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Weekend A La Carte (September 5)

If you’re interested in an ESV Journaling Bible, Westminster Books has them half off for the week.

Today’s Kindle deals include mostly classics.

(Yesterday on the blog: Tips for Young (and Maybe Not-So-Young) Bloggers)

7 Takes About How Much I Intensely Dislike The Enneagram

I enjoyed reading Anne Kennedy because she makes me laugh (and think). “I hate it with the hatred I feel for the smell of pumpkin spice being pumped into the entrance of every grocery store, with the hatred of a thousand blazing suns, with all the hatred I nurture for whatever wretched insect that devoured my lilies this year. What number does that make me?”

Loose Change

This is a good little metaphor for the Christian life. “My grandfather was a salesman. His office was filled with normal and eccentric promotional items: pens, mini flashlights, stress balls, and small rubber change holders that when squeezed, pushed out loose pennies. He had boxes of miniature tools and calendars and paper weights, boxed mints, and heavy glass mugs with fancy frosted inscriptions that read ‘Your Logo Here’.”

Want Your Church to Enjoy Unity? Let the Gospel Do Its Dividing Work.

“When I became a lead pastor, I preached the gospel enthusiastically, but I didn’t understand its winnowing power or how positive that process would be. Like all pastors, I didn’t want division. I wanted unity and inclusivity. But that’s not how ministry works.”

North Korea’s New Push to Export Its Propaganda

This is an interesting look at now North Korea is using new media to export its propaganda.

What Happens When a Christian Dies?

“A Christian is a person who owns two homes. The home you are living in now is a temporary one, a ‘tent.’ But you have another home that is more enduring, more substantial. The date for your moving to your new home has not yet been given, but it is already known to God.” But what is this new home?

Quadruple Glory

“The Christian life is a life from glory to glory. Many of us may not see that right now. As we look around the state of the church—especially in the light of things such as social distancing and limited church fellowship and activities—we see weariness and heavy burdens. But do we see glory?”

The Grim Truth Behind The Pied Piper

Could there actually be some truth behind the legend?

Flashback: Simple Ways to Spark a Lukewarm Devotional Life

When your devotional life has grown cold you can do nothing better than pushing through it by not allowing yourself to stop. Reading and praying have their own way of sparking greater joy in reading and praying. Don’t allow your lack of interest to keep you from doing what you know is so good for your soul.

There is a burden of care in getting riches; fear of keeping them; temptation in using them; guilt of abusing them; sorrow in losing them; and a burden of account at last to be given concerning them.

—Matthew Henry

  • a One-Talent Christian

    It’s Okay To Be a Two-Talent Christian

    It is for good reason that we have both the concept and the word average. To be average is to be typical, to be—when measured against points of comparison—rather unremarkable. It’s a truism that most of us are, in most ways, average. The average one of us is of average ability, has average looks, will…

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    A La Carte (April 17)

    A La Carte: GenZ and the draw to serious faith / Your faith is secondhand / It’s just a distraction / You don’t need a bucket list / The story we keep telling / Before cancer, death was just other people’s reality / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 16)

    A La Carte: Why I went cold turkey on political theology / Courage for those with unfatherly fathers / What to expect when a loved one enters hospice / Five things to know about panic attacks / Lessons learned from a wolf attack / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Night Is Far Gone

    The Night Is Far Gone

    There are few things in life more shameful than sleeping when you ought to be working, or slacking off when you ought to be diligent. When your calling is to be active, it is inappropriate and even sinful to remain passive. This is especially true when it comes to contexts that are of the highest…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 15)

    A La Carte: Personal reflections on the 2024 eclipse / New earth books / 7 questions that teens need to answer / Was there really no death before the fall? / How to be humble instead of looking humble / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Exactly the Purpose God Intended

    Exactly the Purpose God Intended

    General revelation serves exactly the purpose God intended for it—it reveals his power and divine nature. But, its message, while important, is insufficient—insufficient by design. Though general revelation tells us about the existence of God, it does not tell us about how to be reconciled to God.