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A La Carte (8/13)

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Gospel or Spirit? – Good thoughts here from Trevin: “Evangelicals love to speak in theological shorthand. We employ phrases and terms that become popular, become a badge of identification, and over time get emptied of their meaning.”

Taking the Text Seriously – I enjoyed this one. “Expository preaching is a new buzzword. Everyone is doing it. But not really. They used to sing, ‘Everybody talking about heaven ain’t going.’ New verse: ‘Everybody talking about expository preaching ain’t doing it.’ That’s fine. Really. It is. If your preaching is not expository, that’s okay. But it is not okay to be unbiblical.”

The Debate – “One of the main rhetorical strategies of gay marriage supporters has been to frame the issue as the next phase in the struggle for civil rights in America. As a consequence, they brand traditional marriage supporters as ‘bigots’ who support ‘discrimination’ equivalent to that of Jim Crow. For the most part, that rhetorical strategy seems to be working. This means that if you are a Christian who believes the Bible, there are many who simply believe you to be a morally retrograde bigot.”

Lessons from an Olympic Hero – John Percival proposes ten lessons we ought to learn from Eric Liddell.

Complicated Isn’t Compromised – “The world isn’t a black and white place. Despite our two party political system and fundamentalist church roots, life doesn’t offer the luxury of a mere two perspectives on every issue – right and wrong, good and bad, up and down, yes and no, now or never. There are a multitude of options throughout life – both, neither, maybe, all of the above, later. The world is complicated, and people who tell you otherwise likely see themselves as wiser than the rest but are more likely blinder.”

Is there nothing to sing about today? Then borrow a song from tomorrow; sing of what is yet to be. Is this world dreary? Then think of the next.

—C.H. Spurgeon

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    Weekend A La Carte (November 2)

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    Free Stuff Fridays (Ligonier)

    This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Ligonier Ministries, who also sponsored the blog this week.  Yesterday was Reformation Day, when many Protestants celebrate the sixteenth-century recovery of the biblical gospel. It was while Martin Luther was studying the book of Romans that he rediscovered the doctrine of justification by faith alone. So, today…

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    Trends come and go. Certain habits or interests rise for a time, wane, then rise again, often at unexpected moments. One of the recent trends I have found particularly surprising and also particularly interesting is the rise (or re-rise, if you prefer) of liturgy. This may be liturgy within formal worship services of the local…

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    A La Carte (November 1)

    A La Carte: When a Berkeley feminist had three sons / The tragedy of IVF / What if I don’t feel forgiven? / Piper on how not to respond to suffering / What sola scriptura protects us against / Kindle deals / and more.

  • New and Notable Christian Books for October 2024

    New and Notable Christian Books for October 2024

    As October draws to its close, I wanted to ensure you know about at least some of the most notable books it brought our way. I did not see quite the quantity of new books I have seen in some previous months, but there were still some special ones. For each, I’ve provided the publisher’s…

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    A La Carte (October 31)

    A La Carte: What is the Reformation? / More than a list of problems / A surprising story / More than songs of praise / Do elders need to evangelize? / Preach the gospel / and more.