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Weekend A La Carte (July 13)

A La Carte Collection cover image

I’m grateful to The Master’s Academy International for sponsoring the blog this week. They are inviting you to join them for an important week of prayer beginning July 22. Sponsors keep this site going and I’m grateful for each and every one.

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

(Yesterday on the blog: The Danger and Necessity of a Passion for Church Growth)

Folly Has a Strategic Plan to Get You

“Folly has the packaging, but its contents are meaningless at best and often deadly. You don’t have to know everything to follow wisdom and avoid folly, but you have to know where to start.”

The Power of a Health Warning

Writing for World magazine, Samuel James says that it’s time to recognize the power and dangers of social media, especially for young people.

Sex Is Not a Solution to Marital Tension

I think this is an important one from the Biblical Counseling Coalition. “Sexual intimacy is not a solution to all marital tension. There may be an occasion or two where the act of sex between a husband and wife has a reorienting effect and helps to renew connection and love for one another after conflict. In general, however, sexual intimacy develops out of relational intimacy and should not, therefore, be used as a fix-all for marital conflict. Biblical counselors, then, should not recommend sexual intimacy as the cure for relational conflict.”

What Do You Do When Your Suffering Is Your Fault?

“Suffering that is nobody’s fault may be hard to accept. Perhaps more difficult, though, are painful situations that we bring upon ourselves. When we realize what we’ve done, repent, and confess our foolishness to God, we may be tempted to wonder if he has really forgiven us. If God has forgiven me, why am I still suffering the consequences?” Paul Tautges offers counsel.

We Can’t Think or Live Christianly

T.M. Suffield looks for areas in which Christians are living in a way that’s different from the world around. “What does our discipleship crisis look like? Our lives look the same as our neighbours and they shouldn’t. We don’t all have to be radical, but we do need a small number of radicals among us to help us see that our lives could be different.”

Good News for African Girls

“Amidst all the world’s bad news, good news was heralded from Sierra Leone last week about the outlawing of child brides, where one-third of girls are forcibly married off before the age of 18, leading to a high number of maternal deaths (because of premature pregnancy).” This is very good news, indeed.

Flashback: Making the Christian Life More Complicated Than It Needs To Be

The only thing that really matters in any context or any circumstance is obedience to God’s will as it is revealed in God’s Word. 

The transformed and renewed mind is the mind saturated with and controlled by the Word of God.

—John MacArthur

  • Free Stuff Fridays (P&R Publishing)

    This week the blog and giveaway have been sponsored by P&R Publishing. Calvin, Spurgeon, and Luther appear alongside Wordsworth, Twain, and Emerson in a vibrant celebration of God’s creation. Ryken joins great works of poetry, hymnody, prose, and art with accessible literary analysis. “John Calvin referred to nature as the theater of God’s glory. Dr.…

  • Prepare for Christmas

    Now’s the Time to Prepare to Prepare for Christmas

    It’s probably a bit too early to begin preparing for Christmas. But it’s not too early to begin preparing to prepare for Christmas. For example, if you want to use a guide or devotional in the lead-up to December 25, this is the time to start looking into your options and buying the one you…

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    A La Carte (November 8)

    A La Carte: Guard kids’ eyes and hearts online / The game is up for the mainstream media / The church’s unsung hero / Dear New York Times / Bear one another’s burdens / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (November 7)

    A La Carte: Where abortion policies stand now / Misconceptions about sports betting / You shall surely die / Does evolution care about you? / Ministering to orphans in Africa / Book and Kindle deals / and more.

  • Not a Complimentary Gospel

    It Is Not a Complimentary Gospel

    I think we have all felt the temptation to modify the gospel, to preach a gospel that is inaccurate or incomplete. I think we have all felt the desire to avoid the reproach that may come upon us when we preach the whole gospel and true gospel—the gospel that is so very bad before it…

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    A La Carte (November 6)

    A La Carte: A warning about having children / Leave church a little tired / Making virtues out of what isn’t virtuous / Is Exodus a myth? / A theology of leisure / Kindle deals / and more.