July 2007 Archive
Book Review Updates (07/31/07 - 0 Comments)
As you know, Tuesday is the day I add new reviews to Discerning Reader. This week we have five reviews for you, four of which were written by me. The fifth is written by a new Discerning Reader reviewer, James Anderson. James has a review of Only One Way?, a book edited by Richard Phillips. He writes, "for those of us who remain undaunted by such cultural pressures, this book offers an invigorating celebration of...
Book Review - The Truth of the Cross (07/31/07 - 14 Comments)
Before I started into the text of The Truth of the Cross I read the three endorsements that came with it, one by Thomas Schreiner, one by Scott Clark and one by Bruce Waltke. It was Waltke's that caught my eye when he said, "The Truth of the Cross is the best book on the cross I have read." A man of Waltke's age, Christian maturity and status must have read more than a few...
The Best $4.03 You'll Ever Spend (07/30/07 - 20 Comments)
I was poking around a little bit today and found what I consider to be just a great deal. I'm posting for no other reason than to tell you that this represents what I'm sure you'll agree is the best $4.03 you'll ever spend. It's one of my all-time favorites and a book worth reading at least once per year. If you disagree and are absolutely convinced that another item worth $4.03 would have been...
The Extraordinary Ordinary (07/30/07 - 11 Comments)
Theologians sometimes speak of the ordinary means of grace, a term that refers to the preaching of the Word, the sacraments (or ordinances, if you prefer, as most Baptists do) and prayer. These three means are to be the foundation of the church's activity. They are simple measures and ones that can often be overlooked. We tend to encounter these means on a regular basis and for that reason these ordinary means of grace can...
Debtors, Enemies and Criminals (07/29/07 - 2 Comments)
Yesterday I read R.C. Sproul's new book The Truth of the Cross. It's just a short book, coming in at just 167 small pages, but as we'd expect from Sproul, does not waste a word. It's a great little book and one that gave me a lot to think about. I wanted to share just one of those things today, primarily because after finishing the last chapter this morning I went to church and heard...
R.C.'s Bookstore Challenge (07/28/07 - 35 Comments)
I've been reading R.C. Sproul's latest book, The Truth of the Cross. It's just a small book but you know that if Sproul is writing about the atonement that it will be well worth reading. Just seven pages in he discusses visiting a bookstore in a local mall. He found shelves and counters full of books with the categories prominently marked: fiction, nonfiction, business, sports, children's stories, and on and on. In the very back...
Book Review - The God Delusion (07/27/07 - 49 Comments)
The atheistic literary pantheon is currently comprised of three men: Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. All three men have written bestselling books and all three have published their most recent efforts in the past year. While I have no reason to believe that they have planned their books to coincide thematically or chronologically, their books do resemble each other in several ways. All three men believe that religion is a blight on...
Dear Bobbie (Do You Remember?) (07/26/07 - 6 Comments)
Aileen and I were blessed, when we first began dating, to be members of a church where there were many elderly couples. They were couples who exemplified so many beautiful qualities. Christians for decades, they shone with the light of Christ and were living proof that, though physical beauty fades with the years, true inner beauty grows with every year spent in and through Christ. They had a life, a glow, a presence that drew...
Captivity (07/25/07 - 25 Comments)
Barb needed help. In fact, she had asked our friends, her next door neighbors, to help her clean up her house a bit. She was having trouble with her finances and wanted to sell off some valuable items in her house, but first needed to tidy up a bit. I decided to pitch in. Our friends regarded Barb as more of a charity case than a friend. They did not truly enjoy her company but...
Book Review - Girls Gone Mild (07/24/07 - 5 Comments)
In 2000, when she was only twenty-three, Wendy Shalit published A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue, a book in which she argued that the sexual revolution may not have been entirely beneficial for women. She decried the lack of modesty this revolution has brought about and, according to TIME defended "compellingly, shame, privacy, gallantry, and sexual reticence." Of course many people, and feminists in particular, were disgusted with the book and ruthlessly mocked...
The Tyranny of Technology (07/23/07 - 16 Comments)
I'm on vacation this week. Aileen and I are perched in a nice little cottage just over a dune from a beautiful beach. The cottage is great. It has electricity and all kinds of good amenities, but no phone and no access to the internet. There is a television but it is useful only as a means of playing DVDs and receives no channels. My cell phone only picks up a roaming signal out of...
Review - Letter to a Christian Nation (07/22/07 - 5 Comments)
I found Letter to a Christian Nation a difficult book to read. It is, after all, a book whose purpose is to criticize one of the things I hold most dear--the church of Jesus Christ. While certainly deliberate and measured as these things go, it is still something of a rant against religion in general, Christianity in particular, and, at its narrowest focus, those who call themselves by the name of Christ (and hence, the...
Heartbeat of Miami (07/21/07 - 11 Comments)
Around here we know John Ensor as the author of a couple of books I've reviewed: The Great Work of the Gospel and Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart. But there's more to him than his books. Last year he took the position of Executive Director of the Urban Initiative Program of Heartbeat International. He is now leading an initiative in Miami, Florida called Heartbeat of Miami, working in an area that has...
Blog Updates (07/20/07 - 41 Comments)
Featuring...You? Way back near the end of 2005 I began the feature I called "King for a Week," where I highlight another person's blog for a week or two (perhaps the name was not the best choice, but it's too late to change it now). I'm glad I did this and, though I've pretty well exhausted my list of long-time regular reads, I plan to continue with it. But I realize that there are many...
Glorying in Humiliation (07/19/07 - 17 Comments)
Over the past few days I've been reading Girls Gone Mild, the new book by Wendy Shalit. Shalit's first book, A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue was published seven years ago and caused quite a stir. Shalit, an orthodox Jew, made the audacious claim that the sexual revolution may not have been entirely beneficial for women. She decried the lack of modesty this revolution has brought about and, according to TIME defended "compellingly,...
Book Review - Jesus the Evangelist (07/18/07 - 5 Comments)
I typically try to avoid posting book reviews two days in a row (especially after posting both reviews at Discerning Reader), but I wanted to be sure I drew sufficient attention to Richard Phillips' new book Jesus the Evangelist. I have written about the book once before (link) while reflecting on what I learned from studying the account of Jesus at Jacob's Well. But that was just one of the many beneficial lessons I drew...
Book Review Updates (07/17/07 - 3 Comments)
As you know by now, Tuesdays are review days over at Discerning Reader. And this week we've added five new ones (written by four different reviewers) and two great author interviews. There is a book here for everyone! I have already posted my review of When Sinners Say "I Do" at the blog, but have a very interesting interview with Dave Harvey that you'll want to read. I also review Jesus the Evangelist by Richard...
Review - When Sinners Say "I Do" (07/17/07 - 19 Comments)
A person does not have to be married for long to realize that marriage is a lot more difficult than it may seem. Certainly it is a lot more difficult than God intended for it to be. With the fall into sin came the rise of the self, with the loss of perfection came the dominance of sin. Even the best marriages are now tainted by sin, by selfishness, by a distinct lack of love....
Blessed are the Underappreciated (07/16/07 - 12 Comments)
Our culture has an obsession with underappreciation. Everywhere you look there are discussions about this topic. I cannot think of many subjects that are discussed more in the sports world; there are always and forever discussions about which player is the most underappreciated or which position generates the lowest amount of recognition. Look around and you'll soon find discussions of songs, films, actors, blogs and books that are underappreciated--that are not getting the attention they...
King for a Week - Moore to the Point (07/15/07 - 4 Comments)
King for a Week is an honor I bestow on blogs that I feel are making a valuable contribution to my faith and the faith of other believers...or sometimes just because I really like them. It is a way of introducing my readers to blogs that they may also find interesting and edifying. Every two weeks (or so) I select a blog, link to it from my site, and add that site's most recent headlines...
The Last Gentleman Adventurer (07/14/07 - 3 Comments)
When he was just sixteen years old, Edward Beauclerk Maurice signed up with the Hudson's Bay Company and was sent from his native England to an isolated trading post in the Canadian arctic as one of the Company's Gentleman Adventurers. A million miles from nowhere, there was no communication with the outside world (beyond the very occasional, very faint radio broadcast) and a ship arrived only once each year. Maurice's job was to trade with...
Environmentalism and Christianity (07/13/07 - 35 Comments)
There have been several occasions on this site when I've taken the opportunity to express a bit of disgust or alarm with environmentalism. When I do that, I typically get an email or comment asking why I am opposed to protecting the environment. Because I usually only mention these things in the A La Carte section I have never taken the opportunity to explain myself. I want to do that today, even if only briefly....
Encouraging a Blogger (07/12/07 - 30 Comments)
This article is probably going to seem far too self-serving. Yet I'm willing to recklessly plow ahead regardless. Yesterday, while I was talking to Kevin Boling on "Calling for Truth" we received a call from a reader of this site who asked an interesting question. He wanted to know how he, as someone who reads the blog, can serve as an encouragement to me. I thought it was a timely question because I'd been thinking...
Quote - Dave Harvey on Jane Austen (07/11/07 - 45 Comments)
I am currently reading Dave Harvey's new book, When Sinners Say "I Do". The book is just excellent. I'll provide a review of it shortly, but for now wanted to post a humorous little excerpt I enjoyed: I'm way too masculine to enjoy Jane Austen. Now, I realize that women usually read that as, "I'm not smart enough to get Jane Austen," and I suppose there may be some truth to that. But even if...
Calling For Truth (07/11/07 - 7 Comments)
Here's something a little bit different. I've been asked to guest on a radio program for today, so rather than typing out an article today, I'll simply refer you to the program. It will go out live this afternoon from 1-2 PM EST. If you're in the area of Greenville, South Carolina, you should be able to listen on your radio. Everyone else can pick it up over the Net through the audio stream. We'll...
Book Review Updates (07/10/07 - 1 Comments)
As you know by now, Tuesdays are review days over at Discerning Reader. And this week, like most weeks, we've added four new ones. Two were written by me and two were written by others. From reviewer Scott Lamb comes a review of a book edited by Tom Nettles and Russell Moore and targetted squarely at Baptists. Scott encourages you to pick up a copy of Why I am a Baptist and to join in...
Book Review - Manhunt (07/10/07 - 4 Comments)
I began reading Manhunt on the Monday morning of a long weekend. By the end of the day I had accomplished none of the chores and errands I had hoped to scratch off my list, but instead found myself 350 pages into this book. I eventually pried myself away long enough to get some sleep and then promptly finished it up the next morning. Though I am a lover of history, rarely has my attention...
The So Much More (07/09/07 - 14 Comments)
Yesterday evening, Boeing rolled out their next generation airliner, the 787 "Dreamliner." A high-tech, mid-sized, wide-body, twin engine jet airliner, the Dreamliner is being hailed as a great technological innovation, primarily for its use of composite materials. These materials make for a much lighter aircraft which in turn leads to significant fuel savings and allows the aircraft to land on shorter runways. It should even allow the aircraft to support higher internal humidity which will...
Sunday Ramblings (07/08/07 - 6 Comments)
Just a couple of things I've wanted to mention but haven't fit anywhere else... Music: - A couple of weeks ago I received Asleep in a Storm, the latest album from Sovereign Grace Ministries. "Produced by Jeremy White, a member of Grace Church (San Diego, CA), the CD features a fresh take on nine previously released songs, plus one new instrumental track from Jeremy. You’ll hear original vocals from Shannon Harris, Vikki Cook, and others,...
TDoSD: Another Endorsement (07/07/07 - 9 Comments)
A couple of nights ago I received the second endorsement for The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. As I mentioned the first time an endorsement came in, I will continue to share these because, in many ways, I feel that this book was a community effort as readers of the site prayed for me, encouraged me, proofread the book (in a few cases), and generally made it all possible. This second endorsement was courtesy of Dr....
Evolution and Worldview (07/06/07 - 11 Comments)
A recent article at Psychology Today is getting a lot of attention. I noticed it at a couple of blogs and then saw it come across the wire at Digg, so it is being widely read. The article offers "Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature." In the preamble the authors, Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa, say: Human behavior is a product both of our innate human nature and of our individual experience and...
Jacob's Well (07/05/07 - 8 Comments)
Several weeks ago I completed a brief project building a website for a church called Jacob's Well, an upcoming church plant in Middlesex County, New Jersey and a part of the Acts 29 Network. As I was building the site I didn't think much of the name, of its origin or its important. That changed, though, as I read an upcoming book by Richard Phillips. The book, Jesus the Evangelist is set to be released...
Don't You Know Who I Am? (07/04/07 - 19 Comments)
Last night in the news I caught a headline titled something like "Eltron Rocks Royal Tantrum." It seems that Elton John, having just arrived at a concert venue where he was scheduled to sing before a live audience of tens of thousands and a televised audience in the millions, had his car stopped about fifty yards short of his dressing room. Because Princes William and Harry were at the conference (which was, I believe, in...
Book Review (and Interview) Updates (07/03/07 - 0 Comments)
Tuesday is review day over at Discerning Reader. This week we've posted four new ones. I'm guessing that the one which will prove of most interest to readers of this site is Leslie Wiggins' review of Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters. "The Mahaney women invite you to pull a chair up to Carolyn’s kitchen table for their weekly Q & A. The Feta cheese and French fries will be flying as...
Book Review - Lincoln (07/03/07 - 7 Comments)
I have long been fascinated with Abraham Lincoln. I first encountered him during a family vacation in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Touring the battlefields and the surrounding area we came to that place where he delivered the Gettysburg Address which has rightly gone done in history as one of the greatest English literary accomplishments. A few years later we traveled to Springfield and visited the home where he lived while practicing law. It was there that we...
Canada Day 2007 (07/02/07 - 9 Comments)
While July 1 is Canada Day, the nation actually seems to take July 2 to remember the birth of our nation. All the stores were open yesterday and are closed today. So today seemed like a good time to thinking about the day. I do not have a lot of customs on this site, but Canada Day is customarily a time I pause to reflect on this nation and form some thoughts about what has...
Pierced for Our Transgressions (07/01/07 - 31 Comments)
The doctrine of penal substitution doesn't, on the face of it, sound too glorious. It is a doctrine involving curse, punishment, blood and death. It is little wonder that people object to it so strenuously. Indeed, this teaching has been at the very center of a rift within the church--a rift that seems to be growing ever-wider and ever more visible. Once the realm of scholars cloistered away in the ivory towers of academia, the...
