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A La Carte (May 5)

Today’s Kindle deals include just a couple of titles that may be of interest. One of them is among my favorite works by John Piper.

Why You Really Need to Stop Using Public Wi-Fi

“It isn’t hard to see that a few moments of online convenience are far outweighed by your money or financial information being stolen, or by suffering the embarrassment of your personal information being publicly released.” But it may not be worth it.

Tolerating Acceptance

“Tolerance is now seen as bad. That’s right. Bad! And I spend the 80s at school and university being told how good it was as an idea. Turns out, once again, that the children of the revolution are getting chewed up and spat out by their children.”

Too Young to Cross a Street, But…

WORLD magazine points out the absurdity of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Meaningful Confession

This is a helpful little article on corporate confession as part of worship services.

Responding to Open Theism in 14 Words

“Here are fourteen common sense objections to open theism, framed around thirteen words and one number.”

Hurtful Sheep and Bullied Shepherds

This is one to read and consider: “Pastors are only men, and just because they’re public servants doesn’t mean they don’t have private anguish. It hurts when sheep are meticulous fault-finders in everything a pastor says and does. It wounds when sheep lay all the blame only on a pastor’s shoulders. It’s traumatic when sheep hold their pastor to their unbiblical and unrealistic expectations. It aches when sheep neglect the material needs of a pastor and his family.”

For Those Who Are “Over” Church

This is wise: “If you’re thinking about giving up on church, reconsider. Punishing the church with your absence actually weakens both sides. That’s a lose-lose. Don’t be fooled by the idea that you’re better off without the body. And don’t put the burden on the church to get it all sorted out.”

The FAQs: Trump’s Executive Order on Religious Liberty

Joe Carter breaks down President Trump’s executive order on religious liberty.

Flashback: I Miss the Absurdity

I know now that there are some kinds of sorrow a parent can only experience as his children grow up and grow older. There’s the sorrow of missing what they used to be, and the sorrow of seeing them make the same mistakes I made once upon a time.

Don’t let your feelings inform your doctrine, let your doctrine inform your feelings.

—Burk Parsons

  • Are You Binding the Wound or Aggravating It

    Are You Binding the Wound or Aggravating It?

    One of the privileges we have as Christians is the privilege of caring for one another—of blessing one another in our difficulties and comforting one another in our sorrows. In such “one another” ministry we represent God and extend love and mercy on his behalf. This is a precious and sacred ministry that falls to…

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    A La Carte (March 26)

    A La Carte: The Jesus Geezers and Gene Hackman / Prayer is our fuel / John Mark Comer / On failure / Get grace, give grace / Book and Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (March 25)

    A La Carte: Gen Z’s spiritual anxiety / Would you sell out Jesus for $4.37 billion? / Men need friendship, not just accountability / Building healthy relationships with your teens / The pastor’s wife / Sales and deals / and more.

  • Crash and Burn

    When Christians Crash and Burn

    The pictures quickly made their way around the world—pictures of an aircraft lying upside down in the snow just beyond runway 23 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. On February 17, Delta flight 4819 landed hard, shearing off the right wing and flipping over before finally sliding to a stop. Remarkably, despite the crash and subsequent…

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    A La Carte (March 24)

    A La Carte: Wokeness as a tax / The religion of wellness / Freckles, thigh gaps, and beauty / The 50 most edifying films / If I have matching dishes but not love / The Bible and sexuality / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Pastoral Prayer

    A Pastoral Prayer

    Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because there are few examples of pastoral prayers online and I thought these may serve to inspire themes, passages, or ideas as other pastors and elders prepare to lead their churches in prayer. Please…