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A La Carte (November 18)

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Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent books on how Christians are to read, preach, and/or interpret the Bible. There’s something there for everyone!

When God Does Not Need Our Service

“Have you ever felt that you are not serving God to your full capacity? Perhaps you’re marking time at a job that does not use your full potential. Perhaps you just lost a relationship and thus your vision for the future. Perhaps you have an unforeseen illness that saps your vitality. Perhaps your life has devolved into the mundane aspects of caring for an infant or the elderly as your sleep is disrupted and your vision blurs, and your main goal for each day devolves into how you can arrange a nap.”

How to Forgive and Move On

I’m sure this—trying to figure out how to forgive and move on—is a situation we have all experienced at one time or another. “We might find help from a few prayerful, deliberate steps: Steady your heart before God. Consider whether to overlook or address. Then resolve to wipe the record clean.”

Today: A Devotional for Depression

This may prove an encouraging devotional for those who are struggling with depression.

Can a Speeding Ticket Change Your Heart?

“Coercion has no ability to change internal beliefs. It only has the ability to enforce an external behavior on the threat of force (punishment). This is exactly the same issue with the concept of laws. Laws cannot change internal belief at all. They can only enforce external behaviors. They also function to reveal the state of the person through the rules they prescribe.”

Is it I, Lord?

Andrew Dealy: “Awkward conversations have adorned the dinner table ever since Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That being said, I am hard-pressed to think of a more awkward moment at a meal than this.”

This is Your Story

I was recently a guest on the radio program Haven Today. We talked about church history and my Epic journey around the world. The program continued with clips over 5 days so we made some good progress!

Flashback: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church

While there are other books written for the victims of spiritual abuse, this one is written for the ones who may purposely or inadvertently find themselves perpetrating it.

It is one thing to profess God, another thing to resemble Him.

—Thomas Watson

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 18)

    A La Carte: When God does not need our service / How to forgive and move on / A devotional for depression / Can a speeding ticket change your heart? / Is it I, Lord? / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Motives Matter

    Motives matter, even (or perhaps especially) when it comes to something as very good as studying the Bible. The best motive for reading the Bible is to be transformed by it. For this to happen, we must approach our reading and studying with both confidence and humility, asking God to transform us through his Word.…

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    Weekend A La Carte (November 16)

    A La Carte: The gratitude revolution / Can a church require tithing? / Listening that hurts / Correctable mistakes when preaching and teaching / We won’t do nothing for eternity / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (TGBC)

    This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by The Good Book Company. They are giving away a copy of Alistair Begg’s new advent devotional, Let Earth Receive Her King, to prepare your heart for Christmas, along with a $200 gift card for you to purchase Christmas gifts for everyone on your list.  Here are some…

  • Inventory

    The Spiritual Gift Inventory I Believe In

    In many churches, it is standard practice to have Christians take some kind of a spiritual gift inventory. Through a series of questions that probe an individual’s interests, passions, and successes, these tests claim to help people discover the ways the Holy Spirit has gifted them to better love and serve his people.

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (November 15)

    A La Carte: The archishop’s resignation / A church-wide digital detox / 10 theories of the atonement / have salt in yourselves / The Plimsoll line / Book and Kindle deals / and more.