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A La Carte (September 21)

tuesday

May the God of love and peace be with you today.

There are a few Kindle deals to take a glance at today.

(Yesterday on the blog: It Has To Be Dark Before We Can See)

Death on a Wednesday: John Shelby Spong and Norm MacDonald

Anne Kennedy draws an interesting comparison between two men who recently died. “Verily verily, the contrast between the thoughts and feelings of Norm MacDonald during his life and those of John Spong is in itself a fascinating picture of the age.”

Overthinking Imagine Dragons: A Parenting Story

I quite enjoyed Rebekah’s parenting story, and have also found her observation to be true: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that there are in fact two ideal circumstances in which to talk to your teen: At 11:00 at night, usually a school/work night when you are tired but your teen is wide awake, and Sitting side-by-side in the car, preferably when you (and not your teen) are driving so you can stare straight ahead and not make eye contact.”

Discerning the Carnival Mirror of Conflict

Erik Raymond: “Deconstructing relational conflict and misunderstandings over the years, it seems clear that we commonly see ourselves one way while others see us a bit differently. Like a carnival mirror, reflections can be distorted. Knowing this, it’s helpful to be aware of at least four available views during any interaction and one that is important to always keep in mind.”

Unexpected

“Pigs rush en masse down the steep bank. To their demise. Leaving one madman behind. Now clothed. Calm. Coherent. And in his right mind.”

The Rationale for Wrath

Is God wrong to have wrath toward humanity? Jim Elliff shows why wrath is right.

Does Reformed Theology Continue to Reform? (Video)

Joel Kim answers here.

The Snare of Subtweeting

“Over the past decade, a number of words have become part of our common social vocabulary, not least of which is the word subtweet. A subtweet is an indirect response to someone on social media. It is essentially a passive aggressive way of refuting a popular sentiment without wanting to come across as the guy who is always directly critiquing individuals online.”

Flashback: No Hand But His Ever Holds the Shears

Though we may not know why this branch has had to be trimmed or that one removed, we do know the one who wields the blade. We know his faultless wisdom, his perfect vision, his steady hand. We know he makes no mistakes.

There is a vast difference between being old in years and being old in mental and spiritual force.

—Theodore Cuyler

  • A Batch of New Books for Kids

    A Batch of New Books for Kids (and Teens)

    Every month I put together a roundup of new and notable books for grownup readers. But I also receive a lot of books for kids and like to put together the occasional roundup of these books as well. So today I bring you a whole big batch of new books for kids of all ages…

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    A La Carte (March 28)

    A La Carte: The case against the abortion pill / What I’ve learned about grieving with hope / Heartbreaking deception: teen girls, social media, and body image / Could podcasts save the church from stupidity? / Count it all joy / and more.

  • What God Wants You To Forget

    What God Wants You To Forget

    We are never far from reminding God of our credentials, of providing him with a curriculum vitae that lays out all we are, all we have been through, and all we have accomplished for his sake. We are never far from making the subtle turn from grace to merit, from what is freely given to…

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    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: New music / Millennials and GenZ / Scotland’s new hate crime law / Cate Blanchett, Easter is for you / Why the Reformed pray for revival / What truly happened to Jesus on the cross? / and more.

  • New and Notable Books

    New and Notable Christian Books for March 2024

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of new titles in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I…

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    A La Carte (March 26)

    A La Carte: God delivers from the suffering he ordains / The beautiful partnership of family and church / The end of religious liberty / On whales, menopause, and thanks to God / Ordinary women, extravagant gifts / and more.