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Weekend A La Carte (March 25)

I’m thankful to Radius International for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about their Upcoming Conference featuring John MacArthur, Costi Hinn, and many others.

Today’s Kindle deals include some newer and older books. Also, basically everything Tolkien is on sale today. See here.

(Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books for March 2023)

I Know That My Redeemer Lives (Official Lyric Video)

The Gettys have released a new hymn for Easter. You’ll want to give it a listen, I’m sure!

Why the Year After Her Cancer Diagnosis Was the Best Year of Nanci’s Life

Randy Alcorn: “Next Tuesday, March 28, marks a year since my wife Nanci relocated to Heaven. She finished so well—she flourished and leaned into the finish line. Her family and friends all saw God’s work in her, and I had the front row seat to watch 2 Corinthians 4:17 be lived out in her life.”

Yes, a Loved One Is Watching from Heaven

And on a similar theme: “The intention behind these ideas is a kind one. But may I gently suggest such statements try to make tangible something that’s intangible? And when we do this, our eyes can easily become stuck on what’s in front of us, causing us to miss the opportunity to look beyond to the One who provides the greatest comfort we could ever need or want.”

What’s Beneath It All?

Sylvia Schroeder has a meaningful article here. “Things were bad, dire in fact. A line which separated life and death grew so slender at times I thought she was already gone. My forehead found a resting spot on my daughter’s still one, my cheek against hers. It was there my friend saw me as she entered the room.”

Louis Berkhof on the Historical Devopment of the Church’s Doctrine of Antichrist

I appreciate Berkhof’s summation of the doctrine of the Antichrist and his thoughts on who or what it is.

Worm theology

“‘Worm theology’ was popular in the past, but gets a bad rap nowadays. It describes a Christian piety that enjoys describing ourselves as ‘worms’! Christians produced and sang hymns and offered prayers using worm language to abase themselves and magnify the grace of God.” Was this right or wrong, helpful or unhelpful?

Flashback: What Counts as a “Gospel Issue?”

I especially want to ensure I’m not labeling my pet doctrine a gospel issue simply as a means to prevail in arguments. After all, if everything’s a gospel issue, I guess nothing’s a gospel issue.

The deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done.

—Elisabeth Elliot

  • The Phrase that Altered My Thinking Forever

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington. Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever.  Distinct yet inseparable. The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after,…

  • Always Look for the Light

    Always Look for the Light

    For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond.…

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    A La Carte (March 18)

    A La Carte: God is good and does good—even in our pain / Dear bride and groom / Sin won’t comfort you / Worthy of the gospel / From self-sufficiency to trusting God’s people / The gods fight for our devotion / and more.

  • Confidence

    God Takes Us Into His Confidence

    Here is another Sunday devotional—a brief thought to orient your heart toward the Lord. God takes the initiative in establishing relationship by reaching out to helpless humanity. He reveals himself to the creatures he has made. But what does it mean for him to provide such revelation of himself? John Calvin began his Institutes by…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (March 16)

    A La Carte: I believe in the death of Julius Caesar and the resurrection of Jesus Christ / Reasons students and pastors shouldn’t use ChatGPT / A 1.3 gigpixel photo of a supernova / What two raw vegans taught me about sharing Jesus / If we realize we’re undeserving, suddenly the world comes alive /…

  • Ask Pastor John

    Ask Pastor John

    I admit it: I felt a little skeptical about Ask Pastor John. To be fair, I feel skeptical about most books that begin in one medium before making the leap to another. Books based on sermons, for example, can often be pretty disappointing—a powerful sermon at a conference can make a bland chapter in a…