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A La Carte (12/15)

A La Carte Collection cover image

Yesterday my wife, who was feeling lousy, had me take my daughter, who was feeling lousier, to the doctor. The doctor asked me things like, “Is she allergic to any medications?” To which I answered, “Um…I dunno.” “Has she had a sore throat?” “Um…I dunno. I’m only here because Aileen’s sick.” “Didn’t an antibiotic we gave her last time give her a rash?” “Um…I have no memory of that. Doesn’t it say in your fancy little folder over there?” I must be the worst dad ever.

5 Great Books – Over at Ligonier Ministries I asked a bunch of people to compile a list of 5 great books they read in 2010. You may want to look over the list and pluck one or two for your own reading pleasure.

Nativity Scenes & the 2nd Commandment – Mark Lauterbach writes about the 2nd Commandment and Romans 14. “Read Romans 14 carefully — stew in it, soak in it — it is remarkable. In it, God answers ten thousand secondary questions. Paul was wise — he knew that when we start into the answering of all those questions and application and start developing a list of appendices to the Law, we are on a path of diversion from the purposes of God and the freedom of the Gospel.”

Lee Does the Unthinkable – Cliff Lee turned down more money than most of us will ever make in order to pitch in Philly. And that has the makings of a great off-season story. Yahoo reports.

2010 in Photos – Boston.com has begun a 3-part photographic retrospective of the year that was. As always, the photo selections are top notch.

Pastoral Twitter Do’s and Don’ts – This blogger offers some good advice to pastors about how and how not to use social media.

Pastoral Narcissism – This is an honest article about pastors and their tendency toward narcissism. You know you’re having a bad day when you walk into a room only to find your wife Googling narcissism to see if it applies to you.

Quiet Headphones – The owner of the web site Quiet Headphones is a reader of this site and wants to offer 10% off to anyone who buys headphones from him in the next 10 days. Just use the code challies and you’ll get the discount.

How To Become a Famous Blogger – It’s just this easy:

Famous

And a quote to end this edition of A La Carte:

The more familiar acquaintance we have with God the more do we partake of him. He that passes by the fire may have some gleams of heat, but he that stands by it has his colour changed. It is not possible that a man should have any long conference with God and be no whit affected. If we are strangers to God it is no wonder that our faces become earthy.

— William Bramwell

  • The Two Kinds of Content You Consume

    The Two Kinds of Content You Consume

    At some point we all began to refer to articles and video as content. And today we are drowning in it! Here is a simple filter for telling content created to serve you apart from content created to serve its maker.

  • A La Carte (June 8)

    The humbling I needed / There must be blood / How to read the Bible when your heart feels cold / The delightful duty of married sex / Are we forgiven for the sins we can’t remember? / All things without complaining or arguing

  • Works & Wonders June 7

    This week’s Works & Wonders offers: The wonder and the beauty, older and rarer, His Love, Ferrari Luce, The Covenanter Story, and cheese curds.

  • Weekend A La Carte (June 6)

    There’s a playbook for college, there should be one for marriage / Ben Sasse is teaching us how to die—and live—well / The biggest tell that something was written by AI / Why China got rich and India didn’t / AI slop is coming for your playlists / The blood cancer that became solvable /…

  • Davy and Natalie Lloyd

    Strong to the End

    You have probably heard of Davy and Natalie Lloyd, even if the names aren’t immediately familiar. In May 2024, you most likely heard the news about two young American missionaries to Haiti who, along with one of their Haitian colleagues, were brutally murdered by one of the many gangs that dominate the country.

  • A La Carte (June 5)

    Can Jesus really sympathize with my specific struggles? / View your past through the lens of God’s faithfulness / Nine marks of a healthy paragraph / When you have nothing left to give / The treasure chest at the train station / When you’re too weird to lead / Headlines / and more.