Yesterday a reader of this site sent me a link to an interesting series of blog posts–posts written by Pastor Akira Sato, who is the pastor for the Fukushima First Baptist Church, near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The email included this poignant paragraph:”Yesterday (Friday, March 18) one member who has been with us…
I am in Grand Rapids today, at the Author Lounge here at Zondervan. I’m surrounded by hundreds of copies of my book, each of which is awaiting a signature. Strange stuff, this. It’s a rather odd feeling to be surrounded by copies of your own book. Uncomfortable. Slander – In this rather emotional interview, Rob…
This afternoon, and for quite a few Wednesday afternoons to follow, I’ve got something I think you’ll enjoy. It’s a series of short films created by David Murray that focus on Christ’s appearances in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord. This week’s episode is titled “Bonus Gospel.” The DVD and Study Guide…
Have you ever noticed that the sins you hate most may just be the sins closest to your heart? I hate the sin of envy, and I think I hate it so much because it is so often very near to me, just waiting to strike, to cause me to mourn when I ought to…
I get to spend the day in Grand Rapids, hanging around the Zondervan offices and trying to plot out my next book. A few days ago I solicited some suggestions. Thanks to those who sent them along; several of them were quite good! I hope that today brings some clarity. Sexting Epidemic – Denny Burk…
Today I’m making the final pre-order push for The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion. I know I’ve mentioned it a few times already, so bear with me. I want to tell you about it again simply because it gives you an opportunity to get the book at a really good discount.…
I tell you, I just never know what I’m going to find waiting in my RSS reader in the morning. Some of today’s stories are just plain amusing–about how going to church is associated with weight gain and about how PETA is trying to make the Bible more animal friendly. Enjoy! Going to Church Makes…
Embarking on a short tour of the afterlife is all the rage, it seems. Don Piper got it started with 90 Minutes in Heaven, a really bad book that sold millions of copies. Then there was 23 Minutes in Hell, another bestseller and another awful book. And now hot on their heels comes Heaven Is…
This is the week I will have to choose the topic of my next book. Odd, isn’t it? One book releases (this Friday!) and at the same time I need to figure out what the next one will be about. The funny thing is that I really have very few ideas at the moment. So…
I’ve felt myself drawn to this prayer written by Scotty Smith, a prayer that asks God to help our friends finish well in the gospel–to help us all remain faithful until Today becomes the Day. It begins with this passage of Scripture: See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart…
Here are a few links for a Saturday morning. I’m enjoying the last day of the Ligonier Ministries National Conference and looking forward (mostly) to heading home this evening. But first we get a double-dose of John Piper. You can catch it online if you like. Japan’s Disaster and Your Wallet – Obviously this is…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays sponsor is a regular around here and one you know well by now–CBD Reformed. And as they always do, they are offering five prizes, each of which contains three great books. Five people will each win these three books: In addition, CBD Reformed is offering a 4-day sale (March 25…
It’s looking like another great day in Orlando. It’s quite a conference Ligonier puts on and I’m enjoying it thoroughly. I’ve also enjoyed meeting quite a number of readers of this blog as well. And I suppose I’ll meet a few more when I do a book signing a bit later in the day. If…
I got to meet my book today. Zondervan rush-shipped a few boxes of the books straight from the printer to the Ligonier Ministries National Conference where I’m hanging out for the next few days. So as soon as I got here, I went over to the bookstore to check it out. Lukas and Susannah VanDyke…
God is good. Despite my trip to Orlando (for the Ligonier Ministries National Conference) coinciding with what is surely the worst late-March snowstorm we’ve seen for many years, Aileen and I made it safely and only a little bit late. The question now is whether we can adjust to an 80 or 90 degree temperature…
Sin. I can’t live with it, but am just not able to live without it. I know that I’ve been freed from sin, freed from the power of sin, and yet I still sin. Scripture tells me not to let sin reign, it tells me that if I am truly a child of God I…
My parents made the drive up from Tennessee yesterday and arrived just minutes ahead of a big snow storm. So here we are on March 23 with the schools closed and the kids at home. Tonight Aileen and I hop a plane and head for Orlando (for the Ligonier conference). From snow storms to sun…
I don’t want to keep talking about Rob Bell. Honest. And in this post I am only going to touch on him on the way to something else. I think the uproar about his view on hell has helpfully illustrated what passes as virtue in the evangelical world today. As I have read some of…
I promised that if you kept buying The Next Story in the Kindle version, the price would keep falling. Well, it’s now down to $7.99. Remember, for every 200 people who buy it, the price falls by $1. I’m pretty sure it will fall at least a dollar more. So keep buying it! (Note: those…
As a social experiment it could hardly have been devised better. Put 33 men 2300 feet underground and seal them in with limited supplies and with no guarantee that they will be rescued. Then leave them there for 69 days. What would happen? Would they divide into packs and begin to destroy one another a…