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A La Carte (May 31)

Today’s Kindle deals include quite a lot of books that will be worth a quick peek.

How the Self-Esteem Craze Took Over America

Here’s a fascinating longform article about the self-esteem nonsense that took over America in the 80s and 90s. “If you grew up, or raised a child, during the 1980s or 1990s, you almost certainly remember this sort of material, as well as goofy classroom exercises focusing on how special each individual child was. A certain ethos took hold during this time: It was the job of schools to educate, yes, but also to instill in children a sense of their own specialness and potential.” Turns out it was mostly nonsense.

What We Need Most

Kevin DeYoung: “The biggest need in your life, and in mine, is to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I’m convinced that more evangelism, more prayer, more fruitfulness, more holiness will flow from the fountain of our lives only when we start drinking more deeply of Christ.”

4 Practical Threats to the Church Today

There’s a lot we could say about threats to the church today, but I think Jared has aptly identified four common ones here.

Ladybug Wings (Video)

This little video shows the amazingly intricate process through which ladybugs deploy their wings and fold them up again.

Time for a Populist Bioethics Commission

Wesley J. Smith outlines some of the current concerns in bioethics and suggestions a possible way forward. “The discussions, such as they are, remain contained within the rarified atmosphere of scientific symposia, where they are conducted by the very people intent on pursuing these technologies.”

Who Was Joan of Arc? (Video)

“According to a recent survey, one out of every eight Americans thought that Joan of Arc was the wife of Noah! But the truth about Joan is a little more complex, a lot more interesting, and many years after Noah’s spouse. Here’s a quick video that explains more about her…”

Obsessed with Calories

Where did our calorie obsession come from? And is it really as important as we make it out to be?

Tiger Woods and the Danger of Building a Brand

There are lots of ways to apply this to the Christian world. “Perhaps the deepest lessons of the Woods story are the dangers when the gap between public image and private reality becomes too wide. We all wish to be liked and respected. Yet when image and truth become decoupled, when you participate in the sordid while colluding in the pretence that you are purer than the driven snow, the edifice is always likely to come crashing down.”

Flashback: Well-Planned, Hard, Sweat-Inducing Prayer and Work

Prayer and work belong together. They are like two oars that, when used together, keep a rowboat moving forward. If you use only one oar—praying without working or working without praying—you will row in circles.

Take care of your life and God will take care of your death.

—George Whitefield

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (July 3)

    A La Carte: Silly summers / Broken bodies and anxious souls / Caring for disabled church members / How to survive prosperity / Meeting with the grieving / What makes a sermon work / Logos and Kindle deals.

  • Is It Fair of God

    Is It Fair of God?

    It’s a question every Christian is asked to consider at one time or another: Is God fair to punish those who have never heard of Jesus Christ? There are many ways to consider the issue and many ways to answer.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 2)

    A La Carte: Encouraging your congregation to sing / Six ways to improve your prayer meeting / Will I ever love a church again? / God’s love is sufficient to help you fight porn / God’s discipline / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 1)

    A La Carte: The Queen of Sheba tries AI / Did we sin our marriage away? / When to stop treatment / Essential practices when comforting the grieving / Jesus doesn’t use fake plants / Kindle deals.

  • Satan Can Stage a Quiet Revival Too

    Satan Can Stage a Quiet Revival Too

    We are hearing encouraging reports of a kind of quiet revival that is spreading throughout the West. There appears to be a small but noticeable interest in the Christian faith by groups that, until recently, had eschewed it