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A La Carte (October 19)

monday

I hope you enjoyed your weekend and are ready to begin another week! Here are a few articles that may make for interesting reading…

(Yesterday on the blog: The Word You Can Use Once a Year (and No More))

Men, Be the Chief Repenters in Your Homes

What’s leadership in the home about? For one thing, it’s about leading in repentance.

“Break the Teeth in Their Mouths, O God”

This is quite a sobering biographical article about the imprecatory psalms.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

As you’d expect, many of the photos in this gallery are nothing short of stunning.

Will We Die To Our Rights?

Lauren Washer asks whether we are willing to die to our rights. “I spent years preparing to live overseas by building friendships with missionaries, going on short term missions trips, and eventually earned a degree in Intercultural Studies. After college I moved to another culture and tried to put all I had learned into practice. I didn’t anticipate the need to apply some of those cross cultural ministry skills to life within my own culture. Yet I find myself constantly confronting the issue of my rights.”

Christian Fragility? Missionary Confidence in the Face of New Critics

Over at DG, Tim Keesee writes about Christian fragility. “To be clear, the church has never been in better hands, and God will lose none of his people. Our Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep (John 10:11), and he did not die in vain. God’s mission is not jeopardized by our country’s current situation. Christians have been through far worse times in the past, and Christians are in far worse situations in other parts of the world today (think of almost any band of believers from North Africa to North Korea).”

Making Observations, Not Laws

There are some helpful observations here about the peculiarities of culture.

Why Was the Reformation Necessary?

“The church is always in need of reform. Even in the New Testament, we see Jesus rebuking Peter, and we see Paul correcting the Corinthians. Since Christians are always sinners, the church will always need reform. The question for us, however, is when does the need become an absolute necessity?”

Flashback: The Missing Elements of Modern Worship

Instead of searching God’s Word to determine what elements should or must be present in a worship service, leaders are judging elements by whether or not they work (according to their own standard of what works).

When we look at Calvary and behold the Savior dying for us, we should see in his death not first our salvation but our damnation being borne and carried away by him!

—Robert Reymond

  • thurs 3

    A La Carte (May 21)

    One step becomes a three-day walk / Tolkien, foolishness, and the ordinary means of grace / The staggering beauty and burden of church life / Denominational health / Three truths to combat your news anxiety / Don’t do the Devil’s work for him / and more.

  • The Most Neglected Element of Worship

    The Most Neglected Element of Worship

    There are some elements of public worship that receive a great deal of attention. These elements are taught, practiced, rehearsed, and perfected until they are as good as they can be. In most churches, this includes the music, of course, and often the preaching. Why do these receive so much attention?

  • wed 3

    A La Carte (May 20)

    The pastor who refuses to back down / The missionary with Ebola / Why we don’t trust pastors / Rushing our quiet times / The other side of seminary / The remedy, the problem, and the church / Why we need to interpret the Bible / Kindle deals / and more.

  • tues 3

    A La Carte (May 19)

    The wrong lessons from the latest scandal / The blessing of being forgotten / If your chatbot offers prayer / Have tongues ceased? / Consider the small town / Thinking Christianly about complex topics / Book releases / and more.

  • Off the Hook

    God Doesn’t Ask You To Let Him Off the Hook

    There are many ways that human beings can display our pride and arrogance toward God. There are many ways that even those of us who love him can display that we think we know better than he does. There are many ways we can behave with conceit, but perhaps never more so than when we…

  • mon 3

    A La Carte (May 18)

    I am not enough for my kids / The dangerous days past middle age / Are you filled with the Spirit? / Give away lots of money / The best way to resist temptation / A year with Pope Leo / Kindle deals / and more.