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Weekend A La Carte (January 13)

A La Carte Collection cover image

My gratitude goes to TMAI for sponsoring the blog this week. They are inviting you to attend their annual symposium where you’ll hear from Paul Washer and Steve Lawson. “What exactly is needed for effective missions work? Which components are necessary? Where are the best books, best programs, or best examples for missions?” This is what they will consider.

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

(Yesterday on the blog: Love the Ones Who Drive You Crazy)

The Dress

Kristin writes movingly of her daughter and her upcoming wedding. She celebrates her daughter and also offers her some wise counsel.

In Praise of Prudence: What the Cardinal Virtues Can Teach Us About the Splintering of Evangelicalism

Kevin DeYoung has written a long-awaited followup to his article from a few years ago in which he argued “that many of the old networks and alliances had fallen apart and that four new ‘teams’ had emerged.” He offers a lot to think about!

Will Following My Heart Set Me Free?

Caz Dodds considers and counters “a story that our culture loves to tell: that success in the world means presenting your truest self, pushing off what society tells you to be, to be you. It’s almost like that’s the meaning of life. You are free to be yourself.”

Sustained in the Fire

“I’m thankful God that has sustained me, but sometimes I don’t want to just be sustained, I want to be delivered,’ I confessed to my husband. It’s difficult to admit such thoughts because as a Christian, I know that God is working in my trials and I do believe he has a purpose. But there are days when I struggle to see beyond the pain and, in my humanity, my present feelings cloud my eternal perspective. Some days – I want to be rescued, rather than sustained. I want relief now.”

Why We Need the Bad News of Israelite History

Gary Edward Schnittjer explains why the Bible doesn’t skip from creation and fall directly to Calvary. In other words, he explains why we need to know all that bad news about Israelite history.

Book Allowance

I think this article would benefit from less “should”—a word of moral right and wrong. That aside, I do think there is wisdom in ensuring that pastors have easy access to the resources they need to really thrive in their preaching ministry.

Flashback: I Still Do: A Marriage Course for the Middle Years

It has been my observation that churches tend to invest a fair bit of effort in preparing couples to begin a healthy marriage, but perhaps a little less in helping couples sustain a healthy marriage.

The gospel is as free as the air you breathe.

—C.H. Spurgeon

  • A La Carte (August 13)

    The Christian bubble / Your faith muscle needs exercise / Store treasure in clay / Interpersonal conflicts / Bivocational ministry / Your perspective on time / Nolan Ryan / and more.

  • To the Parents Driving Home with an Empty Seat

    To the Parents Driving Home with an Empty Seat

    It’s the season when many parents are making the long journey home, and doing so alone. On the journey there, they had a child in the seat behind them, a child who was making his or her way to college for the first time. But now, as they make the journey back, the seat behind…

  • A La Carte (August 12)

    Do I resent the life God gave me? / Starving in silence / The ruinous hatred of flattery / Beware the new thieves / Are world religions halfway to God? / When God’s plans seem inconsistent with his promises / Woman euthanised against her wishes / and more.

  • A La Carte (August 11)

    Strange OT laws / Pleasure in the (career) death of the woked / Honor thy boomer / Picking your successor? / Peace is better / Defend the doctrine of original sin / Biological war / and more.

  • How To Show Hospitality When You Live in a Small Home

    How To Show Hospitality When You Live in a Small Home

    For obvious reasons, hospitality can be more challenging for those in a small home than for those in a much larger one. It can be a bit more awkward, too. Yet I’d like to think we have generally been faithful in that regard.

  • A La Carte (August 10)

    Good morning. Grace and peace to you. I trust you enjoyed your weekend and have begun a new week rested and thankful for the Lord’s grace. Sales & Deals Today’s Kindle deals include books for preachers and those who listen to their sermons. Andrew Wilson’s new book on happiness is on sale at Westminster Books…