Weekend A La Carte (October 5)

I’m grateful to Burke Care for sponsoring the blog this week. Burke Care offers online counseling through their secure platform.

Today’s Kindle deals some newer books (like Alisa Childer’s Another Gospel?) along with some older ones. I’ve added a few interesting general market titles as well.

(Yesterday on the blog: Everyday Gospel)

Three Reminders for Parents of Wayward Children

I think there are a lot of parents who will find this comforting. “many parents today have been brought to grief. Some have seen children who professed faith at a young age turn away when they reach adulthood. Some have seen their children struggle with addiction, immorality, and gender confusion. Some have lost their children to premature death. And many are estranged from adult children.” (And on a similar note, consider reading Blessed Mourning for an LGBT+ Child.)

Those Who Make Them Become Like Them

Brad considers our “idols” and shows how we inevitably begin to become like them. “Have you ever stopped, in the middle of checking your notifications for the umpteenth time after some post you thought particularly witty or important, to reflect on how pathetic you must look: measuring your social significance by means of a number next to a heart icon?”

One Question I Ask Myself Everyday

Erik lets us in on one question he asks himself every day.

Suicide Pods and the Trivialization of Death

Carl Trueman: “Ours is an age where nothing is safe from inevitable trivialization. It is of no real importance whether this is the result of all things being reduced by our consumerist culture to profitable commodities or of our society’s therapeutic values reshaping everything in light of a utilitarian ethic. Death is no exception to this constant downgrade of meaning and significance. And thus our cultural officer class is invested in its transformation from something sacred to something that we conform to our own desires and convenience.”

Thoughts on Pastors and Pay

Stephen writes about pastors and their pay and offers a lot of interesting food for thought. “It can’t have escaped anybody’s notice that we’ve got fewer and fewer people going into pastoral ministry at the moment. There are lots of possible reasons, some I suspect more pressing and telling that others. But among them, a lack of reasonable remuneration.”

What Does It Mean to Preach Christ?

Here’s a relatively concise perspective on what it means to preach Christ.

Flashback: Why Domestic Abuse Is So Very Evil

There are few churches that have no members who bear painful scars related to domestic abuse…In their book When Home Hurts, Jeremy Pierre and Greg Wilson provide guidance for such times and, as they do so, explain why domestic abuse is so very evil. I, for one, found it very helpful.