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Weekend A La Carte (May 2)

First off, my thanks goes to The Elisha Foundation for sponsoring the blog this week. Be sure to check out their new and free video-based training for individuals and churches.

Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent classics. Meanwhile, Logos users will probably want to download this month’s free book, a commentary on Isaiah. Perhaps also check out their monthly sale.

(Yesterday on the blog: Finding the Right Hills to Die On; note that Westminster Books has this book on sale.)

5 Insights Into Your Feelings Under Lockdown

Peter Mead: “As we live through this lockdown, we are being given a unique opportunity to observe ourselves under different and difficult circumstances. It is as if we are in a laboratory, with lots of normal elements taken out of our lives. What we may be discovering is that we are experiencing emotions in a way that we are normally too busy to notice.”

Mincaye Is Now with Jesus

Randy Alcorn shares the news. “On Tuesday afternoon, Mincaye, the former warrior who in 1956 speared to death Nate Saint and Ed McCully, two of the five missionary martyrs in Ecuador, passed from this life to the next. A member of the once fierce Huaorani tribe, Mincaye had come to Christ, and was a transformed man, a delightful brother who was a joy to be with.”

Corona Blues

There are some really helpful resources here for individuals and organizations, though the primary audience is pastors. “Rather than being a restful break from the normal round of meetings and commitments this time has felt pressured and fretful. How can shepherds really know what is happening amongst the flock when we are physically separated from them? It’s no wonder that emotions have fluctuated.”

Why Evangelicals Must Engage Roman Catholicism

Leonardo De Chirico: “As I speak to different audiences and at various conferences, the question comes back over and over again: why should Evangelicals bother engaging Roman Catholicism? Let me suggest four reasons.”

We Are All Shut-Ins Now: 3 Lessons I Don’t Want to Forget About Ministry to Shut-Ins

“We are all shut-ins now. We are home but we have found just how exhausting it can be to be home all of the time. The daily grind begins to get at us mentally and socially in a way we never expected. We are restricted, but hopefully we have learned some empathy in our restrictions.”

Few Churches Gathered, More Moved Online in April

Facts & Trends rounds up some interesting data from Lifeway Research on how churches have changed and adapted in the past two months. As 2020 dawned, could anyone have imagined a scenario in which only 4% of American churches would meet on Sunday, April 19?

Pastoring in a Pandemic

9Marks is putting together a collection of articles about pastoring in a pandemic. They’ve got articles for pastors facing burnout, pastors who are live-streaming (and who are not live-streaming), for churches who are wondering how to celebrate communion, and so on.

Flashback: If Only I Had Been Saved By Merit!

One of the hardest tasks for every Christian is to deeply believe and forever remember that we’ve been saved by grace. One of the sweetest disciplines for every Christian is to meditate upon the grace that God extends to the undeserving.

God cares much more about our character than about our competencies. He cares much more about our works being good works—works done in holiness, in love for others—than about the sheer volume of works we accomplish.

—Geoff Robson

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    It Is Not a Complimentary Gospel

    I think we have all felt the temptation to modify the gospel, to preach a gospel that is inaccurate or incomplete. I think we have all felt the desire to avoid the reproach that may come upon us when we preach the whole gospel and true gospel—the gospel that is so very bad before it…

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    A La Carte (November 6)

    A La Carte: A warning about having children / Leave church a little tired / Making virtues out of what isn’t virtuous / Is Exodus a myth? / A theology of leisure / Kindle deals / and more.

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    A La Carte (November 5)

    A La Carte: Why women use pornography / I want God’s wrath on my enemy / Looking at photos with my mum / 10 things you should know about your conscience / I love being a pastor / and more.

  • A Beautiful 40-day Illustrated Devotional of Classic Literature

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing. In the newest release by Leland Ryken, A Treasury of Nature, he joins great works of poetry, hymnody, prose, and art with accessible literary analysis. As Ryken says in the Introduction to his book: “The overall goal of this anthology is to enable nature to be…

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    Four Years After Our Hardest Day

    Yesterday marked four years since Nick went to heaven. I find myself calling him “Nicky” more often now—a name I hadn’t used for him since he was a child. I wonder if it reflects that in some ways he is becoming dearer to my heart and younger to my mind. After all, I keep aging…