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A La Carte (March 29)

15 Reflections from My 15 Years of Experience as a Pastor

Brian Najapfour offers up 15 excellent reflections based on his 15 years of pastoring.

Faithlessness Shrinks You Down To a Grasshopper

Trevin Wax: “Thinking too little of God sometimes leads you to think too little of yourself. For years, I thought it was the other way around. I always thought that seeing God as big meant I needed to see myself as small. Or, to put it another way, the bigger my vision of God grows, the more my vision of myself will shrink. Wrong.”

Will Phoebe Have Down’s Syndrome in Heaven?

This is a short but powerful reflection in which a father answers his son.

The Hardest Thing About Being a Missionary

It turns out that the hardest thing about being a missionary is also the hardest thing about being a pastor. That leads this pastor/missionary to a meditation on loving people even when it is difficult.

Love and Entitlement

Over the last little while, Melissa has been penning a lot of small articles like this one that reflect on the nature of true love compared to versions that are fraudulent or ridiculous. This time it’s “making sure that our relationships are about US getting what WE want, and if the other person can’t deliver on our list of demands, then they just aren’t worthy of us.”

This Day in 1788. 228 years ago today, evangelist and hymn writer Charles Wesley died. *

Homophobia Has No Place in the Church

“Simply put, homophobia means a fear of homosexuality and, more specifically, homosexual people. And while it is not the same as loving, biblical opposition to certain behaviors or beliefs, this fear-based attitude often leads to unhelpful stereotypes, prejudice, and even cruel mistreatment. So let’s call a spade a spade. Homophobia exists, and it has no place in the church.”

How Clinton’s Email Scandal Took Root

The Washington Post has a long and interesting explanation of how Hillary Clinton’s email scandal began and took root.

Syria and My Prayerlessness

I think we have all had these moments: “My heart sank on Sunday morning when someone prayed aloud for the Syrian refugees. I had forgotten all about them.” I appreciate Laura Booz’s reflection and determination.

Greear

In the Bible we find no gap between the call to follow Jesus and the call to engage in mission.

—J.D. Greear

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    Weekend A La Carte (July 12)

    A La Carte: Where art thou Rob Bell? / The case against in vitro fertilization / Praying and weeping for those suffering in Texas / Greet each other with a holy hug / The example of Jimmy Swaggart / and more.

  • Thriving Marriage

    Thriving Marriage

    I have often wondered about the best time to write a book about marriage. When a couple is young, there is so much about marriage they have not yet experienced. They can still impart wisdom and teach lessons, of course, but there is so much of marriage that remains unknown to them. Yet when a…

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    A La Carte (July 11)

    A La Carte: Falling out of repentance / Tattoos as confession / The Epstein List and secret sins / Teaching generosity / Lessons from a former youth pastor / Bedbugs in the bowels of the city.

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    A La Carte (July 10)

    A La Carte: Questions for a maturing marriage / The lesbian seagulls that weren’t / But mommy, why? / A time to be tired / The modern rise of Stoicism / and more.

  • The Stranger

    The Stranger: A Short Film For You

    Based on a true story and inspired by the truth that character comes before competence, “The Stranger” is an honest, light-hearted and meaningful picture of what it means to truly serve others.

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    A La Carte (July 9)

    A La Carte: The singer who changed the course of my life / Stay on the line / Incompatible thick communities / Lulla-Bible? / The solution is not megachurch / Who were the Anabaptists? / and more.