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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

  • Breath

    A Sudden Stopping of the Breath

    I recently encountered a poem I enjoyed and wanted to share with you. LeRoy Tate Newland was an American pastor, a missionary to Korea, and a poet. Among his poems is this brief reflection on the death of a Christian (which, appropriately, is titled “A Christian’s Death”). I hope you enjoy it as much as…

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    Weekend A La Carte (April 5)

    A La Carte: The Lioness, the Witch and the Wardrobe / Are people basically good? / Who gets to define a healthy baby? / Go, gently / Films that defined Christian politics / Rethinking our mission field / and more.

  • Sermon Introduction

    Three Levels of Sermon Introduction

    Though every sermon necessarily needs a beginning, it does not necessarily need a formal introduction. Though it has to begin somewhere, there is no rule that it must begin with some kind of story or illustration. A preacher can jump straight into his text if he so desires. Some do.

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    A La Carte (April 4)

    A LA Carte: Causes of division in the church / Union with Christians / The 1%-er rhetoric / Pray or sleep? / Distinguishing shame from guilt / Many more Kindle deals / and so on.

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    A La Carte (April 3)

    A La Carte: Never too late to learn how to pray / Walking with those who weep / Rethinking the role of pastor’s wife / What does the Bible mean when it teaches wives to submit? / Does God want some to go to hell? / Kindle deals / and more.