A La Carte (October 24)

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.”