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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

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  • Will You Be a Pillar?

    How do we lead in a culture shaped by performance, individualism, and platform? Platforms to Pillars by cultural commentator Mark Sayers offers a biblical alternative to the platform mentality that dominates our society. Drawing from the ancient world, Sayers challenges Christians to become pillars—people who provide strength and support for others, who live with character…

  • The Tallest Trees

    The Winds Blow Hardest Against the Tallest Trees

    Through the weekend had many questions about Christian leaders who fall. And I expressed that just as the winds blow hardest against the tallest trees, so temptations may press hardest against the leaders who rise the highest. Just as floods press against shallow roots, so seductive desires rise up against those whose fall would bring…

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    Why We Ask So Little of God

    Most Christians expect little from God, ask little, and therefore receive little, and are content with little. Though the Bible calls us to pray and though it promises that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working,” we can still have very modest expectations of what God will accomplish through…

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