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Weekend A La Carte (March 23)

weekend

Today’s Kindle deals include some classics that are worth looking at.

(Yesterday on the blog: My Favorite “Minor” Museums)

The Industrial Revolution of Shame

Wow. “We are undergoing an industrial revolution in shame. New technologies have radically expanded our ability to make and distribute a product. The product is our judgment of one another. As in past industrial revolutions, the mass manufacture and use of a product previously available to just a few or in small amounts has given us the power to do harm at a previously unthinkable scale.”

Christian Wisdom Amid the Gurus

Samuel James has some interesting analysis here. “To ignore the dynamics into which these gurus write and speak seems to be a way of ensuring that the chaff never gets peeled from the wheat. For good or ill, Hollis, Peterson, and Ramsey are resonating with millions of people, many of whom are Christian, with messages of taking responsibility for life, letting go of shame and excuses, and believing that a better future is possible. Gurus exist to fill gaps—intellectual gaps, emotional gaps, spiritual gaps, etc. How they fill those gaps matters, but the gaps themselves matter too.”

Single Mothers And Their Triune God

And now from another Samuel. “Mom explained it all to me when I was a boy. She was a single mother, but she wasn’t alone. The man of the house abandoned us. But the God of the house wouldn’t forsake us. Mom was a single mother with multiple divine persons who protected her household. Mom was a single mother with a triune God.”

Why a Cat Always Lands on its Feet (Video)

Just like the description says…

On Saying Goodbye

“While we don’t think too theologically when we say the word, perhaps we should. God be with you is acknowledging that from now on, I’m not with you. Goodbyes are the end of relational presence and being physically together. When we are physically present we are able to watch over each other and care for each other. Verbal and non-verbal communication is instantaneous.”

The Goldilocks Principle and Church Size

Joe Carter points out how unexamined assumptions often drive church planting. “I suspect we could do a better job in thinking about how we think about numbers. For example, before we can understand what it means to say a church has plateaued or declined in attendance, we should be able to answer the question, ‘What size should a church be?’”

Matthew 18 is Not Instructive for Book Reviews, But Much of the New Testament Is

Jen Oshman deals something that happens whenever a Christian critically reviews a book. “‘Did you contact the author privately before you posted the review?’ I’ve received this question several times over the last couple weeks, following my review of Rachel Hollis’s most recent book, Girl, Stop Apologizing. The question invokes the well-known, but oft-misunderstood, church discipline passage in Matthew 18:15-20.”

Flashback: 5 Reasons to Rejoice in Persecution

There are at least two ways that God tests you in times of persecution: He tests the genuineness of your faith, and he tests the maturity of your faith.

Trials are intended to make us think—to wean us from the world—to send us to the Bible—to drive us to our knees.

—J.C. Ryle

  • The Stranger

    The Stranger: A Short Film For You

    Based on a true story and inspired by the truth that character comes before competence, “The Stranger” is an honest, light-hearted and meaningful picture of what it means to truly serve others.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 9)

    A La Carte: The singer who changed the course of my life / Stay on the line / Incompatible thick communities / Lulla-Bible? / The solution is not megachurch / Who were the Anabaptists? / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 8)

    A La Carte: 15 ways to discern false teaching / The queering of history / The best part of my day / 6 kinds of hearers of God’s Word / Countering Muslim attacks on the Bible / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Wonder of the Human Face

    The Wonder of the Human Face

    Then there are the wonders of human ingenuity: the machines, the inventions, the works of art. One lifetime is not nearly enough to explore or appreciate even the smallest fraction of them all.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 7)

    A La Carte: A Christian patriot and his wayward nation / Outprinting the prosperity gospel / The organic church / A stranger in my homeland / Friendship’s faithful wounds / Sharing the gospel with someone who keeps rejecting it / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Pray Until You Feel Like It

    It is wise to set aside a time and place to pray—to build the habit and to then maintain it. But creating the habit may not always create the desire.