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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

  • What Makes Heaven Happy

    What Makes Heaven Happy

    If you spend any time on social media or any time socializing at a Christian conference, if you refresh your feed on YouTube or listen while people chat after church on a Sunday morning, you may soon learn what makes people happy. People love to talk about other people! And more often than not, they…

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    A La Carte (March 3)

    A La Carte: Roman Catholic apologetics / Life will not get easier / The invisible man / When suffering knocks / All my heroes are broken / Kindle and Logos deals / and more.

  • A Deadly Enemy

    One of the most poignant of Jesus’s parables tells the story of a persistent widow. Having faced injustice at the hand of an adversary, this woman appealed to the local judge. She asked him to use his power and authority to right the wrong that had been done to her. But to her sorrow, she…

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    Weekend A La Carte (March 1)

    A La Carte: Christians and romantasy / Own your faith / Piper’s advice for reading Romans / You’ll ruin everything / Don’t scratch the itch / Correctly confess your sins / and more.

  • New and Notable February

    New and Notable Christian Books for February 2025

    February is typically a solid month for book releases, and this February was no exception. As the month drew to its close, I sorted through the many (many!) books that came my way this month and arrived at this list of new and notables. In each case, I’ve provided the editorial description to give you…