A La Carte (February 21)
This week at Westminster Books you can score a big discount on a new Easter devotional.
Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of biographies and some other books as well.
Lois writes about the heavy seasons of life and what it is that makes them so weighty.
It is not unusual today to hear people who insist we can or should refer to God as “mother.” Dr. Kyle Claunch responds.
There is no one like our God. Encountering His holiness leaves us forever changed, bringing new awareness of our sin and need for His grace. R.C. Sproul’s classic book, The Holiness of God, invites readers deeper into the truth of Scripture, that we may marvel at the Lord’s greatness and the wonder of His salvation through Jesus Christ. You can request the 40-anniversary edition of this celebrated book today with your donation to Ligonier Ministries. (Sponsored)
“The building is stuffy and reeks of urine and lethargy as the elderly lie bedridden beneath crumpled sheets. Nonetheless, like moths to a flame, we happily return.”
Stephen says, “The truth is, if anything is a higher priority to us than our faithfulness to Jesus, there is almost no sin we won’t tolerate in order to get it.” This means we need to think carefully about what may be more important to us than faithfulness.
Dan Cruver reflects on the doctrine of adoption. “This wonderful gospel reality—or, I should say, this breathtaking adoption reality—forever changes everything, including how we relate to God, our fellow human beings, and creation itself as God’s good stewards.”
“Paul is encouraging us to go against the grain of the culture, to not follow the patterns of this world, to not fit in with society. Indeed, we must be outcasts as Christians. We are the anomalies; we are the sojourners; we are the weird ones.”
We all know what it is to try to relate to people who are distracted by a phone. And we all know how much better it is to be undistracted. The challenge, of course, is in living that out.
We can’t teach kids kitty-cat theology and expect them to have lion-like resolve.
—Sam Luce & Hunter Williams
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A La Carte (December 2)
Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
It’s Cyber Monday which means there’s a lot of great deals to be had. Some of them are the same as Black Friday and some are different. You can visit this page to learn about them.
As for Kindle deals, there are lots of great options today. Definitely consider Jerry Bridge’s The Practice of Godliness. You’ll also find books by John MacArthur, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, Randy Alcorn, and others.
Kenneth lists eleven different factors that can hinder our prayers.
Ryley reflects on Bruce Willis, Jesus, and the sorrow of putting off what should be done today.
“Have you ever thought about the feeling you get when you’re nearly at the place you’re aiming for? Perhaps you’re running a race and you look ahead to the finish line within reach. “I’m nearly there,” you tell yourself as you continue on. You’re motivated to get a better time, first prize, or the accomplishment of completing the race at all.”
This is true: Progressive ideology leads inevitably to paganism.
What can we know about the day of Christ’s second coming? Douglas Sean O’Donnell describes five of them.
“As a teenager, I didn’t know about the Christian doctrine of vocation. I believed some people did important things—my pastor was working for God; others, like missionaries, doctors, and high-level leaders, were changing the world. I never imagined the work familiar to me (farming and construction) could be a calling from God or make a significant difference. I was wrong.” Yes, so many people are wrong about this!
Though she followed her desire and her conscience, it has not always been easy…But I, her husband, and we, her children, honor and love her.
We have sin-tattered hearts, but Jesus mends them when we lean into Him and trust Him with our lives.
—Sarah Mae -
A La Carte (August 20)
Grace and peace to you today, my friends.
There are just two Kindle deals this morning.
Logos users will find some good deals in the Back to School sale.
Afghanistan, the Pulpit, and the Myth of Progress
“If we’re to truly remember the world’s tragedies in our ministries, what we need to retrieve isn’t simply what our Christian forebears taught in their ministries. We need to also retrieve their sense of the world which lay behind their ministries – a sense that the world is unstable, violent, and harsh.”
Weakness May Be Your Greatest Strength
This is good and helpful: “It’s easy for us to see our strengths as assets. But most of us naturally consider our weaknesses as liabilities — deficiencies to minimize or cover up. But God, in his providence, gives us our weaknesses just as he gives us our strengths.”
Pain Will Not Have the Last Word
Sarah Walton says, “No one lives this life untouched. We all experience the brokenness and frailty of this world in one way or another. Whether we face daily disappointments, an aging body, a life-altering illness, abuse, broken relationships, or loss, the pain we experience becomes woven into the fabric of our lives. It changes us, sometimes leaving us with scars or a limp.”
“I’ll See You in Court!”
Jesse Johnson digs into the biblical prohibition about suing other Christians. “The business had workman’s comp insurance, but the insurance company was requiring that the injured worker’s personal insurance company file a claim in court in order to compel payment. The bottom line: in order to get covered, a believer (or his insurance company) would have to sue another believer (or his insurance company).”
Bethel, Jesus, and Dove Dung
Lionel Windsor shows just how awful some of the teaching is that’s emerging from Bethel. “Before I read the book, I was hoping to find something positive to be able to say. Anything. But I could find nothing. In short, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I found this book extremely disturbing (especially one part of it).”
How Difficult was the Book of Revelation’s Journey into the Canon?
Despite the uniqueness of the book of Revelation compared to the rest of the NT, its acceptance into the canon was not particularly tempestuous, as Michael Kruger shows here.
In the Quiet
Melissa reflects on the quiet in her home now that the kids have returned to school.
Flashback: Two Gifts You Give To Others in Your Sanctification
Your sanctification is a gift to others. Your continual growth in holiness is not something you emphasize merely for your own benefit or your own assurance, but something you pursue for the benefit of others.God never made a soul so small that the whole world will satisfy it. —William Hendriksen
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A La Carte (August 8)
Good morning! Grace and peace to you on this fine day.
Today’s Kindle deals include a number of excellent titles from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: Prayer That Pleases God)
Luxury Beliefs
This is a very interesting article about “luxury beliefs.”
Not Now: The Surprising Joy of Waiting on the Lord
“As a society and culture we don’t like to wait. Like Ms. Salt, we want what we want, and we typically want it sooner rather than later. Yet, we miss surprising spiritual benefits and blessings when we fail to head God’s imperatives and call to wait on Him.”
God’s Gallery (Video)
“It has been said that ‘nature is the art of God.’ When looking at our planet from 200 miles above its surface, the truth of that observation comes into magnificent focus. This unforgettable video is a celebration of Earth’s natural beauty and the artistry of its Creator—as photographed by the astronauts of the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.”
Reject the Algorithm
This one, which is not written from a Christian perspective, has some great things to say about rejecting the algorithm.
Twenty-Eight
I enjoyed this celebration of an anniversary. (Speaking of which, Aileen and I are celebrating our 24th today!)
The Distress and Delight of Preaching
“No preacher worth his weight enters the pulpit without some distress. There is a heaviness to delivering the word of God that is unlike anything else. Even if the preacher is naturally jovial, the man moved by the Spirit of God will tremble under the gravity of what he is doing.”
Flashback: Beware (and Embrace) the Power of Story
If we are going to respond well to the new cultural ethos, we need to know God’s Story—his plan for humanity, sexuality, and marriage. We need to be fully convinced about why it matters so much. We need to be willing to suffer loss to uphold it.One of the great challenges for the Christian church is knowing the difference between a church and a crowd. —Albert Mohler
