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A La Carte (June 3)

thursday

Good morning. May the Lord bless and keep you today.

Logos users will definitely want to check out this month’s free and nearly free items.

There are lots of excellent biographies on sale in today’s Kindle deals, including Luther, Packer, MLJ, and others.

Going Beyond Clouds That Hide the View

This is a good one. “Gloom is part of my life, shadowy and rainy. But so is brightness. My clouds at times stormy, other times reflective seem to melt away as if the sun’s rays filter through each molecule of my being and sadness dissipates. I get impatient for dreary moods to lift. I’m not sure I like being a cloudy person.”

Having Confidence in Prayer

Here are three important lessons about prayer based on the life of Elijah.

Looking For Help With Cross-Cultural Church Planting?

If you are looking to planting churches among the remaining unreached people groups, consider Radius International to help you or your church with that. Radius International offers pre-field mission training for workers headed to plant churches among the unreached language groups. (Sponsored Link)

Do Not Swear?

George Sinclair: “James 5:12 says that you should not swear. What does that mean? How do you figure out what it means? Is the question even a big deal? Here are three ways to understand what ‘do not swear’ means.”

How to Abide When Serving God is Harder Than You Expected

“It was a surreal moment when my foot finally landed on the dusty African soil. All my nine-year-old childhood dreams had finally been realized, as my husband and I were about to start an exciting adventure of sharing the gospel with unreached people in Tanzania. At first, the thrill of the new adventure supplied the energy we needed to adjust…”

Is God for Us?

“I often hear people say, ‘God wants good for me.’ ‘Okay, sure, absolutely. I can agree.’ Here’s the rub. What is ‘good’? That’s where I believe we differ. I don’t believe God’s perspective of ‘good’ is the same as ours. God’s ‘good’ does not necessitate health here on earth. God’s ‘good’ does not necessitate a lack of birth defects, financial blessing, intelligence, godly spouse, etc. While we may be blessed to experience some of these things, God’s “goodness” does not necessitate it.”

Christianity Is the Best Explanation for Reality

“If someone asked you how you know Christianity is true, how would you answer them? Would you appeal to your transformed life, the witness of miracles, or apologetic arguments?” Alan Shlemon replies.

Flashback: The Cost of Radical Generosity

You can’t keep up with the Joneses when you’re committed to radical generosity, and I think that’s exactly how God intends it.

Your soul will wither and die without your Bible. Approach it desperately.

—Matt Smethurst

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    Weekend A La Carte (March 14)

    A La Carte: The West’s strange genius / Healing the way women hurt each other / AI skeptics / The world after reading / What about the children? / What caregivers should know about dementia / and much more.

  • Sex and Self-Forgetfulness

    Sex, Self-Forgetfulness, and the Joy of Serving Your Spouse

    I often think there is a kind of paradoxical quality to sex within marriage. It’s paradoxical in that few things have greater ability to bring blessing (through its right use) or to bring cursing (through its misuse). Not only that, but few things bring greater joy to a marriage, and also, in so many cases,…

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    A La Carte (March 13)

    What happened to our pastor? / Youth ministry needs seasoned saints / God’s sovereignty when things don’t go as planned / Preach sermons that algorithms don’t reward / A pastor remains in Beirut / and more.

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    A La Carte (March 12)

    The grief ambush / Forgotten, and that’s good / The foibles and fallibility of Christian leaders / Welcome back, church planting / Weakness is not the enemy / Bad reasons to read the Bible / Bible and book sales.

  • Three Marks of a Good Christian Book

    Three Marks of a Good Christian Book

    Not every book marketed as ‘Christian’ is worth your time. Here are three marks—truth, love, and beauty—that can help you discern which Christian books are truly worth reading.