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A La Carte (8/25)

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Steve Jobs – I guess you’ve heard by now that Steve Jobs has had to retire as CEO of Apple. This article offers a look at his impact of his career. “Most people are lucky if they can change the world in one important way, but Jobs, in multiple stages of his business career, changed global technology, media and lifestyles in multiple ways on multiple occasions.”

The Oncology Waiting Room – In this month’s issue of Tabletalk, Mike Pohlman writes about the gospel and the oncology waiting room.

Insect Portraits – This is amazing stuff. “The ‘portraits’, taken with a scanning electron microsope (SEM) by Steve Gschmeissner, reveal the tiny world that surounds us, yet still evades our view.”

Who’s Your Daddy? – I must be getting old. “The freshmen class entering college this Fall has no remembrance of what life was like before the Internet, what this whole Communist Party fuss was about in Russia, and that Amazon was once just known as a river in South America. Ferris Bueller is old enough to be their dad, and they probably don’t know the name of the bar where everybody knows your name.”

Don’t Eat the Placentas! – It’s not the article I am linking to here as much as one of the paragraphs; it struck me as being near-brilliant. “Most of the time I regard magazines as a treat. I read them when I’m taking a bath, when I’m traveling, or when I’m having a meal alone. They’re the potato chips of my reading life: I can grab a handful, feel a twinge of self-indulgence, and yet feel good about not destroying my appetite for more serious stuff.”

Consecutive Expository Preaching – David Murray writes about the pros and cons of consecutive expository preaching (i.e. preaching through books of the Bible in a verse-by-verse fashion).

Dominionists – Douglas Groothuis: “In the August 15 issue of The New Yorker, Ryan Lizza asserts that Bachmann has been ideologically shaped by ‘exotic’ thinkers of the dominionist stripe who pose a threat to our secular political institutions. The piece—and the much of the subsequent reaction to it the media—is a calamity of confusion, conflation, and obfuscation.”

If you would have God hear you when you pray, you must hear him when he speaks.

—Thomas Brooks

  • Sermon Introduction

    Three Levels of Sermon Introduction

    Though every sermon necessarily needs a beginning, it does not necessarily need a formal introduction. Though it has to begin somewhere, there is no rule that it must begin with some kind of story or illustration. A preacher can jump straight into his text if he so desires. Some do.

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    A La Carte (April 4)

    A LA Carte: Causes of division in the church / Union with Christians / The 1%-er rhetoric / Pray or sleep? / Distinguishing shame from guilt / Many more Kindle deals / and so on.

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    A La Carte (April 3)

    A La Carte: Never too late to learn how to pray / Walking with those who weep / Rethinking the role of pastor’s wife / What does the Bible mean when it teaches wives to submit? / Does God want some to go to hell? / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Most Pleasant Show on Television

    The Most Pleasant Show on Television

    I rarely review, recommend, or even mention movies and television programs. I rarely do so because I am aware that tastes vary and so too do family rules and personal consciences. Not only that, but I am not very adept at understanding the themes or messages in visual media and wouldn’t wish to inadvertently lead…

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    A La Carte (April 2)

    A La Carte: Our dance with distinction / You are not your theology / The challenges of motherhood / God hates sin / Random thoughts on preaching / and more.