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Weekend A La Carte (8/11)

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Ravenous Sheep – R.C. Sproul Jr. writes about what having sheep did to his understanding of God’s people as sheep. Here’s a great line: “The hardest thing about being a shepherd is the pain of loving the sheep.”

New York UndergroundNational Geographic shows what’s underground in New York City. It’s like there’s a whole world down there.

Phillips’ Axioms – Unlike Solomon’s collection of proverbs, these ones are uninspired. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t some good wisdom there. I like this one: “Men shouldn’t let our eyes rest anywhere our hands shouldn’t.”

The Sense of His Presence – TGC has an interview with Ryan Kelly. He “talks with Mark Mellinger about the doctrine of desertion. He describes how this doctrine helps us make sense of the psalms and our experience of spiritual dryness. Kelly reflects on a scary time in his life and directs us to Puritan writing on this topic, since so few modern writers address desertion directly.”

Bobby Petrino – Denny Burk shares a sad interview with Bobby Petrino who risked his dream job and dream marriage to have an affair (though he needs to stop referring to it as a “mistake” and acknowledge it as sin). I think it can be helpful to watch an interview like this to remind ourselves what we risk when we indulge in sin.

Prayer must carry on our work as much as preaching; he preacheth not heartily to his people that will not pray for them.

—Richard Baxter

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    A La Carte (November 21)

    A La Carte: Lessons from Trump’s and Harris’s social media campaigns / What is my spiritual gift? / The messages we receive / 10 mistakes I’ve made in preaching / Big Kindle and book sales / and more.

  • Finn

    I’m a Grandfather!

    Yesterday Abby and Nathan welcomed their first child into the world: Finnegan Safir Nicholas Elfarrah. Because they live just minutes away, Aileen and I were able to be there shortly after his birth to rejoice with them and to meet our first grandchild. We are thrilled beyond measure. And he is cute beyond belief. They…

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    A La Carte (November 20)

    A La Carte: Pray till you pray / Do children need to consent to puberty? / Pleading for Sodom / A thought experiment / 10 mistakes when reading the Bible / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (November 19)

    A La Carte: Good night, my son / The longing for justice following sexual assault / Daughter of encouragement / Mistakes I made as a theological student / The dangers of disordered love / Kindle deals / and more.

  • What Grieves the Heart of God

    What Grieves the Heart of God?

    What pleases God? What delights his heart? And what displeases God? What grieves his heart? If asked, I think most of us would assume that if we ever grieve the heart of God it will be through denying the gospel or committing a grave moral scandal. Or if we do so as a local church,…