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A La Carte (July 26)

thursday

For some reason, Kindle deals have been reduced to little more than a trickle. I sure hope they pick up again! I did find a few, at least…

(Yesterday on the blog: How an Emerging Church Pastor Inadvertently Changed My Life)

Old, Resting, Reformed

This one is worth reading even if just for the quotes. It turns out that cage-stage Calvinism and the need to go deep into Reformed theology is not a new phenomenon.

A Brief (But Global) History of Ketchup

“Canada recently slapped a tariff on U.S. exports of ketchup, and the EU plans to do the same. But is the condiment all that American?” Here’s a surprisingly interesting history of ketchup.

When Re-Conversion Is Easier Than Repentance

“Re-conversion offers many evangelicals the emotional catharsis of acknowledging sin without the social shaming or awkwardness that comes when people who claim to be Christians acknowledge sin. If you weren’t really a Christian but you are now, wonderful! Enter into our joy. But if you actually are a Christian and you have to talk about sin that you’re not entirely sure how to address, well, how close should we stand next to you? How contagious is it?”

Why American Elites Support Same-Sex Marriage

This is an insightful review of a new work. “Marriages between two persons of the same sex represent the dislodging of the gendered hierarchy in marriages between men and women. Same-sex marriages are less a shared commitment to the demands of a natural institution ordered toward the bearing and raising of children, than they are a potent symbol of individual autonomy, self-realization, and expression. When marriage isn’t a male-and-female reality, gender stereotypes associated with parenting and labor can be undermined. Indeed, for these and other reasons, in many quarters elite opinion swiftly moved to present same-sex marriages as the ideal, not just an exception to be tolerated.”

The $20 Billion Question for Guyana

When an impoverished nation looks ready to gain great wealth, there are serious challenges on the horizon. “Can oil wealth help Guyana overcome its history, or will the windfall that will flood government coffers merely turn the page to a new tragic chapter?”

The Morning Before a Sexual Fall

“Two voices vie for your sexual purity. If you think the battle is just about images and videos, you won’t be ready to fight. This is a war of words. According to Proverbs 2, whom we listen to — each morning, throughout the day, late at night — will determine whether we give in to temptation or resist with the strength of God.”

Parking Has Eaten American Cities

Traveling through Europe you soon realize how much more space America dedicates to parking. “A new study documents the huge amount of space taken up by parking, and the astronomical costs it represents, in five U.S. cities. Parking eats up an incredible amount of space and costs America’s cities an extraordinary amount of money. That’s the main takeaway of a new study that looks in detail at parking in five U.S. cities: New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, Des Moines, and Jackson, Wyoming.”

Flashback: Four Sources of Discord in Your Church

In Paul’s letter to Titus he offers four sources of discord and warns us to avoid them…Here, for your consideration, are four sources of disunity that may just exist in your church.

God cannot at times hear the prayer of your lips because the desires of your heart after the world cry out to Him much more strongly and loudly.

—Andrew Murray

  • Bad Guys

    Could I Be One of the Bad Guys?

    Here is something I have been considering over the past few days: Every one of us acknowledges there is a lamentable lack of unity among Christians today. Yet none of us seems to consider that we ourselves may be the cause of that disunity, or at least contribute to it. In our minds, it is…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (October 25)

    A La Carte: Does your church need to repent for the nursery? / Why we won’t spend eternity in heaven / Volunteer mums / When Christians are mocked in popular culture / What productivity can and cannot do / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (October 24)

    A La Carte: Barnabas Piper’s gratitude for his dad / When eyewitnesses disagree / How endorsements work / God’s gift of musical memory / Receiving critique / Book and Kindle deals.

  • Moving House and Moving Church

    Would It Be Better to Take a Pay Cut Than a Church Cut?

    There are times when circumstances dictate that we move—that we move from one town to another, one province or state to another, or even one country or continent to another. There are other times when it is desire more than circumstance that causes us to uproot ourselves from one location and re-root ourselves in another.

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    A La Carte (October 23)

    A La Carte: How to write a meaningful card / God brings us bad to give us best / New notebook, same mission / There but for the grace of God go I / The trouble with competitiveness / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (October 22)

    A La Carte: John Piper on future judgment / Is every sin the same in God’s eyes? / The long defeat of history / Common marketplace leadership sayings / Infertility and grief / Kindle deals / and more.