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A La Carte (December 18)

A La Carte Collection cover image

Canada’s mail has begun again, even though the strike was not resolved. If you’ve been trying to send me something (books, probably) you should be able to put them in the mail in the next day or two.

If you’re interested in buying a Bible for yourself or someone else, Westminster Books has put together a helpful little guide that compares the different options in the ESV. All their ESVs are 50% off this month.

Today’s Kindle deals include a Bible study, a book about distinctly biblical self-care, and Paul Tripp’s A Quest for More.

What? You Don’t?

Brianna Lambert has often heard that friendships begin at the point of common interests. Yet she realizes that many of her friends have interests that are very different from her own.

Grief and Gratitude at Christmas

“It’s usually in this season that, even in the midst of life’s struggles and sorrows, we can feel genuine gratitude for the beautiful gifts that have dropped from the sky unexpectedly and even undeservedly in our lives: the people we love, the pursuits and passions we enjoy, the places we cherish, and the past year’s opportunities that have so propitiously popped up. But alongside this gratitude—that is, even as we survey all we’ve been given, we might also see all we’ve had to give up.”

How Do I Navigate Unwanted Singleness? (Video)

Those who are dealing with unwanted singleness will benefit from Esther Liu’s counsel.

What Did the Demons Sing That First Noel

Daniel DeWitt considers what the angels sang at that first Noel and then speculates about what the demons might have sung.

Peel Back the Chocolate Santa Wrapping and What Do You Get? The Easter Bunny!

“There’s been a great set of photos doing the rounds the past few years around Christmas showing up just how cheapskate some chocolate companies are during the festive season. Take a look…” Stephen uses this as a picture of the relationship between Christmas and Easter.

Teach Your Teen About Christian Freedom

This is important for parents to consider. “When kids are young, we work hard to train their consciences, to teach them God’s commands and how to choose between right and wrong. But as kids get older, they must learn to navigate issues that aren’t black and white. They need wisdom to discern between good choices and those that are best.”

Flashback: 32 Random Thoughts About the Local Church

…today I’ve got a long list of brief, random (and unsolicited) observations and pieces of advice related to the local church. I hope there is something here that benefits you.

You don’t need self-discipline to pray continuously; you just need to be poor in spirit.

—Paul Miller

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (December 18)

    A La Carte: Grief and gratitude at Christmas / Navigating unwanted singleness / What the demons sang / Teach your teen about Christian freedom / Common interests / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (December 17)

    A La Carte: The Virgin Mary and modern therapeutic culture / Relational heresy and doctrinal heresy / The darkness does not win / How does God deliver from pain by pain? / Christmas with your adult children / and more.

  • Do you know who God says you are?

    Identity matters for at least two key reasons. First, understanding our identity—our true God-given identity—is vital to understand why we exist and what we’re to do in life, as it is likewise essential for framing a fitting perspective of others.

  • A Collection of Random Thoughts on Christian Living

    A Collection of Random Thoughts on Christian Living

    Not every thought makes a good article and sometimes an entire article can be distilled down to a single thought. For those reasons, I like to occasionally create what I have created here–a roundup of brief, random thoughts about Christian living. Some of these are original and some are drawn from articles I’ve written in…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (December 16)

    A La Carte: Have you lost the ability to think deeply? / Does God command me to trust my spouse? / Thoughts on suicide / Preaching from a manuscript / God is not in a good mood / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Undermines

    Undermining the Bible

    There is an entire sector of the publishing industry that is dedicated to undermining people’s confidence in the Bible. Many of these books shoot to the top of the bestseller lists with their novel conspiracies about the Bible’s origins, their theories about its hidden secrets, or their conviction that it is a mess of contradictions.