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A La Carte (September 10)

thursday

Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of good books, one of them suitable for those struggling with pornography (or attempting to help someone who is).

(Yesterday on the blog: Learning To Thrive as a Diverse Church)

Why Unhealthy People Crave Controversy

This is good and important. “Quarrels sometimes come, and sometimes those controversies are what it takes to be faithful to the Spirit. But just as one engaged in sexual immorality can always convince himself that this is a special case of ‘love,’ ‘soulmates,’ or ‘destiny,’ the one with an unhealthy craving for controversy can always convince himself that he’s a warrior for Christ—instead of a captive to his passions.”

How a Massive Bomb Came Together in Beirut’s Port

This is an amazing visualization from the New York Times—and a good bit of journalism to go with it.

Plus Ça Change And Clapped Out Cars

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. So goes the old epigram. The more it changes, the more it stays the same. I was set to thinking about this phrase as I received yet another call from the police about another abandoned car that had dumped on our church car park.”

A Short History of Racism

As this article so aptly shows, racism has a long, ugly, and worldwide history.

The Christian And the State

There are lots of good takeaways from this article by Paul Carter which concerns churches and the pandemic. Including this: “Government regulations differ region to region, province to province and country to country, so every church must wrestle with the correct application of these principles to their particular context…”

When Detours Become Destinations

Sometimes the detour does become the destination…

What Is Time?

Consider how much our lives are governed by time, we probably don’t think much about what time really is…

Flashback: The Folly Bound Up in the Heart of a Child

The beautiful jewel of salvation highlights the deep darkness of sin. Our children’s holiness reveals just how foolish they were, it displays how badly they needed to be saved, and it proves the great power of God’s salvation.

Anger is against God because he is the one who directs the details of our lives. In fact, in our anger and outrage, we have decided that we want to be God rather than submit to him.

—Ed Welch

  • Pastoral Prayer

    The Pastoral Prayer: Examples and Inspirations

    Of all the elements that once made up traditional Protestant worship, there is probably none that has fallen on harder times than prayer. It is not unusual to visit a church today and find that prayer is perfunctory, rare, or absent altogether. If that is true of prayer in general, it is particularly true of…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (September 11)

    A La Carte: Pro-natalism / Why a good God commanded the destruction of the Canaanites / An encouragement to husbands / Pastoring, productivity, and priorities / I had a horrific childhood / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (September 10)

    A La Carte: Why we worry when choosing a Bible translation / Why Christian parents should resist school-issued devices / Take your worst to the table / The quickest to anger and the slowest to forgive / A big batch of Kindle deals / and more.

  • What Is God’s Calling For Me?

    This week the blog is sponsored by Reformed Free Publishing Association. Today’s post is written by William Boekestein, author of the  new book, Finding My Vocation: A Guide for Young People Seeking a Calling. William is a pastor and husband. He and his wife have four children: a college student, two high schoolers, and a…

  • Past Through Over Around

    Past Them, Through Them, Over Them, Around Them

    It is inevitable that we face times of difficulty and impossible that we escape them altogether. To be born is to suffer and to live is to endure all manner of trouble and trial. Just as none of us escapes death, none of us escapes all hardships. And when we face such hardships, we invariably…