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A La Carte (November 14)

Today’s Kindle deals include an interesting little mix of books.

Another Actress Accuses Kirk Cameron Of Treating Her With Respect

I don’t often link to the satire site The Babylon Bee, but this one is worth reading in the light of all the recent scandal in Hollywood.

Pastoring a Rural Church Isn’t a “Lesser” Ministry

Cheston Pickard speaks about important similarities in rural and urban churches to show that pastoring in the country is not a lesser kind of ministry.

Is There a Different Process of Church Discipline for Elders?

“Most people are aware of the process of church discipline outlined in Matthew 18 (vv. 15-18). In order to promote the purity of the church and the testimony of the gospel, Christians must ensure that the other members of their church are living in a way that reflects submission to Christ’s rule. If someone continues in serious and outward sin then they are to be put out of the church or removed from the membership by means of discipline.But a question often arises, concerning elders. Is there a separate process for the discipline of elders outlined in 1 Timothy 5?”

How Does Your Body Know You’re Full? (Video)

“Hunger claws at your belly. It tugs at your intestines, which begin to writhe, aching to be fed. Being hungry generates a powerful and often unpleasant physical sensation that’s almost impossible to ignore. After you’ve reacted by gorging on your morning pancakes, you start to experience an opposing force: fullness. But how does your body actually know when you’re full?” This video explains.

How to Secure Attendance at a Prayer Meeting

There is lots of wisdom here: “R.J. George wrote a three-volume set entitled Lectures in Pastoral Theology that contains a treasure trove of pastoral advice. In his second volume, entitled Pastors and People, he explains with wisdom, care, quaintness, and even some humor how a pastor should go about encouraging people to come to a prayer meeting.”

Conflict, Comfort and the Cross

“Last week, a gunman entered First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and killed 26 people, wounding 20 others. The massacre was brutal and left what will surely be scars on all of those who survived, many of whom were young children. Usually there is some sort of grieving period that decorum allows in the aftermath of such events, but as civilization abandons any pretense at care or compassion that grieving period is quickly disappearing.”

10 Things You Should Learn About Pride and Humility From Jonathan Edwards

“No one has spoken with greater clarity on the nature of both pride and humility than Jonathan Edwards. Here are ten things we can learn from him.”

Inventing the Christian Priesthood

Philip Jenkins begins to examine where the priesthood came from in the early church.

Flashback: Don’t Waste Your Ambition

Ambition is good, but it needs to be strengthened by at least two other crucial traits: character and self-discipline. When I look at your generation, I love the ambition I see, but want to encourage you to pursue the traits that will harness that ambition to the best and highest purposes.

Definitions of liberation not drawn from the Word of God will always fall short of true liberation.

—Carl Ellis Jr.

  • For All the Noise We Make…

    We must be as eager to hear the Scripture as to hear the sermon, and we must be as expectant that God will speak to us through the Word as through the message. Rightly do many churches preface their Bible reading with words like, “Listen as I read God’s holy Word.”

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (October 11)

    A La Carte: Why dads still matter / Character in absurd times / Don’t get baptized in the Jordan / Gen Z is spiritually hungry / Extending hospitality to children / and more.

  • Not old not young not done

    Not Old, Not Young, Not Done

    I am about to turn 49, and a few months later, Aileen will turn 50. But these are just numbers, and already we have a deep awareness that we have entered into this afternoon of life. Already, we are seeing how different our lives have become, and already we are grappling with new challenges and…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (October 10)

    A La Carte: Parenting an autistic child / Sexual reorientation therapy / The Voyage of Life / A possible revival / Broken families and God’s grace / Belief trumps understanding / Logos deals.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (October 9)

    A La Carte: What have you in your hand? / Work as worship / Eight purposes of the Lord’s Supper / Creating vs consuming / Identifying spiritual scrupulosity / Kindle deals / and more.