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Weekend A La Carte (7/27)

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The Modern Surveillance State – This is a fascinating article in which the author says today’s surveillance state should not be compared to Orwell’s Big Brother but to Tolkien’s Eye of Sauron. He shows how Tolkien unwittingly captured some of the problems and paranoia of a government that tries to watch everyone and everything.

Pastors and Evangelism – Steve Lawson: “In his final letter, Paul charges Timothy, his son in the faith, to ‘do the work of an evangelist’ (2 Tim. 4:5) … With Apostolic authority, this imperative command comes with binding force. All pastors must do the work of an evangelist. They must earnestly proclaim the gospel message, urging people to trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. So, where should this pastoral evangelism begin?”

Wedding Planning Lies – Here is a series of lies women may believe when they are planning a wedding.

The Wedding Vows – Steve McCoy has some poignant reflections at his twentieth anniversary. “I could talk about how much joy I still have when I see her or hear her voice. But we’ve both come to realize that after 10 years those things were easy to say, but after 20 there’s a whole lot of other things in our lives that won’t allow me to write something trite because 20 years of marriage isn’t easy. It’s been very hard.”

Interview with Nathaniel Philbrick – If you are a writer, or want to be, you’ll benefit from reading this interview with Nathaniel Philbrick. It’s full of interesting anecdotes about his life and tips about how he writes and how he writes so well.

Our heavenly Father never takes anything from his children unless he means to give them something better.

—George Muller

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    A La Carte: John Piper on false teachings / Everything is television / Is it Satan or God? / The hard way is the easy way / Backward progress / Treat people like adults / and more.

  • New-and-Notablenov

    New and Notable Christian Books for November 2025

    Though the year is coming to its end, it’s not over yet! That means publishers still have some books to release—books we would not wish to overlook before 2025 gives way to 2026. Here are some of the ones I consider especially noteworthy. In each case, I’ve included the editorial description to give you a…

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    A La Carte (November 26)

    A La Carte: The other side of human rights / Biblical literacy / A ramp out of the worry rut / The depressed Christian / Quick no, slow yes / Do you see eternity? / and more.

  • Support

    Would you Consider Supporting My Work?

    I have been blogging at Challies.com on a daily basis for well over 22 years now. That long commitment has allowed me to write thousands of articles and hundreds of book reviews while also sending millions of visitors to other sites through the daily A La Carte feature. While I’ve also written a number of books, through…

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    A La Carte (November 25)

    A La Carte: Are you still gospel-centered? / Christian liberty / Triumph in trouble / Being faithful in little things / How we choose songs / I’m not sabbatarian / and more.

  • Danger

    The Danger of Defensive Sanctification

    There is a certain kind of sober-mindedness that seems to come over Christians as they age. It can flow from many sources, I’m sure, but I think it often arises from a kind of fear—a fear that they may not finish their race without some kind of a major stumble. After living the Christian life…