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A La Carte (December 26)

A La Carte Thursday 1

I trust you enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did. The Lord is good to give us days to rest and simply enjoy his gifts.

It is a bit of a slow stretch for Kindle deals, but be sure to check in after 6:30 AM and I’ll see what I can find.

The Thief’s Good Works

Jackson Gravitt provides a couple of perspectives on the thief’s good works.

It’s a Wonderful Strife

“Shaping rock, shaping students; I’d be hard-pressed to say which is more difficult. Rock is less resistant to change and fights back far less often, but again, it’s just rock in the end. Students, while tough as granite at times, are well worth the effort – well worth the strife.” Josh reflect on this “wonderful strife.”

Hospitality: The Forgotten Qualification

“When considering the qualifications for elders, ‘able to teach’ is often recognized as the one qualification uniquely required for the office. Certainly, the unique role of elders centers on ‘the ministry of the word.’ But another qualification is often missed or underdeveloped, which is vitally supplemental to the teaching ministry.”

How Should I Spend My Time During the Final Days of the Year?

There’s an important challenge here. “Christians love to debate the final days on Earth, but few Christians discuss the final days of the year. Effective time stewardship is crucial during the last days of December because the way you spend this time will influence how you begin the new year. If done well, you’ll start 2025 with a burst of energy and enthusiasm. But if done poorly, you may start the new year feeling sluggish.”

Give Me Faith

Here’s a new poem that has a good message.

5 Lessons for New Church Planters

Church planters will benefit from these lessons.

Flashback: When I Get to the End of the Way

“By and by I shall see him and praise him, in the city of unending day, and the toils of the road will seem nothing, when I get to the end of the way.”

Legalistic remorse says, “I broke God’s rules,” while real repentance says, “I broke God’s heart.”

—Tim Keller

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    This weeks Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by The Good Book Company. They are giving away a bundle of their best-selling Good Book Guides that are designed to guide your head and your heart through God’s word. Each Good Book Guide includes a concise leader’s guide in the back.  The Bundle includes: Giveaway Rules: You…

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    A Light on the Hill

    In early 2020, CHBC, along with almost every other church in the world, was forced to contend with the opening days of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time Caleb Morell was working as Pastor Mark Dever’s personal assistant. Dever tasked him with finding out how the church had responded to the Spanish flu epidemic a…

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    They Won’t Because They Can’t

    If you’ve flown recently, you have probably made the same observation I have: No one pays attention to the pre-flight safety videos. There may be the occasional uptick in interest after a well-publicized crash or near-disaster, but soon old habits return—people stuff their AirPods into their ears and stare at their phones rather than watch…

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