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A La Carte (September 4)

A La Carte Collection cover image

Good morning. May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include some interesting choices, of course, in both the Christian and general market categories.

What Bill Gates, Spurgeon and Muslims Teach Us About Bible Memory

With a title like that, you’ve just got to give it a read, don’t you?

When Borders Change, Stay Settled

“Take a sermon from 15 years ago and preach it again word for word—on the subject of racial reconciliation, or advocacy for the unborn, or the indispensable elements of character for politicians seeking public office, or the Christian requirement to love our neighbors, or the meaning of marriage—and that sermon today, depending on the topic, could get labeled woke, or right-wing, or liberal, or Christian Nationalist, or progressive, or theocratic.”

Strategies for Evangelism from J.A. Medders and Doug Logan

J.A. and Doug’s new book, The Soul-Winning Church, was written to advise Christians about how to create a culture of evangelism and outreach in the church. Get 25% off with code SOULWIN. (Sponsored)

Who Is Supposed to “Be Still and Know That I Am God”?

Mitch Chase: “Have you ever considered, though, that we might not be thinking of the right primary audience for those words in Psalm 46:10? What if the command—“Be still, and know that I am God”—isn’t spoken to believers?”

Suicide—When Hope Runs Out

“Why would a person take his own life, especially a young person who has so much to live for? When our natural instinct is to do everything in our power to preserve and protect our personal well-being, why would anyone kill himself?” This is a strong article on suicide.

What’s Wrong With a “Rule of Life”?

“What are the interests of our time? For Americans, and especially for my own ‘millennial’ generation, it would be hard to place anything higher than the interest in what some have labeled, ‘the designer life.’ An acute fixation on a personal lifestyle that fulfills our longings and resonates with our values. This is the interest of our time: to pass our time where we like it, as we like it.” I appreciate these thoughts on the trendy “rule of life.”

An Upside-Down Guide to High School

I don’t think a lot of high schoolers read my site, but a lot of their parents do, so perhaps you’ll want to share this with them. John lays out three common traps that high schoolers may fall into.

Flashback: What Do You Do With the Will of God?

As Christians, we desire God’s will, we seek God’s will, we approve of it, we delight in it, and we do it.

The way to really beat sin is not to whip it out, but to so glory in Christ that sleeze looks dirty.

—D.A. Carson

  • I Regret to Inform You That Heaven Tourism Is Back

    I Regret to Inform You That Heaven Tourism Is Back

    I regret to inform you, dear reader, that heaven tourism is back. The genre possibly never went away entirely, but it did at least disappear from the bestseller lists for several years. Sadly, it has returned in Gabe Poirot’s 18 Days in Heaven.

  • A La Carte (November 6)

    Don’t despise the red flags / Your thoughts are shaping your life / Can’t you just love everyone? / Selfies are not the self: forming embodied youth in a disembodied age / Effective altruists and the spreadsheet gospel / 4 Applications for the order of love—from the home to the ends of the earth /…

  • A La Carte (November 5)

    When you feel guilty about your giving / The missing piece in John Mark Comer’s quiet time / A manifesto for phone-free church / The pull of Rome / 4 Misconceptions about spiritual warfare / Slouching toward Narnia / Kindle deals, and more

  • A Daring Suggestion for Netflix

    A Daring Suggestion for Netflix

    Netflix appears to have fallen on hard times and I have some suggestions that I’d like to think would help it: cut the sex, nudity, and profanity, and gain back the viewers it’s long been alienating.

  • A La Carte (November 4)

    Can I love my enemies while addressing wrongs and protecting myself? / Is missions too costly for kids? / Don’t stock the pantry with temptation / Churches face a shortage of worship leaders / AI brought a mathematician to Ecclesiastes / Discerning between godly and worldly grief / Harvest in fearful times / and more.

  • This Week in Christian Books

    This Week in Christian Books (November 3, 2026)

    Tuesday is the day most publishers release their new books. Here is a look at the Christian books that came our way this week, including Prodigal Culture, Scroll Less Live More, and a graphic novel of Pilgrim’s Progress.