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A La Carte (August 11)

Even while I’m not as active on the blog this week as I usually am, the Kindle Deals for Christians page continues to be updated. You can check it out here.

All of Us Sinners, None of Us Freaks

“It is a wonderful and mysterious thing to be a creature made by Another. Yet being a creature is also frightening and dangerous. Because we cannot mute the Creator’s pattern for gender, gender becomes a battleground in the war between the Creator’s will and his creature’s rebellious desires.”

Holding Out for the Good News

This is the time of year that many Bible plans bring readers to the prophetic books. So perhaps this encouragement is in order.

What Is a Superfood?

Basically there’s no such thing and it’s all a marketing gimmick to get you to buy things you otherwise wouldn’t eat.

Ben-Hur

“What’s called the ‘most influential book of the nineteenth century’ is the result of a debate between two military leaders. It happened on a train ride to Indianapolis on a late summer day in 1876. Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, whose nickname was ‘The Great Agnostic,’ bumped into author General Lew Wallace. The two spent the trip debating religion.”

This Day in 1778. 228 years ago today, clergyman and hymn-writer, Augustus Montague Toplady, died at age 37. He wrote the beloved hymn “Rock of Ages.” *

Amish Children Are Immune to Asthma

Strange but true: “After a barrage of blood tests, air samples and genetic surveys to find out why Amish children are strangely immune to asthma, an international team of medical researchers has finally hit upon the solution: The Amish are all fortified by cow dust.”

Flashback: An Introverted Christian

I have no right to crave introverted solitude. Rather, the gospel compels me to deny even that trait and all its desires in order to serve other people. I am introverted, but this does not give me a different calling in life than the gregarious Christian.

Mahaffey

Kings do not make history. Kings serve history.

—John Mahaffey

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    A La Carte (November 21)

    A La Carte: Lessons from Trump’s and Harris’s social media campaigns / What is my spiritual gift? / The messages we receive / 10 mistakes I’ve made in preaching / Big Kindle and book sales / and more.

  • Finn

    I’m a Grandfather!

    Yesterday Abby and Nathan welcomed their first child into the world: Finnegan Safir Nicholas Elfarrah. Because they live just minutes away, Aileen and I were able to be there shortly after his birth to rejoice with them and to meet our first grandchild. We are thrilled beyond measure. And he is cute beyond belief. They…

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    A La Carte (November 20)

    A La Carte: Pray till you pray / Do children need to consent to puberty? / Pleading for Sodom / A thought experiment / 10 mistakes when reading the Bible / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 19)

    A La Carte: Good night, my son / The longing for justice following sexual assault / Daughter of encouragement / Mistakes I made as a theological student / The dangers of disordered love / Kindle deals / and more.

  • What Grieves the Heart of God

    What Grieves the Heart of God?

    What pleases God? What delights his heart? And what displeases God? What grieves his heart? If asked, I think most of us would assume that if we ever grieve the heart of God it will be through denying the gospel or committing a grave moral scandal. Or if we do so as a local church,…