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A La Carte (October 31)

thursday

Today’s Kindle deals include just a couple, but among them is The Coddling of the American Mind which, though not a Christian book, has been of great interest to many Christians.

(Yesterday on the blog: What An Expert on Sexual Abuse Says About Sleepovers)

My Love Cannot Save You

I really enjoyed this reflection on motherhood. “He rubbed my arm as I whimpered my way back into the real world, out of the terror of night. Sleep evaded me then and I stared at the ceiling thinking of every mother who cannot find her child. Every mother who has lost a part of her heart and soul. I prayed for mothers who claw at the side of government agents who cannot find their children.”

How to Stop Being So Lazy

“On TV, the lazy man or woman is portrayed as a lovable loaf. Even in their torpor, he or she just cracks a few jokes and that makes it all okay. But is laziness just something to be laughed off with a shrug and a ‘that’s just the way they are,’ or could it be that laziness is a more serious offense?”

Reformation: Can the Roman Catholic Gospel Get You into Heaven?

This one seems appropriate for Reformation Day. “This Reformation season, let’s look objectively at a critical question. Can anyone get to heaven through the Roman Catholic gospel? If so, how? If not, why not?”

Is the God of the Bible a Genocidal Maniac?

I know you don’t believe that, but many do. Michael Kruger says, “I don’t think we need to get God off the hook. I don’t think he wants off the hook. As painful as this issue is, it highlights what we, and our culture, need to hear more than ever: God is holy, people are sinful, the world is broken, and his judgment is just.”

How Transparent Should a Pastor’s Wife Be?

Christel Humfrey is hardly the first pastor’s wife to wonder this. “Some burdens we must bear alone for the sake of the church and yes, we may experience closer scrutiny than the woman sitting next to us in the pew. But even so, God desires for us to have healthy relationships within our church community. And without some level of transparency our relationships will never grow. “

When Your Plan for Killing Sin Isn’t Working

“Burdened brothers and sisters, we can’t sanctify ourselves. Along with the apostle Paul, I gently ask you (and myself): Having begun by the Spirit, do we believe we’re now being perfected by our own strength (Gal. 3:3)? While it is good to pursue holiness, at the end of the day, we must know that it is the Spirit—not our plans, works, obedience, or Bible memorization—who sanctifies us.”

Stop Comparing Yourself to Well-Known Pastors

This is wise. “Preacher, you can preach better than John MacArthur, John Piper, David Platt, and H.B. Charles. I wonder if that surprises you? It should not. You can preach better to your flock than any of those world-renowned expositional preachers.”

Flashback: The Cracks Begin at the Bottom

If disunity begins at the bottom and works its way to the top, so too does unity. A strong foundation stabilizes and supports the entire structure. What are you doing to actively pursue unity within your church?

A content person is able to sit quietly under the reassuring affirmation of God. The Lord is his or her sufficiency.

—Erik Raymond

  • Happy Lies

    Happy Lies

    I’m quite certain you have heard of the New Age movement. Though its popularity seems to have crested and begun to wane some time ago, it continues to wield a good bit of influence. But I wonder if you’ve heard of another similarly-named but quite different movement called New Thought.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (January 28)

    A La Carte: Parenting is hard / The wildness of orthodoxy / Rubbing shoulders throughout eternity / Glorifying ourselves / The middle of somewhere / Is Roman Catholic baptism valid? / Excellent Kindle deals / and more.

  • Who Am I?

    It is not simply that we as a culture have lost our knowledge of God, but that in so doing we have also lost sight of ourselves. “Who am I?” is the question of the age.

  • Church cemetery

    If I Could Change Anything about the Modern Church

    I have often been asked what I consider the greatest weakness of today’s church or what I would change about today’s church if I could. Such questions make for good discussion at a conference Q&A session but they are also pretty much impossible to answer in a compelling way. It’s not like any of us…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (January 27)

    A La Carte: To men delaying marriage / A mother unknown / Steve Lawson update / Three essential values for effective teamwork / God is good even when he doesn’t do what we want / Kindle deals.

  • Closet

    How To Learn To Pray

    Christians are well-resourced with tremendous books that teach the theology and the practice of prayer. Many churches and ministries offer powerful classes that teach why we must pray and how we must pray. We are truly blessed.