Book Review - Death by Love (09/30/08 - 20 Comments)
Death by Love is Mark Driscoll's fourth book (or eighth if you count the "A Book You'll Actually Read" series of booklets released earlier this year by Crossway) and the second to be released in the 2008 calendar year. It follows Vintage Jesus, Confessions of a Reformission Rev. and The Radical Reformission. Along with Vintage Jesus it is the second to be co-written with Gerry Breshears. Death by Love is unique among Driscoll's books in...
Calvinism and Evangelism (09/29/08 - 21 Comments)
One of the joyful challenges I face in maintaining this blog is answering the questions of Christians who are wrestling with issues related to Reformed theology. I receive many questions from people who are new to the doctrines of grace or who are fighting through them for the first time. I try to answer as many of these questions as I can, though admittedly, a few do get away. Some time ago a reader asked...
A Prayer of Penitence (09/28/08 - 1 Comments)
Here is another prayer drawn from The Valley of Vision. It is a prayer of penitence. What particularly appealed to me in this prayer was the first section which sets much of a days' sin in the neglect of private prayers. "My first sin of the day leads into others..." I think every Christian can identify with this and pray with this old Puritan, "O quicken my conscience to feel this folly, to bewail this...
Poll: How Old Are You? (09/27/08 - 65 Comments)
Last week's poll (where do you buy books?) continues to fascinate me. After almost 1200 votes Amazon is the clear winner, holding steady with over half of the total vote. This week I thought I'd lighten things up a bit and ask a question that is really pure curiosity. It's simply this: How old are you? Do note that if you are reading this via RSS, you'll have to click through to the site to...
Friday Miscellania (09/26/08 - 23 Comments)
It's Friday and that's a good day to ramble. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to share just a couple of items of "miscellania." Personal Updates I've had a couple of people ask for updates as to what I'm up to these days. So here goes. My fall travel schedule is very light, for which I'm grateful. In a couple of weeks I'll be heading to Chicago to blog the True Woman conference. Yes,...
Talk: Supporting Christian Businesses (09/25/08 - 34 Comments)
Last week I added a poll to this site and asked where you buy the majority of your books. The results really surprised me. As of this moment Amazon has a clear lead with 55% of the votes. That means that half of us buy the majority of our books from Amazon instead of the local Christian bookstore or one of the many online Christian retailers. There are almost three times more votes for online...
Reading Classics - Edwards Takes a Day Off (09/25/08 - 6 Comments)
Thursdays are the day I dedicate to reading and writing about the classic books of the Christian faith. We're well into Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections and have been moving at about a chapter (or heading) per week. This week I did not live up to my end of the bargain. It was one of those crazy weeks where it seems I spent more time out of the house than in and where the time I...
Living on Borrowed Grace (09/24/08 - 15 Comments)
I woke up early this morning, a long time before my alarm was set to start buzzing. I woke up with a phrase bouncing through my mind--a phrase I've been thinking about for a long time. Some time ago I was thinking about children who have the privilege of growing up in Christian homes but was drawn to the many I know who have fallen away from the faith. Despite the great honor given them...
He Is Not Silent (09/23/08 - 9 Comments)
Preaching is not just for preachers. Every Christian can, and, I'm increasingly convinced, should be educated about the task and calling of the preacher. I am convinced that there is great benefit in all Christians becoming students of preaching. This applies even to those who will never stand behind the pulpit and bring the Word of God to His people. The book I would recommend to laypersons wishing to learn about preaching and to pastors...
Book Review - Jack (09/22/08 - 10 Comments)
I have often expressed my love of biographies. I consider them to be among the most helpful of resources in helping equip Christians in their lifelong quest for Christ-likeness. We can learn much from the examples of those who have run the race before us. We can learn from what God taught them, learn from their triumphs and learn from the times they were defeated. I have a passion for biographies. I also have a...
A Prayer for After Prayer (09/21/08 - 4 Comments)
Today is going to be a busy day. Our church is having a members' meeting in the mid-afternoon, which means that we'll have only a couple of hours after morning worship before heading back to church first for the meeting and then for evening worship. And then, after it all, we have a small group of sorts to attend. Put it all together and it is going to be a busy day, though a blessed...
Poll: Where Do You Buy Books? (09/20/08 - 105 Comments)
It has taken years but I think I've finally managed to find a way of incorporating polls into blog posts. Those who visit the main page of the site will have already noticed a poll in the sidebar there. But I think I can now work it into a post as well. The most recent poll question asked simply "How many books do you anticipate reading in 2009?" The answer surprised me. Though I couldn't...
How is the Christian to Love God? (09/19/08 - 30 Comments)
There is a profound truth that every Christian must face: the Bible is an inexhaustible treasure. Talk to a pastor who has spent a lifetime reading, studying and explaining the Bible and he will tell you, I'm sure, that the more he comes to understand, the more he realizes he does not understand. I have heard John Piper compare this to climbing a mountain. As he scales a sheer cliff and comes to the top...
Reading Classics - The Religious Affections (IX) (09/18/08 - 10 Comments)
Today we come to our tenth reading in Jonathan Edwards' The Religious Affections. This is a long book but we're making our way through it just as quickly as we can, I think. To speed up would be to leave us with very long and difficult readings. And so we press on, one "sign" at a time. Summary We continue to progress through the twelve signs of truly gracious and holy affections. So far we've...
No Fickle Fan (09/17/08 - 9 Comments)
A couple of weeks ago, I went to watch the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Tampa Bay Rays (baseball, for those of you who may not follow professional sports). For the first time in recent memory I went to the game on back-to-back days, both Friday and Saturday. When they announced the group that would sing the national anthems for Saturday afternoon's game, I knew I was where I needed to be that day....
Child of Divorce, Child of God (09/16/08 - 3 Comments)
I grew up in a stable family and in a church community of stable families. Divorce was almost unknown among the Christians I knew as a child. But as I looked to friends and family outside the bounds of the church I saw many broken homes. My parents let us see these families and I think they wanted us to see them as an object lesson in the reality that God is the one who...
A Lesson in Worldview (Brought to You by the Letter "I") (09/15/08 - 40 Comments)
So Ray Boltz, a once-prominent figure in the world of Christian Contemporary Music, is gay. He came out to his family--he is the father of four grown children--in December of 2004 but only recently has the news trickled beyond that inner circle. Just a few days ago his story was featured in an article in the Washington Blade, "the Gay and Lesbian News Source of Record" in D.C. and it provides a rough time line...
Regeneration: A Prayer (09/14/08 - 5 Comments)
Continuing this theme of Sunday prayers, here is a wonderful prayer drawn once more from The Valley of Vision. This prayer is titled "Regeneration" and you may recognize it as the foundation of the Sovereign Grace song "O Great God." I read this one yesterday and was just drawn to the amazing descriptions the beautiful language and the deep spiritual truths. O God of the highest heaven, occupy the throne of my heart, take full...
Compassion Bloggers (09/13/08 - 23 Comments)
A couple of months ago I received a rather unique invitation. Compassion International was considering sending a team of bloggers to Dominican Republic and wondered if I might be interested in tagging along. The purpose of the trip is for these bloggers to see what Compassion is doing in that place and to learn what the organization is all about. I thought about it for some time and have decided to go along. I have...
Love or Die (09/12/08 - 10 Comments)
It is a strange gig, being a book reviewer. There are times when I spend weeks or months in anticipation of a new book only to find it a great disappointment. And then there are times when a book just shows up--a book I didn't even know existed--and it takes my breath away. Such was the case with Love or Die by Alexander Strauch. While the book is large in dimensions (8.8 x 5.9, so...
Reading Classics - The Religious Affections (VIII) (09/11/08 - 8 Comments)
Today we come to our ninth reading in Jonathan Edwards' The Religious Affections. This is a long book but we're making our way through it just as quickly as we can, I think. To speed up would be to leave us with very long and difficult readings. And so we press on, one "sign" at a time. Summary We continue to progress through the twelve signs of truly gracious and holy affections. So far we've...
A Big Name or a Big Person? (09/10/08 - 9 Comments)
I wanted to post a brief follow-up to Monday's article in which I asked Who Shapes Your World? I think the issue of celebrity and heroism was a fascinating component of the James Bradley's book Flags of our Fathers. In the book he described the infamous battle of Iwo Jima, but he did so within the context of his search for the role his father played in that battle. His father, John Bradley, a Navy...
Game Day for the Glory of God (09/09/08 - 4 Comments)
For people living in a society so obsessed with sports and so given over to them, I'm not sure that enough Christians have paused to consider what they think about sports in a way that is firmly biblical. I can think of only a small handful of books that have considered sports in light of Scripture and that have offered truly Christian ways of thinking about them. Into this void steps Stephen Altrogge with his...
Who Shapes Your World? (09/08/08 - 20 Comments)
Every now and again TIME Magazine features "The People Who Shape Our World." A couple of years ago, they created a list of 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example, they feel, is transforming our world. It is important to note, before we take a peek at this list, that it is not really the world which these people shape. Rather, it is people within the world that are shaped and transformed...
A Prayer of Confidence (09/07/08 - 9 Comments)
Here is a prayer from that collection of Puritan prayers known as The Valley of Vision. This is a prayer of confidence--confidence in the greatness and the grace of God. It is a bold prayer made through a right apprehension of the character of God. ***** O God, Thou art very great, My lot is to approach thee with godly fear and humble confidence, for thy condescension equals thy grandeur, and thy goodness is thy...
Book Review - The Johnstown Flood (09/06/08 - 11 Comments)
A short time ago I made the decision to read through all of David McCullough’s books. He is a renown historian and a gifted author and I realized that reading his books would be both educational and enjoyable—not just to learn history from a master but to learn from his style of writing. Few men can write history with the lucidity and character of David McCullough. This is why, I’m sure, all of his books...
Good Saint Sarah (09/05/08 - 60 Comments)
For sheer entertainment value, I think American politics in general, and Presidential campaigns in particular, are about the best bang for my buck, even as a non-American. For little more than the cost of an internet connection I can spend endless hours being amused. This 2008 campaign may be the most entertaining yet. While I rarely use this blog to discuss politics (and especially when I'm as ignorant of a topic as I am with...
Reading Classics - The Religious Affections (VII) (09/04/08 - 8 Comments)
Today we come to our eighth reading in Jonathan Edwards' The Religious Affections. Though this book is a long haul, we are making some good progress, and I happen to think that it is getting better and better, particularly as we head into chapters which provide opportunity for reflection and application. This week we looked to the third sign of authentic affections. Summary We continue to progress through the twelve signs of truly gracious and...
Talk: Secrets in Marriage (09/03/08 - 67 Comments)
Admiral Lord Nelson once said, "Every sailor is a bachelor when beyond Gibraltar." They are profound words and ones well worth thinking about, and especially so in our modern context. I've written in the past about issues related to accountability and anonymity. Lately, though, I've been thinking a bit about these issues in a way strikes a little closer to home. I recently had a discussion with a friend who was asking if I think...
Depending on the Spirit (09/02/08 - 20 Comments)
Some time ago I read an article (which, alas, I can no longer find) that described a time that a crew from the BBC went in search of the Loch Ness Monster. I thought of this yesterday while watching the movie The Water Horse with the kids. The corporation hired a team of experts to sweep Loch Ness from end to end, back and forth for several days using some of the world's most sophisticated...
Book Review - Crossbearer (09/01/08 - 7 Comments)
The story has been told time and again. C.S. Lewis once walked into a room where a lively debate was in progress. A small group of people had been discussing the various world religions, seeking to understand what made them different from Christianity. As Lewis entered, they looked to him and asked for his response. His answer was simple and it was immediate. "Grace." Grace marks the great difference between Christianity and every other religion....
