A La Carte (March 4)

May the Lord be with you and bless you on this fine day.

Logos users: March Matchups is back, and you’ll want to have your say on which products get the deepest discounts. Be sure to also look at the free and nearly-free books that are highlighted this month.

Today’s Kindle deals include some options I think you’ll enjoy, like J. Warner Wallace’s The Truth in True Crime and Gavin Ortlund’s What It Means To Be Protestant. There is also an Easter devotional you may enjoy reading with your family.

The Death of a Saint

I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet tribute to an ordinary saint. “I have studied the Bible with many people over the last 26 years, but very few have done so with the eagerness, sincerity, and love that Vivian showed. She was a great lady because of her love: for her family, for her neighbors, but above all, for her Lord and Savior. I am not weeping for her this morning, I am weeping for myself. Some people think I spent the last eight years ministering to Vivian, but the truth is that she spent the last eight years ministering to me.”

James Talarico’s Gospel

James Talarico has been able to share his perspective about the Christian faith on some of the world’s largest platforms. Here’s an analysis. “It is never a good idea to redefine what God has defined. This includes, but is not limited to, life, marriage, and sex. And it is never a good idea to separate that which God has joined together. This includes Christian doctrine from Christian ethics. To claim the ‘ethics’ of Jesus while discarding the doctrine of the Word is like trying to keep the beauty of a flower while severing it from its roots; it may mimic the appearance of life for a season, but you have severed the bloom from the only source that could sustain it.”

What is Coram Deo?

Coram Deo is a Latin phrase meaning “before the face of God.” It is often associated with John Calvin and other Reformers who summoned the Christian to live all of life in God’s presence. The Coram Deo Pastors Conference was created to remind pastors of our great God, to recharge preachers to teach with clarity and conviction, and to reinvigorate the weary soul for a life of ministry faithfulness before the face of God. (Sponsored)

You Can Always Come Back to Church

Glenna tells about returning to the gym after a long absence and uses it as a helpful illustration of why you can (and should) return to church if you have been away for some time.

I Prepare Sermons 4 Weeks in Advance

Joseph explains why he recently began to prepare his sermons several weeks in advance. Here’s how it began: “I decided to try it while reading Paul David Tripp’s book Dangerous Calling. He writes in one section about the seriousness of the pastor’s calling to preach and warned against preaching without meditation and personal application. He strongly advised preparing further out.”

Ground Rules for Gospel Greatness

Dave Harvey grapples with the human desire for greatness. “What are the ground rules for gospel greatness? If we don’t answer that, we’ll keep swinging between two familiar ditches—despair and denial.” (For some reason, I felt that Justin Huffman’s article would be nicely complementary: Christians Should Long For Giftedness.)

Hell and the Character of God

Chris Bolt offers a long refutation of conditional immortality or annihilationism, which Kirk Cameron recently defended. “Kirk Cameron’s incredulity regarding the duration and severity of eternal punishment while briefly addressing some of the purportedly robust arguments for conditional immortality. In short, my opposition to conditional immortality, or annihilationism, stems from biblical exegesis, a rejection of feelings-based theologizing, the simple character of God, and the nature of Christ’s atonement.”

Flashback: We Who Are So Ordinary

Through what the world counts as subpar and unimpressive, he is building a kingdom that will by far outshine even the greatest kingdom ever devised by men.