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A La Carte (1/22)

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Don’t Be Engulfed – This is a brilliant quote on both the allure and danger of so many of our new technologies. It begins this way: “I would suggest that modern technology and entertainment have done great damage to young people’s sense of vision and purpose–especially among young men. I’m not anti-technology. But never before in the history of the world has triviality and mind-numbing shallowness been so tantalizingly seductive and so pervasively omnipresent.” (In a similar vein, you may like to read this article by Seth Godin.)

Reading Luther Wisely But Well – I enjoyed reading Carl Trueman’s article on Martin Luther. This line is pure brilliance: “Does it not seem only yesterday that Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion, was being trumpeted by evangelicals as ‘the greatest outreach opportunity of the century’? In retrospect, The Passion surely stands somewhere between A Muppet Christmas Carol and Dave and the Giant Pickle in the honour roll of celluloid contributions to world evangelisation.”

Our Messy Individualism – There are some very interesting thoughts in this article. “I’ve been looking into adoption numbers over the last several decades, and there’s a general pattern across Australia, the UK, and the US. The numbers and dates are slightly different in each country due to differing legislation, although the overall trends are similar.”

Joy in the Task – This is a little off the beaten path for A La Carte, but interesting nonetheless. “Even the finest restaurants are serving coffee made with capsules. Have we completely lost faith in the human touch?” Turns out those machines crank out pretty good coffee.

A Roomful of Yearning – The New York Times has a powerful article about the awful cost of an affair. “What you don’t know, or perhaps what you don’t allow yourself to think about, is that your life will become an unbearable mix of yearning and regret because of it. It will be difficult if not impossible to be in any one place with contentment.” (HT)

You Can Change Our Culture’s Mind – From Stand to Reason: “Making the pro-life case is completely within your ability, I promise you. You just need to arm yourself with some information, a game plan, and some tools to help you get started. So I’ve put together a short list of resources, chosen for their simplicity, clarity, and accessibility.”

Works make not the heart good, but a good heart makes the works good.

—Stephen Charnock

  • Let the Lord Choose

    Let the Lord Choose

    Though we are limited beings with little knowledge, we are proud beings with little humility. When Jesus taught us to pray, he taught us to bring our petitions before the Lord, to bring to him all our cares, all our burdens, all our sorrows. We can and should plead our case before the Lord, for…

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    Weekend A La Carte (March 29)

    A La Carte: Does God withdraw his presence? / Celebrating the Lord’s Supper / Difficult, emotionally-overwhelming seasons / Wisdom for difficult conversations / Why four gospels? / Sales and deals / and more.

  • New and Notable

    New and Notable Christian Books for March 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 new books in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I…

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    A La Carte (March 28)

    A La Carte: Christians and IVF / And all the people said [mumble] / How your entertainment shapes you / How to preach in 20 challenging steps / Church conflict / Kindle and Logos deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: When the paychecks stop / What does Jesus want me to do? / A messy house / Beast Games / The rise of Nietzschean Christianity / Stop and marvel / and more.