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A La Carte (July 2)

monday

Today’s Kindle deals include a few interesting titles. You may also want to check out this month’s general market deals and get some summer reading.

You’ll want to take a look at this month’s free audiobook from Christian Audio. You can also get a free course (and some discounted ones) from Logos.

Yesterday on the blog: On Renaming the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal)

Is There Anyone Praying For You?

This is a neat story about an unexpected opportunity to pray. You just never know how the Lord is working.

If It Be Your Will

Should we qualify our prayers with, “if it be your will?” R.C. Sproul provides an answer.

Christian, Rethink Your Public Speech

“Believer, if you truly relish a life of turmoil, public anger, boiling arguments, caustic debates and throwing out verbal darts like porcupine quills, you will genuinely help the cause of Christ by not identifying publicly as a Christian. I’m serious. We are in desperate need of Christian wisdom, but not barbaric untamed and undignified rhetoric. It’s doing us no good.”

The Story of Canada’s Weird Radio Laws (Video)

These odd regulations date back to 1971 yet continue to define Canadian radio.

Should We Celebrate the Fourth of July at Church?

This is probably a day late, but still worth considering. “The Fourth of July is just around the corner. Even now American churches are planning their Sunday service around it. Maybe they’ll include a patriotic hymn like ‘God Bless America’ or the national anthem. Maybe men and women in uniform will parade the American flag down the center aisle. Maybe a congressman or mayor will offer a ‘special word.’ I love patriotic music, fireworks on the National Mall, and the country they’re honoring. But I confess I’m not a fan of celebrating America inside Sunday’s sanctuary. It just might work against Jesus’s Great Commission.”

Wet Book Rescue (Video)

Here’s how to rescue a book that has been water damaged.

Seven Strategies for Fighting Envy

Envy is one of the ugliest sins. “Envy is a stingy and demanding master. It’s stingy because, unlike many other sins, there’s absolutely nothing pleasurable about experiencing it. Most sins bait the hook: lust offers excitement and escape, greed promises wealth and pleasure, gossip promises power and participation in the inner circle. And many sins are at least temporarily pleasurable (that’s why we do them).”

Flashback: The Danger of Coasting

I do not coast toward Christ, but toward self. When I stop caring, when I stop expending effort, when I allow myself to coast, I inevitably coast away from God and godliness.

God does not ask success or fame from us, but faithfulness.

—Juan Stam

  • Mothering Against Futility

    The Futility of Motherhood

    Life is made up of so much that gives the appearance of being futile. There are so many tasks and responsibilities that we intellectually know to be important but emotionally feel to be fruitless. And if everyone struggles with this to varying degrees, I have it on good authority that mothers are prone to struggle…

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    A La Carte (January 31)

    A La Carte: Dune and female moral authority / Three lies that separate spouses / Sin makes you stupid / Can a fallen pastor be restored? / Evaluating Trump’s first week of executive actions / A future for the family / Book and Kindle deals / and more.

  • New and Notable Christian Books for January 2025

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of books in January and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I have…

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    A La Carte (January 30)

    A La Carte: Small injustices / Is it necessary to be a church member? / How to make friends at college / My letter about a transgender teacher / Prayerless theologians / Deepening fellowship / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Throw Out the Buoys

    Throw Out the Buoys!

    When I was young, my family owned a cottage on a lake. From a young age, I loved to head out in our little motorboat so I could explore that lake and the others that were connected to it. I could easily make a day out of slipping into little inlets to see where they…

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    A La Carte (January 29)

    A La Carte: Your phone habits / A guide for single women / JFK, conspiracy theories, and the Deep State / So what if you’re bored? / God’s a writer / Hard relationships / Kindle deals / and more.