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A La Carte (12/31)

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Happy New Year – Paul Tripp offers a lot of wisdom when it comes to resolutions. “Few smokers actually quit because of a single moment of resolve, few obese people have become slim and healthy because of one dramatic moment of commitment, few people who were deeply in debt have changed their financial lifestyle because they resolved to do so as the old year gave way to the new, and few marriages have been changed by the means of one dramatic resolution.”

How Not to Read Your Bible – “When it comes to daily (or not-so-daily) Bible reading, January 1 can be a welcome arrival. A new year signals a new start. You’re motivated to freshly commit to what you know is of indispensable importance: the Word of God.” Well and good. But here is some counsel on how not to read your Bible in 2013. Meanwhile, once you’ve decided how to read the Bible well, here are some Bible-reading plans that may help.

Holland vs The Netherlands – Here’s a funny and fascinating video explaining why you should stop referring to The Netherlands as Holland. Good luck following it all the way to the end.

True Religion – “It is popular today to decry the word ‘religion.’ And I suppose the goal here is a good one: to show the futility and falseness of a ritualistic, cold, unlively, practices of religious stuff. At the same time the word religion is a biblical word, used in James 1:27. It describes the practice of godliness.”

The Danger of Theological Novelty – C. Michael Patton nails it in this article about theological novelty. “You see, in theology, for many people ‘in the know,’ once something becomes mainstream, it becomes disqualified. Once it becomes too popular or normal, it becomes naive. Once everyone thinks it is correct, it is no longer qualified to be anything but a foil for the correct. We become theological swingers whose end is not to find the truth, but simply to swing to the next partner.”

23 Reasons to Be Joyful – Here, from the book of Philippians, are 23 reasons to be joyful.

God often comforts us, not by changing the circumstances of our lives, but by changing our attitude toward them.

—S.H.B. Masterman

  • A Grace-filled Redemptive Gathering

    This week the blog is sponsored by Burke Care. Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. Psalm 119:74 With the year ending, we were recently invited to a small gathering about 30 minutes away from where we live. We met the usual traffic delays getting to…

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    A La Carte (December 30)

    A La Carte: Honor your elderly parents / Retired from resolutions / Why we can’t focus / Be committed to leave a legacy / A broken relationship with dad / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The 2025 Christian Reading Challenge

    The 2025 Christian Reading Challenge

    Do you love to read? Do you want to learn to love to read? Do you enjoy reading books that cross the whole spectrum of topics and genres? Then I’ve coordinated with Visual Theology to create something that may be right up your alley—the 2025 Christian Reading Challenge. Whether you are a light reader or completely…

  • A Partial Christian

    Don’t Be a Partial Christian

    The Bible is a canon, an authoritative collection of one author’s works. In this case, the author is God, and he has given us sixty-six books, each one unique and each one serving a distinct purpose. Each book was inspired by God’s Spirit to reveal God’s mind and unveil God’s plan.

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    Weekend A La Carte (December 28)

    A La Carte: The little child who brings a rod / How Christian men act like men / When the growing is slow / Creativity in devotional time with God / What happens when we share the gospel? / and more.

  • The Collected Best Christian Books of 2024

    The Collected Best Christian Books of 2024

    I probably don’t need to tell you how much I love books in general, and Christian books in particular. One of my favorite times to be a reader is in mid-December when people begin to share their picks for the top books of the year. I usually collect a good number of these lists and…