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Weekend A La Carte (September 26)

Today’s Kindle deals include some classics, some lesser-known works by C.S. Lewis, and a few others as well.

(Yesterday on the blog: Good Things Happen When My Wife Watches Cooking Shows)

Is It Selfish To Go To Church?

This article responds to what some people may be charging, especially in the UK. “Our choice to gather in a group is putting everybody else at risk. What if sports crowds or entertainment venues did the same? In this atmosphere, the perception of church going could be transformed from something that was curious, and quirky, but ultimately private, to something sinister, that threatens the safety of the British population.”

Why We Should be More Familiar with OT Sacrifices

Here’s a neat little reflection on paying careful attention to Leviticus and the OT sacrifices.

Managing Expectations

“Congregations can have unrealistic expectations of their pastor. But, and maybe even sometimes more often, pastors impose unbiblical expectations on themselves.” Here’s a word about some of those expectations.

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He Prunes Us Because He Loves Us

Lauren Washer’s writes about a theme I also covered this week. “Wherever you find yourself, may you know this: God isn’t standing over you cutting away all those things in your life because he doesn’t care about you and he wants you to be miserable. He’s pruning you because he loves you.”

When Life Feels Crushing

And then Vaneetha Risner is not far off of that theme either. “Grief upon grief upon grief. Many of us understand grief that is piled on top of each other. Seasons where the difficulties we face go from bad to worse to impossible. Seasons where crushing seems the only apt word to describe what we’re going through. Seasons where life feels relentless.”

Confessions in Practice

Michael Reeves writes about the necessity of confessions. “We’ve never needed confessions more, even as we witness the extraordinary doctrinal retreat of the church in the face of an increasingly aggressive culture. Specifically, for God’s people to remain loyal to what God has said, they will need confessions that dare to take a stand.”

Holy Is Who You Are

“Sanctification, then, is both definitive and progressive; Christ becomes our holiness, and then we gradually grow to reflect his holiness. If that distinction feels like splitting theological hairs, consider three implications of definitive sanctification, beginning here…”

Flashback: The Joys and Challenges of the Church in India

While I was in India, I had the privilege of sitting down with a dear friend who pastors a key local church in northern India. I got to ask him questions about some of the joys and some of the challenges of ministry in that great land.

A godly man will not go as far as he may, lest he go further than he should.

—Thomas Watson

  • Reading fresh

    10 Ways To Keep Your Reading Fresh

    Most of us want to read more than we do. Many factors can interfere, whether the busyness of life, the allure of our devices, or the limitations of our budget. But I find that as often as not, we stop reading becauseF our habits have grown stale.

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    A La Carte (October 15)

    A La Carte: Influencers and imitators / Autism and God’s purpose / We need to talk about jealousy / God sees your secret sin / Evangelism and cynicism / A Christian deathbed / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (October 14)

    A La Carte: The mother I meant to be / A theology of preaching / Forgiveness / Resist the machine / Evangelists with cheerful confidence / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Paradoxes of Christianity

    Learn how to engage with cultural issues in a deeply countercultural way. When we embrace the paradoxical character preached by Jesus in the Beatitudes, we experience rich and surprising blessing.

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    On the Far Side of Obedience

    To be human is to be finite—to be limited in our knowledge of past, present, and future. We exist within strict boundaries of time and space, so that we cannot see beyond our present location or beyond our present moment. This is a feature of our humanity and not a bug…

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    A La Carte (October 13)

    A La Carte: I miss the stars / Count the cost / Shame as the vicious trap of sexual sin / Clouds of shame and unbelief / When you’ve been blindsided / Book and commentary sale / and more.