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Weekend A La Carte (August 25)

Today’s Kindle deals include just one book, but it’s a good one, at least.

(Yesterday on the blog: The Sexual Revolution Hits Another Speed Bump)

Death By Minutia

We continue to adapt (or not adapt) to this new world. “Postman warned that TV makes us empty-headed and passive. But at its worst, Twitter can make us empty-headed and passive while we think we are actually being smart and courageous. Trivialities are dangerous to to the degree that we cannot actually tell them for what they are. In our age, it’s not the silly vacuity of TV that gets pride of place in our cultural imagination, but the silly vacuity of hashtags and screenshots. Television is just television. Twitter is resistance.”

Porn and the Pastor

This looks like an interesting ebook from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. You can download it for free.

The Hope and Heartache of Prenatal Screening

Please be aware of what you are signing up for with prenatal screening. “The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) recommends that obstetricians offer all women these tests early in pregnancy, but conversations about their risks and benefits vary. While at first glance screening seems helpful, without compassionate and in-depth counseling these tests can aggrieve women still rejoicing over the news of a baby.”

A Strategy for Delaying the Baptism of Young Children

Baptists will want to consider this article, which I believe is very wise. “The New Testament is clear that church membership, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper all go together. In other words, the person who participates in one should participate in the other two, and the person who isn’t ready for one isn’t yet ready for the other two.”

Why I Deleted Instagram

Andrew Peterson reflects on why he deleted his social media accounts. He shares four principals he is trying to abide by that are quite helpful.

Why I Abandoned Seeker Church

This is a great evaluation of the issues with the seeker-sensitive church model. “I began pastoring in September of 1994 – right in the middle of the seeker sensitive craze. The first two churches I worked in were 100% on board with the program. We were contemporary, we were targeted, we had good signage and all our core values started with the letter ‘G’ – we were as seeker friendly as it was humanly possible to be. Both those churches are gone now and the movement itself appears to be in terminal decline. It was a season of my life but I am very glad that it is over.” (You might also read this article.)

Flashback: How Petra Rocked My Soul

All of that parenting and Bible-reading and sermonizing and catechizing had done its work in me, but somehow it was just waiting for one more thing—for news of the warm and personal relationship with God that Petra kept singing about.

Consider and Imitate

This week the blog is sponsored by Moody Publishers. Sponsors play a key role in keeping this site running, so I’m thankful for each and every one of them.

It is our solemn conviction that where there can be no real spiritual communion there should be no pretense of fellowship. Fellowship with known and vital error is participation in sin.

—C.H. Spurgeon

  • What God Wants You To Forget

    What God Wants You To Forget

    We are never far from reminding God of our credentials, of providing him with a curriculum vitae that lays out all we are, all we have been through, and all we have accomplished for his sake. We are never far from making the subtle turn from grace to merit, from what is freely given to…

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    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: New music / Millennials and GenZ / Scotland’s new hate crime law / Cate Blanchett, Easter is for you / Why the Reformed pray for revival / What truly happened to Jesus on the cross? / and more.

  • New and Notable Books

    New and Notable Christian Books for March 2024

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of new titles in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 26)

    A La Carte: God delivers from the suffering he ordains / The beautiful partnership of family and church / The end of religious liberty / On whales, menopause, and thanks to God / Ordinary women, extravagant gifts / and more.

  • Marriage: A Dance of Beauty and Chaos

    This sponsored post was provided by Burke Care, and written by Jen Arend, which invites you to schedule care today with a certified biblical counselor. As the music swells, she begins her descent down the aisle. All eyes are on her, especially her groom. She is radiant, majestic, and filled with beauty. Her gaze meets his tear-filled…

  • Does God Care How You Cook Your Goat?

    Does God Care How You Cook Your Goat?

    It is one of those biblical commands that has always perplexed me. If it appeared just one time in Scripture I might be tempted to pass it by. But it appears no less than three times, in Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21. The repetition tells me that God is quite concerned that his…