Skip to content ↓

A La Carte (November 25)

wednesday

Westminster Books has put together a Christmas Gift Guide that may help guide your shopping.

Today’s Kindle deals include some good picks from Crossway and a volume in the excellent God’s Word for You series.

Critical Race Theory, Part 1

If you’ve wondered about John Piper’s perspective on Critical Race Theory, you can find out in these special episodes of Ask Pastor John.

Always Two There Are

“A couple of posts ago, I talked about whether church should be thought of more as a family (or community) or as a society (or enterprise). I ended up arguing that both were important, and needed to be held together. And this got me thinking. Have you ever pondered just how many different aspects of Christian teaching are exactly like this—consisting of two truths that need to be held together at the same time?”

Church Comorbidities

“Comorbidities. Preexisting conditions. These words rank up there with unprecedented in a competition for word of year in 2020. Prior to March of 2020, few of us ever used the word unprecedented, we didn’t speak of preexisting conditions, and we may not have even knew what a comorbidity was.” Here’s how comorbidities may apply to the church…

The Maddening Paradox of Leadership

Dan Doriani reflects on leadership today. “Pastor feel more emotional pressure, toil longer, and seem to accomplish less than ever before. In this setting it is tempting for pastors to believe they have a uniquely difficult calling. In fact, leadership is always difficult, always paradoxical, for pastors, politicians, business folk, and more.”

Why I Write: Thoughts on Joy and Obedience

I can identify with this. “Our motivations often have more layers than we realize. But if we set aside the sinful, self-serving motives lurking around the edges of a Christian’s heart, I’d say one of my primary motivations for writing is joy. I really do enjoy tinkering with words that point people to God. I’ve heard a famous Christian author say that for him, writing is like eating ice cream, not a ‘have to’ but a ‘get to.’ I feel the same, although it wasn’t always this way.”

6 Ways Confessions of Faith Promote Church Health

This article lists some of the ways that confessions can foster church health.

Robert Rundle, the First Protestant Missionary in the Canadian Prairies

A couple of days ago I picked up a little book about Robert Rundle, the first and perhaps most prominent Protestant missionary to the Canadian prairies. At the very same time Clint Humfrey provided this helpful little biographical summary of the man and his ministry.

Flashback: 4 Common Critics and Constructive Ways to Respond to Them

In his book The Heart of the Preacher, Rick Reed lists four common critics and offers appropriate and constructive ways to respond to each of them.

Our loving Lord is not just present, but nearer than the thought can imagine – so near that a whisper can reach Him.

—Amy Carmichael

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 8)

    A La Carte: A teacher unpacks “Adolescence” / Why suffer through fasting? / Wes Huff on the ending of Mark / John Piper on Jesus’ mother / How many hours should a pastor work? / Why I have a burner phone / and more.

  • Cultivating Faith in God’s Garden

    God wants us to experience the teeming abundance of a life devoted to generative gospel community, even if the spiritual greenhouse is flawed and imperfect. #Sponsored

  • Pronouns

    Should We Capitalize Divine Pronouns?

    There are certain emails I receive on a routine basis and an especially common one relates to pronouns. Thankfully it’s not asking me to define my own pronouns as is all the rage today, but rather asking me whether Christians ought to capitalize God’s pronouns. By way of explanation, when some Christians use a pronoun…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 7)

    A La Carte: On Netflix and Narnia / The wonder of an eclipse / Answering kids’ hardest questions / Not-so-great expectations / It’s not wrong to want to be perfect / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Breath

    A Sudden Stopping of the Breath

    I recently encountered a poem I enjoyed and wanted to share with you. LeRoy Tate Newland was an American pastor, a missionary to Korea, and a poet. Among his poems is this brief reflection on the death of a Christian (which, appropriately, is titled “A Christian’s Death”). I hope you enjoy it as much as…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (April 5)

    A La Carte: The Lioness, the Witch and the Wardrobe / Are people basically good? / Who gets to define a healthy baby? / Go, gently / Films that defined Christian politics / Rethinking our mission field / and more.