In yesterday’s A La Carte post I included this quote by Matthew Henry: “Christ’s followers cannot expect better treatment in the world than their Master had.” I liked it enough that I later added it to Twitter where it was retweeted many times. Later in the day I found myself thinking about these words a…
Courageous Christianity? – The film Courageous has received near-unanimous praise in the Christian world. White Horse Inn has a more critical take. “Art being reduced as a vehicle for sermonizing is problematic enough, but even more so is the type of sermon being preached. The emphasis on personal morality and simplistic transformation turn this film…
Jacob’s Well. That’s a place and a context I had not thought about too much until I read Richard Phillips’ book Jesus the Evangelist. Based on a series of expositional sermons, this book teaches the principles and practice of witnessing by looking at the model of Jesus in the first four chapters of John. When…
John Piper Quotes – Jamsco has another of his roundups of witticisms from John Piper. A personal favorite: “I cannot imagine that it would be satisfying to become an itinerant conference speaker. Yuck.” Celebrity Rock Star Pastors – Thabiti Anyabwile is on a roll lately over at his blog. Today he is talking about the…
Once again, don’t run away from this blog post just because it’s got a bit of a Puritan flavor to it. I mentioned last week that I’ve been running through John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation and trying to distill each chapter to its essence–to a few choice quotes that capture the flavor of what…
Too Polite – This article from Gawker raises some important points about the life and legacy of Steve Jobs–things that other people are too polite to say. “Truth be told, Jobs could be terrible to people, and his impact on the world was not uniformly positive.” Mormonism Isn’t a Cult? – Richard Mouw, writing for…
Here is a noteworthy quote from author James Spiegel. It is drawn from his book Gum, Geckos and God. The other day I was sitting in a faculty meeting, trying not to doze off during some committee reports. As I looked around, I mused over how much each of my colleagues understands about his or…
Small World Photomicography – “The Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition lets us see beyond the capabilities of our unaided eyes. Almost 2000 entries from 70 countries vied for recognition in the 37th annual contest, which celebrates photography through a microscope.” Humble Pie – James MacDonald writes more about The Elephant Room. I’m glad to see…
It has been busy days around here. As you know, I spent last week on the road, speaking in Boston and Los Angeles. Today I am spending just 1 day in Dallas to speak at another of the Psalm 119 conferences. And then it will be a while before I am on the road again.…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is CBD Reformed. As always, they are offering 5 prize packages, each of which will contain a copy of the following 3 books: In addition, CBD Reformed is offering a 4-day sale (October 7 – October 10) on the following three products. Anyone is free to take advantage of these…
I am down in Dallas, TX for the day. Or Fort Worth. Or Keller or something like that. Frankly I don’t know where I am. But I know why I’m here–to speak at a Psalm 119 conference. Unfortunately I can only be here for the first day of the conference as I’ve got a wedding…
Today we continue our project of reading through John Stott’s The Cross of Christ. We’ve come now to chapter 8, “The Revelation of God,” where Stott explains that the achievement of Christ’s cross must be seen in terms of revelation as well as salvation. “To borrow some current jargon, it was a ‘relevatory’ as well…
William Tyndale – Glen remembers the death of William Tyndale. “This year I have marvelled at the beauty of so many ‘King James phrases’. Yet on closer examination the great majority turn out to be Tyndale phrases. Only around 20 of the 365 phrases I have been considering this year are original to the King…
Don’t run away from this blog post just because I’m quoting a Puritan. Yes, Puritans are scary with all their big words and frilly collars, but some of them had remarkable insights into God’s Word and into human hearts. Read on to see an example of that. I am confident that it will be a…
3 Rules for Polemics – Tim Keller offers some sound counsel on publishing polemics. I believe this is an urgent issue in our digital age because polemics have the ability to go so wide so fast. We’ve got to get this stuff right! A Tale of 4 Alcorns – Some light-hearted but enjoyable fare from…
It is a common theme in the Christian world. A man is called to the ministry in the local church and over time proves to be a man who can build a church, a man who leads or preaches in such a way that a church grows up around him. His popularity results in book…
Sin Is Cosmic Treason – Resurgence offers an article from R.C. Sproul on the treasonous nature of sin. Speaking personally, understanding sin as a form of treason (the greatest form of treason) has been very helpful in my understanding of human depravity. Double and Dangerous – Nathan Bingham, a self-proclaimed geek who loves gadgets, compares…
Saturday afternoon I cruising along the highway when I very suddenly hit a wall of traffic. It didn’t slow gradually, but pretty much just hit a wall and stopped dead. For the next 20 or 30 minutes I crawled along at the kind of pace where it would be faster to just get out and…
Collateral Damage – Thabiti Anyabwile has written a very strong article on James MacDonald inviting T.D. Jakes to speak at The Elephant Room. “This isn’t on the scale of Piper inviting Warren. This is more akin to Augustine inviting Muhammad. This invitation gives a platform to a heretic. It’s imprudent and counter-productive–witness already the Trinity-related…
I’ve always found the word unction to be a bit of a strange one. I see it as a part of the Christian lexicon since, in my experience, we are pretty much the only ones who use it. We typically use it in prayer, asking that God would give unction to a man who is…