To live is to suffer. It is sadly inevitable that in this sinful world, we will all suffer. Some suffer more than others and some suffer for different reasons than others. But the fact remains that all of us will face hardship and pain. Knowing this, we are wise to arm ourselves for those times,…
How Rude Was Jesus?This week Mounce looks to Jesus’ words to his mother at the wedding of Cana to seek to understand whether (as many have said) those words were rude. Letter to a Pastors’ WifeFrom the True Woman blog: “Believe it or not, one of the things I would love to be is ……
Earlier this morning I finished up Richard J. Evans’ The Third Reich at War, a very long, very thorough, very interesting tracing of the rise and fall of German military might from 1939 to 1945. More than just another account of the Second World War, this book looks to battles, but also to atrocities and…
World Reaction to Jackson’s DeathWhen a celebrity dies I’m often amazed to see how many people had, in a sense, lived vicariously through him. This is easy to see in this photo essay of people remembering Michael Jackson. Piper vs. Wright on JustificationTrevin Wax has an article in Christianity Today that serves as a primer…
In his book The Truth of the Cross, R.C. Sproul spends some time discussing the human condition and as he does so he uses three biblical concepts: debtors, enemies, and criminals. The Bible describes all of us in these terms. What Sproul does here, and this really helped it hit home for me, is show…
I thought you would enjoy this quote from Jim Andrew’s Polishing God’s Monuments (one of my favorite books from a couple of years ago). This book, which offers “pillars of hope for punishing times” tells Andrews’ story of faith and perseverance through almost unbelievable suffering. This man writes from hard experience and here he offers…
It’s Friday and, as you know, that brings us to another edition of Free Stuff Fridays–an opportunity for you to win some free product from a great sponsor. This week’s sponsor is Timberdoodle, a supplier of homeschooling curriculum and related material. They are offering five great prizes. Each of five winners will be able to…
So the king is dead. What a sad end to a sad life; a pathetic end to a pathetic life (by which I mean to use pathetic in its true sense as “arousing pity and sympathy). I don’t know that I have ever seen, in one man, such a combination of self-love and self-loathing, shocking…
Windows 7As of today, Amazon is selling offering pre-orders of Windows 7. If you’re using a Windows PC, this is said to be a must-upgrade. If you order through Amazon, they’ll make sure it’s delivered on the software’s release date. Hitler’s Stealth FighterAn article at National Geographic looks at a stealth fighter that was under…
Today we come to our second 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 two chapters in and you can still easily catch up. Last week I had said that…
Gossip Affects Your Spiritual WaistlineChris Brauns: “Bits of gossip are like chocolate nuggets: smooth and creamy, they melt in your mouth: it tastes good to be in the loop; it is sweet to hear someone else notice the same weaknesses in another that have frustrated you; it feels spiritual to ask for prayer – –…
June 19 marked the beginning of Toronto’s annual Pride Week. Now in its 28th year, this is a week-long celebration of diverse sexual and gender identities. Here is how the organizers describe it: “Pride Week celebrates our diverse sexual and gender identities, histories, cultures, creativities, families, friends and lives. It includes a three-day street festival…
I wonder what Calvin would have said, what he would have thought, if he could have peered five centuries into the future and seen how he would be honored on the five hundredth anniversary of his birth. Several new biographies; a long list of conferences; books discussing every aspect, every facet of his theology; a…
To Be Like JesusBob Kauflin has announced the release of the new CD from Sovereign Grace Music. It is titled To Be Like Jesus and “contains twelve worship songs that teach the fruit of the Spirit in a creative and memorable way. Through these songs kids will learn that Jesus is our perfect example of…
I’ve been enjoying writing these little articles titled “Don’t Take Your iPod to Church.” I’ll be the first to admit that I am overstating my case a little bit and even being deliberately vague at times. But through it all I’m seeing some great discussion and am being asked lots of interesting questions. It may…
Chinese CalvinismThe Guardian has a rather strange article about the growing popularity of Calvinism in China. “Although Calvinism is shrinking in western Europe and North America, it is experiencing an extraordinary success in China. I spent some time on Monday talking to the Rev May Tan, from Singapore, where the overseas Chinese community has close…
Here is another great Puritan prayer, this one beseeching God to allow the Christian to live a life filled with prayer, filled with grace, filled with the Spirit. What a perfect prayer to make your own on this Lord’s Day! Great God,in public and private, in sanctuary and home,may my life be steeped in prayer,filled…
Brian Regan is a stand up comedian and is rare among comedians in that he is both hilarious and clean. It seems there was a time when he injected a bit of sketchy material into his routines but, as he said in a recent interview with CNN, he found that he did not need to…
Another Friday is upon us and with it another Free Stuff Fridays. You’ve undoubtedly heard of this week’s sponsor, Banner of Truth. Founded in 1957, “the founders believed that much of the best literature of historic Christianity had been allowed to fall into oblivion and that its recovery under God could well lead not only…
A couple of weeks ago Dr. Mohler supplied a suggested summer reading list. My tastes and Dr. Mohler’s run pretty much the same when it comes to recreational reading so I thought I’d go ahead and just read this entire list of ten books. I’m now forty percent of the way through (math wizzes will…