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A La Carte (November 8)

wednesday

Today’s Kindle deals include just a few odds and ends.

Something is Wrong on the Internet

This is an odd but still important read for parents of young children. Despite the warnings of explicit content, it points more to what is weird and bizarre than perverse.

You Can’t Reform What You Won’t Touch

Barry York gives an excellent admonishment and reminder to Christians about the Reformation. “You can’t reform what you won’t touch. What do I mean? Individual, congregational, or cultural reform does not occur simply by lobbing doctrinal cannonballs from the pulpit to the pews or, worse yet, from one computer screen across cyberspace toward the screen of an intended target. Rather, you have to get messy and touch what you desire to see changed.”

All Hail the Godbot

“There are reasons to be skeptical of The Way of the Future, a newly incorporated American religion that worships artificial intelligence as “the Godhead.”It has no church, no worshipers, no doctrine, no scripture, and no rituals. But Anthony Levandowksi, the multi-millionaire engineer who secretly founded it in 2015, and today serves as president and CEO, has a track record of predicting and capitalizing on the future, as he did for example in the self-driving car industry.”

How Many Verb Tenses Are There in English? (Video)

“How many different verb tenses are there in a language like English? At first, the answer seems obvious — there’s past, present, and future. But it isn’t quite that simple. Anna Ananichuk explains how thanks to something called grammatical aspect, each of those time periods actually divides further.”

The No. 1 Social Justice Imperative Is Marriage

“A foundational value in our nation is the opportunity for all its citizens to be able to compete for a fair and meaningful shot at the American dream. This begins with access to citizenship, educational opportunity, and securing meaningful work that leads to greater life opportunities via commitment, diligence, and self-sacrifice. But an important contributor to putting and keeping men, women, and children on the escalator toward the American dream is little-known and widely ignored.”

Simeon Trust is Coming to Toronto

Learn more about the upcoming Simeon Trust workshop in Toronto.

Preparing Your Church for an Active Shooter

It seems like such preparation is becoming more and more important. (Also see 7 Ways to Prepare Your Church Against Violence. and A Top Reason for Church Shootings: Domestic Abuse.)

Gender Revolution (Video series)

Family Policy Institute of Washington has put together a series of short videos on today’s gender revolution.

Flashback: Taking Up a Collection in a Cashless World

How do our churches make giving to the Lord an act of worship when, rather than being done corporately and manually, it is done electronically and automatically? And how do we as individuals make giving an act of worship when our involvement may be no more than filling out an electronic giving form?

Sometimes we would prefer to die for Jesus than to live for Him.

—Ed Welch

  • 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…