A La Carte (May 10)
Good morning. This is just a reminder that I’m on vacation with my family this week and hence posting only the daily A La Carte articles. Original articles will return next week.
Westminster Books is offering a deal on the initial volumes of a neat new series.
There is a handful of new Kindle deals to look at.
Please Don’t Weaponize Good-Faith Disagreement
I think this is a really important one from Trevin. “One of the wearying aspects of church life these days is the constant weaponizing of disagreement. I’m referring to the tendency to take an honest disagreement we have with someone (perhaps over secondary points of theology, or matters of political prudence, or parenting methods) as a sign he or she must be ‘unsound’—and so we wield that disagreement as a weapon, as a way of smearing the person’s entire outlook or ministry.”
We are Defined Not by our Failures, but by Christ’s Victory
Jen tells a beautiful story here by way of illustration. “In the late 1800s a Canadian pharmacist, Dr. William Leslie, sensed God calling him to use his medical skills to advance the gospel on the continent of Africa. He set out for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1895, joining the missions organization first pioneered by the famed Adoniram Judson in Burma. After a few years, Dr. Leslie met and married another missionary, and together they served in the DRC—offering medical treatment and the gospel.”
Did Jephthah Kill His Daughter to Fulfill a Vow to God?
Believing that Jephthah killed his daughter is not the only common or valid interpretation of this passage.
Where Does Mark End? Handling Snakes and Ancient Manuscripts
And speaking of disputed passages, how about the ending of the Gospel of Mark? This long article from DG explains the uncertainty about exactly where it ends.
Younger Christians Are Looking for Older Saints
Darryl Dash: “To our shame, there was a period in which the aged were seen as unimportant in many churches. In direct contradiction of Scripture, we valued youth. Through our actions, we told older men and women that they no longer mattered and that it was time for the youth to lead now. No longer. I sense the opposite in the church today: a desire for older men and women to emulate.”
7 Ways to Fight Poorly
“If you have breath, you have conflict. And it’s not going to go away.” Ain’t that the truth!
Flashback: We Have the Light So We Can Be the Light
The great need of our fellow Christians is not darkness, but light—light to cut through the gloom, light to brighten their eyes, light to illumine the way we all must go.
We must receive from God, before we can give to others, for we have nothing of our own with which to feed men’s hunger or quench their thirst. —J.R. Miller
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A La Carte (March 16)
May the Lord be with you and bless you today.
Today’s Kindle deals include Tom Schreiner’s excellent The Joy of Hearing.
Westminster Books has some Easter resources on sale this week.
(Yesterday on the blog: How To Ruin a Perfectly Good Friendship)
Preaching from a Place of Fullness
“I have preached from a place of emptiness and from a place of fullness, and the experience of the one makes me long for the other.” Take the time to have Andrew explain what he means.
New Missionaries, From Your Older Brother
Dave was asked to speak at a missionary training school and tells about some of the wisdom he passed along.
Rick Warren Has Done the SBC a Great Service
Denny Burk listened to a recent interview with Rick Warren and explains the tactics Warren will use to lobby for women to be allowed in all positions of leadership within the SBC.
How are Old Testament land promises fulfilled? (Video)
Dr. John Currid tells how all those promises of land relate to us today.
How “You Too” Can Heal
Zach Barnhart: “Think about the people in the church with whom you practice community. It could be a small group you are a part of, a group you are pouring into or serving, or a handful of your close friends. What if the one thing that’s holding them back from stepping into real fellowship and vulnerability with your group is your own courageous choice to walk in the light before them?”
To Love Life and See Good Days
“How many of us desire to love life and see good days? My guess is it is all of us. Only the jaded have abandoned this hope. This desire for the good life may seem like something from the self-help section, but it is directly from scripture.” Doug Eaton explains.
Flashback: Why Some People Aren’t Christians
With all of this evangelism and all these opportunities for salvation, why don’t people become Christians? Here are a few reasons I’ve observed in recent interactions.Beauty is both a gift and a map. It is a gift to be enjoyed and a map to be followed back to the Source of the beauty with praise and thanksgiving. —Steve DeWitt
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Trusting God with Creation But Not Providence
Each of us is prone at times to lose our confidence in God’s wisdom and to assume that he would benefit from a bit of our own. How often do we grumble and complain against God’s will? How often in prayer do we attempt to direct God according to our own limited knowledge, our own limited wisdom?
Yet God’s creation has a way of redirecting our thoughts, for it displays the greatness of his wisdom. God created it without the least bit of input from any man, yet he made it good and very good. And if God exercised his wisdom in creating so wonderful a universe, shouldn’t we trust him to exercise his wisdom in the affairs and circumstances of our lives? Will we trust him with creation but not providence, trust him to create but not to direct?
To ask the question is to highlight its absurdity. Faith directs us to believe that God’s providence is every bit as beautiful as creation—as beautiful as the mighty mountains, as awesome as the expanse of the oceans, as stunning as the most wondrous of all the creatures that live on the earth.
As Matthew Henry once wrote, “God did not consult us in making the world, yet it is well made; why should we expect then that he should take his measures from us in governing it?”
(This is an excerpt from my forthcoming devotional book Understanding and Trusting Our Great God) -
A La Carte (November 16)
May the Lord be with you and bless you today.
It’s a banner day for Kindle deals today. There are tons of good options to pick from (including Seasons of Sorrow, this time below $5).
I’ve also been tracking deals at Christianbook and here are some 2022 hardcover or softcover books at good prices: Reactivity by Paul Tripp; The Men We Need by Brent Hansen; Strange New World by Carl Trueman; Heaven Rules by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth; Tell Me the Stories of Jesus by Al Mohler; Confronting Jesus by Rebecca McLaughlin. Also, lots of ESVs on sale.
The Shadowy Nature of the Theocracy
“With a burgeoning interest in the idea of Christian Nationalism, the Christian Church in America has seen a renewed interest in modified versions of theonomy.” Nick Batzig explains his concerns with some increasingly popular theology.
Life Is Beautiful
“Don’t let the fact that babies are born all the time dull your awareness of the glory and beauty of it. If it is a wonder and marvel that fruit can grow from a seed that came from a fruit (and it is), then how much more significant it is that a living creature can generate another just like it.”
316 Publishing’s Children’s Resources
316 is home to the comic book format Power Bible and classic Adam Raccoon series. These great resources plus the NASB and LSB Children’s Bibles are all on sale. Save an extra 10% on all Bella Paper stationery too with code CHALLIES. (Sponsored Link)
10 Things You Should Know about Islam
A.S. Ibrahim offers 10 things that it would be helpful for you to know about Islam.
Protecting Your Teenagers Online
This is a tough but relevant issue. “As a dad, I would jump to defend my children from a ‘bad guy’ trying to hurt them physically. I’m sure you would do the same. Does that same intensity translate into protecting the minds and hearts of our children online?”
Shepherding in the Age of Self
There are new challenges to shepherding in this, the age of self, as an article at 9Marks explains.
Evangelism Isn’t Disrespectful
“I was recently told that Christians are disrespectful because they evangelize. The reason is that evangelism requires the Christian to assume he is right and the other person is wrong.” That’s wrong, of course, and here’s why.
Flashback: Have I Sinned Against You?
God is good to instruct us in conflict resolution. We need the instruction and the church needs the peace it brings. But unless an offense can be described in biblical terminology, it is probably not a sin at all.It’s boring to adapt the Christian faith to better fit people; what’s exciting is to adapt people to better fit the Christian faith. —Trevin Wax
