If ever there was a book destined to see a lot of negative reviews it has to be Burning Down The Shack. Written by James De Young, professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Western Seminary, Portland, Oregon, this book takes on the bestselling novel The Shack, telling, according to the subtitle, how “The…
Five for Father’s Day – I meant to do this last week, but never mind–there is still time to order before Sunday. Here are five books you may want to get for dad this Father’s Day: one, two, three, four and five. Sometimes It’s Just Plain Hard – Denise Spencer, wife of the late Michael…
What a field-day for the heatA thousand people in the streetSinging songs and carrying signsMostly saying, hooray for our sideIt’s time we stop, hey, what’s that soundEverybody look what’s going down– From “For What It’s Worth” by Stephen Stills Every so often I’ve contemplated what a Saturday Night Live type of variety program might look…
Mark Driscoll Interviews the Grudems – I enjoyed this interview between Mark Driscoll and Wayne and Margaret Grudem. Mark asks them questions related to their marriage. Technology’s Negative Impact on Missions – This is worth thinking about in terms of the impact of technology on missions. Geek Dad – Has anyone checked out this book?…
Last Sunday I posted a great Evening Prayer. This week I want to post an accompanying Morning Prayer. As with last week’s, this one comes from the Canadian and American Reformed Churches web site. I suppose at some point I should write about the value in praying written prayers. But for now, consider making this…
Earlier today I was looking through some notes I took on David McCullough’s great biography of John Adams. I found there a few quotes from Adams about his love of reading. He was an avid reader who had a very substantial library–far more the exception than the rule in his day. Here is how he…
This week’s sponsor of Free Stuff Friday is Ligonier Ministries; you know them well, I’m sure. And today they are offering a great prize package that contains stuff to read and stuff to listen to–they’ve got a new book and an old classic, a classic teaching series and a series of new conference messages. All-in-all…
Consuming Kids – This looks like it will be worth watching: (HT:Z) Mishandling Twentysomethings – Anthony Bradley has some good things to say about the role of twentysomething men in the church. Do Modest Men Get a Raw Deal? – Boundless looks at an article that asks that question. Sin in Heaven? – I appreciated…
And just like that we’ve come to the end of another classic. Looking back on The Bruised Reed I feel like I got the most benefit from the beginning and the end, which likely means that I allowed my attention to drift somewhere around the middle of the book. There is value in reading a…
Seven Mistakes I Made in Ministry – Thom Rainer shares. “I reflected on my years when I served as senior pastor of four churches. I have often said that I wanted to write a book entitled ‘Mistakes I Made in Ministry.’ Then I realized it would have to be a multivolume series! ” (HT:Z) Keep…
Now that I pause to think about it, I don’t know that I’ve ever blogged about the always-contentious issue of the consumption of alcohol. If you must know, I don’t touch the stuff but that is more out of preference than conviction. I just can’t stand the taste of alcohol in general and beer in…
Prepared for Evangelism – Randy Alcorn excerpts one of his books to provide some wisdom on evangelism. How Do We Define Biblical Words? – Bill Mounce looks at that question. It may well be a question you’ve never really thought about before. John 10:16 Conference – New Yorkers may want to take a look at…
Dana Key – I was sorry to hear that Dana Key of Degarmo & Key fame died this past weekend. I used to love listening to his music back in my younger days. Good memories. Digital Overtaking Print – Sony has boldly predicted that within five years there will be more digital content sold than…
One of the unexpected blessings of writing this blog is that it sets in stone things that that have happened in the past or even just things I’ve been thinking about months or years before. I use the blog, in some ways, as a record of spiritual development. I return quite often to articles I’ve…
Love Letters – Basketball coach John Wooden died last Friday. You’ll want to watch this short video about his enduring love for his wife. (HT:JT) Right Teaching, Real Woman – My friend Julian preached a fantastic message yesterday on one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament. If you’ve ever wondered about those…
As you know, I enjoy looking for written prayers to pray as my own. I found this one at the web site for the Canadian and American Reformed Churches. It is a prayer meant to be prayed in the evening before retiring to bed. And it’s a good one, I think. It thanks God for…
Earlier this week I read the book The Shallows by Nicholas Carr–the guy who wrote the infamous article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” It’s a fantastic book and addresses many of the kinds of questions I’ve been asked and (hopefully) answering in my own book. Seriously, you should consider reading it. Carr looks primarily to…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by a new site and one that actually just launched yesterday. CBDReformed.com is a storefront owned and operated by Christian Book Distributors and one geared specifically toward a Reformed audience. They say “In order to serve an important segment of our customers more fully, we have developed a…
Mercy on the Baseball Diamond – Irish Calvinist has some good things to say about the Jim Joyce/Armando Galarraga situation. “Every once in awhile a news story comes along that really helps us to understand how we as a culture think. These are stories that blend in a bunch of social themes which represent our…
As this round of Reading Classics Together draws near to a close (we’ve got just one more week after this) I’m already thinking ahead to the next book. But I guess I need to keep my head in the game and first finish up this one. It’s been a great read and I’ve learned a…