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A La Carte (12/7)

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The Size of the Universe – WIRED takes a shot at helping us picture the size of the observable universe. Turns out it’s really, really big. “To try imagining how big, place a penny down in front of you. If our sun were the size of that penny, the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, would be 350 miles away. Depending on where you live, that’s very likely in the next state (or possibly country) over.”

Does Tech Feed Self-Centered Control? – One of the true joys of writing a book is seeing how other people interact with it and improve upon it. Paul Tautges has been doing just that. He looks at a particular bit of the book and says, “Let’s counsel ourselves by asking 8 idol-shattering questions about the love of control…”

Google: Behind the Numbers – Infographic du jour. Turns out that Google is big, too (but not quite as big as the universe).

Darwinism and the Next Generation – I enjoyed this article from Sean McDowell. I don’t advocate Intelligent Design, but what he says about Darwinism and materialism is really good.

Malcolm Gladwell: Collected – How did I not know about this set of books? Gladwell is an amazing author and these books are beautifully designed and illustrated.

Don’t Strive to Be Great – This is some great advice for preachers: don’t strive to be great. “What I am arguing against is the actual attempt to develop into a preacher with a reputation for being so unusually wonderful that people flock to you. There is a fine line here, to be sure: typically, gifted men attract larger audiences. Nothing wrong with that per se.”

Faithfulness is our business; fruitfulness is an issue that we must be content to leave with God.

—J.I. Packer

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (December 19)

    A La Carte: The astronaut who left NASA to support healthy churches / The cradle that rocked the world / Are Catholics Christian? / Why we need beautiful churches / On stumbling / and more.

  • 2025

    12 Fresh Ways to Read Your Bible in 2025

    A new year offers a new opportunity—an opportunity to rethink and refresh the way you read your Bible. While some have found a pattern or habit they love and will never deviate from, others like to look for new ways to read, digest, and apply the Word. For those who may be interested in trying…

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    A La Carte (December 18)

    A La Carte: Grief and gratitude at Christmas / Navigating unwanted singleness / What the demons sang / Teach your teen about Christian freedom / Common interests / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (December 17)

    A La Carte: The Virgin Mary and modern therapeutic culture / Relational heresy and doctrinal heresy / The darkness does not win / How does God deliver from pain by pain? / Christmas with your adult children / and more.

  • Do you know who God says you are?

    Identity matters for at least two key reasons. First, understanding our identity—our true God-given identity—is vital to understand why we exist and what we’re to do in life, as it is likewise essential for framing a fitting perspective of others.

  • A Collection of Random Thoughts on Christian Living

    A Collection of Random Thoughts on Christian Living

    Not every thought makes a good article and sometimes an entire article can be distilled down to a single thought. For those reasons, I like to occasionally create what I have created here–a roundup of brief, random thoughts about Christian living. Some of these are original and some are drawn from articles I’ve written in…