A La Carte (August 15)
I apologize to anyone who received yesterday’s email multiple times. The newsletter service I use experienced a glitch. I believe it has now been resolved and shouldn’t happen again, but if it does, please bear with me.
Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent picks like Dream Small by Seth Lewis and The Future of Everything by William Boekestein.
(Yesterday on the blog: Unexpected, Unwanted, and Unwelcome)
Book Brief: My Only Comfort is a slight but effective reimagining of the Heidelberg Catechism. In place of the standard Q&A presentation, it offers the content formatted much like The Valley of Vision. It makes an ideal devotional supplement.
No one has this issue completely solved, but some have at least taken good steps. Here’s how one family navigated the smartphone and social media issues as well as they knew how.
This is worth reading and considering. “I’ve found that for a growing number of people there is an assumption that to be a human is to need therapy. We’re all maladjusted, and the purpose of therapy is to adjust us so that we’re high-functioning members of society, living flourishing, mentally healthy lives. In this model, therapy is something like a weekly medicine we all need to mentally survive a hostile world.”
The title of this article may be a bit silly, but it opens up some interesting avenues of discussion. “As AI enables more devices to become more capable, I’m led to reconsider another favorite question that I often ask Christian audiences: What technology do you think will—or won’t—be in heaven? More specifically, why (or why not) would there be Roombas in heaven? And what does our answer tell us about our relationships today with technology, work, and time?”
You have probably noticed, as I have, that progressivism seems to destroy everything it touches. Andrew Walker explains why this is.
“We think transformation will be quick, and sometimes it is. But generally speaking, God isn’t in a rush. There’s a certain kind of holiness and beauty that develops only after decades of walking with God. You can’t microwave it. But when you see it, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Yes, there are so many blessings that come as we pray together. “Many have had negative experiences with corporate prayer. Perhaps people droned on about distant relatives’ needs and little time was spent in prayer. Or maybe you experienced an emotionally manipulative prayer gathering. There are many ways that corporate prayer can go wrong. But when it goes right, there are few things more spiritually invigorating.”
…we need to keep the heart, tend the heart, guard the heart, and feed and satisfy the heart with good spiritual nourishment.
I have reason to praise him for my trials, for, most probably, I should have been ruined without them.
—John Newton
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A La Carte (November 8)
Blessings to you on this fine day.
Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of interesting titles.
You Don’t Have to Choose a Word for the Year
“For many, choosing a word for the year replaces a list of resolutions. That one word gives them focus for the year. Christians who do this usually pray about it leading up to the new year and feel this word has been given to them or impressed on them by God. They often plan activities, reading, or Bible study around their word.” That may be a perfectly fine idea, but don’t think it’s a necessary one!
What Does it Take to End Well?
This article (sermon? conference talk?) is about reverse-engineering the lives of those who finished well to try to determine what made them successful.
Sexual Abuse and Outpacing the Church
Is it possible that when it comes to identifying and protecting against abuse, the church is lagging behind the world?
The Scriptures are reliable down to the tenses
The Scriptures are reliable in every way and that puts us under the responsibility to read them well and carefully.
Driven by Awe: Missions
“If we are not driven by awe of God in our life, then our desire to share his greatness with others will diminish. As one author stated: ‘Where passion for God is weak, zeal for missions will be weak.’ As we regularly feast upon the glory of God, as we behold his beauty each day of our lives, then inevitably we will want others to do the same. As we encounter the most beautiful, powerful, merciful being in all of existence, we’ll want others to likewise taste and see that he is good.”
How to Get Married
Here is some counsel—much of it in the realm of advice more than biblical mandates—on getting married.
Flashback: A Tribute to Those of Simple Faith
People of complex faith are prone to see apathy in those of simple faith, and people of simple faith are prone to see obsessiveness in those of complex faith. Both can grow weary and suspicious of the other.One of the greatest and most undervalued privileges of being brought up in a Christian home is that you will have been prayed for every day of your life. —Christopher Ash
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Weekend A La Carte (May 21)
May you know the Lord’s blessings as you serve and worship him this weekend.
There are a few new Kindle deals to look at today.
(Yesterday on the blog: Should We Abandon “Evangelical?”)
Consuming ideologies
“J.K. Rowling, one of the most successful authors of all time, posted an interesting Twitter thread on April 20. I’ll call it the Parable of the Greengrocer.” Janie B. Cheaney explains.
Essentially significant
All Christians have to consider what is a valid or invalid baptism. I appreciate Stephen Kneale’s thoughts on the matter here (from a Baptist perspective).
How Do I Not Provoke My Children?
John Piper considers some of the ways that parents may provoke their children (as per the warning in Colossians 3:21).
The Puzzle of India: Post-Christian Without Ever Being Christian
This is a really interesting look at some of the challenges and blessings of ministry in modern-day India.
The Storms That Flood the Fruit
Brittany reflects on gardens and sanctification. “Sometimes the fruit seems to come easily, naturally even, to the woman or man saved by Christ. But then there are times that require persistence and perseverance. We learn to strive for the good fruit that truly only God can bring. And we learn to trust his timing, to trust him in the storms he allows, and to wait patiently for the fruit he alone can grow in us.”
Why Must We Die?
If we believe in Jesus as our Savior, why do we have to die? It’s a good question…
Flashback: Run To Win! The Lifelong Pursuits of a Godly Man
Just as self-control is the key to victory in athletics, it is the key to victory in the Christian life.I think distractions in prayer are often because we have let ourselves wander too far from the things that matter most. And so we slip into an easily interrupted, easily distracted frame of mind. —Amy Carmichael
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A La Carte (July 25)
Good morning from Bangkok, Thailand, where I’m visiting friends for a day as I make my way from Australia to Seoul, South Korea.
Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of interesting books.
(Yesterday on the blog: In a Distant Land)
Five Illustrations to Better Understand Emotions
Kevin provides a few illustrations meant to help you better understand emotions.
What Are Some Dangers of Neglecting Church History?
“We have much to learn from our brothers and sisters in the faith from around the globe, but we also have much to learn from our brothers and sisters—faithful disciples—who’ve come before from two millennia of church history.”
What is Theology?
Since God is the object of our knowledge, the source of our wisdom, and the fountain of our everlasting happiness, what greater endeavor could the Christian ever pursue than theology? Join Matthew Barrett for free to study the foundational elements of Christian Theology through For The Church Institute at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College. (Sponsored Link)
Christians Are Not Totally Depraved
“The phrase ‘total depravity’ refers to a person’s sinful condition outside of the mercy of Christ. So, after conversion, is a sinner still totally depraved?” Mitch Chase answers and clarifies.
What I’ve Learned from the Anglicans
This is a neat little series from 9Marks: What I’ve Learned from the Anglicans, What I’ve Learned from the Baptists, and What I’ve Learned from the Presbyterians.
The Days Are Long, But the Years Are Short
I enjoyed this “letter from grandpa.“
Being in the business of hanging out with our mates
I agree with this, though I think there are also times to formalize meetings. “It seems to me there is no reason not to just consider much of our pastoral ministry as the privilege of hanging out with our friends. Sometimes for serious and important reasons, sometimes just for the usual reasons you might ever want to keep up with a friend, and sometimes just for the sake of hanging out casually with people because they’re your friends.”
Flashback: Flowers Springing Up in the Rain
You and I are not too different from grass and flowers, for as God sees fit to have them grow through sun and rain, he sees fit to have us grow through joy and grief. As it is his will that they display their beauty through good weather and bad, it is his will that we display our beauty through easy times and difficult.Be slow to believe an accusation against another! One false mouth can destroy the reputation won by a lifetime of worthy deeds! —J.R. Miller
