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Weekend A La Carte (August 30)

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My gratitude goes to RFPA for sponsoring the blog this week. They wanted to let you know about their brand-new book, Go Into All the World.

Today’s Kindle deals include all kinds of interesting titles that would be worth a look.

(Yesterday on the blog: 10 New and Notable Christian Books for August 2025)

My Mom, Her Drug Addiction, and God’s Grace

This is a moving account of God’s grace in addiction. “In our comfortable age, we often avoid affliction at any cost. But I’ve learned that Christian suffering isn’t without hope and that God often uses our pain to bring about redemption.”

Sometimes, God’s Intervention IS Our Suffering

“When we suffer, we pray for God to intervene. We ask for the Lord to help and to heal, to remove and to restore. But what if our suffering is itself God’s intervention?” Now that’s a good question.

Common Descent or Common Design?

Katie Hulse: “Evolutionists argue that anatomical, physiological, biochemical, and genetic similarities among species (homologies) are best explained by evolution. They don’t think God would have employed such similarities if he had created everything. But perhaps there’s another explanation.” There is, indeed.

Why the Work We Do Matters

“When we stop to consider what it means to work, in every job, calling, or duty, we all need each other and the work done around us. Our world rotates in daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly cycles of work.”

How Short, O Lord?

“I teach college students, so I know the excitement that mid-August can bring. A new school year is full of possibilities. My excitement this year is mixed with sadness.” Ryan explains the source of his bittersweet feelings. I suspect many will identify with them.

Totems Diminish Human Worth and Distract Us From God

This is an interesting one that comes from an African perspective. “Totems are more than symbols. They are central to identity formation, especially in rural African communities where there is less Western influence. Here totemism is still widely adopted and influences how people live.”

Flashback: That Time I Went After an Older, Godlier Man

While there are times we as Christians must speak out, there is never a time we can speak to a fellow Christian or about a fellow Christian in a way that fails to reflect the love of our common Savior.

If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician.

—D.A. Carson

  • Remember

    It Doesn’t Matter What You Remember

    I have a memory like a … what do you call it? That thing in the kitchen you use to sift the stuff you want from the stuff you don’t. A sieve! That’s it. I have a memory like a sieve. I joke about it at times, and about how I have to outsource remembering…

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    A La Carte (January 14)

    A La Carte: Always being right / Sex advice for newlyweds / Making Christianity look good / Soul care / Stop straining for shortcuts / When writing feels like a chair / Rare Kindle deals / and more.

  • Post Woke

    Are We Post Woke?

    It is too early to tell, I think, whether the “wokeness” craze has already peaked and even begun to slip into decline, or whether it’s just pausing to gather energy for another surge. What seems clear for the moment, though, is that it has lost at least some of its initial momentum, probably because it…

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    A La Carte (January 13)

    A La Carte: A cautionary tale / Raising hands in worship / Freshen your prayer life / Exposing adultery to the light / Reject the religion of efficiency / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Petty Fight

    Petty Annoyances and Minor Insults

    I wonder if you are like me in that, as you look back on your life, you realize that most of the circumstances that have troubled you, most of the annoyances and disgruntlements, were produced by circumstances that were hardly worth noticing.

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    A La Carte (January 12)

    A La Carte: Happy 80th, John Piper / Practical principles for marriage / Benefits for daily Bible reading / Philip Yancey / Stingy-generous / From sermon to article / Kindle and Bible study deals / and more.