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Weekend A La Carte (December 17)

May you enjoy the Lord’s rich blessings as you serve and worship him this weekend.

My gratitude goes to Burke Care for sponsoring the blog this week to invite you to schedule a session with their certified biblical counselors.

Today’s Kindle deals include some newer books and some older ones.

(Yesterday on the blog: My Top Books of 2022)

Was Jesus Really Born of a Virgin?

“For many people, the question of whether or not a virgin can give birth is in the same category as questions about whether or not pigs can fly or time can be reversed or the sun can be stopped from shining. But in each of these circumstances, we must remember that all it takes for these ‘supernatural’ events to be possible is for a ‘supernatural’ God to exist.” Guy Richard explains.

2023 Reading Challenge

Visual Theology has its annual reading challenge ready to go.

Annual Reading Challenge for Kids and Teens

And while we’re on the subject of reading challenges, Redeemer Reader also has theirs ready to go. It is designed for kids.

Silent Nights

“One December evening, while home alone eating dinner, I suddenly became aware of how quiet the house was. I hadn’t been by myself much for 25 years because I had four kids, a husband, and a dog to fill my home with noise and activity. But my kids were grown, my youngest was away at college, my husband was on a business trip, and our dog had recently passed away. And although I had experienced quiet moments before, this silence seemed different – louder and longer. It had a new quality I hadn’t sensed before – a permanence. It rattled me a little bit.”

The Church’s Ministries

If you’d like to do some good reading over the weekend, the new issue of the 9Marks Journal is available and it covers “The Church’s Ministries.”

Bell Curve of Life

This article reflects on those well-known words of Job: “Naked I was born from my mother’s womb and naked I will return.”

The longer you wait to confess, the more likely it becomes that you never will… Sin is a cancer—it must be rooted out as quickly as possible before it spreads.

—Garrett Kell

  • 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…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    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…