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Weekend A La Carte (8/17)

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The Situation in Egypt – Dr. Terence Ascott, CEO and Founder of SAT-7 International, writes about the current situation in Egypt, what is going on there, how it differs from media portrayals, and how Christians can pray about it.

The Temptation of Jesus – Byron Yawn writes about the temptation of Jesus and what it means. “A ‘how to’ on resisting temptation is a secondary application at best if not tertiary. He’s not telling us to do anything. He’s actually doing it for us. There is something much greater under way in this moment. More importantly, do we need to be standing within view of the actual site to realize how misguided our take on it is?”

Same Sex Attraction – Kevin DeYoung: “I’m sure there is much more that should be said–and equally sure that many can say these things better than I can–but as a starting place I believe our churches should make these five commitments to those struggling with same sex attraction in our midst.”

The Dread Pony – Here is an article about yet another fad. I link to it mostly because the author does such a good job of writing about it. “The thinking goes that the smirky ironic detachment of recent decades—​pretending to embrace low-culture totems for laughs​—​has grown stale. Now that the Internet has fragmented the culture into a million pieces, helping every maladjusted shut-in to realize his natural level of eccentricity, the only way for a self-respecting hipster or a Zuckerbergian alpha-nerd (the tribe that now runs the world) to distinguish himself is to enthuse over his enthusiasms without detachment or apology.”

An End of Books – Seth Godin has a fascinating look at what has happened to the book, the bookstore, the library, and other things we love.

Free from CBMW – CBMW has a couple of free books you can download in PDF format: Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem and 50 Crucial Questions About Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem

The essence of apostasy is changing sides from that of the crucified to that of the crucifier.

—John Stott

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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,…