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Weekend A La Carte (12/14)

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The Legalism Boogeyman – This is true! “The legalism card often gets overplayed. More and more I’ve interacted with Christians humbly and faithfully working out their salvation with fear and trembling, only to have the legalism card slapped on them. As such, they’re being fallaciously warned about legalism bogeymen. There are many I’ve heard of lurking in Christendom.”

The Scandal of the Semi-Churched – Kevin DeYoung: “I want to talk about church members who attend their home church with great irregularity. These aren’t unchurched folks, or de-churched, or under-churched. They are semi-churched. They show up some of the time, but not every week. They are on again/off again, in and out, here on Sunday and gone for two.”

What We Get Wrong – Here’s a perspective on what we (might) get wrong about gift-giving at Christmas.

The First Ransom Note – Smithsonian shares some fascinating articles. Here’s one of them: “On July 1, 1874, two Ross sons were taken from their family’s front lawn in Germantown, a northwest Philadelphia neighborhood. The kidnappers released Walter, age 5, for reasons unclear. When Charley failed to return home by nightfall, Christian Ross, a dry-goods merchant, feared the worst…”

What Do Protestants Protest? – Not enough, according to R.C. Sproul Jr., and I’m inclined to agree.

Against Gay Marriage – Denny Burk introduces an interesting article from an advocate of gay marriage who is insisting that being opposed to gay marriage doesn’t make a person a homophobe.

Lewis

How difficult it is to avoid having a special standard for oneself!

—C.S. Lewis

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    A La Carte (May 20)

    A La Carte: The foibles and fallibility of Christian leaders / Mental illness / Why didn’t Christ come sooner? / When it’s okay to die / Spiritual formation / and more.

  • Unlock Your Ministry Potential with Microcredentials

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  • Discernment

    What Does a Discerning Person Do?

    Some Christians seem to be specially gifted when it comes to spiritual discernment. Others take a special interest in discernment and expend the hard effort of growing in the discipline of it. But they may sometimes wonder: What should I do with this discernment?

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    A La Carte (May 19)

    A La Carte: Dangers of theological controversy / No confidence? No problem! / The goodness of gardening friends / Jeff the low stakes prophet / Hurting people / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Prayer

    The Reward They Longed for They Received

    Jesus, who knew what was in the heart of men, warned of the hypocrisy of those whose prayer life is only ever public. “When you pray,” he said, “you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen…

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    Weekend A La Carte (May 17)

    A La Carte: Generalizations are not stereotypes / Hospitality and reaching the dechurched / Essential lessons for pastors / The rise of Islam and the resilience of the church / Gossip and godly church / Fear takes you where grace has not yet gone / and more.