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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

  • Prayer

    The Reward They Longed for They Received

    Jesus, who knew what was in the heart of men, warned of the hypocrisy of those whose prayer life is only ever public. “When you pray,” he said, “you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (May 17)

    A La Carte: Generalizations are not stereotypes / Hospitality and reaching the dechurched / Essential lessons for pastors / The rise of Islam and the resilience of the church / Gossip and godly church / Fear takes you where grace has not yet gone / and more.

  • Planted in the Word

    Planted in the Word

    There are a lot of Bible study guides out there. However, the need is not nearly saturated because there are also a lot of Bible readers, many of whom study the Word carefully and repeatedly throughout their Christian lives. For that reason, we cannot have too many guides to assist in reading, understanding, and applying…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (May 16)

    A La Carte: The role of dance in Christian worship / A community for broken homes / Our reason for missionary risk / The longings of the human heart / I’m not a handyman / Affluence, regret, identity crises / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (May 15)

    A La Carte: The clever move of Leo XIV / People expect church to be churchy / Don’t let TikTok disciple your kids / Playing God with children / Overcoming barriers to hospitality / Real men sing / and more.