Weekend A La Carte (December 22)

Today’s Kindle deals include a few interesting books that might make for good reading over the holidays.

(Yesterday on the blog: 10 Suggestions For Your Personal Devotions in 2019)

On-Screen Sexual Nudity Should Make Us Weep

“Lately, I have been heartbroken over how many Bible-believing Christians approve of watching certain movies which include scenes with on-screen nudity and sexual content (by which I mean literal sexual content, not something implied). I’m not just talking about immature Christians who make excuses to watch things like Game of Thrones. I’m talking about pastors, worship leaders, and other popular Christians in the evangelical world who are arguing for these kinds of movies and shows from another angle. One that seems more ‘Christian,’ more appropriate, even sanctifying.”

A Letter to the Inactive Member

I appreciated this letter to that church member. “I’m not certain but I suspect that if you asked a pastor what discourages him most, a common answer given would be the inactive member. By inactivity I don’t mean only those who are habitually absent, but also the member who merely warms a seat but does little to participate in the life, service, and especially the worship of the church. But it’s not only a great discouragement for a pastor (and congregation), it is also a good reason for concern. An inactive member is one of the sheep that has gone astray and requires the shepherd to leave the ninety-nine to go after the one.”

The Story of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” (Video)

This video examines the history behind a familiar piece of music.

ProLife Speaker Ryan Bomberger Publicly Discredited for Making Wheaton College Students and Professors Feel “Unsafe”

Randy Alcorn covers a strange story out of Wheaton. “Our society and our colleges are under no obligation to protect frail and vulnerable college students from the discomforts of hearing what they don’t agree with. In my opinion, thin-skinned intellectualism has no place on college campuses. We need to encourage students to learn how to articulate their own ideas, not to try to shut down others from articulating theirs.”

Understanding Nazi Ideology Can Help Us Avoid Its Horrors

Carl Trueman: “There has been a temptation in dealing with Nazism to dismiss Nazi ideology as shallow, a creed designed by psychopaths and believed by idiots. This is perhaps connected to an understandable fear that explaining the attraction of Nazism might somehow become a means of excusing it. The problem with such an approach is that it feeds the mentality that sees the Nazi ‘them’ so alien to the enlightened ‘us’ that we might just fall into the same ditch without even noticing.”

Why in 2019 The Tide For Evangelism Might Just Turn

“I was listening last week to the always excellent This Cultural Moment podcast, and Mark Sayers was observing that while it seems that the tide has gone a long way out in recent years, we all know what happens when tides go a long way out: they tend to rush in with equal and opposite force. And the tide’s been out for evangelistic fruit for some time, but it feels like it might be coming back in. And with some force with it, if the first tricklings are any indication.” Let’s hope!

Flashback: No Low Too Low

Through his birth, his life, and his death, he shows that the way to be great in God’s eyes is to go low, to love others, to serve others, to give up comfort, to give up privilege, and to do it all for God’s glory.

One Life-Changing Week

This week the blog is sponsored by the Biblical Counseling Training Conference. I continue to be thankful for each and every blog sponsor.

Even doubting thoughts and feelings that border on sin are better laid out before the gracious eyes of the Lord than nursed in our hearts. God will not be shocked! He knows our inmost thoughts anyway!
—Iain Duguid

Download