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A La Carte (October 24)

wednesday

Today’s Kindle deals include a very large list of excellent deals. Don’t miss it!

If printed books are more your style, visit Westminster Books to see their sales for the week.

(Yesterday on the blog: Who Gives What: Should the Pastor Know?)

A Statement on I Kissed Dating Goodbye

Josh Harris has released a statement on I Kissed Dating Goodbye. “While I stand by my book’s call to sincerely love others, my thinking has changed significantly in the past twenty years. I no longer agree with its central idea that dating should be avoided. I now think dating can be a healthy part of a person developing relationally and learning the qualities that matter most in a partner.”

Why We Can’t Unhitch from the Old Testament

This is an excellent review of Andy Stanley’s new book. “Few would disagree that we’re now living in an effectively post-Christian world. Secularism is on the rise, church attendance is in decline, and hostility to Christian values is ever-increasing. In light of this foreboding landscape, it’s appropriate to ask whether the church is on the right track. Have we missed something?” (Here’s another review, this one from Christianity Today.)

5 Common Misconceptions about Heaven and the Afterlife

“Despite the good intentions of many Bible teachers, the popular views found in the church concerning what God’s future looks like (and how it ought to impact our life today) does not always conform to what Scripture actually teaches. In this post I will unpack five common misconceptions Christians have of what the end (Greek eschaton) will be like. Here are five things that the Bible doesn’t teach.”

When the Downcast Can’t Reach Our Hymns

Keith Getty: “Very few modern songwriters are writing songs of lament. This may be at least partially due to influence of the Christian music industry. Much of this industry is slanted towards writing and promoting songs that make the listener feel better about life, usually by focusing on the positives of life.”

What Establishes a Marriage According to the Bible? (Video)

“Marriage in the West today looks a lot different than marriage in biblical times. How can Christians apply a biblical view of marriage to modern day?” This is a quick and Bible-based answer.

Overcoming Sin: The Risk of Having Good Habits

“Good advice without reference to Christ is like a car missing its engine, a choir its conductor, or a bark its dog. Or—and this is where it matters—a gospel without any sense of salvation or rescue. Worse, it threatens to become a semi-Pelagian heresy in which the Lord Jesus has supplied something to us by way of initial grace, but now it is up to us to make that grace effective by forming good habits.”

How Should Christians Respond to the Imprecatory Psalms?

I expect we all ask something like this when we encounter some of those imprecatory psalms.

Flashback: When Jesus Says Stay

Christian, God has appointed you to be his missionary right where you are. There is no one better suited to the task.

The life you live in private determines the ministry you can have in public.

—Dave Harvey

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    A La Carte (December 9)

    A La Carte: Reforming generosity / Let the young man come to church / Your wife is beauty / Combating imposter syndrome / Be known, not impressive / Dan McClellan / and more.

  • AI Slop

    The Rise of AI Book Slop

    We often hear these days of “AI slop,” a term that’s used to refer to the massive amounts of poor-quality AI-created material that is churned out and unceremoniously dumped onto the internet. This was once primarily artistless artwork and authorless articles, but has now advanced to much bigger and more substantial forms of content.

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    A La Carte (December 8)

    A La Carte: A plea to older women / Let someone serve you in suffering / Why AI writing can’t compete / Influencers / The hidden danger in online sermons / Discipling young people / Excellent Kindle deals / and more.

  • Hymns

    Pitch Perfect and Tone Deaf

    God commands us to sing. Yet while some of God’s people are gifted singers, the plain fact is that others are not. In any congregation, it’s likely that some have near-perfect pitch while others are functionally tone-deaf. Those who struggle to sing may be self-conscious, tempted to stay quiet or to do no more than…

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    Weekend A La Carte (December 6)

    A La Carte: Rightly ordered desires / Ordinary wonders / For my good, not my comfort / Make room for special-needs families / Christmas spirit / Wisdom rarely makes you famous / and more.