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A La Carte (April 22)

A La Carte Collection cover image

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Today’s Kindle deals include several excellent titles like Andrew Wilson’s Remaking the World, Sinclair Ferguson’s The Whole Christ, and the updated edition of Kent Hughes’ Disciplines of a Godly Man.

(Yesterday on the blog: It Begins and Ends with Speaking)

Why My Shepherd Carries a Rod

David Gibson explains why his shepherd, who I trust is also your shepherd, carries a rod. There’s comfort in the metaphor!

When Mandisa Forgave Simon Cowell

I am not really familiar with the Christian musician Mandisa (who recently passed away), but this tribute focuses on a moment of forgiveness.

An Open Mind is Like an Open Mouth

“I hear people speak of having an open mind like it is inherently virtuous to have it perpetually open. But what is the point of an open mind if it never closes on truth?” It’s a valid question, that.

Have you heard of 21Five, Canada’s newest Christian bookstore?

The new Canadian source for gospel-centred books and products, 21Five offers a unique collection of relevant and God-glorifying resources. Shop online at 21Five.ca or in person at Redeemer University in Ancaster (Hamilton), Ontario. (Sponsored)

Marriage: The Half Time Report

Stephen McAlpine writes a kind of “half-time report” on marriage. The occasion is that he has now spent exactly half of his life as a married man. “I am 56 years of age. Single for 28 years. Married to Jill for 28 years.” There are some helpful reflections here.

Fire and Flour at 02:00

Here’s one of those “someone must have been praying” moments we all have now and again in life! “Someone must have been praying for us. It was 2 am and I was strangely and suddenly wide awake. The house was silent and cold, so I rolled over to go back to sleep.”

The Church Should Mind Its Spiritual Business

“The task of the church as such is not to transform the world at large or any society in it. The task of the church is to transform lives: to proclaim the gospel as the person and work of Christ applied by the power of the Holy Spirit in the means of grace so that men and women come to Christ by faith and are justified, adopted, and sanctified—all a gift of God’s grace. Such changed lives typically affect the lives of others in the various societies in which the saints find themselves.”

Flashback: We Are All Theologians

…we can’t truly know God as he is or live for God as he desires as long as we reject or downplay theology.

Your kids will pick up your walk more than your talk. They will follow the example of a lifetime more than the exhortation you give them when you drop them off at college. Are your kids growing up with the habit of regular church attendance?

—Kevin DeYoung

  • Six Counsels for a Sending Church

    Sacrificial obedience to the One who sends is what it will take to reach every language. Join us October 14 to 16 in Dallas–Fort Worth for The Lord Who Sends as we reflect on God’s word and the lives of missionaries who followed the Great Commission.

  • The Two Kinds of Content You Consume

    The Two Kinds of Content You Consume

    At some point we all began to refer to articles and video as content. And today we are drowning in it! Here is a simple filter for telling content created to serve you apart from content created to serve its maker.

  • A La Carte (June 8)

    The humbling I needed / There must be blood / How to read the Bible when your heart feels cold / The delightful duty of married sex / Are we forgiven for the sins we can’t remember? / All things without complaining or arguing

  • Works & Wonders June 7

    This week’s Works & Wonders offers: The wonder and the beauty, older and rarer, His Love, Ferrari Luce, The Covenanter Story, and cheese curds.

  • Weekend A La Carte (June 6)

    There’s a playbook for college, there should be one for marriage / Ben Sasse is teaching us how to die—and live—well / The biggest tell that something was written by AI / Why China got rich and India didn’t / AI slop is coming for your playlists / The blood cancer that became solvable /…

  • Davy and Natalie Lloyd

    Strong to the End

    You have probably heard of Davy and Natalie Lloyd, even if the names aren’t immediately familiar. In May 2024, you most likely heard the news about two young American missionaries to Haiti who, along with one of their Haitian colleagues, were brutally murdered by one of the many gangs that dominate the country.