Loving Him by Loving It – “To love someone means that you also love the things about someone. This is most true of our love for God. We love Him, and that leads us to love everything about Him. One of those things is His Word. To love God is to love his Word.” Remembering…
I’m kind of a jerk. For as long as I’ve been able to think about myself, my heart, my life, I’ve known that I’m a sinful person. I’ve never doubted the reality of my depravity. And if there ever had been any doubt, being married and having children and immersing myself in a local church…
Marrying a Man Who Looks at Porn – Heath Lambert provides a sound answer to an urgent question: Should I marry a man who has a problem with pornography? Snow-Diving Foxes – “I’m a fox. It’s January. I’m hungry. I want a meal. My food, however, is buried 3 feet down, deep in the snow,…
I am in the midst of a series of articles on the seven ecumenical councils of the early church. These councils commenced with the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and concluded with the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. Between these two events were five more, each of which attempted to understand and establish…
A Calvinist Revival – The NY Times (of all places) has written an article on the Reformed resurgence. (I guarantee you’ve never seen Mark Dever looking cooler than he does here.) From 1994 – Well, though it doesn’t quite align with biblical theology, this short film still highlights the joy of life and the grief…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by CBD Reformed. As they always do, they are giving away five great prize packages this week. Each of the five winners will receive the following books: In addition, CBD Reformed is offering a 4-day sale (January 3 – 6) on the following three products: Giveaway Rules: You…
Worship Leader Resolutions – This is some brilliant and hilarious writing from Jamie Brown. “In this new year, I think all worship leaders can agree on a few resolutions that, if adopted, would dramatically improve the corporate/sung worship in our churches.” My favorite: “Octave jumps are so 2013. It’s time to take it to the…
Pastoral ministry is a fascinating and fascinatingly unique vocation, one of peaks and valleys, one of honor and dishonor, respect and disrespect. It can swing from brutal to beautiful and back again in a single day, or a single sermon. Jared Wilson writes, The pastoral fraternity is an interesting one. We are a motley bunch…
Cross Conference – Justin Taylor rounds up the recent Cross conference saying, “Only time will tell, but it seems that the first annual Cross student missions conference was a historic event, perhaps a key moment in mobilizing God’s people to help the nations be glad in him.” C.S. Lewis at War – Andy Naselli introduces…
Happy new year and welcome to 2014. I continue to take it easy through the holidays, but did put together an edition of A La Carte this morning. This month’s free audiobook from ChristianAudio is the Hear the Word ESV Bible! Logos users will want to download their free book of the month (a real…
The new year is (almost) here, and to get the new month and year started right, here are some wallpapers calendars that will dress up your computer, tablet or cell phone. This month’s wallpaper is provided in partnership with Global Missions Media and Church Plant Media. A few notes: Your desktop or laptop may take…
A Year-End Editorial – Read this one! “We should look beyond ourselves at the end of the year. After all, our lives are bound up with the Story of God’s redemptive plan being accomplished in history. So, as Christians, our year-end remembrances are never to be selfish exercises of navel gazing self-condemnation or self-congratulation, but…
I like to be strong. At least I like to appear strong. You do too, I think. Most of us value strength and look down on weakness. We honor those who have their lives together and regard with suspicion those who do not. Strength = good, weakness = bad. That is our functional formula. But…
5 Ways to Bomb a Sermon – There is some very helpful counsel in this article. While it’s directed specifically at those who preach to young people, it’s applicable to anyone who preaches or speaks before others. Centered On One or the Other – “What does it mean for a church to be gospel-centered? That’s…
The new year is fast approaching it. As 2013 wanes and prepares to draw to a close, I find myself pensive, reflecting on the year gone by and a new year ahead. As I’ve considered the year that is almost upon us, I have been helped by this prayer from John MacArthur’s At the Throne…
The Most Courageous Resolution – Jon Bloom on resolutions: “Resolves are intentions with strategies attached to them. You don’t just hope something is going to happen; you are planning to make it happen. To be resolved is to be determined.” He proposes a resolution for you. Duck Dynasty Wins – WORLD: “The gay lobby’s power…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by a new sponsor, but one you may know about. Adam4d.com is one of my favorite web comics. I especially appreciate the comic when he describes those universal Christian experiences (e.g. The Prayer Fairy) or really rotten theology (e.g. Trust Your Heart, Sweetie). Adam4d recently began selling some…
‘Tis the season to discuss Bible-reading plans for the year to come. Justin Taylor offers a long list of options; Ligonier does as well and includes downloadable guides; Peter Krol has some suggestions as well as a list of benefits. CROSS – The CROSS conference kicks off this afternoon (schedule); you can watch it all…
The end of the year brings a million reflections and round-ups to the Web, collections of what was most popular and most important in the year that was. Among the most important and most shocking year-end roundups I read this week concerned pornography. (I read about the report at a major news site but will…
Dude, Where’s Your Gravitas? – “Our culture wants men to be featherweights when it comes to conviction, seriousness, responsibility, discipline, courage, and truth. The Creator of these men does not. He wants gravitas.” Obviously we can overcorrect here, but it’s well worth thinking about this article. Earthrise – Here’s a video about the iconic photo…