A Widening of the Apologetic Enterprise

Today’s post is written by Joshua D. Chatraw and Mark D. Allen and is sponsored by Zondervan Academic. When I (Josh) was growing up in the southeastern part of the United States, there were two dominant religions: Baptist and football. It would take a visitor little time to realize which faith had captured my community’s heart and elicited their deepest devotion. The work of James K. A. Smith has helped us reflect more deeply on the religious nature of these …

How To Tell if it’s a Prosperity Gospel Church

The prosperity gospel is a diverse, popular, and worldwide movement that understands faith to be the instrument through which Christians can attain physical health, material riches, and divine favor. There are countless thousands of these churches around the world with various levels of adherence to the key tenets of the wider movement, yet they rarely advertise themselves as prosperity gospel churches. So how can we know if a church is part of this movement? In Kate Bowler’s book Blessed, she …

A La Carte (May 21)

Today’s Kindle deals are an all-Crossway affair with a few interesting books listed. (Yesterday on the blog: How We Worshipped (One of my Favorite Services Ever)) The Best Explanation for Our Spate of Mass Shootings Is the Least Comforting David French writes, “Writing in 2015, Malcolm Gladwell wrote what I think is still the best explanation for modern American mass shootings, and it’s easily the least comforting. At the risk of oversimplifying a complex argument, essentially he argues that each mass shooting …

How We Worshipped (One of my Favorite Services Ever)

Every few weeks I like to share an example of one of our worship services from Grace Fellowship Church. I hope that by doing this others will begin to share their services as well. We have a lot to learn from one another, I’m sure. This service’s cast of characters included Paul as our service leader and preacher, Steve as the elder who read the Scripture text and prayed, Joshua as our lead worshipper, and Thushara as our Scripture reader. Our …

Weekend A La Carte (May 19)

Today’s Kindle deals include a few books—some new, some old–you’ll likely want to browse through. (Yesterday on the blog: Two Questions To Ask About Your Apps) Weddings Royal Matthew Hosier: “Harry & Meghan represent a very modern shape of love though. She previously married, both from broken homes, both with previous romantic entanglements hiding in the background. There is a lot of complexity being brought into this marriage, as is the case for so many marriages. But the narrative is …

Free Stuff Fridays (The Master’s University)

This weeks giveaway is sponsored by The Master’s University, who also sponsored the blog this week. There will be five winners this week. Each will receive a copy of  God in the Shadows: Evil in God’s World by Dr. Brian Morley and  The Gospel According to God by John MacArthur. God in the Shadows: Evil in God’s World by Dr. Brian Morley Crime, famine, disease, war, earthquakes, floods; we open our newspapers, or switch on our television sets, and are confronted …

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Two Questions To Ask about Your Apps

Recent headlines and revelations are causing a lot of us to think deeply about the apps we use, and especially the ones categorized as social media. We are beginning to question whether they are as beneficial and essential to our lives as perhaps we once assumed. As I’ve thought more and more about my apps and my commitment to them, two questions have been both challenging and illuminating. I’ll apply them to Facebook since it is the most prominent and …

A La Carte (May 18)

Today’s Kindle deals includes a little list to work your way through. Crossway will give you a free John MacArthur ebook in exchange for a bit of info. (Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Books (Three-Minute Thursdays #16)) Will You Remember to be Kind? This was helpful to me. “Is someone sick, lonely, bereft, unemployed, swindled, injured or depressed? Is anyone undergoing long-term physical therapy, speech therapy or short-term gruelling chemotherapy? Whatever lengths the summons of kindness calls you to …

New and Notable Books (Three-Minute Thursdays #16)

Welcome to another edition of Three-Minute Thursdays. Every year I get literally hundreds of books in the mail—one of the perks of being a book reviewer. From time to time I take the big stack and turn it into a little stack, so I can tell you about some of the new and notable books that I think will be interesting to people like you. And that leads to a short video like this one: The books featured in this …

A La Carte (May 17)

In just a couple of weeks I will be in Johannesburg, South Africa as part of my EPIC project. If you are in the area, why don’t you join me for a Sunday evening service and Q&A? (Yesterday on the blog: Blessed: The Prosperity Gospel in (and Beyond) America) The Abdication of the Medical Profession Gene Veith has some interesting thoughts on ways the medical profession is abdicating its responsibilities to give way to ideology. The Mixed Motives Behind Church Growth …

Blessed: The Prosperity Gospel in (and Beyond) America

The United States has a dominant economy and is a powerhouse for exporting goods to other nations. What is America’s most significant export? Answers vary by time and criteria, but most experts point to products related to food or to petroleum. Across all categories, more than $2 trillion in goods and services are sold to foreign businesses each year. But I can’t help but wonder whether history will show that America’s most prominent export in this period of history was …

A La Carte (May 16)

Today’s Kindle deals include a kind of grab bag of deals. This week Westminster Books has the ESV Student Study Bible on sale. (Yesterday on the blog: Do Your Children Play Video Games?) Alfie Evans and the Reality of Evil “The Evans family asked nothing of their government other than to be permitted to travel to a country that they deemed more salubrious. If living in a free country has any meaning, surely the right to go somewhere else must be …

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Book Reviews

Blessed: The Prosperity Gospel in (and Beyond) America

Blessed: The Prosperity Gospel in (and Beyond) America

Kate Bowler

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Do Your Children Play Video Games?

Parents often feel guilty about how much time their kids spend playing video games and they sometimes have questions about whether their kids should play them at all. When I speak on issues related to families and technology I’m always asked to addresses kids and their games. I take a shot at doing that here. You can purchase the Circle device mentioned in the video here. Transcript Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a bunch of opportunities to speak …

A La Carte (May 15)

Today’s Kindle deals include a few books that are definitely worth a quick look. (Yesterday on the blog: I Want To Buy Your Cheapest Phone!) The Role of Parents in Preparing for the Ministry David Murray writes, “Over the years, I’ve been collecting principles or maxims from the biographies of pastors, missionaries, and other Christian leaders. Some students have also contributed to my collection via various assignments and internships. Here are a few of the lessons we’ve gathered about the role …

Neuroscience, Semiotics, and the Tower of Babel

This week the blog is sponsored by The Master’s University, written by John Beck, Business Faculty and Chair of the Organizational Management degree, online at The Master’s University. When we discuss the general revelation of God in creation, it is impossible for me to get very far before I am floored by the wonder and complexity of the human body. As God’s intended image bearers, we know that humanity holds a special place in the created order, and there are many …

I Want To Buy Your Cheapest Phone!

A few weeks ago I walked into my local Best Buy, marched up to the counter, and said “I want to buy your cheapest phone.” The guy looked at me quizzically for a moment, then wandered over to the shelf and returned with a box labeled “Polaroid A300.” “Forty-nine bucks. That cheap enough?” “Let’s do it.” Then and there we swapped the SIM card out of my iPhone and popped it into that new flip phone. It hasn’t budged since. …

A La Carte (May 14)

Today’s Kindle deals include the usual collection of weekly discounts from Crossway. Facing Our Fear of Failure “We never forget our spectacular failures; but more often than not, the fear, regret, and embarrassment evaporate, leaving behind the residue of a humorous story. After we have healed, what remains is the callous of proven resilience. At least, that’s how we should work through our failures in light of God’s sovereignty and goodness.” The Best Weapon Is an Open Door I’m being …

Sunday A La Carte (May 13)

This was another week in which I found so many good articles I thought I’d put togethers a Sunday edition of A La Carte. I hope you enjoy it! And, of course, happy Mother’s Day to my mother and yours! We’ll begin today with a few articles by or for moms. That’s What Moms Do You’ll enjoy this tribute to moms. God Understands Hard, Thankless Parenting “For mothers like me, Mother’s Day doesn’t have to be happy. But in God’s sovereignty, …

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My Books

Do More Better Cover

Do More Better

by Tim Challies

I wrote this short, fast-paced, practical guide to productivity to share what I have learned about getting things done in today’s digital world. It will help you learn to structure your life to do the most good to the glory of God. Read More