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    A La Carte (10/27)

    Yesterday the meteorologists around these parts were talking about a “weather bomb.” In the end we didn’t see anything even close to resembling such a phenomenon. I wouldn’t say we’re disappointed, but, well, maybe we are just a little bit. It sounded exciting. A Detox Review – Here’s a very encouraging review of Sexual Detox.…

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    A La Carte (10/26)

    Rarely do I see a clearer manifestation of the pathetic nature of our culture than at Halloween. I’m all for having the kids dress up to go and collect candy. But yesterday I stepped into a store and noticed that the section for adult costumes was bigger than the section for kid’s costumes. Two words:…

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    A La Carte (10/25)

    I was sitting in Grand Rapids airport on Saturday morning, about to catch a flight to Cleveland (and from Cleveland I’d catch a second flight to Toronto). It struck me as a little bit cruel that at the time there were two flights leaving from my gate–one going to Cleveland (for which I had a…

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    Free Stuff Fridays

    Every week I rack my brain trying to come up with an original introduction to these Free Stuff Fridays posts. Maybe I just need to give up and embrace the formula. I guess the problem is that I’m usually genuinely excited about the stuff I get to give out here so I don’t want it…

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    A La Carte (10/22)

    As you read this, I’m on my way to Grand Rapids. These short trips can be tough ones. Because I want to be gone for only the day, I need an early flight–7 AM. That means I need to be at the airport at 5 AM (which you’d understand if you’ve ever flown out of…

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    A La Carte (10/21)

    As we began our evening service last Sunday, we asked the congregation this question and just had them call out answers: “What is something you read about God this week that encouraged or strengthened you?” So how about you? What have you read about God this week that has encouraged or strengthened you? Heart-Stirring Words…

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    A La Carte (10/20)

    I’m doing a one-day trip to Grand Rapids on Friday in order to spend some time with the good people at Zondervan. Since I’ll be Grand Rapids through the evening, I figured I’d drop in at the Young & Reformed conference where Kevin DeYoung and Mike Wittmer will be speaking. Is anyone else planning on…

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    A La Carte (10/19)

    Is anyone else watching playoff baseball using the MLB iPad app? I have to say, it’s pretty disappointing. Boasting that you can choose your camera angle is great, but not when you realize that the camera angles are pretty rough and will never show replays. Boasting that you can watch multiple camera angles at once…

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    A La Carte (10/18)

    It is always good to be away at a conference. But, of course, it’s always just a little bit better to be home. And I’m home again now and for the next few weeks (except for a brief day-long trip to Grand Rapids this weekend). Getty Blog – I’m not sure how I missed that…

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    A La Carte (10/15)

    Yesterday was the closest I’ve come to not being allowed into the US of A. The trouble I have is that the rules keep changing, and when I attempt to find out what the new rules are, I am regarded with suspicion as if I’m trying to game the system. So I try to come…

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    A La Carte (10/14)

    I’m on my way to Fort Worth for the True Woman conference (I know, I know; it’s a conference for women…). Stay tuned over the next couple of days as I try to find some interesting stories to tell from my time there. Camera Reunions – Here’s a great idea–a web site that tries to…

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    A La Carte (10/13)

    Just one day before Aileen and I head to Fort Worth for the True Woman conference. We’re looking forward to getting away. I suppose I shouldn’t tell anyone down there that I was cheering for the Tampa Bay Rays. Not that it really matters at this point. Now I’ll be cheering for the Rangers over…

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    A La Carte (10/12)

    Thanksgiving is past, which means that the next big date on Canada’s national calendar (apart from Halloween, which for some people is a ridiculously important occasion) is Christmas. And December 25 seems like it’s a long, long way off. Time With God – The Good Book Company is having a 48-hour sale on Time With…

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    A La Carte (10/11)

    It is Thanksgiving today. We enjoyed a day with the in-laws on Saturday, we enjoyed church services yesterday, and today we’ll enjoy just hanging out as a family (and eventually getting around to devouring some turkey). In the meantime, here’s some A La Carte for the rest of the world, since you don’t get the…

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    A La Carte (10/8)

    It is Thanksgiving weekend up here in the great white north. As you can see, we get Thanksgiving out of the way more than a month before our neighbors to the south. Though we celebrate in pretty much the same ways, we tend to do so with a little less enthusiasm. The official day we…

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    A La Carte (10/7)

    I spent yesterday afternoon making some edits to my book. So far it’s been easy enough and three chapters are just about ready to go (which means they are ready to be sent through to the next stage of editing in which they’ll be checked for syntax, spelling, grammar, style and all the rest). Here’s…

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    A La Carte (10/6)

    It’s busy times here in the Challies home. I have received my manuscript from my editor which (presumably) means that I have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks. I haven’t actually looked at it yet since I’ve been busy with other things. But as of a few minutes from now, I’ll…

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    A La Carte (10/5)

    If Thai food loved me as much as I loved it, the world would be a better place. Sadly, however, we have too much of a love-hate relationship. World’s Strangest Vending Machines – There is no real value in reading this article from Yahoo travel. It’s just kind of interesting in a weird way. Plant!…

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    A La Carte (10/4)

    Thanks for all who prayed about my talk at the Eighth Letter Conference. I’ll try to get the audio of that message and post it for you a little later in the week. In general things went well, I thought. It was quite an interesting event and one of the rare ones I get invited…

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    A La Carte (10/1)

    A couple of days ago I mentioned a conference I am speaking at tonight. If you think of it, pray for me today, would you? This is a conference well outside “the usual” crowd I tend to speak before. Many of the other conference speakers are new monastics, people who preach a social gospel, and…