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A La Carte (December 17)

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May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

There are three nice little Kindle deals today.

Can You Stand for Truth without Being Offensive?

“I often speak on controversial subjects: abortion, homosexuality, Islam, transgenderism, bioethics. These aren’t topics that are casually brought up over Christmas dinner and calmly discussed with out-of-town family. That’s why believers often ask me how they can stand for truth on controversial topics without being offensive. Here are three quick things I tell them…”

Too Busy to Read? Read More, Not Less

If you find you’re too busy to read, then maybe you’re thinking about things wrongly…

Questioning God

“Sometimes people act like you can’t ask questions in church life, as though you just have to ‘have faith’, which is true but not in the way that people who usually say it mean. I think they act like this because well-meaning people have told them so.”

WATCH KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY’S IRISH CHRISTMAS CONCERT FREE

Join Ireland’s own Keith & Kristyn Getty for a one-night-only livestream of Sing! An Irish Christmas—live from the Museum of the Bible! Gather your family and sing the songs of Christmas together again through soaring melodies and foot-stomping Irish-American renditions of your favorite Christmas hymns. RSVP today and receive a FREE digital download of our keepsake hymnal and program book featuring new songs from the Gettys, devotional material and advent readings, and more! (Sponsored Link)

‘Tis the Season for Regret?

Stephen Roberts: “Christmas is often filled with regret, especially when we compare the Hallmark ideal with the realities of life in a broken world. It shines a bright light on pasts that are often filled with trauma, the gaping wounds where love once was or should’ve been, and the hardships nibbling at us in the present. Before you drown yourself in mugs of warm eggnog, here are a few reminders for how to recover the reason for the season…”

Baby Jesus: Our High Priest and Sympathizer

“The Christmas season becomes more profound when we grasp this gift of Christ’s birth. We have a God who wanted to identify with our suffering to comfort us and give us strength in time of need. Hebrew 4:16 says, ‘Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’”

Norway’s Shoddy Christmas Tree And The Nature Of Biblical Typology

Here’s the connection between a shoddy Christmas tree and the nature of biblical typology.

Flashback: Please Don’t Give Them Porn for Christmas

This Christmas a lot of children will receive porn from under the tree. It’s not what they wanted, and not what their parents intended for them to have. But they will get it anyway.

We can’t separate the Bible’s commands to do justice from its commands to be discerning. The oppressed deserve more than our good intentions. We must love them not merely with our hearts and hands but with our heads too.

—Thaddeus Williams

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  • Will You Be a Pillar?

    How do we lead in a culture shaped by performance, individualism, and platform? Platforms to Pillars by cultural commentator Mark Sayers offers a biblical alternative to the platform mentality that dominates our society. Drawing from the ancient world, Sayers challenges Christians to become pillars—people who provide strength and support for others, who live with character…

  • The Tallest Trees

    The Winds Blow Hardest Against the Tallest Trees

    Through the weekend had many questions about Christian leaders who fall. And I expressed that just as the winds blow hardest against the tallest trees, so temptations may press hardest against the leaders who rise the highest. Just as floods press against shallow roots, so seductive desires rise up against those whose fall would bring…

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  • Expectations

    Why We Ask So Little of God

    Most Christians expect little from God, ask little, and therefore receive little, and are content with little. Though the Bible calls us to pray and though it promises that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working,” we can still have very modest expectations of what God will accomplish through…

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