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Weekend A La Carte (October 26)

weekend

Today’s Kindle deals include some new books and some classics.

The Porter’s Gate has a new album, Neighbor Songs, that you may enjoy.

(Yesterday on the blog: Protecting Your Children From Predators)

Here Come the Skinny Cows

“Conventional wisdom suggests that a church whose budget is not 100 percent supported by tithes and offerings is not sustainable. We believe, however, that a coming revolution in church economics will necessarily redefine the notion of church stability altogether, as an increasing number of congregations find they are not stable or sustainable by this definition.”

State of Servitude

Marvin Olasky gives his own version of the history of socialism. He’s not a fan.

How the Queen Travels (Video)

She doesn’t (always) travel in quite as much style as you might think.

How Do I Know if I’ve Been Predestined?

Jesse Johnson: “How does a person know if they have been predestined by God for heaven? The shortest answer to the question is also the best: Do you love Jesus? If so, then you have been predestined.”

We Are Not Omni-Anything

“We long for community, and we long to be like God. We want omni-autonomy and omni-presence in our relationships. Omni-autonomy is our desire to be individuals, not bound by another, and wholly separate from others. We want to be like God. Omni-presence is our desire to be everywhere, not bound by place or time, and wholly accessible to others. We want to be like God.”

Who Was Luke?

Here’s an interesting first-person mini-biography of Luke.

Banning Plastic Bags Won’t Save Our Planet

This article from The Globe and Mail helpfully shows how many environmental plans are actually more about optics than actually solving a problem. “We need to be honest about how much consumers can achieve. As with other environmental issues, instead of tackling the big-picture problems to actually reduce the plastic load going into oceans, we focus on relatively minor changes involving consumers, meaning we only ever tinker at the margins.”

Flashback: Be a Living Example of God’s Living Love

Your love needs to extend beyond your comfort zone. The church is to be a community of people who love one another despite differences, who love one another through differences.

It is not the bee’s touching of the flower, which gathers honey—but her abiding for a time upon the flower, which draws out the sweet. It is not he who reads most—but he who meditates most, who will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian.

—Thomas Brooks

  • The Men Who Have Done Most for God in this World

    “The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees.” This quote from E.M. Bounds would work perfectly well without the word “early.” It would then say, “The men who have done the most for God in this world have been on their knees.” Taken that way,…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (January 11)

    A La Carte: Parents can’t fight porn alone / Victory in Jesus (a new song) / Will you pass the test? / What God meant is what God means / Lessons from caring for a disabled child / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (TGBC)

    This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by The Good Book Company. They are giving away a bundle of books for ministry leaders.  The Bundle includes: As you look at all things through the lens of the gospel, you’ll increasingly become the fully-formed follower of Jesus and servant of his church that you have been…

  • Trump, Trudeau, and the 51st State

    These are strange days in Canada. The incoming President of the United States has suddenly promised to slap a 25% tariff on cross-border trade—a tariff that has the potential to devastate the Canadian economy. Some suggest it could cost Canada a 3% hit to its economy and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs.…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (January 10)

    A La Carte: Dawkin’s gender dilemma / The worst of all possible worlds / Value character over performance / Is heaven a real place right now? / Last of the middlebrow Protestants / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (January 9)

    A La Carte: Discipleship in the Reformed world / Why Christians need to watch out for Jordan Peterson / The forbidden woman and the path to death / I’m no gambler / a firm foundation in an uncertain world / and more.