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A La Carte (May 20)

friday

The Lord be with you and bless you today, my friends.

(Yesterday on the blog: Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God)

Sexual ethics and colonialism for the modern age

This article considers the strange contradictions between society’s hatred of an old form of colonialism and its love of a new one.

The Miracle In Newgate

“The gentle, kindly face of Elizabeth Fry was chosen by the Bank of England to grace the £5 note between 2002 and 2016, reflecting the high regard in which she continues to be held almost two hundred years after her death. Through her work as a prison reformer the lives of thousands of convicts were transformed. Yet that was just one part of her far-ranging ministry which is still influential today. At the heart of her thinking and practice was the regular reading of the Bible.”

Submit Your Felt Reality to God

“A number of years ago, a counselor friend of mine introduced a simple and accessible concept that he regularly uses in his practice. He calls it ‘felt reality.’” This is a good and useful term!

The Return of the Culture War

“Here’s something you often hear people say as they get older: ‘I remember the last time that was popular.’ Fashions once considered outdated come back in style. Movements arise and subside, and then surge again. A benefit of age is the wisdom and perspective you bring to the current moment. History doesn’t always repeat itself or move in predictable cyclical patterns, but the more you study it and the longer you live, the more you see how the present and the past rhyme.” With that, Trevin Wax reflects on the return of the culture war.

It Rots the Bones

“Many months ago, I received an email from a dear, faithful reader, asking for help. Her life was quickly unraveling, and in the midst of persistent heartache, she had fallen headlong into envy. Jealousy towards a woman in her church, whose life seemed quite perfect. This jealousy was destroying her, from the inside out. Envy is the thief of contentment, isn’t it? It reveals an idol tucked in the heart.” It does, indeed.

Charles Spurgeon’s Battle with Depression

“Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) preached to approximately 10 million people in his lifetime, often speaking ten times a week. His 3,561 sermons are bound in sixty-three volumes, and in addition he wrote many books. Wonderful as those accomplishments were, they put demands on his life that no doubt contributed to his battles with depression. (Not least of all that he often worked eighteen hours a day!)”

Flashback: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Following a Parenting Method

We, as parents, can and should learn from methods, but be very cautious about following them too rigidly. We must always ensure our confidence in parenting has not subtly shifted from the goodness of God to the performance of methodology.

Happy the man within reach of a library, the shelves of which are well lined with books of holy biography!

—F.B. Meyer

  • A Batch of New Books for Kids

    A Batch of New Books for Kids (and Teens)

    Every month I put together a roundup of new and notable books for grownup readers. But I also receive a lot of books for kids and like to put together the occasional roundup of these books as well. So today I bring you a whole big batch of new books for kids of all ages…

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (March 28)

    A La Carte: The case against the abortion pill / What I’ve learned about grieving with hope / Heartbreaking deception: teen girls, social media, and body image / Could podcasts save the church from stupidity? / Count it all joy / and more.

  • What God Wants You To Forget

    What God Wants You To Forget

    We are never far from reminding God of our credentials, of providing him with a curriculum vitae that lays out all we are, all we have been through, and all we have accomplished for his sake. We are never far from making the subtle turn from grace to merit, from what is freely given to…

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    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: New music / Millennials and GenZ / Scotland’s new hate crime law / Cate Blanchett, Easter is for you / Why the Reformed pray for revival / What truly happened to Jesus on the cross? / and more.

  • New and Notable Books

    New and Notable Christian Books for March 2024

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of new titles in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I…

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    A La Carte (March 26)

    A La Carte: God delivers from the suffering he ordains / The beautiful partnership of family and church / The end of religious liberty / On whales, menopause, and thanks to God / Ordinary women, extravagant gifts / and more.