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Weekend A La Carte (May 6)

Today’s Kindle deals include just a couple of minor deals, but be sure to breeze through everything else from this week. There were lots of good ones.

Just a reminder that I’d love people to participate in writing Mother’s Day Tributes. You’ve got a week left!

Let Worship Be Local Too

This is one of the best articles I’ve ever read on modern worship.

Wal-Mart’s Expensive New E-Commerce Operation

I rather enjoyed this long look at Wal-mart’s expensive new e-commerce operation that will allow them to compete with Amazon. Personally, I don’t like their chances.

The Tempted One

Christina Fox takes a look at Jesus’ wilderness temptations. “When we face temptation, we never do so apart from Christ. We are united to Him; He is our righteousness. He has defeated sin, death, and Satan. There is nothing and no one who can separate us from Him, not even our own weak flesh.”

Watching Lightning From Above

“At a safe distance, lightning can be one of nature’s greatest shows, but big electrical storms are even more incredible when seen from space.” Here’s some proof.

“Tabletalk” Magazine: 40 Years Later

Ligonier just marked their 40th anniversary of publishing Tabletalk magazine. Here’s a brief history.

The Worst Consequence of Skipping Church

I enjoyed reading this interaction with my article on “The Worst Consequence of Skipping Church.” Of particular interest is that she goes far deeper than I did into the flow of the book of Hebrews.

Cut Off Your Hand, Tear Out Your Eye

Ray Ortlund: “Here, Jesus is calling us to personal holiness, however costly and painful, as His path for us ‘to enter life.’”

Flashback: When Gifts Lose Their Luster

I have come to realize something about those times when I grow weary of good gifts: This weariness makes a statement about me, not the gift. The weariness is so often a direct result of my neglect. I have neglected to cherish the gift and honor the giver.

4 Ways We Go Wrong in Thinking about the Holy Spirit

Thanks to Zondervan for sponsoring the blog this week with an intriguing post from Michael Horton.

False freedom: “Be true to you.” True freedom: “Be true to him.”

—Matt Smethurst

  • A Collection of Random Thoughts on Christian Living

    A Collection of Random Thoughts on Christian Living

    Not every thought makes a good article and sometimes an entire article can be distilled down to a single thought. For those reasons, I like to occasionally create what I have created here–a roundup of brief, random thoughts about Christian living. Some of these are original and some are drawn from articles I’ve written in…

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    A La Carte (December 16)

    A La Carte: Have you lost the ability to think deeply? / Does God command me to trust my spouse? / Thoughts on suicide / Preaching from a manuscript / God is not in a good mood / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Undermines

    Undermining the Bible

    There is an entire sector of the publishing industry that is dedicated to undermining people’s confidence in the Bible. Many of these books shoot to the top of the bestseller lists with their novel conspiracies about the Bible’s origins, their theories about its hidden secrets, or their conviction that it is a mess of contradictions.

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    Weekend A La Carte (December 14)

    A La Carte: Male and female forever? / The shortcomings of Jordan Peterson / The thief who steals joy / Letter to a progressive Christian / The weary world rejoices / and more.

  • Free Stuff Fridays (Propempo International)

    This week the blog is sponsored by Propempo International. Missions on Point by David C. Meade, founder of Propempo International and Send Forward, seeks to spotlight the local church’s biblical role in world missions. Missions on Point awakens and challenges church leaders, missions leaders, missionaries, and everyone involved in the support and execution of missions…

  • Questions To Ask a Man Who Would Like To Marry Your Daughter

    Questions For the Man Who Wants To Marry Your Daughter

    It is the conversation every father of daughters anticipates having at one time or another—the conversation with the young man who has expressed interest in securing her hand in marriage and who now seeks dad’s permission. Apart from those few men who have been blessed with many daughters, most of us have just one or…