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A La Carte (May 3)

monday

Good morning! Grace to you and peace.

(Yesterday on the blog: The Endearing Conceit of Young Men)

Humility on the Opinion Front

This is a really good call for humility when it comes to opinions (and other things).

Tithing in Financially Tight Times

“Your bank balance hovers near zero. Your job feels like it’s hanging in the balance. You can’t see how you’ll pay those bills. And yet you just heard your pastor encourage the congregation to think hard about how much they should give. By which he meant everyone, not just the wealthy. So how on earth can you think about giving money away when it seems like you can’t hold onto enough of it in the first place?”

Why Did the First Humans Live for So Long?

I really enjoyed John Piper’s take on why the first humans lived so much longer than we do today.

What Will Become of Atheism?

The latest newsletter from Esther O’Reilly reflects on other people’s reflections about the demise of the New Atheism. “Speaking as a denominationally homeless but decidedly conservative Protestant, I didn’t expect to find myself in 100% agreement with a secular Marxist hot take on Christianity vs. Atheism. But it’s 2021, so here we are.”

How to Protect Your Church from Abusers

This is a fairly basic (but important!) guide to protecting your church from abusers.

Church Membership Among Former Mormons

I hadn’t ever considered the special difficulty a church would face in persuading former Mormons to value church membership. This article explains it.

Endurance in the Christian Life

Amber Thiessen takes a current sorrow (another lockdown) and uses it to reflect on the Christian life. “The Christian life is all about endurance: Persevering, learning, and growing.”

Flashback: If Only I Had Been Saved By Merit!

One of the hardest tasks for every Christian is to deeply believe and forever remember that we’ve been saved by grace. One of the sweetest disciplines for every Christian is to meditate upon the grace that God extends to the undeserving.

It is harder to slander people in public when we’ve prayed for them in private.

—Dustin Benge

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  • Discernment

    What Does a Discerning Person Do?

    Some Christians seem to be specially gifted when it comes to spiritual discernment. Others take a special interest in discernment and expend the hard effort of growing in the discipline of it. But they may sometimes wonder: What should I do with this discernment?

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    A La Carte (May 19)

    A La Carte: Dangers of theological controversy / No confidence? No problem! / The goodness of gardening friends / Jeff the low stakes prophet / Hurting people / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Prayer

    The Reward They Longed for They Received

    Jesus, who knew what was in the heart of men, warned of the hypocrisy of those whose prayer life is only ever public. “When you pray,” he said, “you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen…

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    Weekend A La Carte (May 17)

    A La Carte: Generalizations are not stereotypes / Hospitality and reaching the dechurched / Essential lessons for pastors / The rise of Islam and the resilience of the church / Gossip and godly church / Fear takes you where grace has not yet gone / and more.