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A La Carte (March 29)

Today’s Kindle deals include a relatively new book by John Piper, a good one by John MacArthur, and a few other picks.

We’ve Lost Our Vocabulary of Wonder About Heaven

Randy Alcorn: “By losing our vocabulary of wonder, I mean that we’ve come to think of Heaven as utterly immaterial and non-physical, a home suited for body-less angels, not real people. Floating in clouds while strumming harps isn’t anybody’s idea of a great time.”

No, You’re Not Welcome To Our New Church Launch!

I love this: “Not beating about the bush, let me give you this blog in a sentence: Thanks SO much for supporting our church plant. But unless you’re local to Gracemount, please, please, please DON’T come to our church launch on Easter Sunday.”

Why We Think Outhouses All Had Crescent Moons in Their Doors

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the classic symbol of an outdoor toilet was probably just made up.

You Might Be a Pharisee If …

“The odds are good that someone, somewhere, at some point has called you a Pharisee. The odds are even better that you’ve slapped that label on someone else.” Here’s what it really does and does not mean.

The Spiders Will Eat Us All

Here are interesting facts about spiders that you probably don’t want to know.

A Friendly Critic on the Best New Resource for Charismatics

I really appreciate Steve Timmis’s review of Practicing the Power by Sam Storms. “Practicing the Power reflects a form of the reductionism it critiques. It sets out to challenge its readers to faith and expectancy, yet it inadvertently encourages them to be satisfied with something less than the New Testament Christianity it claims to espouse. It’s a form of revisionism.”

Did Jesus Ever Experience Doubt?

Denny Burk answers a recent article in the New York Times where the author finds comfort in the fact that Jesus at times experienced doubt.

Flashback: What the Law-Keeper Cries to the Gospel-Lover

It is simple enough to look at other people’s religious observances and stand in judgment. But we would be remiss if we did not look for ourselves here. Even Christians are prone to hedge ourselves around with rules. It’s as if grace is so foreign a concept to us that we simply cannot or will not believe it, and instead flee back to the law.

Men are opposed to God in their sin, and God is opposed to men in His holiness.

—J.I. Packer

  • 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.…

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    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…

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    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…