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A La Carte (March 6)

Today’s Kindle deals include several books by Geoffrey Thomas and a 90-day study in some key passages from the Bible.

(Also, just because I noticed it, the DJI Mavic Pro seems to be at its lowest price ever in case you’re in the market for a drone.)

(Yesterday on the blog: 10 Lessons on Parenting Big(ger) Kids)

The Stings of Death: An Article Not Just for Old People

“The Lord Jesus has taken away the sting of death through his resurrection. Believers know that for all who are in union with Jesus, their bodies will be united to Christ after death and they anticipate the hope of the resurrection. The sting is gone. The last enemy is defeated. Death has no victory over the believer.” That’s some pretty good news! It also offers some very practical counsel.

How Would You Counsel Someone Interested in Assisted Suicide?

“Imagine you are a pastor of a local church and a man who comes infrequently to your church has requested an emergency meeting with you. In your meeting, he tells you that his father is dying of brain cancer. It is painful for this man to see his father suffer by slowly losing control of his physical and cognitive abilities. The father wishes to die because he wishes to no longer be in pain. Because the state where your church is located just passed an assisted suicide law, this man—who you do not believe is a Christian—is asking you whether it would be appropriate for this man’s father to exercise his ‘right to die’ in accordance with the state’s new law. How would you answer him?”

Did Old Testament Law Force a Woman to Marry Her Rapist?

This is a frequent accusation about Scripture’s treatment of women, but is it really what the Bible says? This article provides a careful answer.

Five Reasons to Include Women on Your Church Staff

Michael Kruger writes, “Indeed, staffing issues for churches are complex, multi-dimensional, and vary from church to church. My only point here is that churches ought to at least have a category for hiring women on staff as finances and circumstances allow.” I quite agree! (On a related note, here’s Mez McConnell: Why My First Church Hire Was A Woman, And Yours Should Be Too.)

Was the Apostle Paul Married? Yes, He Was.

Denny Burk defends the view that the Apostle Paul must have been married at some point in life.

Do Whatever Makes You Holy

“We will only begin to make holiness a habit when we acknowledge the fact that our habits, no matter how minor they might seem, have consequences.” But for this one I basically love the headline: Instead of “do whatever makes you happy,” “do whatever makes you holy!”

Why Teenagers Are Becoming ‘Trans-curious’

“A new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics finds many more teens than previously thought say they are transgender or identify themselves using other nontraditional gender terms.” The reason is exactly what you’d expect: social contagion.

Flashback: The Training Ground of Sound Doctrine

Because Christians are not trained in sound doctrine, they wholeheartedly embrace error, often finding it more satisfying than God’s revealed truth.

Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the triune God.

—John Wesley

  • When God Plants an Acorn

    When God Plants an Acorn, He Means an Oak

    We stood together on the crest of a hill, a gentle breeze rustling the meadow around our feet. The fields ran gently downward until they met a creek that gurgled happily in its course. A few years prior, an acorn had somehow made its way to the highest point of this hill, carelessly dropped there…

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    A La Carte (April 28)

    A La Carte: Protestantism’s Catholic converts / How healthy is your pursuit of health? / God’s special calling on your life / Considering a Christian university? / Testing the teachings of Catholicism / Kindle deals / and more.

  • New and Notable

    New and Notable Christian Books for April 2025

    It is surprisingly difficult to find a list of Christian books that have been released in any given month—especially if you want that list to be filtered by books released through particular publishers. That’s one of the reasons why I close each month by coming up with my list of New and Notable books. I…

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    Weekend A La Carte (April 26)

    A La Carte: Every pinch of pain has purpose / China closed Christian bookstores / Watch for the thing after the thing / For everything there is a time / Showers of blessing / What Pope Francis can teach us about preaching / and more.

  • What Makes You Beautiful

    What Makes You Beautiful

    I have often thought of a conversation that took place when my girls were little. Abby was perhaps 5 or 6 at the time and Michaela just working her way through the “terrible twos” (which for our kids always happened when they were three or four). A stranger saw me interacting with them one day…