Over the years I have read quite a few books on the subject of humility. To be frank, this is an area in which I need all the help I can get (and I am quite certain that I am not alone in this need). As I read the latest, Hannah Anderson’s Humble Roots, a…
A core component of my regular reading diet is books on parenting. As long as I am a parent, and especially a parent of tweens and teens (parenting babies and toddlers is straightforward by comparison!), I want to stay sharp, to be challenged, to be equipped. A good book helps me better understand the purpose…
Christians are called to the most difficult of all tasks. Over the course of our lives we are to be sanctified, to grow in holiness, to begin to act like and look like Jesus. We are to stop being what we once were, to put aside old dreams, desires, and habits, and to start being…
I’m glad to say that this book passed the kid test. I deliberately left it lying on the table before my kids got home from school. My ten-year-old walked in, dumped her shoes and knapsack in the middle of the floor (we’re still working on that) and sauntered toward the kitchen. But she didn’t get…
This book is going to be big. Huge, even. Its predecessor has sold well over 10 million copies and more than a decade after publication has no less than 6 editions on the list of Christian bestsellers. Today, at last, comes the long-awaited sequel, releasing to great fanfare—a million-copy first printing backed by a huge…
This book is going to be big. Huge, even. Its predecessor has sold well over 10 million copies and more than a decade after publication has no less than 6 editions on the list of Christian bestsellers. Today, at last, comes the long-awaited sequel, releasing to great fanfare—a million-copy first printing backed by a huge…
I like a clean desk. I like to begin my day with nothing on it other than my computer and keyboard. I don’t want to see stacks of paper, bundles of cables, piles of books, or anything else that might distract or offer an alternative to the task at hand. So I try to begin…
We know the concept and are well-familiar with the phrase: “called to ministry.” We know that some men are called in a special way to a special task—the task of gospel ministry. But exactly what constitutes the call, exactly how to understand it, exactly how to know we’ve experienced it—these are matters of more than…
Is the Reformation over? This question is going to be asked over and over again as we approach 2017 and, with it, the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. It is the question Gregg Allison and Chris Castaldo face in the title of their new book, The Unfinished Reformation: What Unites and Divides Catholics and…
There are some Christian writers who have a unique voice, a unique means of expressing themselves, of explaining how the Bible applies to real life. David Powlison fits this description. Through the years he has made significant, unique contributions to Christian counseling and, from there, to the ways we understand the tricky depths of the…
It’s not like we’re hurting for books on marriage. In fact, there may be more Christian books on marriage than on any topic besides prayer. This means that any new book has to be awfully good to stand out from an already-crowded field. It was pure joy, then, to read Christopher Ash’s Married for God:…
If you are a committed reader, you know what it’s like when you get swept away by a book—where hours pass in what feels like minutes. You know the sheer pleasure of being drawn into a book that is unexpectedly interesting and intriguing. This was the case for me this weekend when I began to…
I wonder if The Blessing of Humility is Jerry Bridges’ final book. It was published posthumously, but soon enough after his death that it’s very possible there was still another work somewhere in the editing process. Either way, a book on humility would make a fitting final work for a man who taught and exemplified…
Like so many kids, I grew up reading comics. My daily experience of the newspaper was first checking the box scores to see how the Blue Jays had fared the night before and then heading straight to the back where the comics lived. I would read most of the page, but always lingered over a…
Human history contains few lives more interesting, more unusual, more significant, than that of the Apostle Paul. The words he wrote transformed the ancient world and, when rediscovered at the time of the Reformation, shaped the modern world as well. It is impossible to construct an accurate picture of the world today without considering Paul…
Last week I spent a couple of days at Muskoka Bible Centre, a Christian camp north of Toronto where we love to spend time in the summer. While there I cracked open a new book by Michael Haykin and saw that, fittingly enough, he had dedicated it to the staff and guests of MBC. I…
I love church history and believe deeply in its importance. Far too often have I seen the consequences when Christians–individuals, churches, movements–become unhinged from the history of the church, unmoored from the life and work of those who have gone before us. Yet church history is so expansive, so daunting, and often so badly told…
As a family we are committed to reading the Bible together. For years we have made it a near-daily habit to spend at least a few minutes together in family devotions. Our normal pattern is simple as simple can be: First thing in the morning we read a passage, we talk about it briefly, and…
On July 16, hundreds of thousands of young people will descend on The Mall for Together 2016. The event’s web site promises, “Together 2016 is the day our generation will meet on the National Mall to come together around Jesus in unified prayer, worship, and a call for catalytic change. We’re coming together with as…
Christopher Hitchens was a fascinating figure. Along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett he ranked as one of the “Four Horsemen” of the New Atheism. With them he popularized a whole new wave of atheism and gave credence to millions who wished to reject any notion of God. He was angry, he was…