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A La Carte (October 19)

thursday

As a devotee of chronological Bible-reading plans, I was pleased to learn of the new ESV Chronological Bible that Crossway just announced and released. It’s available in hardcover and TruTone.

(Yesterday on the blog: On the Day When God Fails in Just One of His Promises)

The Remembrance of Blood

This is a strong article by Andrew Roycroft. “As Christians what do we have to say about human life, large scale bloodshed, and the injustice that often follows it? Does the Bible provide us with a framework for processing and addressing these issues in a morally satisfying way? How can we think well about the legacy of blood that stains the conscience of the world we live in?”

Remember Sybil

“Remember Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)? The 1980 diagnostic manual called DSM-III defined MPD for the first time, but the psychiatric professionals in 1994 changed the diagnosis (in the DSM-IV) to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). According to Psychology Today the change was ‘to reflect a better understanding of the condition—namely, that it is characterized by fragmentation or splintering of identity, rather than by proliferation or growth of separate personalities.’ (PT, 9.21). Splintering rather than separate.” Nathan draws an important lesson from this.

Is It Wrong to Have Sex Before Marriage?

Obviously it is wrong, but it’s important we consider the reasons for this (as Kevin DeYoung does here). “Not long ago, an American politician found herself in an awkward situation when she mentioned at a prayer breakfast that she was running late for the event because her fiancé wanted to have sex that morning. From her public admission, it was clear that the woman and her fiancé were living together and were in a sexual relationship. What was also clear is that the woman—a professing Christian at an evangelical church (with her pastor in the audience)—didn’t realize she had said or done anything wrong.”

Prayer Requests from a Church in Israel

Randy Alcorn passes along prayer requests from a local church in Israel. It is good to know how to pray for our brothers and sisters there.

“Have you ever met a chronic navel-gazer? Well, if you haven’t before, you have now. Hi, my name is Brittany. Nice to meet you.”

Trust the Lord in Your Marriage

We know that God calls us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart.” In this article, Jacob calls us to do so in a very particular area.

Flashback: 5 Bad Substitutes for Discipline

Because discipline is unpopular and unpleasant, parents often find themselves looking for substitutes. In her book Parenting Against the Tide, Ann Benton lists five poor substitutes for disciplining our children—five poor substitutes that fail to address the heart.

Believers don’t depend on luck, chance, fate, or fortune. We trust a God who has planned all things for our good and His glory. Trust, rejoice, obey.

—Dustin Benge

  • When God Plants an Acorn

    When God Plants an Acorn, He Means an Oak

    We stood together on the crest of a hill, a gentle breeze rustling the meadow around our feet. The fields ran gently downward until they met a creek that gurgled happily in its course. A few years prior, an acorn had somehow made its way to the highest point of this hill, carelessly dropped there…

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    A La Carte (April 28)

    A La Carte: Protestantism’s Catholic converts / How healthy is your pursuit of health? / God’s special calling on your life / Considering a Christian university? / Testing the teachings of Catholicism / Kindle deals / and more.

  • New and Notable

    New and Notable Christian Books for April 2025

    It is surprisingly difficult to find a list of Christian books that have been released in any given month—especially if you want that list to be filtered by books released through particular publishers. That’s one of the reasons why I close each month by coming up with my list of New and Notable books. I…

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    Weekend A La Carte (April 26)

    A La Carte: Every pinch of pain has purpose / China closed Christian bookstores / Watch for the thing after the thing / For everything there is a time / Showers of blessing / What Pope Francis can teach us about preaching / and more.

  • What Makes You Beautiful

    What Makes You Beautiful

    I have often thought of a conversation that took place when my girls were little. Abby was perhaps 5 or 6 at the time and Michaela just working her way through the “terrible twos” (which for our kids always happened when they were three or four). A stranger saw me interacting with them one day…