Pat Robertson – “In a recent broadcast of The 700 Club, a woman sent in a question about a man who wouldn’t marry her because she has children who were adopted internationally. If they were her ‘own’ biological children, he would have no problem, she said. But because they were adopted, he saw too much…
This week’s Free Stuff Friday is all about Bible study for small groups and individuals. This week’s sponsor, The Good Book Company is offering 5 of you a chance to win a collection of all 33 Good Book Guides. “The format is very user-friendly and the content is rich and accessible.” —Justin Taylor, author, blogger…
Are We All Braggarts? – From the WSJ: “Boasting isn’t just a problem on the Internet. In a society of unrelenting competition—where reality-show contestants duke it out for the approval of aging celebrities and pastors have publicists—is it any wonder we market ourselves relentlessly?” I Choose Grace – Here is one man’s response when a…
Today I want to wrap up this short series that I’ve titled “The Holiness of God and the Existence of Hell.” It looks at what happens when the holy God comes into contact with sin. So far we’ve seen that God may react to sin with just wrath and that he may react with patient…
I have been reading Jerry Bridges’ The Disciplines of Grace, a wonderful book that takes a deep looking at God’s role and the Christian’s role in the pursuit of holiness. Chapter two, “The Pharisee and the Tax Collector,” is all about the need for a humble realization of our own sinfulness and the need for…
Enough Already! – Actress Jodie Foster penned an interesting article (Note: it contains a couple of profanities). She writes about how horrendous it is to grow up in the public eye and defends a kid’s right to be a kid. It’s interesting because, as a star actress, she has had a hand in creating the…
I’ve been working on this short series that discusses the holiness of God and the existence of hell. I am looking at what happens when the holy God comes into contact with human sin. Yesterday I showed that God may react to sin with just wrath. Today I want to show that God may also…
What’s Wrong with Patriarchy – D.A. Carson: “In their defense of complementarianism, several Council members in The Gospel Coalition have been known to preface their remarks with the insistence that complementarianism is not to be confused with either patriarchalism or with mere traditionalism in men/women relationships. To some observers, however, all three expressions are roughly…
Yesterday I began a short series on the holiness of God and the existence of hell. In a day when hell is under attack, I want to show that any question of the existence of hell is not at heart a discussion of whether or not a place exists, but a question of the character…
To Suffer Faithfully – “We sometimes tend to focus on those aspects of the Christian life (spontaneity, starry-eyed-ness, passionate intensity…) in which the younger seem to have an advantage over the older, but there are a bunch of other aspects in which the very experiences that knock some of the shine off our youthful naivety…
404
One of the great questions that faces the church today concerns the existence and the nature of hell. Hell is under attack from outside the visible church and from inside. The question each one of us must answer is this: Does hell exist? Is it, as Christians have long claimed, a place of eternal, conscious…
Gospel or Spirit? – Good thoughts here from Trevin: “Evangelicals love to speak in theological shorthand. We employ phrases and terms that become popular, become a badge of identification, and over time get emptied of their meaning.” Taking the Text Seriously – I enjoyed this one. “Expository preaching is a new buzzword. Everyone is doing…
I have been reading a lot of history and biography in recent weeks, from books on the history of Mormonism to books portraying characters as diverse as Abraham Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth II. One thing that has stood out to me in my reading is how seldom unbelieving authors accurately portray the beliefs of Christians.…
Ravenous Sheep – R.C. Sproul Jr. writes about what having sheep did to his understanding of God’s people as sheep. Here’s a great line: “The hardest thing about being a shepherd is the pain of loving the sheep.” New York Underground – National Geographic shows what’s underground in New York City. It’s like there’s a…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is one you’re going to like. It is sponsored by Reformation Heritage Books and features some great books by Simonetta Carr. Carr has authored a set of Christian biographies for young readers and today I am giving away five sets of all five of the books she has written so…
Advice for Youth Ministers – Dave Hinkley has some sound advice for youth ministers. “There is a lot of talk about best methods, a lot of talk about cool style, and lots more critique of those same methods and style. There is precious little about actually blowing on the embers of a young person’s faith.”…
For several years now I have been leading a program called “Reading Classics Together.” The program exists so that we can read classic Christian books in community because, well, just about everything is better in community. Today we begin reading Jerry Bridges’ The Discipline of Grace. What I try to do in these weekly wrap-up…
Allyson Felix – Nathan Busenitz writes about Allyson Felix who won gold last night in the women’s 200 meter race. “Our entire seminary family has been cheering her on during these Olympic games. We are blessed to have her dad on our faculty, and encouraged to see his godly legacy represented in her life.” That…
I love writing book reviews and I love reading them. Since I cannot possibly read and review all of the interesting books out there, I publish occasional round-ups of reviews written by other writers. Or even if I am able to review the book, it’s always good to get a second opinion. So here are…