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A La Carte (October 19)

monday

I hope you enjoyed your weekend and are ready to begin another week! Here are a few articles that may make for interesting reading…

(Yesterday on the blog: The Word You Can Use Once a Year (and No More))

Men, Be the Chief Repenters in Your Homes

What’s leadership in the home about? For one thing, it’s about leading in repentance.

“Break the Teeth in Their Mouths, O God”

This is quite a sobering biographical article about the imprecatory psalms.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

As you’d expect, many of the photos in this gallery are nothing short of stunning.

Will We Die To Our Rights?

Lauren Washer asks whether we are willing to die to our rights. “I spent years preparing to live overseas by building friendships with missionaries, going on short term missions trips, and eventually earned a degree in Intercultural Studies. After college I moved to another culture and tried to put all I had learned into practice. I didn’t anticipate the need to apply some of those cross cultural ministry skills to life within my own culture. Yet I find myself constantly confronting the issue of my rights.”

Christian Fragility? Missionary Confidence in the Face of New Critics

Over at DG, Tim Keesee writes about Christian fragility. “To be clear, the church has never been in better hands, and God will lose none of his people. Our Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep (John 10:11), and he did not die in vain. God’s mission is not jeopardized by our country’s current situation. Christians have been through far worse times in the past, and Christians are in far worse situations in other parts of the world today (think of almost any band of believers from North Africa to North Korea).”

Making Observations, Not Laws

There are some helpful observations here about the peculiarities of culture.

Why Was the Reformation Necessary?

“The church is always in need of reform. Even in the New Testament, we see Jesus rebuking Peter, and we see Paul correcting the Corinthians. Since Christians are always sinners, the church will always need reform. The question for us, however, is when does the need become an absolute necessity?”

Flashback: The Missing Elements of Modern Worship

Instead of searching God’s Word to determine what elements should or must be present in a worship service, leaders are judging elements by whether or not they work (according to their own standard of what works).

When we look at Calvary and behold the Savior dying for us, we should see in his death not first our salvation but our damnation being borne and carried away by him!

—Robert Reymond

  • Beauty

    The Greatest Beauty I’ve Ever Seen

    One of the great privileges of my life has been the opportunity to travel far and wide. While most of my travel has been related to either speaking at conferences or filming documentaries, my hosts have often invited me to deviate from the straightest course to explore and take in the area’s natural beauty. It’s…

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    A La Carte (January 22)

    A La Carte: 15 ways to fight lust / Snowflakes / When everyone else is getting the blessings you want / Enough with the valorization of doubt / A culture of evangelism / Book sales / and more.

  • Spurgeon

    Must You Read at Least One Spurgeon Biography?

    I am not aware of a verse in the Bible that says every Christian must read at least one biography of Charles Spurgeon. Or every Calvinist, at least. But I also wouldn’t be completely shocked if it’s there somewhere and I’ve just missed it. And that’s because his life and ministry were powerfully unique in…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (January 21)

    A La Carte: What “love your enemies” does not mean / John Piper on reading providence / Talking to your Roman Catholic friends / What happens at prayer meeting? / Against executive pastors / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Christian Standard Commentary: A Modern Commentary Steeped in Ancient Tradition

    The Christian Standard Commentary will encourage and equip God’s people to understand the text and live according to Scripture for Christ’s glory. The unique ancient-modern approach to the biblical text found in the CSC is a valuable resource for building up Christ’s church while encouraging God’s people to fulfill the Great Commission. As a commentary…

  • Finnegan

    Why I Haven’t Written A Whole Lot about My Grandson

    It has been two months since little Finnegan was born—two months since I became a grandfather for the first time. It only just occurred to me that I have said very little about this new reality, this new stage of life, this new member of our family.