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A La Carte (May 23)

thursday

Those who hunt for Kindle deals will find a few options today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Work: Its Purpose, Dignity, and Transformation)

Cautious about Causation

Kevin DeYoung warns against being incautious when it comes to establishing causation. “People are complicated, and history is complicated. We don’t do anyone any favors by pretending that people or the past can be understood and summed up in a single, unifying theory.” Though he applies it to a few areas, he focuses in on issues related to race.

The Mysterious Science of Pain (Video)

What is pain? What causes it? And what’s the relationship between mind and body when it comes to feeling pain? This video answers in brief but interesting fashion.

Heart to heart with Laci Green

Sophie Lee goes “heart to heart” with Laci Green, who has amassed a huge following online. “Laci Green had embraced left-wing activists thinking they were tolerant, open-minded folks. Instead, she witnessed the same qualities for which she had fled Mormonism: ‘I can’t help but see this as another religious zealotry.’”

The Expositor’s Distinction: Tethered to the Text

Steve Lawson: “When a man preaches, he should never remove his finger from the Scriptures, Kaiser charged. If he is gesturing with his right hand, he should keep his left hand’s finger on the text. If he reverses hands for gesturing, then he should also reverse hands for holding his spot in the text. He should always be pointing to the Scriptures.”

Can a Christian Lose Their Salvation?

You don’t have to look far to find good answers to this common question. But who better to answer it than R.C. Sproul? “There is no question that professing believers can fall and fall radically. We think of men like Peter, for example, who denied Christ. But the fact that he was restored shows that not every professing believer who falls has fallen past the point of no return. At this point, we should distinguish a serious and radical fall from a total and final fall.”

Why it Is Important Not To Conflate Prophecy and Teaching

Denny Burk carefully explains why it’s important not to conflate prophecy and teaching when it comes to discussions about women preaching. This is a key to discussing the issue with egalitarians but also “soft” complementarians. “Paul treats prophecy and teaching as two different gifts and that he therefore regulates them differently in his churches. Paul never issues a blanket prohibition on female prophecy to men in any of his letters, but he does on female teaching. Why is that?”

Velocity Is Strangling Baseball — and its Grip Keeps Tightening

Sports fans will enjoy reading about how velocity (pitchers are throwing faster than ever before) is changing the game for the worse.

Flashback: 3 Priorities for Christian Parents

We know that God tells us to raise our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord—we get that. But what does that actually look like? How can we flesh out that simple framework?

The chief aim of the enemy’s assaults is to get rid of Christ, to get rid of the atonement, to get rid of his suffering in the place of men.

—C.H. Spurgeon

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 19)

    A La Carte: How to know if you’re using God / The soul-poison of the little word ‘should’ / True, false, or heresy? / Truthful thinking is greater than positive thinking / Unless the seed dies / and more.

  • The Phrase that Altered My Thinking Forever

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington. Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever.  Distinct yet inseparable. The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after,…

  • Always Look for the Light

    Always Look for the Light

    For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond.…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 18)

    A La Carte: God is good and does good—even in our pain / Dear bride and groom / Sin won’t comfort you / Worthy of the gospel / From self-sufficiency to trusting God’s people / The gods fight for our devotion / and more.

  • Confidence

    God Takes Us Into His Confidence

    Here is another Sunday devotional—a brief thought to orient your heart toward the Lord. God takes the initiative in establishing relationship by reaching out to helpless humanity. He reveals himself to the creatures he has made. But what does it mean for him to provide such revelation of himself? John Calvin began his Institutes by…

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    Weekend A La Carte (March 16)

    A La Carte: I believe in the death of Julius Caesar and the resurrection of Jesus Christ / Reasons students and pastors shouldn’t use ChatGPT / A 1.3 gigpixel photo of a supernova / What two raw vegans taught me about sharing Jesus / If we realize we’re undeserving, suddenly the world comes alive /…