Christian parents too protective? / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Passive

    Impossible, Unrealistic, Sinful, Lazy

    God calls us to live lives marked by holiness. God could have arranged the world in such a way that when we put our faith in Christ, he immediately “zaps” us with the full measure of holy character. He could have arranged it this way, but in his wisdom he didn’t.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (September 7)

    A La Carte: Embracing the slow work of God / 3 critical questions your church should ask / Packing up boxes and packing away memories / An army of Mary/Marthas / Reasons you may think the Bible is boring / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (TGBC)

    This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by The Good Book Company. They are giving away a bundle of books for ministry leaders. The Bundle Includes…. Giveaway Rules: You may enter one time. When you enter, you permit The Good Book Company to send you marketing emails which you may unsubscribe from at any time.…

  • The Thing That Would Make Everything Okay Forever

    The Thing That Would Make Everything Okay Forever

    It does me good to pause from time to time to read an account of a person coming to faith. It never ceases to fascinate me how many different paths we take to that one door and it never ceases to encourage me to read about another person’s experience of coming to the end of…