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A La Carte (March 12)

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The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.

I added a few new Kindle deals today and, as always, will keep up the search.

(Yesterday on the blog: Two Ways To Read the Bible)

Encouraging Your Worship Leader

Here are some useful tips on encouraging the person who leads worship at your church. “One morning, after a worship service, a lady approached me and asked, ‘Do you put ketchup on your ice cream?’ Confused, I shook my head, no. ‘Then don’t put drums on my hymns.’ I thanked her for her vivid (even visceral!) metaphor, but her comment misses a very important truth.”

Why Aren’t Complementarians Training Women to Teach and Preach?

This article points out that, especially on the mission field, women are often called upon to teach and preach (in settings that do not involve the presence of men). That being the case, shouldn’t they be taught to do so well? “Many complementarian churches are not training even their most gifted women in how to teach and preach the Bible. They are training their women to value good teaching and preaching from the Bible, and to discern good teaching and preaching from the fluff—and these are very good things. Yet it needs to be said that sitting under good preaching and recognizing it is not the same thing as being trained in how to do it.”

Enoch: The Pattern Breaker

Stephanie celebrates the legacy of Enoch who was a kind of Old Testament pattern breaker.

Am I the Quarrelsome Wife? The Making of a Good-Weather Wife

Tilly Dillehay: “How does a woman end up here? Does any woman really decide to become the bad weather in her husband’s life? Or are the habits of contention like other, better habits — like joy, gratitude, and laughter — which develop with time and regular feeding?”

Atheist Says Human Rights Aren’t Real

Sometimes smart people can say dumb things. That’s the case in this video in which an atheist tries to make the case that there is no such thing as human rights. Tim Barnett rebuts his view.

Can a White Person Suffer From Racism

David Robertson points out some of the absurdities and contradictions in society today—the ones that say that some races cannot be racist while others cannot not be racist (or something like that).

Flashback: The Inadvertent Trailblazer

Just as we can lead people to habits that dishonor God and harm others, we can lead people to habits that glorify God and do good to others.

Take away the soul from the body, and all you have left in a few days is a stinking carcass. Take away the fear of God from any profession of godliness, and all that is left is the stinking carcass of pharisaism, barren religiosity, or calculated hypocrisy.

—Albert N. Martin

  • The Path to Contentment

    The Path to Contentment

    I wonder if you have ever considered that the solution to discontentment almost always seems to be more. If I only had more money I would be content. If I only had more followers, more possessions, more beauty, then at last I would consider myself successful. If only my house was bigger, my influence wider,…

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    A La Carte (April 22)

    A La Carte: Why my shepherd carries a rod / When Mandisa forgave Simon Cowell / An open mind is like an open mouth / Marriage: the half-time report / The church should mind its spiritual business / Kindle deals / and more.

  • It Begins and Ends with Speaking

    It Begins and Ends with Speaking

    Part of the joy of reading biography is having the opportunity to learn about a person who lived before us. An exceptional biography makes us feel as if we have actually come to know its subject, so that we rejoice in that person’s triumphs, grieve over his failures, and weep at his death.

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    Weekend A La Carte (April 20)

    A La Carte: Living counterculturally during election season / Borrowing a death / The many ministries of godly women / When we lose loved ones and have regrets / Ethnicity and race and the colorblindness question / The case for children’s worship services / and more.

  • The Anxious Generation

    The Great Rewiring of Childhood

    I know I’m getting old and all that, and I’m aware this means that I’ll be tempted to look unfavorably at people who are younger than myself. I know I’ll be tempted to consider what people were like when I was young and to stand in judgment of what people are like today. Yet even…

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    A La Carte (April 19)

    A La Carte: The gateway drug to post-Christian paganism / You and I probably would have been nazis / Be doers of my preference / God can work through anyone and everything / the Bible does not say God is trans / Kindle deals / and more.