It is a stay-at-home kind of Christmas this year. I always find it fun to run back through the blog posts from December 25ths of the past to see where my family was and what we were doing that day. Some years we head down to Chattanooga to join my parents and siblings, while other…
I enjoy reading thematically–following a certain theme through a variety of books. Recently I noticed that some of today’s most popular Christian mega-pastor authors had released new books and I thought I’d work my way through that list. The list includes new titles by Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll, James MacDonald and David Platt.…
Christianity Is Close to Extinction – According to this report, Christianity is nearing extinction in the Middle East. “The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as ‘racism’.” Touch Not the Lord’s Annointed…
This is the sixteenth installment in a series on theological terms. See previous posts on the terms theology, Trinity, creation, man, Fall, common grace, sin, righteousness, faith, pride, election, revelation, atonement, adoption, and sanctification. We sing joy to the world at Christmas, says Spurgeon, “because it is evermore a joyous fact that God should be…
Does God Hate Westboro Baptist? – Josh Buice makes the case that God hates Westboro Baptist Church, the group that pickets funerals and other events with signs saying “God Hates Fags” and so on. A Veteran at 13 – Smithsonian has the fascinating tale of Calvin Graham who enlisted during World War 2 at the…
I am in the unique and enjoyable position of receiving copies of most of the latest and greatest Christian books and I like to provide regular roundups of some of the best and brightest of the bunch. Here are some of the notable books that I’ve received in the past few weeks. Through the Eyes…
This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Reformation Heritage Books, a company that has sponsored lots of these giveaways and always manages to dig up some good prizes. This round is no exception. They are giving away 5 great prize packages and each one will consist of 2 books and 3 great devotionals. Here…
Review of The Hobbit – Mel Duncan has written a great review of the new movie adaptation of The Hobbit. “By all means go see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, then go see it again. You will recognize the story as vaguely Christian. But better yet read The Hobbit, especially to your children, as my…
I don’t know that even the greatest theologian could ever plumb the depths of all it means that humanity was created in the image of God. But whatever else it means, we know that because we are made in God’s image, we are like God in certain ways and for a certain purpose. John Piper…
The Media and the Massacre – Andy Crouch: “All that any of us who do not live in Newtown, Connecticut, truly needed to know—possibly more than we needed to know—appeared in a 12-word news alert on my phone Friday afternoon. Almost everything else, I believe, was a distraction from the only thing that we who…
Harvest Bible Fellowship is a network of churches on the move. It seems as if every week brings a report of a new church plant somewhere in the world. From what I have observed locally, these are solid churches whose pastors love God’s Word and where people are being transformed by the gospel. James MacDonald…
God Restrains Evil – Randy Alcorn is working toward an answer to this question: Why doesn’t God do more to restrain evil and suffering. Have you ever considered that God may already been restraining 99.99% of evil and suffering? What Should the Church Expect in 2013? – This is not the kind of article I…
A couple of weeks ago I was able to dedicate quite a lot of time to studying Zechariah’s song. This is the song Zechariah sang at the birth of his son John (who would, of course, soon be known as John the Baptist), the song he sang after nine months of being mute. At the…
Grief – For the time being, and in response to the recent tragedy in Newtown, CCEF’s minibook on grief is available for free online. Also in connection to Newtown you may want to read Douglas Wilson’s article titled That Will Be Soon Enough along with David Murray’s warning about when to stop reading and watching…
If you’re a regular reader of the site, you’ve probably noticed that it has had a lot of problems in recent weeks. It holds steady for a few days, then crashes hard. After some emergency surgery—the virtual equivalent of keeping a car together with Bondo and duct tape—it comes back to life for a while.…
Here are a few noteworthy articles that speak to the tragedy in Connecticut. Joey Newton was there in a pastoral capacity and has a first-hand account. Douglas Wilson challenges everyone to “think carefully before speaking or writing. This is not the time to be debating gun control, drone attacks in the Middle East, and it…
This is the fifteenth installment in a series on theological terms. See previous posts on the terms theology, Trinity, creation, man, Fall, common grace, sin, righteousness, faith, pride, election, revelation, atonement, and adoption. The concept of sanctification is found throughout Scripture and in reference to a variety of subjects. For example, God sanctifies the seventh…
Rachel Weeping for Her Children – Al Mohler responds to yesterday’s unspeakably horrible tragedy in Connecticut. So too do Russell Moore and John Piper among many, many others. The Getty’s song A Mother’s Prayer seems particularly appropriate at this time. The Losing Ticket – Business Week looks at Jack Whittaker who won the lottery and…
This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by CBD Reformed, one of the regular sponsors of these giveaways. As they always do, they are offering 5 prize packages, each of which will contain the following 3 items: In addition, CBD Reformed is offering a 4-day sale (December 14 – 17) on the following three products:…
What Luke Actually Wrote – An answer to Bart Ehrman’s most recent challenge to biblical accuracy: “The gist of the problem is that Luke claims that the first tax when Quirinius was governor of Syria was at the time of Jesus’ birth – around 4-2 BC. The Jewish historian Josephus, however, records that the first…