Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
As I mentioned last week, I have tweaked the format of A La Carte. I am also expanding it a bit, adding some new elements that may vary day-by-day: trivia, vocabulary, book briefs, and so on. The heart of it, of course, will continue to be great links to other sites. (I have not been able to fully test how this looks in emails yet, so be patient with me today if it doesn’t look great.)
Coming up today:
- A trivia question
- Articles on autism, physical objects, Jesus sitting, and Jesus hanging on the cross
- A book brief
- and more…
Trivia
The earliest known New Testament manuscript is a fragment of which book of the Bible? (The answer is below)
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include a whole collection of excellent titles by Nancy Guthrie, like What Grieving People Wish You Knew about What Really Helps (and What Really Hurts) and Blessed, her study on Revelation.
Meanwhile, Westminster Books has a sale on various editions of Kevin DeYoung’s The Biggest Story Bible, a great option for beginning to introduce your children to Scripture.
Recommended Reading
Here are those links I promised you.
Hell To Pay: What Truly Happened to Jesus on the Cross? With Good Friday fast approaching, it is probably wise to ensure we know what happened (and what didn’t happen) on the cross. In this article, Nick Batzig addresses whether Jesus was really forsaken or if he merely felt forsaken—a distinction that may seem minor but is actually extremely consequential.
Because Jesus Sits, I Can Stand. I suppose this article looks a little bit beyond Good Friday (and beyond Easter, for that), but I wanted to share it nevertheless. Tim Counts tells of many of the difficulties he and his wife experienced, then says this: “Pastoral ministry often means being in the middle of a crisis, leaving a crisis, or heading into a crisis. I don’t know what stressors you have been through recently, but I know this: because Jesus sits, you can stand.”
This Was Never the Plan. “Will life ever be good again?” It’s a haunting question, especially in the wake of an unwanted divorce. Vaneetha Risner offers a realistic and encouraging perspective to those asking the same question, and provides compassionate, biblical wisdom on finding hope and healing in This Was Never the Plan: Walking with God through the Heartache of Divorce. Get 30% off with code CHALLIES. (Sponsored)
Here’s What the Autism Spectrum Really Looks Like. It has been interesting to see how our understanding of autism has changed and increased over the past ten or twenty years. The Scientific American tried to illustrate what it means that autism is a spectrum, and I think they did a good job of it. There is no single trait that defines autism: it encompasses differences in social communication skills, interests, sensory sensitivities, and more. Every person’s profile is unique. These graphics, based on clinicians’ evaluations of actual people using the Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire, reveal a more nuanced ‘spectrum’ of differences.
What is the Unforgivable Sin? (Video) There are few questions that cause people greater agony than this: What is the unforgivable sin (and have I committed it)? Gavin Ortlund offers a helpful answer in this video.
Retirement: What Are You Retiring From? What Are You Retiring To? This article from Reformed Perspective shares a healthy perspective on retirement. “The notion of retirement is a fairly recent phenomenon. The Canada Pension Plan was created in 1965, setting the retirement age at 65. Interestingly, the life expectancy back then was 66.8 years for men and 73 for women. That’s not much of a retirement. Today, someone at age 65 can expect to live to age 90; that’s another 25 years! We’re living longer and staying healthy longer. What do we do with all that time? There’s the rub.”
Grandma Was A Rebel. Andrew Osenga shares something that is perhaps close to a lament as he considers how much of his life is now online, which means it no longer involves physical objects. “We are flesh and blood creations built for tangible experiences. Even if they don’t look as good as the filters or sound as good as auto-tune. In the end they’ve got something those other artifacts don’t have: They actually exist.”
Music
I have been enjoying this new album by BRAG WORSHIP and Trip Lee. It has a unique sound and one I have come to appreciate. This should get you started on the playlist for their new album.
(Can’t see the video? Click here.)
Book Brief
Canada was recently rocked by a scandal involving several of its former youth hockey stars. Rick Westhead’s We Breed Lions lays bare a terribly broken system in which young men are not only expected to misbehave, but often absolved of blame when they do. The book is hard to read at times as it looks deep into disturbing events—events and coverups that are similar to ones we’ve seen in Hollywood, Washington, and sadly, even the church. Westhead calls for a reckoning and is optimistic that it is not too late for change. I hope he is right.
Trivia Answer
Rylands Library Papyrus P52, which contains a few verses of the book of John, is usually dated to around 125–150 AD, making it the earliest known New Testament manuscript. It is on display at the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester.
Flashback
Her Weakness Is Her Strength. It is to the weakest that we owe the greatest honor, to the frailest that we owe the greatest allegiance, to the ones most likely to be overlooked that we owe the greatest attention. (FYI, a flashback is a link to one of my archived articles posted on this same day in a prior year.)
God is working on us through our children, so that he can work through us for our children.
—Paul David Tripp
