A La Carte (November 27)

Today’s Kindle deals include a long, long list of Cyber Monday specials.

Also be sure to check this list for more Cyber Monday Deals for Christians.

Their Friend Sang Amazing Grace and Was Shot

Be sure to read this one. “Stuck in a kidnap gang’s hideout in Nigeria’s lawless Delta area, missionaries David and Shirley Donovan and their two companions were trying their best to keep up morale. The night before, they had been dragged from their beds by men armed with AK-47s, who had burst into their lodgings near the Donovans’ bush clinic. Ignoring their pleas that they were missionary medics, not wealthy oil workers, the gang whisked them by speedboat to a shack on stilts in a remote swamp.”

The Gospel Is the Only Stable Source of Identity and Value

“In a post-Christian culture, it’s really important Christian ambassadors are good translators. People steeped in our modern culture have a very different worldview than Christianity. It’s easy for those we’re talking with about the Gospel to misunderstand what we’re saying.”

WWJD – about Transgender?

“It’s that moment you always know will arrive. You’re in the midst of an online discussion in which you are going against the general zeitgeist on a social issue (in this case transgender) and then it happens: someone comes up with what they think is a devastating riposte – ‘WWJD?’. The implication being that your response is not ‘Christlike’. Now apart from being pleased that non-Christians and atheists are so concerned about what Jesus thinks, how does one respond to this?”

4 Truths About Christian Giving

Here’s some help from J.I. Packer. “Christian virtues, of which generosity is one, are disciplines that Christ commends, commands, and models as life qualities that should mark out all his disciples, that is, all those who have committed themselves to learn his way of living.”

The Last Black Friday

Seth Godin interprets Black Friday: “As the malls continue to die, as retailers everywhere struggle to come up with a reason why people should spend extra time and extra money to visit them, the herd dynamic of Black Friday is fading. It’s hard to whip yourself into a frenzy when you’re sitting at home, in your bathrobe, staring at a screen.”

Hop Onboard the Shortest Flight in the World (Video)

“Got a tight 80 seconds to spare? It’s all the time you need to fly commercial across the Orkney Islands. The word’s shortest nonstop flight is a tiny hop between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray in the United Kingdom, a mere 1.7 miles (2.7 km) apart.”