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A La Carte (September 18)

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May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

If you’re looking for something good and relatively brief to read, Westminster Books has Dane Ortlund’s The Heart of Jesus discounted in single copies or cases.

Today is a huge day for Kindle deals, and that’s because Zondervan Academic is having a massive one-day sale with tons of their books discounted. There are also a few excellent options from New Growth Press and B&H (which I have put at the very top of the list).

What if No One Prayed for You?

I have often wondered the same question Melissa asks here: what if no one prayed for you? “As a kid who was raised by Christian parents, I have enjoyed the comfort of knowing that people were praying for me my entire life–not just my godly parents, but others in our church. … There’s something so sweet about knowing someone’s storming heaven on my behalf. It’s humbling and brings peace, especially when I’m struggling.”

How to Pray When You Feel Like You Can’t

Also on the subject of prayer, here’s some guidance on praying even when you feel like you can’t.

Is That Person Male or Female?

Alan Shlemon: “Is there a scientific and effective way to discern whether someone is male or female? The answer is yes. There have been established methods for a long time. It’s only with the recent rise of transgender ideology that there has been any substantial pushback to these methods. Here are three ways to determine whether someone is male or female.”

“If One Member Suffers…”

Brad tells how the body of Christ can bear one another’s burdens in a technological age.

10 Ideas for Better Conversations

Ed Welch offers some ideas for better conversations. “The problem is that if asked, most of us would have no plan for how to improve our conversation skills. We have goals for our weight and physical exercise but not for what occupies more time than anything else in our day. If you don’t have ideas on how you can improve your conversation skills, you won’t.”

God Is Good to Forbid Sin

He is, indeed.

Flashback: Not a Matter of Pitch or Tone

Those who struggle to sing may be self-conscious, tempted to stay quiet or to do no more than mumble along. Should they? Not at all, for singing is a matter of the heart before it is a matter of pitch or tone.

Me-ology is the junk food diet we’ve been serving up in our spiritual lives. The healthy alternative we need to immediately start ingesting is theology.

—Jen Oshman

  • Bad Seed

    Are You Scattering Bad Seed?

    It was an unconscionable crime—grossly immoral and terribly destructive. In the middle of the night, he snuck onto the property of one of his enemies and ruined his crop. Knowing that this man had recently sowed good seed throughout his fields, he stealthily followed behind and sowed seeds he knew would spring up into weeds,…

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    A La Carte (October 21)

    A La Carte: A good death? / Every tree tells stories / Managing a household well / The formation of writers / Why young women are leaving the church / Francis Schaeffer / and more.

  • Meditation

    Just as Heat Sets the Soft Clay

    Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. Thus, to meditate in this way is to call to mind the great truths God reveals about himself—his works and…

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    Weekend A La Carte (October 19)

    A La Carte: My soul, why are you dejected? / Misconceptions about orphan care in Africa / Helping husbands after a miscarriage / Freedom of conscience in a culture of death / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (Redeemer University)

    This giveaway is sponsored by Redeemer University. In honour of its roots in the Reformed Christian tradition, Redeemer is giving away 10 Reformed books prize packs! In a world that is noisier than ever, oversaturated with competing messages, it can be difficult for young adults to try and make sense of their way forward. Redeemer…

  • New Christian Books for Children and Teens

    New Christian Books for Children and Teens

    Every month I put together a roundup of new and notable books for grownup readers. But I also receive a lot of books for kids and teens, so like to put together the occasional roundup of these books as well. So today I bring you a whole big batch of new books for kids of…