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A La Carte (October 8)

tuesday

Once again there’s a good little list of Kindle deals to look through today.

(Yesterday on the blog: The Servers and the Servicers in Every Church)

Suicide, Heaven, and Jesus—the Final Answer to Our Sorrow

Randy Alcorn writes about suicide. “In the wake of Jarrid’s death, much has already been said about suicide and mental health and the need to address them within the church. But I want to highlight some things Greg Laurie, the senior pastor at Harvest, has said, and also share some more thoughts related to suicide.”

3 Valuable Lessons Nursing Home Visitation Taught Me

I really enjoyed this look at the benefits of nursing home visitation as an element of a church’s ministry.

Does God Make People Sick? (Video)

Todd Friel takes on the question of whether God makes people sick.

Reproof Is a Pastor’s Gift of Love

Dan Doriani explains why pastors must reprove. “Scripture assumes that God exists and has spoken to rebellious wanderers prone to take the wrong path, to their harm. He’s ordained that his speech be written down and studied, so its wisdom can be widely disseminated, both by ordinarily people and by his agents. In that context, reproof is a gift…”

Even If It Means My Son’s Life

What would you be willing to give up for the sake of the gospel?

How Much ‘Lover’ Language Should We Use in Worship Songs?

“Lover” language comes and goes in the church. In this article, John Piper talks about how much of it is appropriate. “What a tremendous need there is for prayerful, wise, mature, experienced, Bible-saturated, theologically deep leaders of worship. Being able to play a guitar or a piano and carry a tune is not enough to fit a person for one of the most important pastoral roles in the church.”

Roman Catholicism and the Battle Over Words

Leonardo De Chirico explains one of the main challenges coming from Roman Catholicism today. You can read his answer or watch it if you prefer.

Flashback: The Cost of Surrounding Yourself with Negative People

It turns out that there is something far more costly than being with negative people: The cost of avoiding negative people, and thus, avoiding the kind of life that Jesus calls us to.

There’s really only one thing worse than being lost. What’s worse is being lost when no one is trying to find you.

—David Platt

  • Weekend A La Carte (June 13)

    Egg freezing is a booming business / Talk to the A.I. me / Is aging becoming optional? / Feminism and the Fall / The lie of living your truth / Moving on from the Christian Nationalism moment / and more.

  • An Ideal Resource For Your Family Devotions

    An Ideal Resource For Your Family Devotions

    There is a lot I miss from the days when our children were young. High on the list is family devotions. Nick once described our family as having a “Spartan-like commitment” to them, though I remember as much failure as success and as many misses as hits. Still, there’s no doubt that over the 26…

  • A La Carte (June 12)

    The curious case of extra resurrections / Are kids too expensive? / Why hot takes are the enemy of conviction / Piper on preaching outrage / A daily rhythm of prayer / Forgetting and pursuing / A La Quiz / The funnies / and more.

  • A La Carte (June 11)

    We lost the baby / The Bible is cessationist (and wondrous!) / Thinking about Eastern Orthodoxy: a primer for evangelicals / Virtue signalling in the church / What is God’s providence? / Restlessness / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Conform

    You Can Conform to Christ Even if You Don’t Conform to Me

    One of the aspects of the Christian faith that I find particularly perplexing is the freedom God gives his people to obey him in different or even opposite ways, so that one person’s obedience is another person’s disobedience. Even as two people take the same action, one might be obeying him and the other disobeying…

  • A La Carte (June 10)

    Does prayer make a difference? / Portrait of an abortionist / Pushing back against the black tax / Bring your whole self to work / Blessed are the weak / When service isn’t a transaction / A pastoral analogy / Bill C-9 will soon be law in Canada / and more.