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A La Carte (June 5)

monday

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

As is almost always the case on Mondays, there are some new Kindle deals available.

(Yesterday on the blog: Despise Not a Mother’s Love)

Boring Kingdom Growth

“Describe the kingdom of God. What words do you use? Amazing. Awesome. Wonderful. Exponential. Mighty. Terrific. What analogies would we use? I doubt you’d first think of what Jesus uses in Mark 4.”

Don’t Be Taken in by the Tolerance Trick

Greg Koukl warns against being taken in by the “tolerance trick.” “Real tolerance … is about how we treat people, not ideas. Classic tolerance requires that every person be free to express his ideas without fear of abuse or reprisal, not that all views have equal validity, merit, or truth.”

What 80s Parents Got Right About Pop Culture

Christians rightly have a complicated relationship with pop culture. There’s wisdom to be gleaned from this approach.

Thomas Aquinas, the Evangelical?

Leonardo De Chirico is working on a book on Aquinas and considers the idea some are suggesting today: that Aquinas can be associated with Evangelicalism.

Pray as Slaves

“I confess that sometimes when I pray I can forget my place. Embarrassingly, I come to God to give Him a little advice. I’m not sure He fully understands the situation down on the ground, so I need to let Him know what’s going on and give Him a slight corrective. Because if He knew what I knew, then He’d surely handle things a little differently.”

Unfolding a Letter of Encouragement

“If you look down the corridor of history it’s easy to spot a multitude of Christians who have endured severe consequences for the sake of Jesus Christ — a good reminder that Jesus’ words are fulfilled in every generation of the church: ‘If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you’ (John 15:18).”

Flashback: Unanswered Prayer

Why are there times when God seems not to answer? If a good Father would never give his children a stone in place of bread, why does it seem like God sometimes does this very thing?

We only fully grasp the gospel when we understand, as Paul did, that we are the worst sinner we know.

—Tim Keller

  • Educated, Free, Wealthy, and Privileged

    We are an educated people with high standards of literacy. We are a free people who enjoy religious liberty. We are a wealthy people with unlimited access to a nearly infinite quantity of Bibles. We are a privileged people who may not realize how blessed we are.

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    Weekend A La Carte (November 2)

    A La Carte: Coldplay’s prayer in Melbourne / Zombies, Heath Lambert, and gatekeeping biblical counseling / Keep the Feast (a new song) / Stop playing the numbers game / Squandering security / and more.

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    Free Stuff Fridays (Ligonier)

    This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Ligonier Ministries, who also sponsored the blog this week.  Yesterday was Reformation Day, when many Protestants celebrate the sixteenth-century recovery of the biblical gospel. It was while Martin Luther was studying the book of Romans that he rediscovered the doctrine of justification by faith alone. So, today…

  • Daily Liturgy Devotional

    Why Not Use a Daily Liturgy for Your Devotions?

    Trends come and go. Certain habits or interests rise for a time, wane, then rise again, often at unexpected moments. One of the recent trends I have found particularly surprising and also particularly interesting is the rise (or re-rise, if you prefer) of liturgy. This may be liturgy within formal worship services of the local…

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    A La Carte (November 1)

    A La Carte: When a Berkeley feminist had three sons / The tragedy of IVF / What if I don’t feel forgiven? / Piper on how not to respond to suffering / What sola scriptura protects us against / Kindle deals / and more.

  • New and Notable Christian Books for October 2024

    New and Notable Christian Books for October 2024

    As October draws to its close, I wanted to ensure you know about at least some of the most notable books it brought our way. I did not see quite the quantity of new books I have seen in some previous months, but there were still some special ones. For each, I’ve provided the publisher’s…