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A La Carte (November 26)

A La Carte Collection cover image

I know many Americans will be offline tomorrow as you celebrate Thanksgiving. Enjoy your holiday, and be sure to check in on Friday as I’ll have my annual roundup of Black Friday deals.

Westminster Books has released its annual gift guide. You’ll find discounts of up to 80% off!

Today’s Kindle deals include some interesting titles I’ve never seen on sale before.

(Yesterday on the blog: Would You Consider Supporting My Work?)

The Other Side Of Human Rights

We are all familiar with the importance of human rights, but as Seth points out, there is another side to it. “We, the children of our enlightened forebearers, no longer find concepts like equality and fairness difficult to accept. These values are no longer revolutionary. They are the basic assumptions we grow up with. But I’m afraid our emphasis on rights has led us to a different kind of imbalance.”

To Foster Biblical Literacy, Teach People to Read

This article posits that the inability of so many people to read the Bible well is related to the fact that they’ve never been taught to read anything well. “They don’t read it well because they don’t read. Analyzing the stray paragraph or reading bits and pieces of books doesn’t help. Only a familiarity with books of all sorts enables students to pick up on the clues about what an author is doing and how he’s doing it. They need to read—a lot.”

The Found Boys

The Found Boys is a thrilling throwback buddy adventure for young readers. Amid the abundant humor and action, the story explores deep themes of forgiveness and reconciliation in age-appropriate ways. (Sponsored)

A Ramp Out of the Worry Rut

“Simply telling myself not to overthink, not to worry, or not to rehash things one more time doesn’t work. I need something to reorient me back onto the path I actually want to travel down.”

Do You See Eternity?

Randy Alcorn explains the importance of not only believing in eternity but in “seeing” it in our hearts and minds. “It’s not essential that we understand in detail how the future will fall together. But the cornerstone of all orthodox eschatology is belief in the second coming of Christ—his physical return to this earth.”

The Depressed Christian

“Sadness is not all, but it is certain in life. But what matters most is what you choose to do with your sadness. And while (depending on the cause) there may be many things you need to do—take a nap, confess your sin, go on a walk with a friend, etc.—I want to recommend one thing to avoid.”

Temptation – A Quick No Is Better than a Slow Yes

Yes indeed! When it comes to sin, a quick no is always better than a slow yes.

Flashback: Proven Faith Is More Precious than Gold

Be encouraged! God is up to something good amid your pain. As the refiner’s fire removes impurities to bring out the beauty of gold, so God uses trials to refine and bring out the beauty of your faith.

God has promised to supply all our needs. What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.

—Elisabeth Elliot

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 26)

    A La Carte: The other side of human rights / Biblical literacy / A ramp out of the worry rut / The depressed Christian / Quick no, slow yes / Do you see eternity? / and more.

  • Support

    Would you Consider Supporting My Work?

    I have been blogging at Challies.com on a daily basis for well over 22 years now. That long commitment has allowed me to write thousands of articles and hundreds of book reviews while also sending millions of visitors to other sites through the daily A La Carte feature. While I’ve also written a number of books, through…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 25)

    A La Carte: Are you still gospel-centered? / Christian liberty / Triumph in trouble / Being faithful in little things / How we choose songs / I’m not sabbatarian / and more.

  • Danger

    The Danger of Defensive Sanctification

    There is a certain kind of sober-mindedness that seems to come over Christians as they age. It can flow from many sources, I’m sure, but I think it often arises from a kind of fear—a fear that they may not finish their race without some kind of a major stumble. After living the Christian life…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 24)

    A La Carte: A wonderful short film / Science confirms a literal, historical Adam and Eve / Go low, aim high / Stop brainstorming / Structured and spontaneous prayers / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Fire prayer

    Trimmed and Set on Fire

    Sometimes humor accomplishes what soberness cannot, as an old quote from D.L. Moody illustrates. “Some people’s prayers need to be cut off at both ends and set on fire in the middle.” After all, we have all had to endure prayers that were a little too long (or perhaps a lot too long) or that…