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A La Carte (September 8)

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The Public Reading of Scripture in Corporate Worship

Few things irk me more than a very poor public reading of Scripture. This article offers really helpful pointers on doing it right (and explains why we ought to make the effort).

Rosaria Butterfield on Sexuality and Identity

In this short video (less than 3 minutes) Rosaria Butterfield explains why we should not accept sexuality as a category of identity.

The Myth of Quality Time

I enjoyed this reflection on the importance of quantity, not merely quality, of time. “We delude ourselves … when we invoke and venerate ‘quality time,’ a shopworn phrase with a debatable promise: that we can plan instances of extraordinary candor, plot episodes of exquisite tenderness, engineer intimacy in an appointed hour.”

Faithfulness in Small Places

“As I speak in other churches, I find few that are impressive. Again, the people are great, and the ministry significant, but it always seems that things are humble, and that the real action’s taking place somewhere else. It’s tempting to wish that we were there, rather than in the small, humble places where we serve.”

HappinessPre-order Worthy: Randy Alcorn’s next major work, Happiness, releases on October 1. “In Happiness, noted theologian Randy Alcorn dispels centuries of misconceptions about happiness and provides indisputable proof that God not only wants us to be happy, He commands it.” Pre-order at Amazon.

The Drifters

Christianity Today has a neat article and photo gallery celebrating God’s hand in giving us phytoplankton. Yes, you read that right: phytoplankton.

How to Spot a Liar

It turns out that most of the old methods you’ve heard about are pretty much useless at spotting liars. “Forget body language or eye movements. There are much better ways to identify the deceitful.”

Un Petit Enfant

Sometimes I enjoy listening to worship music in other languages. Recently I came across Kim Tran (Faculté Jean Calvin) and have enjoyed his French worship songs.

Mohler

Hell will be filled with people who were avidly committed to Christian values.

—Al Mohler

  • Temptation

    When It Feels Like the Temptation Is Coming From Outside

    No Christian tradition is perfect, which means that every Christian tradition has its own strengths and weaknesses. Every tradition has areas in which it presses hard to understand and live according to biblical truth, but then also areas in which it inevitably fails to completely match Scripture’s teaching and emphases. Since every tradition is the…

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    A La Carte (November 10)

    A La Carte: Wanderlust / Afraid to have children / When you’re struggling with joy / Autism care for families / Noisy world, quiet heart / Top 5 seminaries / Great Kindle deals / and more.

  • Prayer hands

    Nothing but a Passionate, Heartfelt Sin

    When we think of worship, our thoughts almost always gravitate to singing—the two have become inseparable and almost synonymous in our minds and in our church services. Yet singing is actually just one component of worship. We worship when we sing, but we also worship when we read Scripture, when we listen to a sermon,…

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    Weekend A La Carte (November 8)

    A La Carte: Sending isn’t a consolation prize / Suffering and resilience / The loneliness of being rejected / Word hard, rest hard, trust God / Expand your family at church / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Embodied Holiness

    The Biblical Call To Bodily Care

    Christians can often have a strange relationship with the body. Certain Christian traditions have treated the body as if it is no more than a shell for the soul, a material self that is of little importance when compared to the immaterial self. Other Christian traditions have treated the body as if it is of…