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A La Carte (February 19)

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Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Today’s Kindle deals include a few books that will help you be more confident in evangelism.

(Yesterday on the blog: Why Those Who Seem Most Likely to Come, Never Come At All)

Courageous Pastors or Overbearing Leaders: How Do We Tell the Difference?

“We all want to have or be courageous pastors—not overbearing leaders. How do we tell the difference? Some Christian leaders know perfectly well that their behavior is abusive and evil; it’s difficult to sexually assault someone without realizing you are doing so. But I suspect many people become domineering and overbearing without realizing the extent to which they have. That’s partly why they’re so resistant to the charge when it comes—sin almost always involves self-deception.”

Jesus Didn’t Diss the Poor: Making Sense of Matthew 26:11

“You always have the poor with you,” said Jesus. But what did he mean by this?

8 Qualities of True Revival

Michael Haykin outlines eight qualities of true revival. These are “eight common qualities that give us a biblical framework for expectant prayer for revival in our day.”

Westminster Abbey and the Danger of Inhospitality

This is a useful look at the virtue of hospitality (and the danger of inhospitality).

Why Don’t You Talk About The Sermon?

“This is what I find odd. Evangelicals invest huge amounts of capital into sermons. We spend large sums of money training people to preach and then pay them an annual salary to do it as a fulltime job. We set aside at least fifty percent of our weekly church services to sermons and we invest huge amounts of our hope in believing that preaching is one of God’s chief ways of saving and nourishing us, and his way of speaking to the nations. Why are we so reluctant to talk about them?” That’s a good question.

The Idol of Competence

“The idol of competence is the desire to be perceived by others as capable. It springs from the belief that my worth is tied to my output. It’s productivity fueled by shame and fear. But if we want to do our work in a God-honoring manner, have joy while we do it, and truly serve God and man, we must disentangle our conception of productivity from the idol of competence.”

Flashback: An Unexpected, Overlooked Benefit of Friendships

I have learned that I should pursue friendships out of love for my family. I am a better husband to my wife and a better father to my children when I have meaningful friendships with others.

I don’t believe our Heavenly Father ever turned a deaf ear to an honest prayer offered in the right spirit.

—Theodore Cuyler

  • With Our Eyes on God

    With Our Eyes on God

    Life inevitably faces us with grievous trials and terrible troubles. None of us remains unscathed and undamaged as we make our way through this fallen world. When trials come, they can loom up so large before us that they become the only thing we can see. And even if we find the strength to cry…

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    Weekend A La Carte (February 22)

    A La Carte: The ‘ordo amoris’ and immigration policy / Sin casts a long shadow / But For the Cross of Christ (a new song) / Don’t wait to be thankful / Prayers for scrupulosity / and more.

  • Either Or

    Either/Or or Both/And?

    It is sometimes difficult to know how to follow Jesus. It is sometimes difficult to encounter a situation, look to Scripture, and know how to live in a distinctly Christian way. Often it seems there are two options before us that appear to stand opposite one another. Do we respond by expressing truth or by…

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    A La Carte (February 21)

    A La Carte: The heavy seasons of life / Going against the grain / Should we call God mother? / If faithfulness isn’t the highest priority / A heart for adoption / and more.

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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.