Today marks the beginning of the 2009 Basics Conference at Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. This year’s speakers are Alistair Begg, John Lennox and John Piper. I intend to bring you six updates through this conference, one for each of the keynote addresses that will happen between now and Wednesday morning (that’s two today,…
In the years since I began reviewing books, I have read titles on a wide variety of topics. But it occurred to me as I considered Russell Moore’s title Adopted for Life that I had never read a book that dealt entirely with adoption. Sure, adoption has factored into books on family and books on…
A Soldier’s MiracleCBS News brings an interesting story of a rather unlikely recovery. “Lt. Brian Brennan is a walking, talking miracle. There are no other words for it. One year ago today, he lost both his legs to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, and now his mother is watching him learn to run all over…
It is amazing to me, but it was almost eighteen months ago that Crossway published my book The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. I finished writing the book nearly a year before that. It all seems so much more recent. The reality is, though, that it has been a long, long time since I’ve actually been…
“The fateful day began with deceptive normalcy at John and Betty Stam’s missionary residence in Tsingteh, China. Both the wood-burning stoves had been lit and were starting to heat up nicely, helping to lessen the chill that gripped the large old house that cold, early December morning. The Stams, along with the six Chinese who…
With a new Friday comes a new edition of Free Stuff Fridays. This week’s sponsors are White Horse Inn and Modern Reformation. This week five winners will each be sent a prize package that contains: Here is what the publisher says about Too Good to Be True: “In a world of hype, we may buy…
This morning I came across the name Jason Dunham and spent a few minutes reading about his life and death. In 2004, Dunham was a twenty-two year-old Corporal in the United States Marine Corps, serving in Iraq. He became the first Marine since 1970 to earn the Medal of Honor–the nation’s highest award for battlefield…
Hand of Hope Boy“Do you remember the famous photograph of the baby reaching out of the womb and grasping the doctor’s finger? That baby is now 9-year-old Samuel Armas. The photo has been spread around the world and even cited during congressional debates on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, but for Samuel it has personal…
When I was a child my father would occasionally take me to work with him. Dad did not work in an office so this was not a typical “take your child to work” situation. Dad was a landscaper and a day with dad was a day in the hot sun. It was a day of…
Are Christians Overemphasizing Cultural Renewal?Following my review of Unfashionable Christianity Today asks “a question for Christian leaders (whether in the church or elsewhere): have you found the recent Christian emphasis on “building for the kingdom” and cultural renewal to detract from evangelism? Or is it actually helping to “reach souls”?” Shepherd Press NewsletterShepherd Press offers…
In 1997, Douglas Groothuis (Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary) published The Soul in Cyberspace. It was, as far as I know, the first Christian book that critiqued and contemplated the darker side of computer-mediated communication. Twelve years is a long time when it comes to technology (and digital technology in particular) but I recently…
Biblical Productivity SeriesC.J. Mahaney’s “Biblical Productivity” series is now available as a single PDF file if you’d like to download and read the whole thing. Free Downloads from Truth for LifeAlistair Begg: “In conjunction with [The Basicss] conference, we will be announcing the latest venture from Truth For Life. On May 11, 2009, we are…
Every now and again I pick up a book that I feel I should really enjoy. And yet, for one reason or another, it simply does not “click.” Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian is just such a book. It has been widely praised by Christians I respect and its six (!) pages of endorsements contain a…
Counter-Cultural LipsDr. Mohler writes about “True Lips Wait” and the move to hold off kissing until marriage. “There is no explicit biblical ban on premarital kissing, but any honest person knows that there are kisses than can only be considered sexual, naturally leading to the sex act itself. These young Christians are not afraid of…
In The Lord of the Rings Tolkien writes about a kingdom called Gondor which for many years has had no king. While waiting for the rightful heir to come and claim his throne, a series of stewards has been placed in charge of the land. The steward in charge at the time of the events…
Spurgeon on What You Watch on TV“Those who can look with delight or any degree of pleasure upon the sins of others are not holy. We know of some, who will not themselves perpetrate an unseemly jest, yet, if another does so, and there is a laugh excited upon some not over-decent remark, they laugh,…
Here is another prayer from Arthur Bennett’s The Valley of Vision. This is a prayer titled simply “Happiness.” As I read the prayer I was particularly drawn to these words: “How precious is time, and how painful to see it fly with little done to good purpose! I need thy help.” How much time I…
Last week I read a short biography of John and Betty Stam, missionary martyrs to China. Stay tuned for a review. In that book, written by Vance Christie, was a poem and the story that inspired it. I thought I’d share that today. The poem, entitled “Afraid?” was written by Presbyterian missionary E.H. Hamilton following…
A new Friday brings us another occasion to celebrate Free Stuff Fridays. This week’s sponsor is Crossway. They have put together a package of books ideal for a recent (or forthcoming) graduate. But, of course, the draw is open to anyone and ought to benefit whoever reads the books. Five winners will take home a…
This morning I cracked the cover of a new biography–one I spied while browsing the book tables at The Gospel Coalition Conference. It is titled The Life of Rowland Hill: The Second Whitefield and is written by Tim Shenton, a school teacher in England who has several previous biographies to his credit. Dr. Joel Beeke…