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A La Carte (December 6)

Today’s Kindle deals include a long list featuring several different publishers. There isn’t a bad book among them. Also, Amazon has cookbooks (for Kindle) on sale today.

In case you missed it over the weekend, I launched The 2017 Christian Reading Challenge. You may find it a means of increasing and diversifying your reading next year.

Jesus, a Broken Car Window and a Girl from Oman

This is a really good bit of writing.

The Pauline Prodigy Quiz

Think you know the Apostle Paul? Try this 10-answer quiz. I did embarrassingly poorly.

The Left’s Doomed Effort to Coerce the Right

It is interesting to read this in Bloomberg. “Those of us who are worried about the parlous state of our country’s politics may, however, remain worried that this faux scandal could ever have led someone to write an article and some outlet to publish it.”

A Novel Idea for Preaching Christmas

H.B. Charles Jr. on what and how to preach on Christmas Day. “Don’t look for something new to say. Dig deep in the word of God to find fresh water from the old wells.”

Women and Sexual Temptation

Kelly Needham on the importance of discussing sexual temptation with women: “When we don’t talk about them, a subtle message is conveyed: Sexual sins are unacceptable among women.”

Themelios

If you’re up for some academic reading, there is a new edition of Themelios available.

This Day in 1829. 187 years ago today on a Sunday morning, William Carey learned that widow-burning had been abolished in India. Carey decided to translate the declaration in Bengali rather than preaching that day, fearing that holding off would cost more lives. *

Mothers in the Church

Jen Wilkin lays down the challenge: “A motherless church is as tragic as a motherless home. Guiding the spiritually young to maturity is not solely the job of the vocational pastor, the elder, or the Sunday school teacher. The church needs mothers to care for the family of God. We must rise to our responsibility, eagerly searching for whom the Lord would have us nurture. There is no barrenness among believing women.”

Bean Puzzle Tombstone

Quirky! “In rural Rushes Cemetery, one headstone stands out from the rest. Rather than the usual RIP, the Bean grave marker is etched with a crossword code.” It took 100 years to crack.

Flashback: Learning to Trust the Instruments

A lesson displayed in a near-disaster.

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Passionate intensity about the details of religion is worse than useless if it is not accompanied by a holy life.

—D.A. Carson

  • 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,…

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    A La Carte (November 18)

    A La Carte: When God does not need our service / How to forgive and move on / A devotional for depression / Can a speeding ticket change your heart? / Is it I, Lord? / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Motives Matter

    Motives matter, even (or perhaps especially) when it comes to something as very good as studying the Bible. The best motive for reading the Bible is to be transformed by it. For this to happen, we must approach our reading and studying with both confidence and humility, asking God to transform us through his Word.…

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    Weekend A La Carte (November 16)

    A La Carte: The gratitude revolution / Can a church require tithing? / Listening that hurts / Correctable mistakes when preaching and teaching / We won’t do nothing for eternity / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (TGBC)

    This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by The Good Book Company. They are giving away a copy of Alistair Begg’s new advent devotional, Let Earth Receive Her King, to prepare your heart for Christmas, along with a $200 gift card for you to purchase Christmas gifts for everyone on your list.  Here are some…

  • Inventory

    The Spiritual Gift Inventory I Believe In

    In many churches, it is standard practice to have Christians take some kind of a spiritual gift inventory. Through a series of questions that probe an individual’s interests, passions, and successes, these tests claim to help people discover the ways the Holy Spirit has gifted them to better love and serve his people.