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Weekend A La Carte (December 20)

A La Carte Collection cover image

I’m grateful to Harvest House for sponsoring the blog this week to let you know about a book that may appeal to your younger readers: Blades of Eternity and the Keeper of Peace.

Today’s Kindle deals include yet another selection of books that may be of interest to Christians. On the general market side, I have heard a lot of good things about The Wide Wide Sea and immediately bought it at that price!

(Yesterday on the blog: Addiction and the Local Church)

How the West Became Pagan—Again

Derek Rishmawy explains how the West became pagan—again. “To understand our current moment, we need to see it not as irreligious but as deeply pagan. After mapping the terrain, we’ll consider the stories we’ve told that have brought us to this place. Finally, we’ll explore how our current moment is rooted in a pagan mindset, one whose religious hunger cries out for more than what merely localized religions offer.”

Confronting the Unspeakable Truth

I appreciate a lot of what Aaron Renn writes, including this long piece that engages with an article that went viral this week. “Jacob Savage just wrote what may be the most viral article of the entire year. Called ‘The Lost Generation,’ it is about the way that Millennial white men have been discriminated against in prestige institutions.”

Freebirth in an Age of Hospitals

Nadya Williams has an interesting (and alarming) article about a new trend. “The Guardian ran a series of harrowing investigative pieces and podcast episodes about the Free Birth Society. Run by influencers without any medical training, the FBS has attracted thousands of followers worldwide with its simple message: your body can do this. The modern medical profession doesn’t know your body, but you do. And so, FBS encourages freebirthing…”

It Was All God’s Doing

“Recently, I mentioned to an unbelieving friend that I had prayed for a fairly minor situation he was experiencing. tHe responded, ‘You didn’t bother God with that did you?’ What my friend doesn’t understand is just how much God does care about our little things. He is not a God otf distant heights looking down in contempt as he searches for worthy contestants to call heavenward.”

Our Sorrows Keep Getting More Sorrowful and Joys Keep Getting More Joyful

Christopher Ash: “As you grow in age and in grace, the sorrows become more sorrowful and the joys grow deeper. Far from the life of faith, gradually steadying to some calm mid-point between sorrow and joy, the sorrows deepen, and yet are infused with stronger joys. It gets, if I may put it loosely, both worse and better.”

You May Not See the Fruit of Your Ministry

You may never see the fruit of your ministry, but that is okay because you can entrust it to the Lord.

Flashback: On Following Mediocre Leaders

If we lead with mediocrity, yet still demand to be followed, how can we expect so much more of those who lead us? We must grant the grace we want others to extend to us. 

In order to achieve final salvation, sanctification is as necessary as justification.

—Sinclair Ferguson

  • Weekend A La Carte (June 6)

    There’s a playbook for college, there should be one for marriage / Ben Sasse is teaching us how to die—and live—well / The biggest tell that something was written by AI / Why China got rich and India didn’t / AI slop is coming for your playlists / The blood cancer that became solvable /…

  • Davy and Natalie Lloyd

    Strong to the End

    You have probably heard of Davy and Natalie Lloyd, even if the names aren’t immediately familiar. In May 2024, you most likely heard the news about two young American missionaries to Haiti who, along with one of their Haitian colleagues, were brutally murdered by one of the many gangs that dominate the country.

  • A La Carte (June 5)

    Can Jesus really sympathize with my specific struggles? / View your past through the lens of God’s faithfulness / Nine marks of a healthy paragraph / When you have nothing left to give / The treasure chest at the train station / When you’re too weird to lead / Headlines / and more.

  • A La Carte (June 4)

    The pastor as anti-professional / On grieving when your loved one’s faith was ambiguous / God’s mercy in withholding wealth / Not mere memories: God’s sovereign purposes in every season / 10 theses on intercession / Bargatze’s ‘Breadwinner’ should be funnier / Podcasts / and more.

  • A La Carte (June 3)

    Ben Sasse’s theology of suffering for a death-phobic culture / You don’t need testosterone therapy / While I was busy helping save the free world / The discipline of joy / Stop believing your best years are behind you / We are not alone? No, we never were / Medical evacuation / The SBC /…