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A La Carte (May 8)

Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of books that are work a peek.

(Yesterday on the blog: Is Your Church Christian or Christianish?)

Jesus and Joysticks: Why the Church Should Stop Making Fun of Video Gamers

“Church leaders could be insulting more than half of the homes in their congregation and community without even realizing it. That’s exactly what happens when you malign people simply because they play video games in their spare time.” Quite right.

If I Were 22 Again

John Piper talks about what he would do if he were able to zip back to when he was 22.

The Redistribution of Sex

This is a fascinating and potentially disturbing essay. “One lesson to be drawn from recent Western history might be this: Sometimes the extremists and radicals and weirdos see the world more clearly than the respectable and moderate and sane. All kinds of phenomena, starting as far back as the Iraq War and the crisis of the euro but accelerating in the age of populism, have made more sense in the light of analysis by reactionaries and radicals than as portrayed in the organs of establishment opinion.”

Guidelines for Conversations About Race in the Church

I appreciate this one. “Since the MLK50 conference, T4G, and the flurry of tweets, blog posts, and rants exploded onto the internet, I’ve noticed a distinct fervor in the conversation surrounding race and the Church (especially in reformed spheres). We seem to need some guidelines to make these conversations fruitful rather than frustrating. We’re failing to demonstrate fundamental unity, clarity, or brotherly love. It’s coming from the ‘famous’ pastors and the ‘every day’ pastors, from those of us with many Twitter followers, and those of us with fifty.”

The Longest Straight Line Land And Sea Route

Put this one down as interesting information that isn’t particularly useful.

What the Word of God Says About the Word of God, Book by Book

Jared Wilson writes, “What God says about his word is a deep, complex, and staggering thing. And each book of the written word testifies to the wonder of his revelation. I decided to take a look, book by book, selecting a representative passage from each to highlight many of the things God’s word says about God’s words.”

10 Things You Should Know about the Second Coming of Christ

Just like the title says, here are some things you should know about Christ’s return. I can’t even tell you how excited I am for that day!

Flashback: Drinking It Straight

It has been many years since that first cup of coffee and I love it more than ever. I still drink it straight-up black. And more than ever I am committed to the straight-up Word of God, to never diluting it, and to never adding anything to it. It’s absolutely perfect and downright delicious just the way it is.

Pastors, we must determine to give the world what it needs and we must never cater to what it wants.

—H.B. Charles Jr.

  • 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.

  • Marriage: A Dance of Beauty and Chaos

    This sponsored post was provided by Burke Care, and written by Jen Arend, which invites you to schedule care today with a certified biblical counselor. As the music swells, she begins her descent down the aisle. All eyes are on her, especially her groom. She is radiant, majestic, and filled with beauty. Her gaze meets his tear-filled…

  • Does God Care How You Cook Your Goat?

    Does God Care How You Cook Your Goat?

    It is one of those biblical commands that has always perplexed me. If it appeared just one time in Scripture I might be tempted to pass it by. But it appears no less than three times, in Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21. The repetition tells me that God is quite concerned that his…