9 Things I Learned About God From Planet Earth (07/31/09 - 21 Comments)
Planet Earth is widely regarded as the greatest nature or wildlife series ever produced. Says David Attenborough in the opening moments, “A hundred years ago, there were one and a half billion people on Earth. Now, over six billion crowd our fragile planet. But even so, there are still places barely touched by humanity. This series will take you to the last wildernesses and show you the planet and its wildlife as you have never...
A Ministry of Unity (07/30/09 - 11 Comments)
My morning reading today took me to the fourth chapter of Ephesians. This is a chapter that deals primarily with the topic of unity within the body of Christ. Through the first three chapters of the book Paul has been laying the theological framework for the life of good works he describes in the final three chapters. The first topic he discusses in this regard is unity. He encourages believers to live together in humility...
Confirmation Bias (07/29/09 - 28 Comments)
"The moment a person forms a theory his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory." (Thomas Jefferson) Last night a reader of this site took the time to send me a link to an article I had somehow missed reading. It was written by Dr. Albert Mohler and discussed the subject of "confirmation bias." Dr. Mohler traces an article written by Michael Shermer of Scientific American as he discusses a...
Book Review - Broken-Down House (07/28/09 - 2 Comments)
Mark Tubbs is a good friend and my co-laborer over at Discerning Reader. If you have enjoyed that site recently, thank Mark more than me. As Managing Editor, he is heavily involved in the day-to-day management of all that happens there. Because I am on vacation this week, I asked if he would mind if I borrowed a review he had published at Discerning Reader. It is for Paul David Tripp's brand new Broken-Down House....
Vacations, Emergent and Miscellania (07/27/09 - 52 Comments)
The first week of my summer vacation has come and gone. It was excellent. This week, week two of vacation, I am going to be a little busier with family stuff. Therefore I will not be much in the way of original content on the blog. I should have a book review or two along the way, but do not intend to spend a lot of other time writing. Therefore I am queuing up a...
Preaching the Gospel to Yourself (07/26/09 - 8 Comments)
In his book Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges writes about the important discipline of preaching the gospel to yourself every day. Realizing that many people have heard of this discipline but do not know how to practice it, he provides an overview of how he does so. I found it helpful and trust you will too. What could be more important than beginning each day with a fresh understanding of the great work of the gospel...
A Humble but Flawed Servant (07/25/09 - 66 Comments)
As George Whitefield sailed from his native England to Georgia where he was to be a missionary, he ministered to those on board the ship. Here is an excerpt from his journal where he discusses a ministry encounter with a particularly willful child: Had a good instance of the benefit of breaking children's wills betimes. Last night, going between decks (as I do every night) to visit the sick and to examine my people, I...
Free Stuff Fridays (07/24/09 - 6 Comments)
Though I'm on vacation this week, I've got a Free Stuff Fridays ready to go. This week's sponsor is Modern Parables (modernparables.com). "Modern Parables is an original film-based Bible study curriculum on Jesus' parables. It uses short films of the parables combined with teaching by pastors and in-depth study materials to create an entirely new learning experience. Modern Parables seeks to re-create the emotional immediacy that Jesus' 1st-century audience felt when hearing the parables....
Reading Classics Together - The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (VI) (07/23/09 - 21 Comments)
I am on vacation this week and will be giving just an abbreviated look at this chapter. But let me begin by saying that this book really is a treasure. This chapter and the one before it have been nothing short of excellent and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next. There are not many books I read through more than once, but I am convinced that this will be one of them. I...
Highway 5 (07/22/09 - 20 Comments)
A couple of summers ago my parents paid us a rare summer visit. Usually they come to visit in fall or winter, but this year they came in summer. Because my dad is only truly resting when he is hard at work, I asked him to help me with several projects around the house. These were either projects that I had not had time to attend to, or projects for which I would have to...
The New Shape of World Christianity (07/21/09 - 16 Comments)
Those of us who are Western Christians continue to hear reports that the church is migrating to the south and to the east--that as our nations increasingly turn their collective backs on God, God begins fresh work in other parts of the world. Says Mark Noll in his new book The New Shape of World Christianity, "It is as if the globe had been turned upside down and sideways. A few short decades ago, Christian...
Will We Be His Servants? (07/20/09 - 15 Comments)
I am on vacation this week--at home but taking a break from the web design that keeps me busy day after day. Sometimes I relax by writing; other times I relax by not writing. I don't know yet whether this vacation will see more of the former or the latter. My plans for today involve taking my son to swimming lessons, heading to Ikea to look at some living room furniture to replace the now-tattered...
Delight in the Lord's Day (07/19/09 - 9 Comments)
Today is the Lord's Day and I thought I'd pass along some advice pertaining to the day. It comes courtesy of Donald Whitney. His book Simplify Your Spiritual Life offers a long series of short chapters, each offering wisdom on a specific part of the Christian's walk with the Lord. And here he offers some valuable wisdom for getting the most out of your Lord's Day. This is something I read quite a few years...
When Trials Come (07/18/09 - 4 Comments)
Just a few weeks ago Keith and Kristin Getty released Awaken the Dawn, a new album of contemporary hymns. As I understand it, the album will be available on iTunes and other stores in a couple of weeks. For now you'll need to buy it direct. Many of the hymns are written by Stuart Townend, set to music by Keith and sung by Kristin (or that's how I understand the workflow). There are quite a...
Free Stuff Fridays (07/17/09 - 2 Comments)
It is time for another edition of Free Stuff Fridays. This week's sponsor is Reformation Art. "Reformation Art reproduces fine art photographic prints of the key figures and events of the Protestant Reformation, and the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition." Here is a description of the process they use to ensure that these prints are of the highest possible quality. "We hold to high standards of excellence. We choose the highest quality of original work...
Books I Didn't Review (07/17/09 - 3 Comments)
I do not intend to continue posting these "Books I Didn't Review" article with the frequency I've been doing so lately. But this summer I've been enjoying reading books outside of the Christian genre and I've been read a lot of them. It has been a refreshing break for me. I've still been enjoying at least one Christian book per week, but my recreational reading has taken me far and wide. In Canada we have...
Reading Classics Together - The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (V) (07/16/09 - 17 Comments)
The more I read of this book the more comfortable I am declaring it one of the best books I've ever read. I hope that is no small praise as I've read an awful lot of books. But this, at least through the first half (or nearly half) is speaking to me in a way few books do. The teaching is powerful, the illustrations superb. I have read and enjoyed Burroughs in the past, but...
There's Treasure Everywhere (07/15/09 - 14 Comments)
I've always loved Calvin & Hobbes. My friend Brian first introduced me to the comic strip back when I was a young teen and I immediately fell in love with it. (Here is a must-have for any true fan: The Complete Calvin & Hobbes). The strip works on at least two levels. There is the philosophical level where Calvin and his tiger discuss topics of science, philosophy and religion that are clearly far beyond...
DVD Review - The Late Great Planet Church (07/14/09 - 54 Comments)
I am no authority on eschatology, on the theology of the end times. In fact, I need all the help I can get in understanding it and in separating one view from the next. It is an area where seemingly small distinctions can make profound differences and where tensions often run high. It was with some interest, then, that I turned to The Late Great Planet Church, a new documentary by NiceneCouncil. It is hosted...
All About Endorsements (07/13/09 - 52 Comments)
I've been thinking a fair bit lately about endorsements (or blurbs, if you prefer)--the little lines and paragraphs you see on the back of a book giving you good reasons why you really ought to read it. I have done this as I've gone through a process of defining my ministry, what I will give time to and what I will not give time to. Endorsements, when done right, take a lot of time and...
Spiritual Friendship (07/12/09 - 8 Comments)
While our church focuses its teaching on verse-by-verse exposition, through the summer we often break for short topical series. This summer Julian (the associate pastor (is that his job title? Something like that) at our church) is preaching a series on spiritual friendship, looking at friendship in the light of the church's core values. At his blog he has been posting some great quotes from Hugh Black's book Friendship, published by Joshua Press. I have...
Thine Has Been... (07/11/09 - 6 Comments)
I often share Puritan prayers on Sundays. This week, though, it seemed appropriate to post a prayer for the Lord's Day Eve--Saturday night. I often find myself telling young people that, if they wish to make Sunday a meaningful day of worship and fellowship, they need to plan ahead and not stay up until 3 in the morning. A prayer like this, I think, helps orient the heart toward the day to come. ***** Another...
Free Stuff Fridays (07/10/09 - 2 Comments)
I got busy today and forgot all about this week's Free Stuff Fridays. Thankfully I remembered with enough time to launch it before day's end. This week's sponsor is Ligonier Ministries and they are offering a prize fitting for this, the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth. Five winners will each receive a Reformation Trust John Calvin Book Set. This includes three great hardcover books: Living for God's Glory by Joel Beeke, John Calvin:...
The God Who Gives Strength as Needed: An Interview with Terry Stauffer (07/10/09 - 21 Comments)
On September 28, 2008, I was shocked to read these words on the blog of Terry Stauffer, a man I had met at a couple of conferences and who has long been a reader and commenter at my blog: "Last night at about 4:45 our precious 14 year-old daughter Emily was attacked and killed as she was out for a walk. We don't know a lot of details, but we know that two young men...
Reading Classics Together - The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (IV) (07/09/09 - 13 Comments)
Today, in our effort to read together some of the Christian classics, we come to chapter four of Jeremiah Burroughs' The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. This is the third and final chapter that has dealt with "The Mystery of Contentment." Discussion I am not a very good reader. Though I read a lot, I have a lot of trouble with retention and lose far more than I remember. Maybe this is part of why...
Idolatry New and Old (07/08/09 - 48 Comments)
A little while ago my friend Ian loaned me the PBS DVD series The Story of India This six-part series, which runs about six hours, simply tells the story of India from ancient times until roughly the time of Indian Independence. It is a good documentary, even if the host's excessive exuberance toward all things Indian is a little bit hard to take after a while. "Oh, isn't that wonderful! Fantastic! Remarkable! Unbelievable! Stupendous!" As...
Book Review - Why We Love the Church (07/07/09 - 12 Comments)
Church is out, spirituality is in. This is true outside Christians circles but, shockingly, it is true within as well. Recent years have seen a long succession of books talking of the revolution to come (or the revolution underway) which will see Christians abandon the institutional church in favor of expressions of the faith that are supposedly more pure. Christians meeting together in Starbucks in twos or threes, Christians meeting on park benches or around...
Your Suffering Does Not Just Belong to You (07/06/09 - 11 Comments)
The more I grow in my knowledge of the Lord (through my knowledge of his Word) the more I see the utter centrality of the church, the local church, in his plan for his people. The more I learn of him, the more I see what a jewel the church is--what a blessing, what an honor it is to be part of something so amazing, so other-worldly. This is something that has been brought home...
Worshiping Worship (07/05/09 - 13 Comments)
This morning, as most of the readers of this site head to church to worship the Lord, it seemed appropriate to post a few words on worship. These words come courtesy of D.A. Carson and his book Worship by the Book. Here Carson has just offered a definition of worship and he is now expanding upon it, challenging the reader to pursue true worship. ***** In an age increasingly suspicious of (linear) thought, there is...
Books I Didn't Review (07/04/09 - 9 Comments)
I guess this is going to become a regular feature around here--a list of some of the books I didn't review. The fact is that I receive far more books than I could ever read and that I read more books than I could review. Yet many of these are perfectly good books--excellent books even--that deserve some kind of a mention. So this allows me to draw attention a few of the ones I just...
Free Stuff Fridays (07/03/09 - 4 Comments)
It's Friday and that means I've got another Free Stuff Fridays for you. This week's sponsor is Shepherd Press, a name I'm sure most are familiar with. "Shepherd Press is committed to provide God's people with solid biblical books and materials. ... At Shepherd Press we look for materials that ... will enable us to identify the idols of the heart that pollute our service to Christ, keeping us mired in confusion, unable to...
Monitoring Mohler (II) (07/03/09 - 16 Comments)
A couple of weeks ago I said that I was Monitoring Mohler (so to speak), reading through his entire suggested summer reading list. At that point I had read The Unforgiving Minute, With Wings Like Eagles, Hunting Eichmann and World War One. Since then I've read several of the other titles on this list and thought I'd check in. Number five on the list was Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton. Mohler says, "Horse Soldiers is...
Reading Classics Together - The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (III) (07/02/09 - 11 Comments)
Today we come to our third reading in Jeremiah Burroughs' The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. If you have not yet started the book but would like to read along with us, you're not too late. We are only three chapters in and you can still easily catch up. Another couple of weeks and it may be difficult to catch up, so join in while you still can! Summary This is going to be a...
Happy Canada Day (07/01/09 - 22 Comments)
It is Canada Day today and I'm taking the day off. My kids have been begging go to a ball game so a bit later on I'll be taking them to see the Jays play the Rays. It seemed that on Canada Day it would make sense to write a little bit about Canada's national anthem. Canada may be unique as a nation that has two official national anthems. I was too lazy to do...
