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A La Carte (May 6)

A La Carte Collection cover image

Today’s Kindle deals include Gregg Allison’s & Chris Castaldo’s timely The Unfinished Reformation and Tim Keller’s Center Church. You Are a Theologian by Jen Wilkin and J.T. English is also a good one to consider.

(Yesterday on the blog: The World’s Foremost False Teacher)

Jeremy Clarkson Got Scammed?

“If the whole Jesus episode is a scam, it’s not a very clever one.  Think about it; if you’re required to die a gruesome death in order for your scam to succeed, then you won’t get to see your success. And that makes you either really stupid or certifiable. Unless of course, you rose from the dead, in which case the entire scam theory is dismantled.”

The Power of Wonder (Video)

I always enjoy a new video from the John 10:10 Project and this one is no exception.

‘Dying for Sex’ or Living With Resurrection Hope?

John writes about those who pursue all the wrong pleasures because they live without the hope of the resurrection.

Gain Is Godliness, or Godliness Is Gain?

“What do you need right now? What would make you genuinely, blissfully, permanently happy if you just had it right now? Ultimately, the answers to that question fall into one of just two categories: either ‘gain is godliness’ or ‘godliness is gain.’”

Reclaiming Interiority

Alan Noble calls upon Christians to take steps to reclaim a rich interior life. “A key to having a rich inner life is cultivating it with rich thoughts. So the first thing to ask yourself is, what am I feeding my mind?”

Materially Rich and Spiritually Emaciated: On ‘Progress’

Kevin Brown ponders what our society deems evidence of progress. “Just as sociologist Emile Durkheim defined religion not by what it is but by what it does—a similar approach to defining progress would suggest it amounts to escalating economic prosperity, technological innovation that increasingly expands into broader domains of human life, and the fulfillment of our individuated preferences, i.e., satisfaction of our wants and needs. But is this what we aspire toward? Is this account of prosperity aligned with human flourishing?”

Flashback: What Makes a Sermon Difficult To Listen To

Recently, and largely for my own purposes, I found myself thinking about some of the elements that can make a sermon difficult to listen to. Having jotted them down, I thought I’d share them with you.

A Christian is a walking sermon. We preach far more than a minister does, for we preach all week long.

—J.C. Ryle

  • A La Carte (November 9)

    Christianity under the progressive gaze / Why Christians must reject the conspiratorial mind / Wise people strive to be wiser / The pro-life movement’s midterm reckoning / How evil works / Preaching in paragraphs / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Works and Wonders November 8

    Works & Wonders (November 8)

    This week’s Works & Wonders: the power of God, Nikon’s microscope photos, three Come, Thou Founts, a brain-injured musical genius, and Prepare Him Room live.

  • Weekend A La Carte (November 7)

    The Hutterites’ guide to technology / Searching for jobs, Gen Z feels like it’s staring into ‘the void’ / The gospel according to Peter (Thiel) / Scientism and the allure of control / Can science explain sparkling rivers? / What led to Christianity Today’s crisis?

  • I Regret to Inform You That Heaven Tourism Is Back

    I Regret to Inform You That Heaven Tourism Is Back

    I regret to inform you, dear reader, that heaven tourism is back. The genre possibly never went away entirely, but it did at least disappear from the bestseller lists for several years. Sadly, it has returned in Gabe Poirot’s 18 Days in Heaven.