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A La Carte (July 23)

thursday

Today’s Kindle deals include one of John Piper’s lesser-known books, along with a few others.

(Yesterday on the blog: White Fragility and the Bible’s Big Story)

J.I. Packer’s Funeral (Video)

J.I. Packer’s funeral will be held today at 2 PM EST. You can watch the livestream on YouTube.

J.I. Packer: Seven Personal Reflections

George Sinclair offers seven personal reflections on Packer. Like this: “He was a simple Christian who loved to worship with simple Christians. When sitting beside him during a church service or to be in a small group bible study and prayer time with him, you knew that he was there to meet with Jesus. He was not evaluating and criticizing the people leading or the others praying.”

Pursue Integrity Relentlessly

John MacArthur: “Ethical integrity is one of the indispensable attributes of Christlike character. As vital as it is to be sound in doctrine and faithful in teaching the truth of Scripture, it is by no means less crucial for Christians to be upright in heart and consistent in our obedience to the moral and ethical principles of God’s law.”

Lessons from Spurgeon on Controversy

There is lots we can learn from Spurgeon, even the “forgotten” Spurgeon. “What can we learn from this forgotten Spurgeon? This Spurgeon can teach us to handle controversy manfully and without compromising. His convictions, which he held to his dying day, cost him dearly. He did not practice that vice he so clearly preached against…”

Everything Covid 19 Will Be The End Of

This blogger took the time to roundup everything that COVID-19 is going to be the end of (according to the news). You’d almost think it will be the end of everything!

With Kids Spending More Waking Hours on Screens than Ever, Here’s What Parents Need to Worry About

Statistics show that kids have had a 500% increase in screen time since the pandemic began. “What I believe parents need to worry about isn’t how much time kids are spending cradling their devices during our current crisis. It’s whether their children are forming habits that will continue after the pandemic’s over. Those habits could stop today’s youngest Americans from resuming healthier and more creative behaviors like reading or imaginative play.”

Experience, then Ambience

Speaking of which, do you remember the olden days of the internet and how things have changed? “The internet was an experience that was enjoyed, even depended on, yet also contained. But now the internet is no longer an experience. It is an ambience. The internet has few parameters to mediate it. It is instead the default mode on which most of us operate. The idea of “going” online is absurd. We are online. The internet is not so much something we go do as it is something we are.”

Flashback: Jesus Repulses, Jesus Draws

Jesus repulses and Jesus draws. Some people encounter Jesus and find him the most dreadful thing in the world; some people encounter Jesus and find him the most desirable thing in the world. Some beg him to leave and some beg to follow.

Shallow Christianity will not last in the coming generation, and it will not grow. Cultural Christianity is fading. The church in the twenty-first century must go big on truth or go home.

—Kevin DeYoung

  • 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.

  • Happy Lies

    Happy Lies

    I’m quite certain you have heard of the New Age movement. Though its popularity seems to have crested and begun to wane some time ago, it continues to wield a good bit of influence. But I wonder if you’ve heard of another similarly-named but quite different movement called New Thought.

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    A La Carte (January 28)

    A La Carte: Parenting is hard / The wildness of orthodoxy / Rubbing shoulders throughout eternity / Glorifying ourselves / The middle of somewhere / Is Roman Catholic baptism valid? / Excellent Kindle deals / and more.

  • Who Am I?

    It is not simply that we as a culture have lost our knowledge of God, but that in so doing we have also lost sight of ourselves. “Who am I?” is the question of the age.

  • Church cemetery

    If I Could Change Anything about the Modern Church

    I have often been asked what I consider the greatest weakness of today’s church or what I would change about today’s church if I could. Such questions make for good discussion at a conference Q&A session but they are also pretty much impossible to answer in a compelling way. It’s not like any of us…