Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (September 24)

thursday

I’ve been hearing good things about the new Bavinck biography by James Eglinton. It’s on sale this week at Westminster Books if you want to check it out.

Today’s Kindle deals include some pretty good books!

(Yesterday on the blog: Is Soft Totalitarianism Coming to America?)

The Shoulders of Giants, the Counsel of the Wise

Nick Batzig: “When I was a young man, my father used to tell me, ‘Never be quick to praise the living, because the living are subject to change.’ In just over a decade and a half in ministry I have seen more shooting stars come and go than I can remember. While garnering large crowds and even larger accolades, such men boasted of their ministries, accomplishments, and supposed movements. They set themselves up as leaders of a generation of zealous yet directionless young adults.”

How to Stop Hating Yourself

Here are some good things to ponder for people who are consumed with self-hatred.

Praying…Through Gritted Teeth

Matthew Hosier wrestles with sincerely praying for a leader he struggles to respect. “I didn’t think much of the PMs speech. And yet the word of God instructs me to pray for those in authority. More than that, it tells me to do this with thanksgiving (1 Tim. 2:1). It’s easy to pray for, and give thanks for, people in the abstract. It’s also easy to do it for those with whom we are in agreement and who we like. It is much harder when it is not abstract, and when we don’t like what the authorities are doing. But the command doesn’t change!”

Clarity in an Age of Confusion

Not again, I thought to myself as I scrolled my news feed and read an article about a Christian leader ‘deconstructing’ their faith. In recent years, several Christian leaders have boldly taken a stand for a message that is contrary to the gospel and in stark opposition to Scripture. I’ve also watched leaders and ‘Instagram influencers’ claim Christ while also teaching a worldview that is the direct opposite of what Christ lived and taught.”

Plan B Beauty

Lisa LaGeorge considers the beauty that we can find when we are directed from plan a into plan b. “Our lives rarely go the way that we think they will. Some of you have lost children to miscarriage, to rebellion, or corrupt court systems. Some of you struggle with infertility. You were widowed or abandoned. Your spouse walked away from the faith. You lost a job or your health. None of that was your plan. And now 2020 seems like a microcosm of all the things that we don’t want–pandemic, political turmoil, injustice, and natural disasters on top of everything else.”

Pigeons Don’t Fancy Darwin

CMI recounts some of Darwin’s experiments with pigeons and what he really learned from them.

Prominent Evangelical Church Is The First To Sue D.C. Over Covid-19 Worship Limits

It’s interesting to see Capitol Hill Baptist Church (think: Mark Dever, 9Marks) sue D.C. over the limits they’ve placed on churches (and haven’t placed on other events). “A large, prominent evangelical Capitol Hill church late Tuesday filed a legal challenge to the District, alleging the city government is violating the First Amendment by facilitating and tolerating massive anti-racism protests but forbidding worship services — indoor or outdoor — of more than 100 because of covid-19.” (See also Disrn and/or TGC.)

Flashback: The End of the World As We Know It: An Infographic

Of all the many requests we’ve had for infographics, none has been as consistent as the request for a visual presentation of the different views of the end times. And for good reason–it is a complicated and much-debated subject.

Our children increasingly have not been given enough of the Christian faith even to apostatize from it properly.

—Michael Horton

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 19)

    A La Carte: How to know if you’re using God / The soul-poison of the little word ‘should’ / True, false, or heresy? / Truthful thinking is greater than positive thinking / Unless the seed dies / and more.

  • The Phrase that Altered My Thinking Forever

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington. Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever.  Distinct yet inseparable. The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after,…

  • Always Look for the Light

    Always Look for the Light

    For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond.…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 18)

    A La Carte: God is good and does good—even in our pain / Dear bride and groom / Sin won’t comfort you / Worthy of the gospel / From self-sufficiency to trusting God’s people / The gods fight for our devotion / and more.

  • Confidence

    God Takes Us Into His Confidence

    Here is another Sunday devotional—a brief thought to orient your heart toward the Lord. God takes the initiative in establishing relationship by reaching out to helpless humanity. He reveals himself to the creatures he has made. But what does it mean for him to provide such revelation of himself? John Calvin began his Institutes by…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (March 16)

    A La Carte: I believe in the death of Julius Caesar and the resurrection of Jesus Christ / Reasons students and pastors shouldn’t use ChatGPT / A 1.3 gigpixel photo of a supernova / What two raw vegans taught me about sharing Jesus / If we realize we’re undeserving, suddenly the world comes alive /…