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A La Carte (November 17)

thursday

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

(Yesterday on the blog: Let’s Hear It For the Failures)

Measure Your Heart of Thanksgiving

“I don’t know what your Thanksgiving season looks like. I sincerely hope you find thankfulness a happy overflow of God’s blessings this year. I hope your home fills with joy and laughter. But there are times in every person’s life when thanksgiving is an act of trust, when the measure with which we are measured tries our hearts.”

American Church, Don’t Listen to Eric Metaxas

This review engages with Eric Metaxas’ latest book. This is quite a group of people Metaxas calls out! “Metaxas doesn’t hesitate to call out pastors he judges to be weak, timid, cowardly, or so ‘theologically fussy’ (44) that they don’t join his movement. Men like Tim Keller, Alistair Begg, John Piper, and John MacArthur are not Bonhoeffer-ish enough for Metaxas (11, 44).”

Where did Satan come from? (Video)

Guy Richard (sort of) answers in this short video. (I say “sort of” because he perhaps discusses the origins of evil a bit more than of Satan.)

The Current State of Complementarity

John Piper discusses the current state of complementarity by discussing two statements: Nashville and Danvers. “Danvers confronts women who intend to be pastors, while Nashville confronts women who intend to be men. Danvers confronts men who are unwilling to lead their wives; Nashville confronts men who can’t lead their wives because they don’t have one — they are ‘married’ to men.”

The Serious Business Of Laughing At Myself

“If I can’t embrace my own smallness, my own humiliations, and my total dependence on the God who made me, then my pride has grown out of control. That’s a serious problem. And sometimes the solution is as simple as having a good, long laugh at my own little self.” Quite right.

The Gospel Never Does Nothing

What’s the one thing the gospel never does? Nothing.

Flashback: 3 Parenting Myths We Are All Tempted To Believe

“Our job is to discharge faithfully the duties God has given to us, leaving the results in God’s hands. Our goal is not ‘successful’ parenting per se, but faithful parenting.” This is a sweet, liberating truth.

The pastor doesn’t know what interventions to provide for a distressed soul until he first listens to that soul.

—Harold Senkbeil

  • Other side of the Wall

    On the Other Side of the Wall

    A story is told of a convalescent woman and the lovely vine that grew in her yard. Confined to her property during her long recovery from an accident, she turned her attention to the little plot of ground behind her home. She planted the vine on a cool spring morning, dreaming of the day when,…

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    A La Carte (November 22)

    A La Carte: John Mark Comer / Praying imprecatory Psalms / The news media is broken / John Piper on seeing God / No good deed will remain hidden / Pre-Black Friday sales / and more.

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    A La Carte (November 21)

    A La Carte: Lessons from Trump’s and Harris’s social media campaigns / What is my spiritual gift? / The messages we receive / 10 mistakes I’ve made in preaching / Big Kindle and book sales / and more.

  • Finn

    I’m a Grandfather!

    Yesterday Abby and Nathan welcomed their first child into the world: Finnegan Safir Nicholas Elfarrah. Because they live just minutes away, Aileen and I were able to be there shortly after his birth to rejoice with them and to meet our first grandchild. We are thrilled beyond measure. And he is cute beyond belief. They…

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    A La Carte (November 20)

    A La Carte: Pray till you pray / Do children need to consent to puberty? / Pleading for Sodom / A thought experiment / 10 mistakes when reading the Bible / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (November 19)

    A La Carte: Good night, my son / The longing for justice following sexual assault / Daughter of encouragement / Mistakes I made as a theological student / The dangers of disordered love / Kindle deals / and more.