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A La Carte (May 20)

Don’t Be Embarrassed by Your Ordinary Church

By definition most churches are ordinary churches, right?

Hong Kong

This video of Hong Kong is beautifully done. (Isn’t it sad to see the empty, superstitious worship…)

Is Your Pastor Happy To See You?

I think you’ll appreciate this one from Jared Wilson. (I feel the need to say that Grace Fellowship Church treats its pastors very well, so this is not much of an issue there!)

Our Respectable Sin—Laziness

“The testimony of the Bible from beginning to end says that laziness is wicked. But we don’t often look at it that way. Why is that? Why don’t we think laziness is a big deal? Why has laziness become a respectable sin among Christians?”

Tim Challies Wins Jeopardy! In Dominant Performance

I thought you might enjoy this satire from The Babylon Bee since A La Carte features prominently. (But I guess he didn’t know that Canadians are no longer allowed on Jeopardy.)

The Manchineel Tree

“You might be tempted to eat the fruit. Do not eat the fruit. You might want to rest your hand on the trunk, or touch a branch. Do not touch the tree trunk or any branches. Do not stand under or even near the tree for any length of time whatsoever. Do not touch your eyes while near the tree. Do not pick up any of the ominously shiny, tropic-green leaves.” (Just ignore the evolutionary mumbo-jumbo.)

This Day in 1690. 326 years ago today, John Eliot died. Eliot was a missionary to the Native Americans of New England and publisher of the first Bible printed in America. *

Preacher, Teacher, Sunday Entertainer?

There are some good lines in this article like “You are boring. The Bible is not” and “Exegesis is like digging in a mine. Digging is hard work and it’s time-consuming. We don’t do it because we like holes, but because we expect to find gold.”

Flashback: A Knight in Shining Blubber

It’s a silly title but makes a serious point—a point about not missing the point.

Moody

Those who have left the deepest impression on this sin-cursed earth have been men and women of prayer.

—D.L. Moody

  • Endure

    Why We Can Confidently Persevere in Prayer

    I remember the days when my children were younger and would ask me to give them something—then ask me again, and ask me again. At that age, they had no ability to gain or purchase these things for themselves, so they were entirely dependent upon their parents to grant their requests (which were usually for…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (January 19)

    A La Carte: Learning to struggle / When “Stranger Things” stopped being strange / “If God Is For Us” / Reading as stewardship / A sermon you need to hear / Excellent Kindle deals / and more.

  • Not a Hindrance But a Prerequisite

    Not a Hindrance But a Prerequisite

    Many Christians feel they are too unholy or too sinful to participate in the Lord’s Supper. They come to the table downcast, convinced that their sin makes them unworthy. They may refuse to participate at all.

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    Weekend A La Carte (January 17)

    A La Carte: Look to and learn from older saints / Don’t overthink your problems / Rebellion / When there is no good church / Teens and popular music / Where the gospel costs everything / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (TGBC)

    Enter to win 1 of 5 copies of Why We’re Feeling Lonely (And What We Can Do About It) and be encouraged by Shelby Abbott’s practical, biblical insights for young adults struggling with loneliness.

  • Gospel way

    Truths That Take on the World

    Christianity has a long history with catechisms—summaries of key doctrines that are arranged in a question-and-answer format. Traditionally, Presbyterians would be taught The Shorter Catechism, Dutch Reformed believers The Heidelberg Catechism, and Baptists one of the Baptist equivalents. Sadly, the use of catechisms began to decline as the years went by, so that it became…