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A La Carte (December 7)

monday

Today’s Kindle deals include a massive list of deals. If you’ve got a Kindle, today’s a good day…

(Yesterday on the blog: No Hope Without Christ’s Righteousness)

Sanctorum Communionem

“As I stood there in that big echoey room, I sighed and considered all that has not gone on in there since March. ‘I believe the communion of the saints.’ Those old ancient words. Credo… sanctorum communionem. I walked over to the wall and noticed the calendars had also not been updated: MARCH APRIL MAY. We keep a quarterly schedule on the wall on white board calendars. They were all still in place. Birthdays and anniversaries and events had gone by.”

The Crisis of Christian Celebrity

David French has an important article about the crisis of Christian celebrity. In the background is a long New York Times article about Carl Lentz of Hillsong fame.

Christmas in a Minor Key

“Since our society so regularly confuses Christmas with the superficial, it is no wonder many people decide to opt-out when life is hard, but this misses the point of Christmas altogether.”

The Children of Pornhub (The World’s Biggest Porn Site)

I don’t know if you should read this one or not. On the one hand, it’s explicit at times. On the other hand, how else can people be awoken to the horrors of pornography—the violence, the rape, the pedophilia—unless people are told what porn is really about? So when the New York Times covers it, even as imperfectly as they do here, it is worth noting and perhaps even supporting with a click. If, with all that in mind, you’d like to read it, click here: The Children of Pornhub.

Bill C-6: What the Criminal Ban on “Conversion Therapy” Means for Churches in Canada

Canadians will want to be aware of this. “Across Canada, in various provinces and municipalities and now in Parliament, laws have been proposed (and most have passed), outlawing ‘conversion therapy.’ Christians should be concerned. As ARPA Canada explains in its policy report on conversion therapy, the devil is in the details: how one defines conversion therapy determines how good or bad such a ban would be.”

Wary of Words on the 1%

“From a collective and societal level, the 1% rhetoric is supremely dangerous. It is the seedbed of classism, and bloody revolution. Here’s the unfortunate secret: by definition, there will always be a one percent. And it will always feel like they have a lot more than you. The pre-occupation with this as an unfairness, as an injustice, leads inevitably to reaching up in order to tear down, rather than reaching down in order to bring up.”

Plan to Be Interrupted

Scott Hubbard: “At one time, I thought the best test for our faith in the sovereignty of God was our fidelity to the five points of Calvinism. But lately I’ve wondered if a different test might be more appropriate: how we respond to the interruptions, inefficiencies, and unforeseen delays strewn throughout our days.”

Flashback: Sexual Revolution, Same Old Revolution

…the sexual revolution is a movement of hate in the guise of love, a movement of destruction in the guise of justice.

Such as will not have Christ to be their king to rule over them, shall never have his blood to save them.

—Thomas Watson

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    A La Carte (February 20)

    A La Carte: Defining healthy masculinity / The women who disappeared / Dear older women / When leaders fall, are you next? / A Storm in the Desert / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Building Churches

    Building Churches Out of Other Churches

    What is your church really made of? Or perhaps better said, who is your church really made of? This is something we all do well to ponder from time to time, for there are good ways and bad ways, better ways and worse ways to fill a church.

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    A La Carte (February 19)

    A La Carte: Don’t let your fears hold back your children / Denominations in an age of online over-exposure / Full-circle prayers / Secret things and revealed things / Building habits / John Mark Comer’s view of God / and more.

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    A La Carte (February 18)

    A La Carte: Very cool birds / The way to combat anxiety / Do not hinder yourself / The sacred mundane / Thriving in women’s ministry leadership / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (February 17)

    A La Carte: Wisdom for online dating / Anything can be an idol / The great danger / Unconfessed sin / Sins we love to ignore / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Quality Time

    Quality Time

    People of all faiths pray. Some pray to gods, some to ancestors, some to nature, and some to the universe, but all speak out words, all utter desires, all hope to be heard. But Christians pray differently and Christians pray confidently, for we pray to a Father. We alone “have received the Spirit of adoption…