‘Crisis of Responsibility’ by David L. Bahnsen: A Review
The main culprit in the decline of modern American as a lack of responsibility on a personal level.
If we do not go beyond the specificity of Reformed doctrine and develop the ability to apply it to our work, then we end up in a closed theological academy without any application to the world in which we live and work. In our desire to be pure in doctrine, we may become irrelevant. David... Continue Reading
Idols of a Mother’s Heart
Our identity and meaning aren't meant to be found in motherhood, or fatherhood, but in Christ who has redeemed us.
Unlike so many of the books on parenting that I’ve read, Christina’s book isn’t about smacking you on the head with what you’re doing wrong. Her approach isn’t like Bob Newhart’s counseling skit. She doesn’t simply tell you to “Stop it!” From beginning to end, Christina’s message is gospel-centered and full of grace for us... Continue Reading
Comforting Quotes for Those Who Are Suffering
The most impactful book I read last year was A Book of Comfort for Those in Sickness.
“You see what he is. All his nature, all his sayings, all his doings argue comfort. Not comfort for the impenitent and the independent, and for those who think they have no need; but for all who wish to be humble, and in want, and to be supplied from a source outside themselves.” Without... Continue Reading
How Our Culture Justifies Its Sexual Freedom (the 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity #9)
People want to hear that they have all the sexual freedom they desire and, at the same time, that they are good people who are just about “love.”
As we turn to the ninth commandment, the progressive emphasis returns with vigor: “We should care more about love and less about sex.” Of all the postmodern cliches that abound, this one may be the most common. And it’s quite effective, rhetorically speaking. After all, it tells people what they already want to hear. I continue... Continue Reading
Best Books of 2018 in One Article
“This is a much-needed resource for the body of Christ..."
Everyday Glory: The Revelation of God in All of Reality by Gerald McDermott was largely inspired by the influence of Jonathan Edwards who, as McDermott notes, “believed that every last bit of the cosmos is a sign that speaks and shows.” Said Edwards “I am not ashamed to own that I believe that the whole universe,... Continue Reading
Where Do Atheists Live?
Humans have always known they occupy a very small place in the great scheme of things.
Ms. Bourke and Mr. Benatar do share something in common, they’re academics, people who live a life apart–as separate from the rest of us as any cloistered pair has ever been, even though they are physically separated by a continent. (The reviewer resides in London, the author of the book, in South Africa.) They live... Continue Reading
Preachers Need to Be Catechized, Too
Ministry is a dangerous business, and we must guard and look after ourselves.
Ministry will break you. It will break your self-reliance, your expectations, your emotional and mental balance, and it will break your heart, over and over again. And all of this is good. Ministry is never the making of you, if “you” is a successful, fruitful version of the sinner who started out in the pastorate. ... Continue Reading
The Leading Principle of a Faithful Minister (Newton)
Here’s a helpful quote by Newton on Paul’s love for Christ – applied to Christian pastors today.
“Supported and animated by this love [for Christ], he [Paul] exerted himself to the utmost, in promoting the knowledge of Him whom he loved, and bearing testimony of His power and grace. Nothing could dishearted, or weary or terrify, or bribe him from his duty: and this must and will be universally the leading principle... Continue Reading
Why You Can’t Have Justification without Sanctification
If you’re united with Christ and therefore have the righteousness of Christ, it is impossible for you not to be transformed.
Heaven without Transformation I think there are two main misunderstandings people have of the central idea of reformation with which Luther and the Reformers started. The first is that justification is abstracted from the person of Christ. The problem there is that I might hear a message of salvation saying You can have righteousness and assume that... Continue Reading
The New Thought Roots of the Prosperity Gospel
"New Thought assumed essential unity between God and humanity, declaring that separation from the divine was only a matter of degree."
“The American religious terrain, plowed deep by the soulful individualism of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was fertile soil for a high anthropology (which is to say, an optimistic theology of human capacity.) As many New Thought authors worked inside a Christian framework, they explored “salvation” not as an act imposed from above by God, but rather... Continue Reading
