This was one of those rare weeks in which I collected so much good material that it only seemed right to create an extra A La Carte column. I hope you enjoy the extra reading!

Before You Japa: 7 Things To Consider
I enjoyed this evaluation of the benefits and drawbacks of japa—”a Yoruba word which means ‘run swiftly’ or to flee from danger, but which is now a Nigerian slang for emigration.” It must at times be difficult to remain in a context in which so many are leaving.
The Funnies
Every Saturday I look forward to receiving Chris Martin’s “The Funnies,” a modern-day answer to the Saturday comics I enjoyed long ago.
Just War and Our Cultural Conflict
Kevin DeYoung continues his series on the culture war. “The answer to the question ‘Should Christians be engaged in the culture war?’ is quite simple: You are whether you mean to be or not.”
Count it all Joy
Guy Richard: “It is relatively easy to ‘count it all joy’ when things are going well around us. When God’s will matches our own will for our lives, it is easy to be a Christian and to ‘count it all joy.’ But when those two things don’t add up—when God’s will for our lives and our will for our lives don’t match—that is when things get hard.”
Lord, Help Me See the Ways to Die Today
Trevin Wax: “A few months ago, I began asking the Lord every morning to give me chances that day to die to myself, and for the Spirit to help me recognize those opportunities. He has never failed to answer this prayer. Not once.”
The Agony of Church Discipline Carried Out
“As my wife and I walked into the sanctuary, we were met with the same fellowship we always get. But on this occasion, there was a sense of angst as everybody waited for the elders to speak. You see, this wasn’t Sunday service. It was a members-only meeting. And just about everybody in the room—including my wife and me—knew what this meeting was about.”

May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

I have only found one Kindle deals so far today, but it’s a good one at least.
Why Pro-Abortion Activists Desecrate Churches
Carl Trueman: “The church service is not simply a convenient place to intimidate pro-life campaigners. To attack a worship service is not simply to annoy the participants. It is to profane the sacred. It is to enact that which abortion itself represents. It is to spit on the very identity of those worshipping and thus upon the God whom they worship. It is to strike at the very heart of what Christians believe it means to be human, a dependent creature in the presence of a holy God.”
Why I got out of Twitter
Ray Ortlund’s reasons for leaving Twitter sound a lot like my own.
Screaming in the Face of Death
“It is difficult to tell if the countenance is grinning, scowling, or yawning open with insatiable hunger, but it seems that Death’s face is closer than usual as it stares out from the inky shadows at the edges of life. Death feels more present than usual right now.” It really does, doesn’t it?
A Conveyor Belt
“Jesus wants you to do the next thing in your walk with him. The next act of repentance, the next act of forgiveness, crush the next idol, love the next person above yourself, refuse the next temptation, tear down the next boundary. And he wants you to do nothing else.” That’s worth pondering.
Fertility Is Not A Disease
“Sexual pleasure has become the god of our culture to which all other gods must bow. One of its contenders is reproduction itself. We must separate the pleasure of sex from reproduction and fertility, or there can be no sexual freedom. ‘My body, my choice’ is the battle cry of a generation who, whether they realize it or not, are rebelling against their natural design. Nature, not the patriarchy, is what our culture hates most.”
DJ Mattson’s Senior Testimony at The Master’s Seminary
This is quite something. “Twelve days after giving his testimony, DJ graduated. He walked across the platform, received his diploma, moved his tassel from the left to right side of his cap, descended the stairs, and died.”
Flashback: The Joy of Self-Discipline
When we associate discipline only with avoidance of negative outcomes we rob ourselves of a means God uses to promote our joy and ultimately our joy in him. Where would God have you develop a discipline for your joy?

As sure as ever God puts his children in the furnace, he will be in the furnace with them. —Charles Spurgeon

My thanks goes to Children’s Hunger Fund for sponsoring the blog this week. Be sure to read about A Believer’s Response to Poverty. Sponsors are essential to keeping this blog running, so I’m grateful to each and every one. I screen them carefully so encourage you to always give them a good look.

Today’s Kindle deals include newer and older books.
(Yesterday on the blog: Friendship With God)
Not Forever, Yet Still Meaningful
“Make sure they know their commitment doesn’t have to be forever to be meaningful.” This is a helpful tip for any number of circumstances.
Psychology’s Culpability in the Transgender Movement
Jesse Johnson: “I’m writing this because I want to make sure pastors and parents see the massive worldview shift that is taking place in the schools and so-called sciences. The transgender movement has become the gravitational center of our culture. It is fed by the Bible of psychology, and it targets our kids. We should at least be familiar with the book that is being used to justify the massive surge in the transgender movement.”
Please Bear with Me
This is a strong call for love and unity in the local church.
The World is Still Spinning
“The world is still spinning, Love. These are the words that jogged through my mind recently, as I was playing with our 19-month-old grandson. We were in his backyard, and he was mowing the grass with his noisy plastic lawnmower.”
No Further
Cassie Watson: “At dawn, I’m on the beach. It’s deserted—just me, a pelican, and the churning waves. And my churning mind.”
Polity Matters
“Are the rules of the church arbitrary? Do we follow the rules as a part of our commitment to Jesus or are they just something we get from the world? This is a significant question because many think that the church’s rules are more advisory than regulatory. They miss the connection to the scriptures and the work of the church.  Here are some reasons why the rules are important and to be followed.”
Flashback: Bring Her Out and Let Her Be Burned
From a great distance and with the scantest information we can judge another person’s least transgression. Yet we can rack our own hearts and minds and often barely come up with a single way we are anything less than perfect.

Regimens and strategies leave us guilt-ridden when we fail, but prayer that flows out of our relationship with God reminds us of his grace toward us even when we fail. —John Onwuchekwa