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A La Carte (March 9)

wednesday

Good day! May the Lord bless you and keep you today.

There are lots of good books in today’s list of Kindle deals.

Good Habits from Painful Beginnings

This article considers the way that good habits often have their genesis in painful beginnings. “How often does God allow something negative or painful in our lives so that we begin something new—a new habit that is for our own good?”

Pastors Aren’t the Brand

“We’re told these days how important it is to develop a personal brand.” Yet as Darryl tells us here, neither the pastor nor the church should be a brand.

Is your church website accomplishing the right things?

It’s the first impression people have of your community. It can be a powerful tool for communication with your congregation. Is it doing what it needs to do? The team behind WhiteHorseInn.org, ElisabethElliot.org, and even Challies.com, also makes sites for local churches! In March only, mention ‘CHALLIES’ to receive 30% off your first year of service with MereChurch. (Sponsored Link)

This American High

“Thirty-five years ago, I loved foolish bits of sticky paper. Thirty-five years from now, what will be my lament? Today I cling to my home, my security, my liberty – the very things I view as blessings from God – but will I have used them to serve and save eternal souls? Or will these ‘blessings’ have distracted me from what is most important?”

Are You Standing in God’s Way?

Can we stand in God’s way? “You may dismiss this question on its face. After all, how could anyone resist omnipotence? Who could thwart his plans and purposes? In an absolute sense, I agree. We can no more resist God than an ant can resist a boulder rolling to land upon its sandy domicile.”

The Goal Is to Make the Metaverse our “Primary” Reality

As we begin to hear more and more about the metaverse, it’s good to remind ourselves of the total and sweeping goals of those who are designing and advocating it.

50 for the 50th

RYM is collecting top-ten lists of Christian books and sharing them here.

Flashback: The Celebrity Pastor We’ve Never Known

The holiest moments of pastoring are the ones that are seen by the fewest people. And in the end, I’m convinced these are the ones that mean the most. Most people will forget most of your sermons, but they’ll remember that when they called, you came.

The keeping up of appearances is an exhausting way to live.

—Dane Ortlund

  • Are You Binding the Wound or Aggravating It

    Are You Binding the Wound or Aggravating It?

    One of the privileges we have as Christians is the privilege of caring for one another—of blessing one another in our difficulties and comforting one another in our sorrows. In such “one another” ministry we represent God and extend love and mercy on his behalf. This is a precious and sacred ministry that falls to…

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    A La Carte (March 26)

    A La Carte: The Jesus Geezers and Gene Hackman / Prayer is our fuel / John Mark Comer / On failure / Get grace, give grace / Book and Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (March 25)

    A La Carte: Gen Z’s spiritual anxiety / Would you sell out Jesus for $4.37 billion? / Men need friendship, not just accountability / Building healthy relationships with your teens / The pastor’s wife / Sales and deals / and more.

  • Crash and Burn

    When Christians Crash and Burn

    The pictures quickly made their way around the world—pictures of an aircraft lying upside down in the snow just beyond runway 23 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. On February 17, Delta flight 4819 landed hard, shearing off the right wing and flipping over before finally sliding to a stop. Remarkably, despite the crash and subsequent…

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    A La Carte (March 24)

    A La Carte: Wokeness as a tax / The religion of wellness / Freckles, thigh gaps, and beauty / The 50 most edifying films / If I have matching dishes but not love / The Bible and sexuality / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Pastoral Prayer

    A Pastoral Prayer

    Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because there are few examples of pastoral prayers online and I thought these may serve to inspire themes, passages, or ideas as other pastors and elders prepare to lead their churches in prayer. Please…