Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (January 9)

A La Carte Collection cover image

The God of peace be with you on this fine day.

(Yesterday on the blog: The Danger of Being a Sermon Critic)

Notes on Staying Sane in an Election Year

With the U.S. entering into an election year, Jake Meador has some notes on staying sane through it all. “Participation in electoral politics in a system such as the United States’s is quite complicated and virtually always involves making compromises. If you find yourself conversing with a Christian brother or sister who has voted in a way that offends or perplexes you, the best thing to do is simply ask them about their decision and then listen to their response without becoming triggered or cutting them off mid-sentence so you can say something offensive and unnecessary.”

We Need Leaders Calling the Church to Faithfulness Out of Love, Not Resentment Disguised as Courage

Daniel Darling reflects on some of the recent polemics meant to slam evangelicalism. “Some have had good but hard words we need to hear. But most suffer from the same problems which make their attempt at being prophetic fall on deaf ears…”

Looking for God in All the Wrong Places

Lara considers the human tendency to look for God in all the wrong places. “I watched an Instagram Reel a few weeks ago that chronicled a Christian influencer’s journey to finding God, and it ended with a picture of her and the words, ‘And I found You in me.’”

Marriage as a Covenant

Robert Jones writes about marriage as a covenant and what is bound up in that kind of relationship. “In a day when this kind of marital commitment dwindles, God has given us as Christians fresh opportunities to show the world a different kind of marriage, one formed by a covenant, one that can last forty years and even beyond.”

A Distant Country

Andrea has a sweet reflection (and lament, I suppose) about Christmas.

And What Are You Doing the Rest of the Year?

As the holiday season gives way to normalcy, Stephen asks an important question. “For all ours posts about what we’re doing for Christmas and how we’re going to take the seasonal opportunity, now the festivities are over, it seems worth asking a new question: what are you going to do the rest of the year to take advantage of the evangelistic opportunities in your community?”

Flashback: I Want Him Back (But Not The Old Me Back)

Sorrow does not always lead to advances in holiness, but it always can and always should, for the Spirit is present in our sorrows, ready and eager to sanctify them to his precious purposes.

Pastors are not appointed to a church primarily to lead in the instruction of skills and the dissemination of information; they are appointed to a church primarily to lead in Christ-following.

—Jared C. Wilson

  • Will You Be a Pillar?

    How do we lead in a culture shaped by performance, individualism, and platform? Platforms to Pillars by cultural commentator Mark Sayers offers a biblical alternative to the platform mentality that dominates our society. Drawing from the ancient world, Sayers challenges Christians to become pillars—people who provide strength and support for others, who live with character…

  • The Tallest Trees

    The Winds Blow Hardest Against the Tallest Trees

    Through the weekend had many questions about Christian leaders who fall. And I expressed that just as the winds blow hardest against the tallest trees, so temptations may press hardest against the leaders who rise the highest. Just as floods press against shallow roots, so seductive desires rise up against those whose fall would bring…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 21)

    A La Carte: Toxic servant leadership / Taking our stress to the Lord / The problem with habits / Is it wrong for Christians to choose cremation? / Why does your church meet in a house? / Big book and Kindle deals / and more.

  • Expectations

    Why We Ask So Little of God

    Most Christians expect little from God, ask little, and therefore receive little, and are content with little. Though the Bible calls us to pray and though it promises that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working,” we can still have very modest expectations of what God will accomplish through…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (April 19)

    A La Carte: Why man needs God / Why nails matter / Kids’ picture books / MLK’s famous letter changed a DC church / How to mentor / A tearless eternity / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (TGBC)

    This weeks Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by The Good Book Company. They are giving away a bundle of their best-selling Good Book Guides that are designed to guide your head and your heart through God’s word. Each Good Book Guide includes a concise leader’s guide in the back.  The Bundle includes: Giveaway Rules: You…