May 2005 Archive
Persistence in Prayer (05/31/05 - 0 Comments)
It is the Lord's delight to give us what we ask of Him in prayer. With David we all ought to cry out, "O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth" (Psalm 54:2). If Christians did not believe this, there would be no reason for us to ask God of anything. He tells us that we can have this confidence. "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (1 John 5:14,15). While most Christian pay lip-service to the superlatives in that sentence ("whatever" and "anything") very few really believe it.
Book Review - A Man of God (05/31/05 - 0 Comments)
Jack Graham is pastor of the massive Prestonwood Baptist Church which boasts a membership of over 23,000 and is thus one of the world's largest churches. He has written several books, the latest of which is A Man of God (which releases today). To provide a clear idea of the target audience for this book, one does not need to look much farther than the list of endorsers. The list includes Roger Staubach, Gary Carter and Pat Summerall. Neil Clark Warren (founder of the online dating site eHarmony.com) is added for good measure. And Chuck Norris enters the fray to write the foreward. And if you still aren't sure, perhaps this quote will bring added clarity. "The Christian life is more important than the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, and the Stanley Cup all wrapped together" (page 12).
Pastors Reveal Their Influences (05/30/05 - 0 Comments)
Love him or hate him, George Barna often presents interesting information to the church. His latest study, dated May 30, 2005, asked pastors to identify "the three books that had been most helpful to them as a ministry leader during the past three years." There were over 200 books listed, but only 9 that were listed by more than 2% of the 614 pastors surveyed. Similarly, there were only 10 authors that were listed by more than 2% of the respondants.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, both by Rick Warren, were ranked as number 1 and number 2. Warren was also the author whose books were listed most often, and thus ranked as the most influential church leader.
Book Review - Hedges (05/30/05 - 0 Comments)
In the past couple of years I have read several books written for men to address the issue of sexual purity. I have found these books useful to varying degrees. The solutions that authors suggest to deal with this issue - which, as far as I know, is common to all men - vary greatly. Some books forbid men to engage in even a single look at an attractive woman to whom a man is not married. Some books teach a process of "bouncing" the eyes whereby men learn to avert their gaze from any feminine beauty other than the one to whom they are married. Some teach what is little more than the repetition of mantras - a Bible verse a man can repeat when he sees an attractive woman. Hedges, by Jerry Jenkins, does not fit any of those categories.
Book Review (And Discussion) - Three (05/29/05 - 0 Comments)
Having read almost fifty books so far this year which were predominantly theological in content, I found myself craving some mindless fiction for a Saturday afternoon. Following a brief trip to the local Christian bookstore I came away with Three by Ted Dekker. I remembered reading a positive review of this title shortly after it released and thought I would give it a try, despite knowing nothing about the author or the story.
Three has all the elements of your standard psychological/cop thriller novel – a genre I used to read far too often so know quite well. The book moves very quickly and is guaranteed to keep the reader turning the pages. Both my wife and I read and finished it the very day I bought it and we both enjoyed it thoroughly.
Limericks For The Lord (05/28/05 - 0 Comments)
And now for something completely different.
A couple of months ago I was approached by a potential client and asked if I could develop a site for him. This person leads a Sunday school class and wanted a site where he could post his daily reflections on the Scriptures. The catch? Well, it's not really a catch, but what made this interesting is that his reflections are written in the form of limericks. And so I present to you, Bible Bus Limericks.
Friday Frivolity (05/27/05 - 0 Comments)
Last Friday I encouraged people to post a list of book that currently resided on their desks. Strangely enough, that request turned into something of a meme and ended up being posted on sites through out the blogosphere. It was very odd. I labored all week to write about about putting God in a box, and all people wanted to talk about was the books on their desks! I don't understand you guys...
But I digress.
Book Review - The Passion of Job (05/27/05 - 0 Comments)
There are many companies today that allow anyone with a few thousand dollars (sometimes less) to publish a book. There are few requirements other than a manuscript and money. This is a mixed blessing. On one hand it allows people to publish books who arouse little interest in the handful of major publishers. On the other hand, it allows books to be printed that are sloppily-written, or at times, clearly not deserving of being printed.
The Passion of Job by Dr. Richard Spillman is published by Xulon Press, just such a company that caters to the Christian market. In fact, Xulon publicizes the claim (without substantiation) that it is the world's largest Christian publisher.
Pyromarketing and The Purpose Driven Life (05/26/05 - 0 Comments)
The Purpose Driven Life is a runaway bestseller. In truth, it is in a category all its own. It is closing in on 25 million copies sold and will eclipse this number soon enough. Incredibly enough, it is selling better now than when it first released. Where most titles sell quickly at first and then the sales slow, this book gained sales momentum for over a year following its release. There are those who are sufficiently naive to believe that this success owes to the value of the book. But truth be told, it is not nearly as good a book as the sales would indicate. Warren says little that has not been said before, and has been said better. I'm sure it has changed some lives and has brought encouragement to many people. But this doesn't make a book sell 25 million copies and become the bestselling book of all-time in its genre.
Book Review - A Journey in Purity (05/26/05 - 0 Comments)
It took me seven years to pick A Journey in Grace from my shelf and finally read it. I so enjoyed it that I immediately turned to the sequel, A Journey in Purity which had been sitting beside it all this time. Where the first title in this series of theological novels addresses the doctrines of grace (ie the 5 Points of Calvinism), the second title examines the purity of the church.
The story of young pastor Ira Pointer picks up precisely where it left off in the final pages of A Journey in Grace. Ira is faced with a church with a huge membership, but with low attendance.
Putting God In A Box - Transformationalism (05/25/05 - 0 Comments)
This is the fourth installment in a series of articles discussing the Christian tendency to put God in a box. In the first article we saw that we tend to feel insecure about God unless we have contained Him within a box in our minds and then saw that God has revealed Himself to us in a way that is incomplete, but which we can understand. God’s revelation of Himself provides a framework within which we can understand Him. While incomplete, this framework is accurate and trustworthy. In the second article we examined how we can allow our doctrine to put God in a box through our ignorance, through our imaginations and by making theology and end in itself. In the third article we looked at ways we put God in a box through our attempts to live a life of Christian piety.
Notable Reads (05/24/05 - 0 Comments)
I am trying to recover from a long weekend. While the weekend was relaxing, someone forgot to forward the memo about Victoria Day to all of my American friends and clients. Thus work piled up yesterday and I am at least a day behind. I was hoping to post the next installment of the "Boxing God" series today, but I think it will have to wait until tomorrow.
In the meantime, I wanted to draw your attention to some notable reads elsewhere on the World Wide Web.
Daily Catechism (05/23/05 - 0 Comments)
Here's something new.
How would you like to add a daily Question and Answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism and Heidelberg Catechism to your site? Or how about having them sent to your RSS Reader? This feed will take you through both catechisms twice per year.
RSS
To add a daily catechism question and answer to your RSS reader, simply add the following RSS feed: http://www.challies.com/catechism.php. It is updated every night.
WRECK And An Emerging New Culture (05/23/05 - 0 Comments)
The following article was penned by Pastor, Doctor, Professor and all-around nice guy Ron Gleason and is posted here with his permission. Ron and his wife Sally are very close friends of my parents and Ron was my pastor back when we were both significantly younger and when we lived significantly closer. You can read more about Ron (and even hear an audio introduction by R.C. Sproul) at his aptly named web site, RonGleason.org. He has written three further articles on Brian McLaren here. From here on out you're reading Ron's article:
My good friend, Tim Keller, has written/spoken about the "cultures" in the PCA. He mentioned three and in an e-mail to me suggested a fourth. In this short article, I'd like to espouse a fifth, which is fitting for Presbyterians based on the premise that where four Presbyterians are gathered, there's usually a fifth.
Book Review - Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse (05/22/05 - 0 Comments)
A few weeks ago Jason Boyett wrote me to ask if he could send along a copy of his latest book, A Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse. I rarely turn down a book, so told him I would be glad to read and review this one. He encouraged me to review it honestly and to pan it if I felt that was necessary. He must believe in the old adage that "no press is bad press."
The Pocket Guide, which is written in a style reminiscent of Douglas Adams' famous five-part trilogy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is a "comprehensive guide to the last days, a must-have for apocalypse watchers, readers of Revelation and all-around Armageddon obsessives" (from the back cover). To translate, it is a book that pokes fun at those who think they have the end-times all figured out and who like to claim they know when the end is coming. It also seeks to bring just a little bit of clarity to the concepts and terminology surrounding the end-times.
Book Review - A Journey in Grace (05/22/05 - 0 Comments)
A Journey in Grace, by Richard Belcher, is billed as being "A Theological Novel." So intrigued was I at the prospect of reading a theological novel that I left this book sitting on my shelf for seven years before I ever thought to read it. And now I can’t help but wish I had read it sooner.
I believe the order of the words in "theological novel" is important. This book is definitely better theology than fiction. In fact, as fiction goes, it is quite poor. But as theology it is exceptional. I chose to read and examine it as theology rather than fiction, since that is clearly its primary purpose.
Book Review - The Forgotten Trinity (05/21/05 - 0 Comments)
I have often admired authors who have written the great biographies of Christian heroes of the past. Arnold Dallimore, Iain Murray and others, who have invested thousands of hours in reading about and seeking to understand their subject. With enough study the biographer can eventually reach a point where he really understands the person he intends to write about. When he understands him, he can share what he knows of the person with others through the written word.
James White, in The Forgotten Trinity has taken on a more difficult task. He has written a book about One who is beyond human comprehension. While there is much we can know about God, we can only know what He has chosen to reveal about Himself.
May DVD Giveaway Wrapup (05/20/05 - 0 Comments)
Thanks to all who participated in the giveaway of Amazing Grace: The History & Theology of Calvinism DVD and the Luther DVD. Response was overwhelming.
Before I reveal the names of the winners, I'd like to once again thank Monergismbooks.com for their ongoing support. You can thank them for their support by visiting the site, even if it is just to poke around and see what they offer.
If you would like to purchase Amazing Grace, that is the place to do it.
Friday Frivolity (05/20/05 - 0 Comments)
A few weeks ago we had some Friday Frivolity and I asked people to grab the closest book, flip to a certain page and post a sentence from that page. It was moderately interesting (at best) to see what books people were reading.
Today I thought it would be moderately fun (at best) to ask people to list the books that are currently on their desk. Just a list of the titles and authors. If you have too many to list, just post a few of them.
On my desk you will currently find:
Putting God In A Box - Piety (05/20/05 - 0 Comments)
This is the third installment in a series of articles discussing the Christian tendency to put God in a box. In the first article we saw that we tend to feel insecure about God unless we have contained Him within a box in our minds and then saw that God has revealed Himself to us in a way that is incomplete, but which we can understand. God's revelation of Himself provides a framework within which we can understand Him. While incomplete, this framework is accurate and trustworthy. In the second article we examined how we can allow our doctrine to put God in a box through our ignorance, through our imaginations and by making theology and end in itself.
Today we will look at Christian piety and how it can lead us to put God in a box.
Putting God In A Box - Doctrine (05/19/05 - 0 Comments)
In the first article in this series we looked at the tendency Christians have to put God in a box. We seem to feel insecure about Him unless we have contained Him within a structure of our own making. We also saw that God has revealed Himself to us in the Scripture in a way that is incomplete, yet in a way that we can understand. This revelation of Himself provides a framework within which we can begin to comprehend Him. To close the article I suggested that there are three predominant ways we box God and these correlate with the three emphasizes of Reformed theology - the doctrinalist, the pietist and the transformationalist. Today we will examine the first of these.
Putting God In A Box - Introduction (05/18/05 - 0 Comments)
My family owns a beautiful cottage in the woods near one of the most picturesque villages in Ontario. This village was once a center of commerce along the Rideau Lake system - a series of canals and both natural and artificial lakes that span the miles between the cities of Kingston and Ottawa. The canal system was built in the eighteen hundreds to provide a quick avenue of travel should America and Canada go to war as they did in the early part of the century, but today stands as a part of the nation's history and a beautiful vacation destination.
This village, which now has a population of only a hundred people, was once a bustling town centered around a series of rapids flowing between two lakes. Because of the difference in elevation between the lakes, a dam and a lock had to be built in this town. The damn held back the water and created a fast-flowing series of rapids that provided the energy to run mills.
Why Will Man Lament The State He Should Envy? (05/17/05 - 0 Comments)
Several weeks ago my dear friends Chris and Rebecca shared with us that her grandfather, Art, had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The doctors considered it terminal and inoperable, describing it as one of the worst forms of brain cancer. He would have only a couple of months to live and for much of that time he would be in terrible pain. Like the rest of their friends and family, we prayed for this family, asking that God would strengthen them and that He would either heal her grandfather or take him home before the pain became too intense.
Rebecca's family is spread across three provinces and one state - thousands of miles, yet in the weeks following his diagnosis, her grandfather was able to spend time with each of his children, his nine grandchildren and their spouses and his four great-grandchildren. Soon he and his wife were in small-town Saskatchewan visiting Chris and Rebecca and their immediate family.
From The Better Late Than Never File... (05/16/05 - 0 Comments)
Well look what the cat dragged into the blogosphere. Phil Johnson has a snazzy new blog all primed and ready to go. A quick prelaunch check shows that all the necessary elements are in place.
Obligatory blogroll? Check. Obligatory reader quote? Check. Photograph of the blogger? Check. Biography? Check.
Content? Well, not yet. But he says it is coming sometime around June 1. Anyone think we'll see a marked decrease in the quality of programming at Grace to You once Phil gets blogging?
BookSwarming? (05/16/05 - 0 Comments)
In your travels around the blogosphere today you may have noticed a few reviews of The Feminist Mistake by Mary Kassian. Chances are these books are part of a program I have put in place through the Diet of Bookworms. I have scoured the blogosphere to find blogs that meet two criteria: First, the blogger must be theologically-conservative and exhibit some discernment, and second, his or her blog must generate a fair amount of traffic. These two criteria have been surprisingly difficult to reconcile. I contacted several bloggers and asked if they would consider reading books and review them. These reviews will all be posted on The Diet of Bookworms.
Book Review - The Feminist Mistake (05/16/05 - 0 Comments)
I remember the first time I became aware of the impact of feminism. My grandmother, a tiny, sweet, woman, told me about working in an office environment. She mentioned how it used to be that when she approached a door, especially if there were lots of people around, someone would always open and hold the door for her. It was just common courtesy. But by the time she was near retirement, this was no longer the case. Men were intimidated by women and had long since given up acts of chivalry. In fact, the only person she could think of who had held a door for her recently was a young, studded punk rocker with a huge pink mohawk. She blamed this on feminism.
She was probably correct in her assessment. The Feminist Mistake, by Mary Kassian traces the rise of feminism through the twentieth century.
Headline: Abortions Put Subsequent Babies At Risk (05/15/05 - 0 Comments)
Every now and then a news story takes me by surprise. This morning the Telegraph has an interesting article about a French study which examined the link between abortions and subsequent premature births. The study found that a woman who has had at least one abortion is forty percent more likely to have an extremely premature baby in subsequent pregnancies than a woman who has never had an abortion. And of course a large percentage of extremely premature babies die in infancy or have serious health problems.
"The study of 2,837 births ... found that mothers who had previously had an abortion were 1.7 times more likely to give birth to a baby at less than 28 weeks' gestation.
Recommended Reading (05/14/05 - 0 Comments)
My wife and I just got home from running around doing our morning chores. As we pulled into the driveway I noticed a group of well-dressed gentlemen clutching Bibles and briefcases just a few doors down. I heard them say, "No one's around. Let's try again tomorrow." So I guess I have a visit to look forward to from the Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses (can't say I know which group these guys represented). Those visits are always fun. My wife dreads them as she knows that I may end up talking to them for quite a while. Of course these chats are always a dead end, but they are also good fun.
Moving on, I wanted to direct you to some good articles I read this week. I spent an unusually large amount of time reading other blogs this week and present to you some of the best of what I read.
Pornography Driving Technology (05/13/05 - 0 Comments)
Pornography is having an increasingly-harmful impact on the church. Pollsters like Barna have been telling us for years now that more and more Christians, including, and even especially, those in positions of leadership are as prone to pornography addiction as anyone. The effects of pornography, as most of us know (as most of us, by now, have surely known someone who has been found out to be addicted to pornography or who has recovered from an addiction) are terribly detrimental. Of course many outside of the church disagree, believing that pornography is a harmless diversion, and as long as people are not forced into making or watching it, there is no harm in it.
Yesterday I was listening to the news headlines on the radio and heard about some new mobile phone technology. While many people already have phones that can display and even snap photographs, video phones are now increasing in popularity.
Before There Was Derek Webb... (05/12/05 - 0 Comments)
Yesterday I wrote a post about poetry and quite a few people followed-up by posting some of their favorite poems. After writing that article I continued to think about poetry and music and their power, especially when combined. A reader asked if I consider songs to be poetry, and I certainly do, except that songs are poetry in a less pure form. What I mean by that is that poetry presents nothing but words - songs introduce music which can be manipulative, for good or for ill. That is certainly not to denigrate music, but simply to indicate that music can be doubly-powerful.
Changing my direction a little bit, this morning I was thinking about songs that address problems within the church (I have no idea why, though it probably has something to do with an article series I am researching and writing at the moment).
Poetic Favorites (05/11/05 - 0 Comments)
Poetry is a form of communication that is largely lost on me, and in fact, seems to be lost on our society as a whole (unless it is printed within the pages of a CD cover and is sung to us). Most of us do not read much poetry after we have finished with our educations. We have to study it in high school and college and usually have to make a few half-hearted attempts at it ourselves, but once we have our diplomas in-hand, most never think about it again. It is a shame, really.
It strikes me as strange that a form of writing used so much in the Bible is largely ignored by Christians.
The Most Important Characteristic of a Godly Mother (05/10/05 - 0 Comments)
"Contrary to popular opinion, the most important characteristic of a godly mother is her relationship, not with her children, but with her husband. What you communicate to your children through your marital relationship will stay with them for the rest of their lives. By watching you and your husband, they are learning the most fundamental lessons of life-love, self-sacrifice, integrity, virtue, sin, sympathy, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness. Whatever you teach them about those things, right or wrong, is planted deep within their hearts."
So says John MacArthur in his article for Mother's Day entitled The Profile of a Godly Mother. This is MacArthur at his best. Go read it!
Book Review - Escaping The Matrix (05/10/05 - 0 Comments)
Let me be honest up-front. I did not finish this book. I believe it is only the second book, of the 100+ I have reviewed, that I did not complete. I read the first several chapters and was so disgusted by what I was reading that I elected to merely skim the remainder of the book. After all, I'm a busy guy and have an entire shelf of unread books awaiting my attention. Why would I want to waste my time on what is, unfortunately, complete trash?
Escaping The Matrix by Gregory Boyd and Al Larson is, according to the cover, a guide to "setting your mind free to experience real life in Christ."
Book Review - The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (05/10/05 - 0 Comments)
Until I read this book I never would have considered that God's love was a difficult doctrine. The Trinity is a difficult doctrine to understand - impossible even. The eternal nature of God - that is another difficult or impossible one. But the love of God? I wouldn't have believed it. But having read this book I believe it now.
The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson is just a short book (96 pages) that is drawn from four lectures Carson delivered in 1998. There was a small amount of editing performed, but the conversational nature of the speech carries through the text. It makes for an easy read, despite some deep theology.
Paul Proctor on Heretics and Hypocrites (05/09/05 - 0 Comments)
I am not entirely sure who this Paul Proctor fellow is (despite a few emails back and forth between us), but he sends me notifications when he has posted a new column to News with Views, and he always has interestings things to say. His most recent column takes on an issue I have addressed within the forums but never in an article. And now I do not have to, as I can just point people to this article. I would like to provide a bit of commentary on it.
Proctor begins by saying, "Every now and then I get a terse email from someone who has taken exception to my candid comments on Rick Warren, asking questions like: 'Have you ever spoken with him personally about your objections and concerns and tried to work through your differences privately as scripture teaches, rather than attack him publicly as you do?'"
May DVD Giveaway (05/09/05 - 0 Comments)
We are a week into May and the calendar tells me that it is once more time to have another giveaway. Instead of giving away the usual pair of books or a book with a DVD I thought I would break with tradition this month and giveaway two DVDs.
First, I'd like to thank Monergism Books for once again sponsoring this giveaway. Please be sure to visit this store and check out his wide range of reading material. By visiting his site you are supporting these giveaways!
Sunday Reflection (05/08/05 - 0 Comments)
Today I present a brief reflection on Sunday, providing some historic viewpoints on the Lord's Day as summarized in various creeds and confessions. I do not think my commentary would be helpful or necessary:
The London Baptist Confession says:
As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God's appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week...
My Wife The Anti-Feminist (05/07/05 - 0 Comments)
Over the past week my wife and I have both been absorbed in nonfiction books. I have been reading The Feminist Mistake: The Radical Impact of Feminism on Church and Culture by Mary A. Kassian. In this book Kassian details the rise of modern feminism and points to its impact on the church. The basic premise of the book is that feminism, whether it be secular or Christian, is based on the same principles and will end up at the same place - a place far from God. It has been fascinating to see how women who dedicate themselves to feminist philosophy end up straying farther and farther from the truth. It is almost as if radical feminism is a mental disorder. What is radical in secular feminism becomes mainstream about ten years later, and what is mainstream in secular feminism becomes mainstream in the Christian world just a few years after that. I will publish a full review of this book sometime in the next week or so.
How To Listen To An (Expository?) Sermon (05/06/05 - 0 Comments)
Last Sunday I posted a review of Famine in the Land by Steven Lawson, a great little book that discussed the importance of expository (or expositional) preaching. It is his thesis that "a return to preaching - true preaching, biblical preaching, expository preaching - is the greatest need in this critical hour" and through the book he discusses the priority, power, pattern and passion of expository preaching.
Following the review, a reader asked about the responsibility of the listener to prepare for a sermon. Despite being terribly wounded that she did not remember it, I directed her to an article...
Public Service Announcements (05/06/05 - 0 Comments)
I've got a few public service announcements to share today. You can be sure that they are all of the utmost importance.
First, I wanted to remind you about the Diet of Bookworms. This is a site I created that collects links to book reviews written by discerning reviewers. My vision for the site is that this can be a place for Christians to research books to determine what others are saying about them. So far the reaction from readers, authors and publishers has been very encouraging. While the site is (in all likelihood) going to undergo a bit of a revision in the coming days (in both style and function), the content that is there is updated and helpful. You can check it out at dietofbookworms.com. Tell your friends, tell your neighbours, and so on.
