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A La Carte (June 3)

monday

Today’s Kindle deals include, like most Mondays, several good books from Crossway.

Yesterday on the blog: Lord from Sorrows Deep I Call (Free Downloads)

Three Approaches to Ecclesiastes

Here’s a good look at some of the different ways to approach Ecclesiastes. “In my observation, Ecclesiastes is second only to Revelation in the number of competing interpretive approaches available to readers of the book. It offers a great case study in how perception can drastically affect both interpretation and application. This fact ought to motivate us to be as meticulous as possible in observing the text within its context.”

6 Ways Not To Read Bible (Video)

I enjoyed this bootleg video of Dane Ortlund teaching how not to read the Bible.

The Preachers Getting Rich from Poor Americans

These prosperity preachers are nothing short of a plague. “Televangelist Todd Coontz has a well-worn routine: he dresses in a suit, pulls out a Bible and urges viewers to pledge a very specific amount of money. ‘Don’t delay, don’t delay,’ he urges, calmly but emphatically. It sounds simple, absurdly so, but Coontz knows his audience extremely well. He broadcasts on Christian cable channels, often late into the night, drawing in viewers who lack financial literacy and are desperate for change.”

‘Songs from the Schemes’ is a collection of testimonies written and performed by believers living in the schemes of Scotland. These are first-hand accounts of God’s grace from ordinary people. “We hope that believers will be encouraged as they hear true stories of God’s grace and we hope that other prisoners, those still lost in bondage to their sin and heading for a lost eternity, would listen and turn in repentance to Jesus Christ.” All purchases go toward church planting efforts in Scotland’s poorest communities with 20schemes.

David Platt Prays for President Trump (Video)

Yesterday President Trump paid a surprise visit to David Platt’s church.

The Tragedy of Mount Everest

Three are lots of interesting observations here about the quest to climb Everest. “Conditions on Everest today, though, would be unrecognizable to Mallory — or to the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and his client, Sir Edmund Hillary, who together became the first recorded people to summit the mountain on this day in 1953. While Everest’s danger once lay in the mountain being one of the most remote and inhospitable places on Earth, its threat today is of the opposite sort: its accessibility.”

Are There Degrees of Sin?

We know there are, but no one teaches the facts of it quite like R.C. Sproul. “The sin of pettiness, by which people begin to dwell on minor transgressions in the community, can tear the body of Christ apart. Great damage comes when it is fueled by the fire of gossip and slander. We are called to patience and tolerance towards the struggling failures of other Christians. It’s not that we’re called to be lax on sin…”

Abortion Laws State by State

Here, from NBC News (whose position is likely made clear by the photo they used) is a roundup of the rapidly-changing abortion laws across the US.

Flashback: Peaceful Polemics Online

All that Jesus and James and Solomon warned us about the power of the tongue can be extended to the power of our fingers as they dance over our keyboards and our thumbs as they tap out messages on our phones. Out of the overflow of the heart the fingers type.

Trust in God, not explanations from God, is the pathway through suffering.

—Ray Ortlund

  • What Makes You Beautiful

    What Makes You Beautiful

    I have often thought of a conversation that took place when my girls were little. Abby was perhaps 5 or 6 at the time and Michaela just working her way through the “terrible twos” (which for our kids always happened when they were three or four). A stranger saw me interacting with them one day…

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    A La Carte (April 25)

    A La Carte: John Piper and ChatGPT / Who’s praying for your wife and kids? / When your dreams include sin / Are you called to ministry? / Our feet shall tread this place again / and more.

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    A La Carte (April 24)

    A La Carte: He cares for us / Will the pope to go heaven? / An easy Christian faith / The good we cannot see / Chickens, elephants, and freedom / When we skip the prophets / Kindle and book deals / and more.

  • Francis

    Did Francis Prove To Be “The Humble Pope?”

    Francis’ time as pope has come to an end and already many are attempting to define his legacy. Was he a reformer? Was he a progressive? Was he an apostate? Perspectives are wildly varied with some honoring him as the greatest pope of modern times and some dishonoring him as a disgrace to the office.

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    A La Carte (April 23)

    A La Carte: How to begin a conversation with a dechurched friend / Machen was right / The truth of Christ’s resurrection / When grief becomes sin / Nope to the media’s ideal for a new pope / Book sale / and more.

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    A La Carte (April 22)

    A La Carte: Pope Francis / Yes, Jesus was crucified with nails / The mystery of “the call” / Just a little bit / The last of the four / John outran Peter / Kindle deals / and more.