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A La Carte (February 21)

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Smartphones Make You Tired – Take note! “For a productive day at work tomorrow, give the smartphone a rest tonight. Reading and sending work email on a smartphone late into the evening doesn’t just make it harder to get a decent night’s sleep. New research findings show it also exhausts workers by morning and leaves them disengaged by the next afternoon.” This Social Media Guard may prove helpful.

The Cult of the Visioneer – This is pretty common in the evangelical world today: “The process is simple. A church has a pastor. The pastor receives from God a specific vision and mission for his church. The church follows the visioneer.” (Here’s another Ref21 article on the same subject.)

Lecrae @ Huffington Post – The Huffington Post has a long profile of Christian rapper Lecrae.

Jamie Coots, 1971 – 2014 – You probably heard about the death of Jamie Coots, a third-generation signs-following pentecostal who handled venomous snakes in worship (and, not surprisingly, died after being bitten). Here’s a short film about his life and strange, strange ministry.

In Her Shoes – Here is some help in ministering to those who are grieving after losing a child.

A Family Mission Statement – I really like the idea behind this. I’m not sure that I’ve got the discipline to pull it off, though!

Pride

Pride is a sinner’s torment, but humility a saint’s ornament.

—William Secker

  • Are you a Hedgehog or a Rhino?

    The truth is that we all have some work to do. Healthy disagreement will draw all of us beyond our natural strengths. It will require stretching into new (often uncomfortable) territory.

  • Only Ever Better

    Only Ever Better

    I’m sure you’ve had the same kind of experience I’ve had—the experience of bumping into someone you haven’t seen for many years. Maybe it is at a conference, maybe at a wedding, or maybe through pure serendipity. Yet now you’re face to face and you realize that even while you’re enjoying a conversation with that…

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    A La Carte (February 24)

    A La Carte: The wounds of fatherhood / No need to fear, ever / How we treat the human body / Therapy culture / The challenge of masculinity / Kindle deals / and more.

  • 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…