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A La Carte (March 23)

thursday

Logos’ March Matchups is down to its final pairing, so you should go and vote one more time.

Yes, there are once again some new Kindle deals.

(Yesterday on the blog: On Being the Main Character in Your Own Sermon)

The Honorable, Shameful Service of True Leaders

This article offers some wisdom for leaders. “The balance that Jesus models so well for us is one in which leaders are honored, but they respond to this honoring by embracing sacrificial and costly service. This service in turn generates more respect, and that respect spurs on more lowly service, in a dance of sorts of mutual submission.”

Should Youth Groups Baptize or Celebrate the Lord’s Supper?

“Student ministries sometimes celebrate Baptism and the Lord’s Supper at camps, youth group, and small groups. This practice is seen as a meaningful way to follow God’s commands in an environment that is comfortable for students. While often well-intentioned, is this the most helpful way to think about the ordinances?” No! As Will Standridge explains.

What Matt Walsh Should Have Said to Joe Rogan (Video)

This is a helpful way to respond to a fairly common question.

Kevin DeYoung @RMC23 “What Isn’t The Misson of The Church?”

Looking through a Biblical framework at how we define “missions”. In an age where everything is missions, what isn’t missions and why are so many good things in that category? In this video from RMC22, Kevin DeYoung walks through why church planting should be the primary focus of missions. Join us in June for The Radius Conference 23 (Sponsored Link)

Marriage Isn’t Rehab for Sexual Sin

Rutledge Etheridge: “But doesn’t the apostle Paul tell Christians that if they can’t control their sexual desires, it’s ‘better to marry than to burn’ (1 Cor. 7:9)? Isn’t marriage, then, God’s prescription for dealing with sexual sin? Though this rehab view of marriage is pervasive, it distorts 1 Corinthians 7 and creates an unsafe situation for spouses.”

Struggling with the Struggle

Melissa considers how God works in our hard times. “Sanctification often hurts. We don’t have to hate ourselves for saying ouch. We do, after all, have a Savior who can identify with our weaknesses. He understands pain. He understands disappointment, heartache, and struggle. We can trust Him with this process, and we can trust Him with our feelings about this process.”

You may enjoy reading this history of the NIV.

Flashback: 8 Ways God Works Suffering for Our Good

Suffering never comes our way apart from the purpose and providence of God and for that reason, suffering is always significant, never meaningless. Here are some ways that God brings good from our suffering.

If we do not believe in hell—if we think the only justice and retribution to be had is in this life—then we must take revenge into our own hands. Without hell, justice must be forcibly executed by us, or it will not be executed at all.

—Dane Ortlund

  • The Phrase that Altered My Thinking Forever

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington. Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever.  Distinct yet inseparable. The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after,…

  • Always Look for the Light

    Always Look for the Light

    For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond.…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 18)

    A La Carte: God is good and does good—even in our pain / Dear bride and groom / Sin won’t comfort you / Worthy of the gospel / From self-sufficiency to trusting God’s people / The gods fight for our devotion / and more.

  • Confidence

    God Takes Us Into His Confidence

    Here is another Sunday devotional—a brief thought to orient your heart toward the Lord. God takes the initiative in establishing relationship by reaching out to helpless humanity. He reveals himself to the creatures he has made. But what does it mean for him to provide such revelation of himself? John Calvin began his Institutes by…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (March 16)

    A La Carte: I believe in the death of Julius Caesar and the resurrection of Jesus Christ / Reasons students and pastors shouldn’t use ChatGPT / A 1.3 gigpixel photo of a supernova / What two raw vegans taught me about sharing Jesus / If we realize we’re undeserving, suddenly the world comes alive /…

  • Ask Pastor John

    Ask Pastor John

    I admit it: I felt a little skeptical about Ask Pastor John. To be fair, I feel skeptical about most books that begin in one medium before making the leap to another. Books based on sermons, for example, can often be pretty disappointing—a powerful sermon at a conference can make a bland chapter in a…