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A La Carte (November 21)

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Ananias & Sapphira – J.D. Greear: “The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 lets us know that despite the explosion of growth in the early church, they had moments of weakness, even gross sin. I believe that their deaths serve as a warning to the Church today, and that God has a lot to teach us—if we are willing to hear…”

When Your World Caves In – Paul Levy writes about spending time with “two friends who were in ministry but have fallen morally and so now find themselves out of a job that they loved, separated from their families and, in all honesty, struggling.” Some of the lessons are very good (though I disagree that accountability doesn’t work).

From Vile to Victorious Bodies – “This poignant series of photos by Tom Hussey reflect how much we change over the course of our lives. They illustrate so many Scriptures that speak of the rapid passing of time and the vanity of life.”

The Lost Marines of Tarawa – “We had been on the island for about an hour when we found the first skeleton. It was a pile of yellow bones tucked inside a cardboard box. Mark Noah squatted down for a look. He is a stocky man of 48, with a light buzz of blond hair and the wind-beaten eyes of a lifelong outdoorsman. Since 2008, he has been traveling to the tiny Pacific atoll of Tarawa to search for the remains of more than 500 Marines who died there in World War II. Sometimes locals dig up their bones and leave them in his storage locker.”

From Laziness to Diligence – This article from Biblical Counseling Coalition accurately diagnoses laziness. It’s a little weaker on prescribing diligence, but still worth reading.

Your Brain on Crack Cocaine – Thanks to Toronto’s mayor, crack cocaine has been in the news. Here’s a video that explains what it does to you. (FYI, I should point out that I am not a resident of Toronto, so he is not my mayor!)

Carson

The most extraordinary things about the biblical prerequisites for elders is that they are not all that extraordinary.

—D.A. Carson

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    I wonder if you have ever considered that the solution to discontentment almost always seems to be more. If I only had more money I would be content. If I only had more followers, more possessions, more beauty, then at last I would consider myself successful. If only my house was bigger, my influence wider,…

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    Part of the joy of reading biography is having the opportunity to learn about a person who lived before us. An exceptional biography makes us feel as if we have actually come to know its subject, so that we rejoice in that person’s triumphs, grieve over his failures, and weep at his death.

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    The Great Rewiring of Childhood

    I know I’m getting old and all that, and I’m aware this means that I’ll be tempted to look unfavorably at people who are younger than myself. I know I’ll be tempted to consider what people were like when I was young and to stand in judgment of what people are like today. Yet even…