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A La Carte (May 15)

friday

Avid readers may be interested in this new podcast from Westminster Books called The Afterword. They are launching with a book giveaway—a good way to draw in their target audience!

Today’s Kindle deals include several books and among them are some of the newer titles by Os Guinness and a modern-day classic by Francis Schaeffer.

Should We Theologize About Covid-19?

I appreciate this call for caution when theologizing about COVID-19 or interpreting God’s providence in it. “As innately curious creatures with a high view of the sovereignty of God it’s natural that our interest should wander to trying to make sense of what’s going on. Like the sons of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32, we don’t want simply to survive in these times; we want to understand them. We yearn to know what the pandemic means.”

Samaritan’s Purse Cleared Both Familiar and Unique Hurdles in New York

WORLD tells how Samaritan’s Purse was both lauded and loathed in New York City. “While protesters posted signs on fences surrounding the hospital, grateful New Yorkers also placed flowers there. SP workers said they didn’t have to worry about meals: Food trucks and catering companies showed up with free food.”

The Defenestration of Prague

Here’s a strange little bit of church history. “The verdict was probably a foregone conclusion, and apparently the sentence was death because it wasn’t long before the Protestants were attempting to defenestrate the Catholics, which is to say throw them out the window.”

Blowing Up the 3 B’s

Evangelical churches have long been dominated by the 3 B’s: bodies, buildings, and budgets. Trevin Wax wonders whether the pandemic will help churches come up with better measures of health.

The Rise And Fall Of Toms (Video)

For a while Toms were all the rage, and then suddenly they were mostly gone. Here’s how they rose and fell.

When Will Your Church Be Back to Normal?

Russell Moore: “Now, it’s true we will be ‘back to normal’ if by that one means the ability to gather once again. Yes, we will do that. We will be able to sing together again. We will be able to hug each other again. We will be able to take communion together again. But this will not happen in one Sunday, for which we can mark our calendars and count down toward, as though it were Advent moving toward Christmas.”

6 Questions about Raising Daughters

Lindsey Carlson answers some good questions about raising girls.

Flashback: Satisfaction at the Cost of Obedience

Temptation engages your desires, acting on those desires leads to sin, and sin leads to death.

Jesus does not love like us. We love until we are betrayed. Jesus continued to the cross despite betrayal. We love until we are forsaken. Jesus loved through forsakenness. We love up to a limit. Jesus loves to the end.

—Dane Ortlund

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