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Weekend A La Carte (December 15)

weekend

There are a few Kindle deals you may like to take a peek at today. Also, Amazon has select family board games on sale today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Kirk Cameron Wants You To Connect)

Hard times at Harvest

WORLD magazine has a long report on the hard times at Harvest Bible Chapel. “Former elders, pastors, and staffers from Chicago’s Harvest Bible Chapel accuse the church of financial mismanagement and a culture of deception and intimidation.” Christianity Today picked up the story as well.

The Death of Clear Thinking

Carl Trueman comments on a concerning article in the Times. “The entire article is of the quintessence of the age, instructive not so much for its positive contribution to the transgender case but for the insights it gives to our cultural moment. For such tendentious and flawed argumentation to be considered compelling, it needs to support a cause where the conclusions already enjoy such cachet that no significant exertion of intellectual effort is really needed to justify them in the public square.”

Misguided Proposal From Christian Leaders and LGBT Activists Is Anything but ‘Fairness for All’

In a somewhat similar vein, Ryan T. Anderson writes about “a proposal among some Christian leaders to strike a compromise with some LGBT activists to balance ‘LGBT rights’ with religious liberty. The proposal would elevate ‘sexual orientation and gender identity’ (SOGI) to protected classes in federal law in exchange for certain exemptions for religious colleges and institutions. They call this approach ‘Fairness for All’.”

Inside the Killer Whale Matriarchy (Video)

This little video tells how killer whales maintain an important matriarchy.

Child Marriage: Cultural Norm or Distortion of God’s Purposes?

I’m thoroughly enjoying TGC Africa where its writers are explaining and analyzing some of the issues that pertain to their part of the world. In this case, it’s the practice of child marriage.

Amazing iPhone Review (Video)

This is a very different and rather humorous (but also insightful) review of the iPhone.

Not Everything Needs a Gospel Talk

I co-sign this: “I am a firm believer that, at some point, you actually have to share the gospel and that if all you’re doing is mercy ministry, or acts of service without words, you are not doing gospel ministry. But that doesn’t mean those sorts of things have absolutely no evangelistic value whatsoever.”

Flashback: The Visionary Worrywart

Worriers are always looking to the future—a future that is tragic and brutal.

5 Audiobooks that Speak to Suffering

I’m thankful to Christian Audio for sponsoring the blog this week!

There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me.

—J.I. Packer

  • Beauty

    The Greatest Beauty I’ve Ever Seen

    One of the great privileges of my life has been the opportunity to travel far and wide. While most of my travel has been related to either speaking at conferences or filming documentaries, my hosts have often invited me to deviate from the straightest course to explore and take in the area’s natural beauty. It’s…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (January 22)

    A La Carte: 15 ways to fight lust / Snowflakes / When everyone else is getting the blessings you want / Enough with the valorization of doubt / A culture of evangelism / Book sales / and more.

  • Spurgeon

    Must You Read at Least One Spurgeon Biography?

    I am not aware of a verse in the Bible that says every Christian must read at least one biography of Charles Spurgeon. Or every Calvinist, at least. But I also wouldn’t be completely shocked if it’s there somewhere and I’ve just missed it. And that’s because his life and ministry were powerfully unique in…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (January 21)

    A La Carte: What “love your enemies” does not mean / John Piper on reading providence / Talking to your Roman Catholic friends / What happens at prayer meeting? / Against executive pastors / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Christian Standard Commentary: A Modern Commentary Steeped in Ancient Tradition

    The Christian Standard Commentary will encourage and equip God’s people to understand the text and live according to Scripture for Christ’s glory. The unique ancient-modern approach to the biblical text found in the CSC is a valuable resource for building up Christ’s church while encouraging God’s people to fulfill the Great Commission. As a commentary…

  • Finnegan

    Why I Haven’t Written A Whole Lot about My Grandson

    It has been two months since little Finnegan was born—two months since I became a grandfather for the first time. It only just occurred to me that I have said very little about this new reality, this new stage of life, this new member of our family.