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A La Carte (January 16)

thursday

Today’s Kindle deals include a handful of books, including one good one by R.C. Sproul.

(Yesterday on the blog: Get To Know Onthatile Children’s Ministries)

Max Lucado’s Endorsement of Jen Hatmaker: What it Means and Why it Matters

This is important: “It can be tempting to view any display of disunity as divisive. But we would do good to remember that the Bible places the blame for divisions on the ones bringing in the false doctrine, not on those who call it out.”

How To Listen to Kindle Books

Obviously you know how to read Kindle books, but do you know how to listen to them? Here’s a brief explanation.

This Is Your Body Today

“What does it mean to bear on our bodies the marks of living in this world, to experience all that life and God will give and throw at us, and to not blame the sleeplessness or stretch marks on being a mother—or to find pride in them either because they birthed live children? To not blame the creaks and groans on laziness or lack or time. To not see ourselves as a victim of some perverse injustice, but to simply say to the body that holds us today and to the God who made it: ‘Thank you’ and also ‘This hurts’?”

It’s What We Do

I appreciate Peter’s words of wisdom for young pastors. “Sunday-by Sunday as you teach or preach (and counsel, and converse, and pray, and lead), you plant and water, plant and water. You sow the seed of God’s word in the lives of people, planting precious truths in their hearts, and you water by reviewing those truths and teaching supporting truths.”

How Slack Ruined Work

While I appreciate much of what Slack offers, I also think it has not lived up to many of its promises. Still, this may be over-stating it a little: “Technology advances usually supplant what has come before but Slack hasn’t, it’s just doubled the pain.”

Another Kind of Diversity to Consider

Don’t get too excited or too dismayed by another use of “diversity.” I think Brad Hambrick makes a valid point here. “There is a tendency in both business and church life to fill decision making tables with powerful people who ‘get things done.’ The result can be that even with ethnic and gender diversity, there can still be a nearly exclusive extroverted decision-making team. This will come with all the strengths and weaknesses that accompany extroversion.” Diversity of personality matters.

The Shipwreck That Gave Birth to South Africa

Here is a very brief history of South Africa, and the key role a shipwreck played in its founding—a shipwreck that may soon be found.

Flashback: Aging Gracefully

Every day, we are all building the house we will live in when old age comes. Some of us are building a beautiful palace. Some are building a dark prison. What are you building?

Sanctification is the process of learning increasing dependence, not autonomy.

—Jen Wilkin

  • Crash and Burn

    When Christians Crash and Burn

    The pictures quickly made their way around the world—pictures of an aircraft lying upside down in the snow just beyond runway 23 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. On February 17, Delta flight 4819 landed hard, shearing off the right wing and flipping over before finally sliding to a stop. Remarkably, despite the crash and subsequent…

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    A La Carte (March 24)

    A La Carte: Wokeness as a tax / The religion of wellness / Freckles, thigh gaps, and beauty / The 50 most edifying films / If I have matching dishes but not love / The Bible and sexuality / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Pastoral Prayer

    A Pastoral Prayer

    Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because there are few examples of pastoral prayers online and I thought these may serve to inspire themes, passages, or ideas as other pastors and elders prepare to lead their churches in prayer. Please…

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    Weekend A La Carte (March 22)

    A La Carte: In case I die unexpectedly / The daily midlife crisis / Anora and the end of #MeToo / Building the habit of family worship / We are not Númenóreans / Iain Murray / and more.

  • The Future of New Calvinism

    The Future of New Calvinism

    I was intrigued by Aaron Renn’s recent article The Maturation of New Calvinism. His thesis is that “New Calvinism has shifted from an ‘All-Star team’ model designed to exert influence over the broader evangelical world to a post-superstar model that primarily serves its own community. This represents the maturity of the movement, perhaps putting it…