Curated content for Christians
I did not track down any Kindle deals today. However, if you are an Olive Tree user, you may be interested in picking up Visual Theology which they’ve just added to their catalog. Why Believers Must Avoid Immoral Joking I quite agree. “I write these very words because I, too, could easily fall into the…
Arguments For and Against Anxiety Justin Taylor: “An important lesson of the Christian life is that the heart of the battle is a fight not between abstract commands (do this! don’t do that!) but rather arguments. Unbelief does not just offer dictates; it offers reasons why we don’t need to trust the Lord. And to…
Persistent Prayer to a Loving Father “Persistent prayer proves hard for many Christians. We may labor on our knees for years as we pray for our unbelieving child, an empty womb, our spouse to be converted, the friend battling cancer, depression to no longer have a hold, a sin to lose its grip, or the…
Are You a Closet Annihilationist? Denny Burk comments on an article that discusses changing Christian views on hell. The Power of Conformity Rod Dreher shares a letter from one of his readers that explains some of the radical change we see around us (and why it should concern us). The Tender Heart of a Woman…
I am glad to be preparing this A La Carte in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I am here to speak at a conference through the afternoon, then will fly home this evening so I can worship with Grace Fellowship Church tomorrow. It should be a good weekend. As always, your prayers are appreciated. Regulating Screen Time…
The Moral Revolutionaries Present Their Demands Al Mohler says, “The terms of moral surrender have been delivered to us, and they are absolute and unconditional. Just ask Japan and Germany what that means.” The Family Idols There is an important challenge in this article from Nick Batzig. He shows that even something as good as…
Troubleshooting the Celebrity Pastor Problem I appreciate Jared Wilson’s thoughts on the celebrity pastor problem in today’s church. Goose Finds Cop Can this actually be real? “On Monday, Givens was sitting in his patrol car in a parking lot when he was accosted by one very unexpected visitor who seemed dead set on getting his…
Restroom Laws and Jim Crow It’s a big question today: Are restroom laws that respect privacy the equivalent of Jim Crow laws? Planetary Transit NASA got some amazing footage of Mercury making its way between us and the sun, something that happens just 13 times each century. Where’s Your Heart? Randy Alcorn: “Do you wish…
An Open Letter to Someone Having an Affair Brad Hambrick pens a letter to someone having an affair. “An affair is a relationship built on deceit and artificially fueled by the passion-allegiance of a shared secret and not having to bear the weight of day-to-day life. The story line of ‘forbidden love’ evaporates as soon…
I’m Still a Complementarian… And There’s Still That “But” I’m glad to read people’s struggles to better understand, define, and appreciate complementarianism. This kind of discussion should prove fruitful! How We Pray There are lots of points made in this survey on prayer, but perhaps this is the most important: “Reid said the most striking…
Westminster Books sent out a newsletter yesterday featuring Do More Better and offering it at a great price (especially if you buy 5 or more copies). They’ve also got deals on other books about stewarding God’s good gifts. I speak each January at the G3 Conference in Atlanta; next year’s event is moving to a…
I have no Kindle deals to share with you today, but you can always breeze back through the A La Carte archives to find any you missed earlier in the week. I’m sure there will be some good ones next week as well. Crisis in American Democracy Al Mohler says, “When the essential institutions of…
The Rise of the Anti-Culture Carl Trueman: “Let’s face it: We now live in a world where refusing a man the right to expose himself in a woman’s toilet is enough to risk your city losing the right to host a football game. Even to suggest there might be a debate to be had about…
The Black People in the Middle of Nowhere What an interesting little snapshot of history from the National Post. “Established in 1909 at a spot 170 km north of Edmonton, the short history of Amber Valley is that a bunch of American blacks got tired of all the racism and decided to do like Eastern…
Stop Saying “I Feel Like” This is fascinating and well-reasoned: “Here is the paradox: ‘I feel like’ masquerades as a humble conversational offering, an invitation to share your feelings, too — but the phrase is an absolutist trump card. It halts argument in its tracks.” Puritans on the Potomac Timothy George has penned a great…
The Lost Art of Christian Polemics Conrad Mbewe: “The tragedy on today’s ecclesiastical landscape is the number of heretics who are thriving inside evangelicalism. They are having a field day and hardly anyone is raising a voice against them.” The Modern Man’s Fantasy World “Is there any wonder why there is such a decline in…
When Did Each of the Biblical Patriarchs Live and Die? Justin Taylor did the work and has mapped it all out for us. What Is the Most Expensive Object on Earth? Now there’s a difficult question to answer. But that didn’t keep the BBC from trying. 9 Things You Should Know About Jehovah’s Witnesses Joe…
Parchments You’ve probably never thought about this before: How much did it cost Paul to write an epistle? The answer may surprise you. Governed by Bad News or Good News? There is lots of bad news all around us. “But we must resist the temptation to be governed by the bad news around us. We…
Thoughts On The Rise And Fall Of Pastors This is a really good and really urgent article by Scott Sauls. When Prayer Feels Like a Chore It is sad but undeniable that sometimes the great privilege of prayer can feel like a chore or burden. Canonicity: Why These 66 Books? This is helpful: “We believe…
If You’ve Cheated, Should You Tell Your Spouse? “Adultery is devastating. In the aftermath of an adulterous affair, the offending spouse must first turn away from sin through repentance before God. But after such repentance takes place, there’s another question that has to be answered: Should you confess the adultery to your spouse?” Russell Moore…