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A La Carte (November 15)

Today’s Kindle deals include a few you’ll want to look at if you’re an avid reader.

Be sure to check out Westminster Books for a great deal on A Puritan Theology, a giant book I’ve found tremendously helpful.

Opinion Polls and the ‘Evangelical’ Illusion

Thomas Kidd writes about the unreliability of opinion polls. “The primary reasons that they are unreliable are (1) the difficulty in getting solid polling data on any subject, (2) unclear definitions of ‘evangelicals,’ and (3) ideological biases against ‘evangelicals’ among pollsters and reporters.”

Local Charlotte Church Released A Christmas Video

This little video is worth watching with the family. “The Christmas season can often make people feel pressured to give the perfect gift or feel let down when we don’t receive what we were hoping for. One local church in Charlotte tried to combat those feelings with a simple message – be grateful for the gifts you already have.”

Post-Weinstein, We Must Reform Due Process, Not Abandon It

“‘Call me old-fashioned,’ Tweeted comedian Kate Willett over the weekend. ‘But I want a man who will protect me like I’m the reputation of a guy he’s never met.’ As of noon on Monday, that comment had 37,000 retweets and 162,000 likes. Not just because it’s funny. But because it perfectly captures the prevailing mood. In the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s disgrace, predatory men around the world are being outed for their sex crimes. And in many cases—Weinstein’s included—the damning evidence seems clear enough to suppress the usual caveats about innocent-till-proven-guilty.”

And So-And-So Begat So-And-So

Here’s some counsel on leading family devotions through those long “begats” passages.

BC’s Hogan Twins Share A Brain And See Out Of Each Other’s Eyes

This is amazing. “BC’s Hogan twins, featured in the documentary Inseparable, are unique in the world. Joined at the head, their brains are connected by a thalamic bridge which gives them neurological capabilities that researchers are only now beginning to understand.”

Increase in Opportunity through Decrease in Tuition

The Master’s University has some exciting news: Effective Fall 2018, the new annual tuition will drop approximately 26%. As John MacArthur said in his announcement, “a reduction of this size opens the door to many young people that previously believed an education at TMU was not attainable and ‘allows the university to multiply the lives that can be prepared for Kingdom influence.”

Emulating the Mind of Christ in an Age of Misinformation

“In today’s world, we are faced with an unprecedented amount of information. Sometimes, it feels like it is coming at us like water from a firehose. For the first time in history, an average person with no particular expertise on a subject has easy access to tools which allow him or her to look authoritative and to put sometimes spurious information out on the web. Add to this that the conspiracy theorists may have a lot more time on their hands than the ‘experts’, whose academic jobs often have heavy administrative loads, and you get a situation where the bad information sometimes out-multiplies the good.”

Praying Mantis Love is Waaay Weirder Than You Think (Video)

God made some strange animals, but this is about as strange as they get, I think! (Beware: Lots of insect mating, death, and mayhem.)

Flashback: 18 Prayers to Pray for Unbelievers

I trust that every Christian regularly prays for family or friends or colleagues or neighbors who do not yet know the Lord. And while we can and must pray for matters related to their lives and circumstances, the emphasis of our prayers must always be for their salvation. Here are some ways the Bible can guide our prayers.

Beware of letting your tongue outrun your brains.

—C.H. Spurgeon

  • The Phrase that Altered My Thinking Forever

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington. Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever.  Distinct yet inseparable. The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after,…

  • Always Look for the Light

    Always Look for the Light

    For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond.…

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    A La Carte (March 18)

    A La Carte: God is good and does good—even in our pain / Dear bride and groom / Sin won’t comfort you / Worthy of the gospel / From self-sufficiency to trusting God’s people / The gods fight for our devotion / and more.

  • Confidence

    God Takes Us Into His Confidence

    Here is another Sunday devotional—a brief thought to orient your heart toward the Lord. God takes the initiative in establishing relationship by reaching out to helpless humanity. He reveals himself to the creatures he has made. But what does it mean for him to provide such revelation of himself? John Calvin began his Institutes by…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (March 16)

    A La Carte: I believe in the death of Julius Caesar and the resurrection of Jesus Christ / Reasons students and pastors shouldn’t use ChatGPT / A 1.3 gigpixel photo of a supernova / What two raw vegans taught me about sharing Jesus / If we realize we’re undeserving, suddenly the world comes alive /…

  • Ask Pastor John

    Ask Pastor John

    I admit it: I felt a little skeptical about Ask Pastor John. To be fair, I feel skeptical about most books that begin in one medium before making the leap to another. Books based on sermons, for example, can often be pretty disappointing—a powerful sermon at a conference can make a bland chapter in a…