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A La Carte (November 14)

Today’s Kindle deals include an interesting little mix of books.

Another Actress Accuses Kirk Cameron Of Treating Her With Respect

I don’t often link to the satire site The Babylon Bee, but this one is worth reading in the light of all the recent scandal in Hollywood.

Pastoring a Rural Church Isn’t a “Lesser” Ministry

Cheston Pickard speaks about important similarities in rural and urban churches to show that pastoring in the country is not a lesser kind of ministry.

Is There a Different Process of Church Discipline for Elders?

“Most people are aware of the process of church discipline outlined in Matthew 18 (vv. 15-18). In order to promote the purity of the church and the testimony of the gospel, Christians must ensure that the other members of their church are living in a way that reflects submission to Christ’s rule. If someone continues in serious and outward sin then they are to be put out of the church or removed from the membership by means of discipline.But a question often arises, concerning elders. Is there a separate process for the discipline of elders outlined in 1 Timothy 5?”

How Does Your Body Know You’re Full? (Video)

“Hunger claws at your belly. It tugs at your intestines, which begin to writhe, aching to be fed. Being hungry generates a powerful and often unpleasant physical sensation that’s almost impossible to ignore. After you’ve reacted by gorging on your morning pancakes, you start to experience an opposing force: fullness. But how does your body actually know when you’re full?” This video explains.

How to Secure Attendance at a Prayer Meeting

There is lots of wisdom here: “R.J. George wrote a three-volume set entitled Lectures in Pastoral Theology that contains a treasure trove of pastoral advice. In his second volume, entitled Pastors and People, he explains with wisdom, care, quaintness, and even some humor how a pastor should go about encouraging people to come to a prayer meeting.”

Conflict, Comfort and the Cross

“Last week, a gunman entered First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and killed 26 people, wounding 20 others. The massacre was brutal and left what will surely be scars on all of those who survived, many of whom were young children. Usually there is some sort of grieving period that decorum allows in the aftermath of such events, but as civilization abandons any pretense at care or compassion that grieving period is quickly disappearing.”

10 Things You Should Learn About Pride and Humility From Jonathan Edwards

“No one has spoken with greater clarity on the nature of both pride and humility than Jonathan Edwards. Here are ten things we can learn from him.”

Inventing the Christian Priesthood

Philip Jenkins begins to examine where the priesthood came from in the early church.

Flashback: Don’t Waste Your Ambition

Ambition is good, but it needs to be strengthened by at least two other crucial traits: character and self-discipline. When I look at your generation, I love the ambition I see, but want to encourage you to pursue the traits that will harness that ambition to the best and highest purposes.

Definitions of liberation not drawn from the Word of God will always fall short of true liberation.

—Carl Ellis Jr.

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    Weekend A La Carte (February 22)

    A La Carte: The ‘ordo amoris’ and immigration policy / Sin casts a long shadow / But For the Cross of Christ (a new song) / Don’t wait to be thankful / Prayers for scrupulosity / and more.

  • Either Or

    Either/Or or Both/And?

    It is sometimes difficult to know how to follow Jesus. It is sometimes difficult to encounter a situation, look to Scripture, and know how to live in a distinctly Christian way. Often it seems there are two options before us that appear to stand opposite one another. Do we respond by expressing truth or by…

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    A La Carte (February 21)

    A La Carte: The heavy seasons of life / Going against the grain / Should we call God mother? / If faithfulness isn’t the highest priority / A heart for adoption / and more.

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    A La Carte (February 20)

    A La Carte: Defining healthy masculinity / The women who disappeared / Dear older women / When leaders fall, are you next? / A Storm in the Desert / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Building Churches

    Building Churches Out of Other Churches

    What is your church really made of? Or perhaps better said, who is your church really made of? This is something we all do well to ponder from time to time, for there are good ways and bad ways, better ways and worse ways to fill a church.

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    A La Carte (February 19)

    A La Carte: Don’t let your fears hold back your children / Denominations in an age of online over-exposure / Full-circle prayers / Secret things and revealed things / Building habits / John Mark Comer’s view of God / and more.