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A La Carte (November 27)

A La Carte Thursday 1

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends and family! May this be a day in which you truly give thanks to God for his many mercies. Check in tomorrow for my annual roundup of Black Friday deals for Christians.

Today’s Kindle deals include yet another roundup of books that should be of interest to Christian readers.

(Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books for November 2025)

What False Teachings Should Make Me Leave a Church?

We all know that false teaching may require us to leave a church. In this article, John Piper considers the kinds of false teaching that would require this.

Everything Is Television

This article is not by a Christian writer (so far as I know) but is really interesting in the way it shows how sooner or later all of our new media end up mimicking television. It offers lots of helpful food for thought. (On a somewhat similar note, this video: You didn’t lose your attention span. It was stolen.)

Is it Satan or God?

“There are multiple instances in the Bible where Satan (or an evil spirit) acts with malicious intent toward a human, but where the Bible indicates that God is working behind the scenes—even moving events toward the fulfillment of his purposes (which are always good and wise).” This is a crucial dynamic to understand.

Treat People like Adults

“I fear that, without really intending to, churches have a habit of infantilising people. We should treat people like adults.” I do not disagree with this!

The Hard Way Is the Easy Way

Reagan Rose: “It’s a lesson we have to drill into our heads: Every time we choose temporary comfort over doing the hard thing, we aren’t avoiding the pain; we’re just putting it off. Eventually, procrastination has to be paid back with interest. Laziness promises peace now, but compounds pain in the future. It makes the fool’s bargain of trading temporary discomfort for long-term regret.”

Backward Progress

Jacob writes about backward progress. “Backward progress is the progress that is made by reversing course. Just like the person who has to go backwards to make the correct turn, sometimes the only way forward is to turn around.”

Flashback: How I Review a Book

A question I often receive is this one: “Can you give me some advice on writing a book review?” …I typically use a loose formula that I think can be helpful and that often resonates with readers.

If you experience gratitude as a burden, you don’t know gratitude, because true gratitude is not an exertion of the will; it’s an overflow of a sense of being treated better than you deserve.

—John Piper

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    Weekend A La Carte (March 14)

    A La Carte: The West’s strange genius / Healing the way women hurt each other / AI skeptics / The world after reading / What about the children? / What caregivers should know about dementia / and much more.

  • Sex and Self-Forgetfulness

    Sex, Self-Forgetfulness, and the Joy of Serving Your Spouse

    I often think there is a kind of paradoxical quality to sex within marriage. It’s paradoxical in that few things have greater ability to bring blessing (through its right use) or to bring cursing (through its misuse). Not only that, but few things bring greater joy to a marriage, and also, in so many cases,…

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    A La Carte (March 13)

    What happened to our pastor? / Youth ministry needs seasoned saints / God’s sovereignty when things don’t go as planned / Preach sermons that algorithms don’t reward / A pastor remains in Beirut / and more.

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    A La Carte (March 12)

    The grief ambush / Forgotten, and that’s good / The foibles and fallibility of Christian leaders / Welcome back, church planting / Weakness is not the enemy / Bad reasons to read the Bible / Bible and book sales.

  • Three Marks of a Good Christian Book

    Three Marks of a Good Christian Book

    Not every book marketed as ‘Christian’ is worth your time. Here are three marks—truth, love, and beauty—that can help you discern which Christian books are truly worth reading.