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A La Carte (10/17)

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An Unparalyzed Faith – This is an amazing article to find in a mainstream newspaper. Pastor Robert Shelby was paralyzed in a diving accident. Here is what happened when he realized he was drowning: “I began praising him for his grace, for saving me, sending his son, those type things, praising him for the privilege of raising up a family and ministering to people. I prayed that he would watch over my family and provide for them.” A must-read!

A Christian Business Owner – Mark Taylor, president of Tyndale House Publishers: “I’ve always thought—in a theoretical way—that I might someday face a situation where the government was asking or telling me to do something that was counter to God’s law as I understood it. If such a situation arose, I hoped I would have the backbone to stand tall and disobey the government mandate. Well, that day seems to have come.”

Fire – I don’t often respond to poetry, but this little poem, titled simply “Fire,” really spoke to me.

Should We Baptize Upon Profession? – “No membership class. No onlookers are mentioned. No period of seeing whether or not this Ethiopian was serious about his profession. All that we have in this context is a gospel explanation by Philip, a chariot driver, and ‘some water’. Therefore, churches ought to follow Philip and baptize people upon profession. Right?”

Taking the Bible Literally – From The Gospel Coalition’s fact checker series comes this article on whether and how Christians take the Bible literally.

King’s Crisis – While I try to guard against “sanctified gossip,” this seems like a significant story considering Dinesh D’Souza’s rising profile in the Evangelical world: “After a meteoric rise in the evangelical world, The King’s College president Dinesh D’Souza now faces his board’s likely questions about his relationship to a woman not his wife.”

None can know their election but by their conformity to Christ; for all who are chosen are chosen to sanctification.

—Matthew Henry

  • New and Notable Christian Books for January 2025

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of books in January and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I have…

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    A La Carte (January 30)

    A La Carte: Small injustices / Is it necessary to be a church member? / How to make friends at college / My letter about a transgender teacher / Prayerless theologians / Deepening fellowship / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Throw Out the Buoys

    Throw Out the Buoys!

    When I was young, my family owned a cottage on a lake. From a young age, I loved to head out in our little motorboat so I could explore that lake and the others that were connected to it. I could easily make a day out of slipping into little inlets to see where they…

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    A La Carte (January 29)

    A La Carte: Your phone habits / A guide for single women / JFK, conspiracy theories, and the Deep State / So what if you’re bored? / God’s a writer / Hard relationships / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Happy Lies

    Happy Lies

    I’m quite certain you have heard of the New Age movement. Though its popularity seems to have crested and begun to wane some time ago, it continues to wield a good bit of influence. But I wonder if you’ve heard of another similarly-named but quite different movement called New Thought.

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    A La Carte (January 28)

    A La Carte: Parenting is hard / The wildness of orthodoxy / Rubbing shoulders throughout eternity / Glorifying ourselves / The middle of somewhere / Is Roman Catholic baptism valid? / Excellent Kindle deals / and more.