In September of 2006 George Barna released what must be among his most influential studies. Following interviews with more than 22,000 adults and 2,000 teenagers from across America, he revealed that the majority of twentysomethings who are raised as Christians subsequently abandon the faith. The study found that “most twentysomethings disengage from active participation in…
Last week James MacDonald went off on congregationalism, stating that congregational government is from Satan. This has prompted a couple of useful, measured responses. Denny Burk draws a line between a form of government always being used by Satan and sometimes being used by Satan. He also shows that MacDonald’s argument is driven more by…
Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God. But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God,…
Today is one of those Saturdays–one of those ones where it’s going to be go-go-go. The good news is that everything we are going to do today (Lord willing) is a great thing: spending time with friends, watching my son play baseball, celebrating a birthday, etc. So here’s to a great Saturday! And in the…
For several years now every Free Stuff Fridays has been introduced with the same graphic. At long last it has gone into retirement and has been replaced by a new one. I guess that’s just the way the world works. Now, let me get to the good stuff. This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored…
Over the past week I’ve been linking to some ebook deals and have been surprised at how many people have apparently taken advantage of the deals. This got me thinking about the best way to build a library of Christian ebooks. I thought it would be worthwhile to combine forces here, to put together a…
One of the genuine joys that has followed the release of The Next Story is the opportunities it has given me to talk to others about the ideas it contains. Last week I sat down with Bruxy Cavey who is a pastor of a local multisite megachurch in the Brethren in Christ tradition. I really…
Today we come to our second reading in Gresham Machen’s classic book Christianity & Liberalism and just for the occasion I’ve got a nice new banner graphic (isn’t it pretty?). Our reading assignment for this week was the second chapter which is titled simply “Doctrine.” I know that many of the people who will read…
I have been posting links to some free or heavily-discounted ebooks and today I’ve got a few more links for you to check out. Puritan Library has loads of free classics for you to download in various ebook formats. Matthias Media has the ebook version of The Essential Jesus available for free. This site has…
In recent weeks I have been doing quite a bit of thinking and writing about personal devotions. A couple of days ago I came across an article I wrote back in 2009 titled “The Quiet Time Performance.” It seemed rather apropos and showed me that I’ve been thinking about these things, on an off, for…
Dear God, if you should give us a son, grant that he may work for you in China.” That was the prayer of James and Amelia Taylor as they consecrated their first child to the Lord, months before he was even born. That child entered the world on May 21, 1832. His parents named him…
Advice for Writers – “I have always been annoyed by the tendency some writers have to make writing a book sound like hard labor in Siberia.” Me too, even though I’ve probably been one (I’ll ask my wife). Go to Sleep! – Jay Younts writes a review of a book that is currently selling like…
404
It seems like readers have been enjoying the Kindle specials I’ve posted the past couple of days. So here are a couple more I noticed yesterday: Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman is available at $2.99; Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand is at $1.00; Same Kind of Different As Me is at $4.74.…
I have been able to do some special giveaways lately and, well, I keep getting new opportunities to give away great stuff. And that is what I want to do today (and again a week from today!). I’ve got another Kindle to give to a reader of this site. Let me give you the context…
Last weekend I mentioned on Twitter that I had finished planning out my kids’ daily devotions for another week; this led a few people to ask what these devotions look like. Though I am by no means an expert in this area, I am glad to share how I lead my children in their personal…
In case you missed it on Saturday, I put together quite a list of deals for Kindle owners. Amazon currently has a lot of good books that are being sold for just a dollor or two. You may like to check out the list as I’m sure the deals will not last for long. And…
Over the weekend I have been reading Vance Christie’s account of the life of Hudson Taylor (Hudson Taylor: Gospel Pioneer to China). This is, to my recollection, the first biography of Taylor I have ever read. Missionary biographies always give me a lot to consider and this one has been no exception. As with so…
Let me get things started with some Kindle book deals. These deals have been coming in fast and furious over the past few days; I’ve been tweeting them but also wanted to publish them here. Publishers really seem to be pushing the Kindle and we are all happy beneficiaries of their experiments. Here are a…
Of all the books I receive, there is a certain category I find myself filing away and holding on to. Sometimes I read them right away but more often than not I save them for when I’ll need them. These are the books targeted at pastors and dealing with niche areas of the ministry. I…