Good morning. This is just a reminder that I’m on vacation with my family this week and hence posting only the daily A La Carte articles. Original articles will return next week.
Westminster Books is offering a deal on the initial volumes of a neat new series.
There is a handful of new Kindle deals to look at.
Please Don’t Weaponize Good-Faith Disagreement
I think this is a really important one from Trevin. “One of the wearying aspects of church life these days is the constant weaponizing of disagreement. I’m referring to the tendency to take an honest disagreement we have with someone (perhaps over secondary points of theology, or matters of political prudence, or parenting methods) as a sign he or she must be ‘unsound’—and so we wield that disagreement as a weapon, as a way of smearing the person’s entire outlook or ministry.”
We are Defined Not by our Failures, but by Christ’s Victory
Jen tells a beautiful story here by way of illustration. “In the late 1800s a Canadian pharmacist, Dr. William Leslie, sensed God calling him to use his medical skills to advance the gospel on the continent of Africa. He set out for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1895, joining the missions organization first pioneered by the famed Adoniram Judson in Burma. After a few years, Dr. Leslie met and married another missionary, and together they served in the DRC—offering medical treatment and the gospel.”
Did Jephthah Kill His Daughter to Fulfill a Vow to God?
Believing that Jephthah killed his daughter is not the only common or valid interpretation of this passage.
Where Does Mark End? Handling Snakes and Ancient Manuscripts
And speaking of disputed passages, how about the ending of the Gospel of Mark? This long article from DG explains the uncertainty about exactly where it ends.
Younger Christians Are Looking for Older Saints
Darryl Dash: “To our shame, there was a period in which the aged were seen as unimportant in many churches. In direct contradiction of Scripture, we valued youth. Through our actions, we told older men and women that they no longer mattered and that it was time for the youth to lead now. No longer. I sense the opposite in the church today: a desire for older men and women to emulate.”
7 Ways to Fight Poorly
“If you have breath, you have conflict. And it’s not going to go away.” Ain’t that the truth!
Flashback: We Have the Light So We Can Be the Light
The great need of our fellow Christians is not darkness, but light—light to cut through the gloom, light to brighten their eyes, light to illumine the way we all must go.
We must receive from God, before we can give to others, for we have nothing of our own with which to feed men’s hunger or quench their thirst.
—J.R. Miller
