I am trying out a slightly revised format for A La Carte. If you receive this via RSS or email, the formatting ought to improve over the next few days, so bear with me. An Abortion Testimony: It Matters to This One This powerful and moving account was written by Latayne Scott, author of The…
This sponsored post was prepared by Matt Heerema of MereChurch. Dear Church Leader, YOUR CHURCH NEEDS A GREAT WEBSITE Your site is your new front door and church lobby. Newcomers will visit website before showing up in person in order to help them feel oriented to your congregation. They will form a first impression that…
I don’t mean to brag, but yesterday I preached the greatest sermon of my life. I’d say it was downright inspired. Let me explain. Through the summer we’ve been using our evening services to look briefly at some of the shorter books of the Bible. We read the entire book one Sunday, then teach the…
The One Role for a Woman in Church Melissa writes to herself and other women in this excellent article: “What if, instead of obsessing over our place in the church, we simply set out to humble ourselves as much as possible? What if, dear sisters in our Lord Jesus, we opened clenched fists and opened…
Satan is a formidable foe. He opposes all those who are created in the image of God and is bent on their complete and utter destruction. What makes Satan so skillful at tempting us to sin? In his little book Fighting Satan, Joel Beeke offers 6 reasons. Satan’s Spiritual Being and Intellectual Power When people…
The First Link Testing the new link format. This day in 1886: Joseph M. Scriven, author of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” died by drowning. Because of his history of grief and depression, many of his friends suspect he took his own life.
I think you will enjoy reading A Vintage Kindness by Bryan Loritts. I especially appreciate his distinction between niceness and kindness. Jake Weidmann is one of just 12 master penmen in the world. His work is incredible. Have you ever wondered what a MLB beat reporter does? The Blue Jays’ reporter gives the inside scoop.…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by Adam4d.com, one of my favorite web comics. I appreciate a lot of Adam’s material, and especially the ones in which he describes those universal Christian experiences (e.g. The Prayer Fairy) or really rotten theology (e.g. Trust Your Heart, Sweetie). Adam4d sells some of his comics as prints…
Video Killed the Pulpit Star – Here’s an interesting outsider’s perspective on the multi-campus model of church. It includes some solid insights. How to Repent Without Really Repenting – I thnk we are all pretty good at this, aren’t we? 8 Things You Won’t Find in Heaven – David Murray tells about 8 things you…
Now you be nice to your sister.” “Make sure you play nice tonight.” “He is such a nice young man.” As human beings, it seems that we are drawn to niceness. We like nice people and encourage people to behave in nice ways. We dislike people who aren’t nice or who don’t behave in nice…
Learning to Think for Yourself – “There is one characteristic (common to all great theologians and pastors throughout church history) that young ministers, especially those in seminary, must learn to cultivate–namely, the ability to think for themselves.” There is No Pro-Life Case For Planned Parenthood – I love to see this in the New York…
We have come to a singularly important moment in the battle against abortion (which is to say, the battle for life). The stunning undercover videos by the Center for Medical Progress have taken us right to the heart of the abortion industry. They have shown that Planned Parenthood is enriching themselves with the bodies of…
The Anatomy of Sexual Sin – When you think about the sheer prevalence of sexual sin both inside and outside of the church, you realize how important it is to know the anatomy of such sin. Confessions of a Bibliophile – I enjoyed Keith Mathison’s reflections on a life spent reading. Gentle Selfishness – “The…
Have you ever considered how books of the Bible would be changed if God had left out their final chapter? Matthew without chapter 28 would leave us as Christians without a Great Commission. Ruth without chapter 4 would never allow us to marvel that this Moabite woman was the great-grandmother of the great King David…
Reflections on Mark Driscoll and the Mars Hill Implosion – John Piper reflects a bit on the rise and fall of Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll. “[God] didn’t drop the ball, he’s not sweating, he’s not anxious. He is totally in charge of this war. He permitted a tactical defeat for the gospel. He has…
This sponsored post was prepared by smallgroup.com. The words are as indelible as any ever recorded: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…” That’s how Jesus closed the whirlwind of events and emotions that surrounded His trial, execution, the three days of hopelessness, and His resurrection. But these words weren’t so much as an…
One of the great joys of being a Christian is the ability we gain to look at the Bible and, through the Bible, to see the world in the way God sees it. It is like the Bible is a pair of glasses through which we gain God’s vision and God’s perspective. The Holy Spirit…
Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert – Be sure to grab this month’s free book from Christian Audio: Rosaria Butterfield’s Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. The Briefing is Back – Dr. Mohler’s The Briefing makes its return today after a month off. I missed it, and am glad to see its return. When To…
To be human is to feel guilt. At least, to be a sinful human is to feel guilt. And most often we feel guilt precisely because we are actually guilty–guilty of offenses against man and God. R.C. Sproul addresses guilt, and the right and wrong ways to approach it, in this little quote from Pleasing…
Free from Christian Audio this month is Rosaria Butterfield’s excellent Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. It’s Board Game Day at Amazon and they’ve got lots of good ones on sale. We love Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, Smallworld, Dominion, and others. I rather enjoyed this article titled A Company Copes With Backlash Against…