Christian Bale, the actor who plays Moses in the upcoming Exodus: Gods and Kings, reportedly said this of Moses: “I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life.” That is quite something to say about one of the greatest figures in […]
Archives for 2014
Why Do People Like John Piper Put an Emphasis on Being Radical, Rather than Ordinary?
I’m still looking forward to reading Michael Horton’s Ordinary. As I’ve mentioned before, the title makes me wonder a bit, but I am expecting Horton to get the balance right between the “ordinary” and “radical” themes in the Bible. I tend to gravitate more to the “radical” theme, because I think the Scriptures do. However, the affirmation […]
What Does the Reformation Mean for Today?
I believe the need for the Reformation, which began on this day in 1517 when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Church of All Saints, continues today. It continues on at least two fronts. First, the need for the Reformation continues because the Roman Catholic church has never turned from […]
Luther's 95 Theses
In honor of Reformation Day today, here are Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, which sparked the Reformation. Here are also twol posts by Justin Taylor and one from Ligonier Ministries: Calvin on Why God Raised Up Luther to Reform the Church 497 Years Ago Today: An Interview with Carl Trueman on Luther’s 95 Theses What is […]
Advice on Prayer from Tim Keller
Tim Keller’s new book on prayer comes out next week, and it looks excellent. When I was at Catalyst a few weeks ago, I saw him doing an interview on the book and he made a very insightful point. In talking about how to become better at making time for prayer, he said this: “If […]
The Pastor's Kid
Last July, Barnabas Piper came out with his fantastic book The Pastor’s Kid: Finding Your Own Faith and Identity. Barnabas writes, obviously, as a pastor’s kid. Unique to any other book on the subject is that the foreword is by his dad, pastor John Piper. He is not writing this book as a memoir or some sort […]
Teach Us to Want
Jen Pollock Michel’s book Teach Us to Want: Longing, Ambition, and the Life of Faith is one of the most well-written books I’ve read in the last year. Jen writes for Christianity Today’s her.meneutics blog. You may remember her from last spring when she wrote a review of my book that pointed out that I didn’t do […]
Real Christian
I am very excited about Todd Wilson’s excellent new book, Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of Authentic Faith. Todd and I go way back, having studied together under John Piper at The Bethlehem Institute back in our early days of seminary. Todd has a PhD from the University of Cambridge and is now senior pastor at […]
The True Nature of Elder Authority in the Church
Note: I originally wrote this post a few weeks ago, in partial response to everything that was going on at Mars Hill. I didn’t post it, however, because I was hesitant to speak up about issues at a church where I don’t attend. However, the issues at Mars Hill pertain to many crucial biblical principles that are […]
Radical? Yes!
I’m looking forward to reading Michael Horton’s book Ordinary. There is no missing the allusion in the title to a book like David Platt’s Radical, though — which is another book I’ve found to be very helpful. I like Horton a lot, and I assume that rather than disagreeing with what Jonathan Edwards called “the necessity of engaging in […]