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A La Carte (March 6)

Today’s Kindle deals include a whole list of books from Crossway. You’ll also find one from Piper, one about church history, and one about marriage.

What It’s Like to Fail

Here is “the personal story of David Raether, a former comedy writer for the sitcom Roseanne who later became homeless.” It’s a sad story, really, but one that is not uncommon.

That “Exclusively Gay” Moment

You probably heard the brag that the forthcoming Beauty and the Beast film will have an “exclusively gay” moment in it. This blogger has seen the movie and tells what happens.

Men Wanted: Come and Die

“Have you ever seen a military recruitment poster or TV ad that showed wounded soldiers? Ever seen one that showed soldiers taking bullets, medics administering morphine to blood-gushing comrades, or an array of battle-hardened quadriplegics?” Not likely.

Catastrophizing the Trivial

Quite right: The hubbub about the wrong envelope at the Academy Awards was another example of catastrophizing the trivial. “We seem to have developed an inability to cope without drama. Everything has to either be a triumph or a catastrophe so that we can garner the praise, sympathy or attention we crave.”

The Tragedy of Newcomb Mott

Here’s a strange and nearly-forgotten tale from the Cold War. It’s the tragedy of Newcomb Matt who thought he could just walk into the USSR and get his passport stamped.

Retiring with Dignity

Chris Cagle outlines the most important thing to do in your 20s and 30s to work toward retiring with dignity.

Zuckerberg World President

There’s definitely a sense in which this is true—in which Mark Zuckerberg has taken on a world-wide role. “Today, Facebook has become so powerful that it challenges established political structures and threatens to undemocratically twist the will of The People.”

Study at the University of Jesus

“You are never to graduate from the University of Jesus. You are always attending. Always studying. Always learning. Always marveling.”

Flashback: The Three Sieves

Wherever I go I hear people talking about people, people joking about people, people muttering about people. That’s true at conferences, it’s true at church, it’s true in my own living room. We are so harsh with others and so forgiving with ourselves. We are so quick to speak ill of others and so convinced that no one would ever speak ill of us.

The saddest road to hell is the one that runs under the pulpit, past the Bible, and through the middle of warnings and invitations.

—J.C. Ryle

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    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.

  • 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.