books & publications
Feb 22, 2023: Reformanda: What Happened to the Gospel of Grace?
Not long ago, I picked up a book by James Montgomery Boice titled Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace? Boice was one of the greatest evangelical leaders of the 20th century. He pastored 10th Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2000, he announced to his church that he had cancer and he died a few months later at the age of 62. He died June 15, 2000, and evangelicalism lost one of its most faithful leaders. 
The Eighth Century Prophets: Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah: The Old Testament Witnesses for Preaching
Bernhard Anderson has written a commentary that gives new perspective and clarity to the prophetic tradition and demonstrates the timely nature of the prophets' messages for today. 'The Eighth Century Prophets' treats the four Old Testament figures as a 'prophetic quartet' that produced a powerful and startling consensus about Israel's relationship to God and the world. The core of the prophetic message is shown to be both religious and political as Anderson describes and explains the great themes of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah: divine judgment, the present and the future, justice and mercy, the covenant, walking humbly with God, and waiting for God. Included is a bibliography and time chart of Eighth Century Israel. 
In 2005, renowned biblical scholar N. T. Wright’s book, Simply Christian, offered readers an introduction to the Christian faith in which Wright examined four themes—justice, spirituality, relationships, and beauty. He described them as “‘echoes of a voice’: when we ponder them, it’s as though we are hearing someone calling from just around the corner, out of sight.” Since then, Wright says, his thinking has developed and he has added three more areas that people also experience as “echoes of this voice—freedom, truth, and power.”
Wright once considered these seven areas as universal themes, but he has come to see them as signposts: “Signposts name a reality and point us in a direction. Likewise, these seven signposts name realities that all human cultures value as well as pointing beyond themselves to the meaning of life, to the meaning of the world. They indicate, in fact, how we ought to ‘make sense’ of the world—how we ought to understand the way the world is and the challenge of being human within it.” However, Wright points out, because of the fallenness of humanity, these signposts always fail to deliver on what they promise. So, he says, they should be more accurately named broken signposts. Wright frames up his exploration of the broken signposts through the lens of the Gospel of John. Clearly and simply written—this isn’t an academic tome; it’s accessible to lay people--Broken Signposts does more than help readers make sense of the world. It also explores ways in which they can “contribute fresh ‘sense’” through how they live their lives and interact with others in their communities. Recommended as an excellent resource for anyone desiring to more fully understand the Christian faith and longing to live more faithfully into the biblical promise of a new creation, initiated through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (HarperOne)  Released March 2014
June 18, 2014 (Books At a Glance) Michael Horton: "Calvin believed that it was not only wrong to contradict Scripture in doctrine and rules for worship and Christian living; he argued that the church has no authority to institute anything beyond Scripture in these areas. At the heart of Scripture is the gospel of God’s saving love in Jesus Christ, from Genesis to Revelation. Without coming to the end of our rope and casting ourselves entirely on God’s free mercy in Christ, “Christian living” will just be another form of idolatry and works-righteousness. Calvin is convinced that this heresy of self-chosen worship and self-salvation is what our fallen hearts gravitate toward naturally. Without understanding the gospel – Christ alone, Calvin emphasizes, we’ll never pray, worship, love, or bear the fruit of the Spirit. For Calvin, it’s not “the gospel vs. good works,” but “the gospel as the only basis for good works.”
What does it really mean to follow Jesus? Is it just a set of intellectual facts about the cross, forgiveness of sins, and an afterlife? Or is it something more than that? Why is it that the lives of Christians and those who are not Christians seem to look so similar at times in the Western world? If someone followed you around live-tweeting your daily decisions and values, who would they say that you follow? These are some of the questions Wes Hynd has been wrestling with for 15 years as he has sought to identify some of the ways in which Western culture has subtly influenced our Christian faith, including in our:
Time, Career, Family, Friendships, Money, and Emotions Released date: December 1; 284 pages, trade paperback |
Erdmans
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Nov 19, 2022: Denny Burk: What Happened at the Rocky Mountain ETS?
This was the only session that I planned to listen to from start to finish, and I did. There has been some controversy around Piper’s recent book What Is Saving Faith? Reflections on Receiving Christ as a Treasure (Crossway, 2022). I won’t rehearse it all here, but some critics have charged Piper with adopting a view of faith that is more akin to Roman Catholicism than to Reformed Protestantism. Because Piper includes an affectional element in his definition of faith, he undermines sola fide. That’s the gist of the criticism anyway.
I came with an open mind and heart wanting to hear from both sides to find out who could make the most persuasive case from Scripture. John Piper presented his case first, and then Guy Waters and J. V. Fesko responded with substantial critiques. Waters focused his critique on Piper’s reading of Scripture, and Fesko focused his on Piper’s use of historical sources. Joe Rigney moderated a spirited and respectful discussion after the three papers.
This was the only session that I planned to listen to from start to finish, and I did. There has been some controversy around Piper’s recent book What Is Saving Faith? Reflections on Receiving Christ as a Treasure (Crossway, 2022). I won’t rehearse it all here, but some critics have charged Piper with adopting a view of faith that is more akin to Roman Catholicism than to Reformed Protestantism. Because Piper includes an affectional element in his definition of faith, he undermines sola fide. That’s the gist of the criticism anyway.
I came with an open mind and heart wanting to hear from both sides to find out who could make the most persuasive case from Scripture. John Piper presented his case first, and then Guy Waters and J. V. Fesko responded with substantial critiques. Waters focused his critique on Piper’s reading of Scripture, and Fesko focused his on Piper’s use of historical sources. Joe Rigney moderated a spirited and respectful discussion after the three papers.
Drawing on history, public opinion surveys, and personal experience, Robert P. Jones delivers a provocative examination of the unholy relationship between American Christianity and white supremacy and issues an urgent call for white Christians to reckon with this legacy for the sake of themselves and the nation.
“This book is a marvel. It manages to quietly excoriate the insidious, entrenched attitudes that continue to sow racial hatred and division and to show the large and small ways that they continue. Devoid of moralizing, this powerful, heavily researched and annotated book is a must-read for religious leaders and academics.”
--Booklist (Starred Review)
“A concise yet comprehensive combination of deeply documented religious history, social science research about contemporary religion, and heartfelt memoir. . . . An indispensable study of Christianity in America.”
--Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
“A refreshing blend of historical accounting, soul-searching reflection, and analysis of white supremacy within the American Christian identity. . . . Jones’s introspective, measured study is a revelatory unpacking of influence and history of white Christian nationalism.”
--Publishers Weekly
“Robert P. Jones’s searing White Too Long brilliantly argues that his fellow white Christians must dissent from their received faith and embrace a theology of racial justice. White Too Long is a prophetic call of redemption for folk who have too often idolized whiteness and worshipped America instead of the God of Martin, Fannie Lou and Jesse.”
—Michael Eric Dyson, University Professor of Sociology, Georgetown University; author of Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
“White Too Long is a powerful and much-needed book. It is a direct challenge to white Christians to finally put aside the idolatry of whiteness in order to release the country and themselves into a different possibility. With clarity of moral vision, historical nuance, and the sensitivity of an artist’s pen, Jones has written a critical book for these troubled times.”
—Eddie S. Glaude Jr., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University; author of Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lesson for Our Own
“In White Too Long, Robert Jones offers both searching personal testimony and a rigorous look at the facts to call white Christians to account for the scandalous ways white supremacists have regularly distorted and manipulated a faith dedicated to love and justice to rationalize racism. Jones is a rare and indispensable voice in our public conversation about religion because he combines painstaking data analysis with a sure moral sense. May this book encourage soul-searching, repentance, and conversion.”
--E. J. Dionne Jr., Columnist for The Washington Post; author of Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country
“White Too Long is meticulously researched and compelling throughout. It’s also a damning moral indictment of the way white supremacy has infected the white church in the United States from its very beginnings—which lays bare the need, now more than ever, for white Christians to systematically repent of white supremacy.”
--Jim Wallis, Founder and President of Sojourners; author of Christ in Crisis? Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus
“With integrity and vulnerability, Jones exposes the subtle but profound compatibility between white supremacist ideology and white Christian theology. This remarkably courageous, must read book helps white Christians in America finally face the question Jones had to ask himself, “Can you be “white” and Christian?”
--The Very Reverend Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary; Canon Theologian, Washington National Cathedral
“Robert Jones combines the passion of a memoirist, the rigor of a social scientist, and the tenacity of a historian to produce this piercing exploration of the dark ties that bind aspects of American Christianity to the nation’s original sin of racism. For anyone hoping to understand the cultural, racial, and religious fault lines that divide America today, White Too Long is timely, insightful and indispensable.”
--Ronald Brownstein, Senior Editor at The Atlantic, Senior Political Analyst for CNN
“This book is a marvel. It manages to quietly excoriate the insidious, entrenched attitudes that continue to sow racial hatred and division and to show the large and small ways that they continue. Devoid of moralizing, this powerful, heavily researched and annotated book is a must-read for religious leaders and academics.”
--Booklist (Starred Review)
“A concise yet comprehensive combination of deeply documented religious history, social science research about contemporary religion, and heartfelt memoir. . . . An indispensable study of Christianity in America.”
--Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
“A refreshing blend of historical accounting, soul-searching reflection, and analysis of white supremacy within the American Christian identity. . . . Jones’s introspective, measured study is a revelatory unpacking of influence and history of white Christian nationalism.”
--Publishers Weekly
“Robert P. Jones’s searing White Too Long brilliantly argues that his fellow white Christians must dissent from their received faith and embrace a theology of racial justice. White Too Long is a prophetic call of redemption for folk who have too often idolized whiteness and worshipped America instead of the God of Martin, Fannie Lou and Jesse.”
—Michael Eric Dyson, University Professor of Sociology, Georgetown University; author of Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
“White Too Long is a powerful and much-needed book. It is a direct challenge to white Christians to finally put aside the idolatry of whiteness in order to release the country and themselves into a different possibility. With clarity of moral vision, historical nuance, and the sensitivity of an artist’s pen, Jones has written a critical book for these troubled times.”
—Eddie S. Glaude Jr., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University; author of Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lesson for Our Own
“In White Too Long, Robert Jones offers both searching personal testimony and a rigorous look at the facts to call white Christians to account for the scandalous ways white supremacists have regularly distorted and manipulated a faith dedicated to love and justice to rationalize racism. Jones is a rare and indispensable voice in our public conversation about religion because he combines painstaking data analysis with a sure moral sense. May this book encourage soul-searching, repentance, and conversion.”
--E. J. Dionne Jr., Columnist for The Washington Post; author of Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country
“White Too Long is meticulously researched and compelling throughout. It’s also a damning moral indictment of the way white supremacy has infected the white church in the United States from its very beginnings—which lays bare the need, now more than ever, for white Christians to systematically repent of white supremacy.”
--Jim Wallis, Founder and President of Sojourners; author of Christ in Crisis? Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus
“With integrity and vulnerability, Jones exposes the subtle but profound compatibility between white supremacist ideology and white Christian theology. This remarkably courageous, must read book helps white Christians in America finally face the question Jones had to ask himself, “Can you be “white” and Christian?”
--The Very Reverend Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary; Canon Theologian, Washington National Cathedral
“Robert Jones combines the passion of a memoirist, the rigor of a social scientist, and the tenacity of a historian to produce this piercing exploration of the dark ties that bind aspects of American Christianity to the nation’s original sin of racism. For anyone hoping to understand the cultural, racial, and religious fault lines that divide America today, White Too Long is timely, insightful and indispensable.”
--Ronald Brownstein, Senior Editor at The Atlantic, Senior Political Analyst for CNN
Canon Fodder: Announcing My New Book: Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church 9.13.22
INDIANAPOLIS, IN, UNITED STATES, August 3, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Rabbi and Biblical scholar Michael E. Harvey has released his new book, Let’s Talk: A Rabbi Speaks to Christians. The book is designed for Christians to expand their knowledge about the Jewish aspects and roots of their faith. Most notably for current affairs, Let’s Talk addresses misconceptions, unintentional antisemitism in liturgy or interpretation, and draws beautiful comparisons between the two faiths. The text will empower and equip Christians with new and better ways to speak to American Jews and American Christians in a time of rising fundamentalism and antisemitism.
Let’s Talk: A Rabbi Speaks to Christians has become available at a time of great need, as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene recently made headlines for her promotion of Christian nationalism, which is historically and intrinsically linked to antisemitism. The Anti-Defamation League reports that antisemitic incidents in the United States reached an all-time high in 2021, and unfortunately there is no sign that 2022 and beyond will be any safer.
Easy to read and use as a reference guide, the book can serve as a tool for Christian leaders and clergy who have seen antisemitism preached from the pulpit, helping identify the dangers and how to preach against such ideas. It is also useful for Christian laypeople seeking to unlearn latent antisemitism. The volume seeks to diminish conflict between Jews and Christians as it opens interfaith dialog and eases tensions from mistakes in the past.
Questions readers may be able to answer through Let’s Talk, include:
Why is there no such as thing as “Judeo-Christian values?”
What is the difference between the Judaism practiced by the historical Jesus and modern- day Judaism?
How does translation make Bible passages seem “clear” when their intended meaning is anything but?
Rabbi Harvey will be appearing at events in Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati in connection with the book’s release, with more dates to be added. Learn more at rabbimichaelharvey.com.
Let’s Talk: A Rabbi Speaks to Christians has become available at a time of great need, as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene recently made headlines for her promotion of Christian nationalism, which is historically and intrinsically linked to antisemitism. The Anti-Defamation League reports that antisemitic incidents in the United States reached an all-time high in 2021, and unfortunately there is no sign that 2022 and beyond will be any safer.
Easy to read and use as a reference guide, the book can serve as a tool for Christian leaders and clergy who have seen antisemitism preached from the pulpit, helping identify the dangers and how to preach against such ideas. It is also useful for Christian laypeople seeking to unlearn latent antisemitism. The volume seeks to diminish conflict between Jews and Christians as it opens interfaith dialog and eases tensions from mistakes in the past.
Questions readers may be able to answer through Let’s Talk, include:
Why is there no such as thing as “Judeo-Christian values?”
What is the difference between the Judaism practiced by the historical Jesus and modern- day Judaism?
How does translation make Bible passages seem “clear” when their intended meaning is anything but?
Rabbi Harvey will be appearing at events in Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati in connection with the book’s release, with more dates to be added. Learn more at rabbimichaelharvey.com.
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkle [2012]
A groundbreaking book by one of the most important thinkers of our time shows how technology is warping our social lives and our inner ones
Technology has become the architect of our intimacies. Online, we fall prey to the illusion of companionship, gathering thousands of Twitter and Facebook friends, and confusing tweets and wall posts with authentic communication. But this relentless connection leads to a deep solitude. MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down. Based on hundreds of interviews and with a new introduction taking us to the present day, Alone Together describes changing, unsettling relationships between friends, lovers, and families.
A groundbreaking book by one of the most important thinkers of our time shows how technology is warping our social lives and our inner ones
Technology has become the architect of our intimacies. Online, we fall prey to the illusion of companionship, gathering thousands of Twitter and Facebook friends, and confusing tweets and wall posts with authentic communication. But this relentless connection leads to a deep solitude. MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down. Based on hundreds of interviews and with a new introduction taking us to the present day, Alone Together describes changing, unsettling relationships between friends, lovers, and families.
Prayer Still Works by Kenneth Sullivan Jr is designed to examine the power of prayer through a number of powerful biblical examples alongside illustrations from our age. While reading this book you will gain insight on how to tap into the power of prayer and to fully realize how God's spiritual authority directly flows into your life. Prayer Still works today!
Prayer can be used to address every single human issue on earth. Through prayer, we are not only able to commune with God, but we invite God into our lives and affairs. Prayer is not some outdated and antiquated approach to life matters whose effectiveness has expired; but it is, in fact, still potent and powerful to heal, to change circumstances, and to address whatever we may be facing, right now. Readers will be encouraged by several examples of prayer, and they will be equipped with a guide to help them build a stronger, richer, more effective prayer life. Experience the power of prayer being activated in your life like never before!
Prayer can be used to address every single human issue on earth. Through prayer, we are not only able to commune with God, but we invite God into our lives and affairs. Prayer is not some outdated and antiquated approach to life matters whose effectiveness has expired; but it is, in fact, still potent and powerful to heal, to change circumstances, and to address whatever we may be facing, right now. Readers will be encouraged by several examples of prayer, and they will be equipped with a guide to help them build a stronger, richer, more effective prayer life. Experience the power of prayer being activated in your life like never before!
“When it comes to a firmly entrenched Christian nationalist, we do have to remember that we are trying to dispute not only an individual but their favorite TV network and the ever self-reinforcing bubble of opinion fed to them on social media through algorithms sifting through their clicks and likes, and the hundreds or even thousands of members of their church where they just praise Jesus and ask him to save the United States while listening to heart-thumping rock music and indoctrinating sermons,” she said during an April 27 event celebrating the release of her new book, The Psychology of Christian Nationalism: Why People are Drawn In and How to Talk Across the Divide. -Jeff Brumly; Baptist News Global
Leon James Francis, currently a judge in Southern California and formerly a U.S. Marine Corps officer, has completed his new book, “Messengers of Isaiah”: an inspirational story of the limitlessness of faith as experienced by one small, country church who dared to say yes to God when He called.
Francis shares, “It was Easter of 1994, and the congregation of Plains Community Baptist Church was celebrating the completion of the new temple, this sixty-one-member rural church had sacrificed twenty years to build. During their worship service, amid a storm, a man dressed a vagrant, whom no one knew or had ever seen, entered the auditorium unannounced and then marched uninvited directly to the front. To their mutual bewilderment, the stranger announced he was a messenger of God. He told them, “Destroy this church, and on the third day, God will raise it up greater than you could ever imagine.” They promptly threw him out. But after suffering a series of haunting dreams, suggesting the stranger was truly sent by God, they reluctantly but unanimously agreed to do as they believed God had commanded—by burning their beloved temple to the ground. However, on the third day, thereafter, the temple was not restored as prophesied but rather remained in ashes. Instead, what happened next was far more miraculous and mysterious and truly beyond their greatest imagination.”
Published by Covenant Books of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, Leon James Francis’ new book tells of great miracles that come from trusting faith when acting upon a difficult, seemingly impossible calling from God.
Francis shares, “It was Easter of 1994, and the congregation of Plains Community Baptist Church was celebrating the completion of the new temple, this sixty-one-member rural church had sacrificed twenty years to build. During their worship service, amid a storm, a man dressed a vagrant, whom no one knew or had ever seen, entered the auditorium unannounced and then marched uninvited directly to the front. To their mutual bewilderment, the stranger announced he was a messenger of God. He told them, “Destroy this church, and on the third day, God will raise it up greater than you could ever imagine.” They promptly threw him out. But after suffering a series of haunting dreams, suggesting the stranger was truly sent by God, they reluctantly but unanimously agreed to do as they believed God had commanded—by burning their beloved temple to the ground. However, on the third day, thereafter, the temple was not restored as prophesied but rather remained in ashes. Instead, what happened next was far more miraculous and mysterious and truly beyond their greatest imagination.”
Published by Covenant Books of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, Leon James Francis’ new book tells of great miracles that come from trusting faith when acting upon a difficult, seemingly impossible calling from God.
Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s ingeniously titled Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation left me with a similar, but more widespread, sense of disappointment in Christian men. Her book convincingly and methodically reveals how American evangelical culture—a loose consortium of pastors, speakers, booksellers, convention organizers, radio personalities, church planting networks, lay people, televangelists, con artists, and political advocates—discipled men into a toxic, twisted, even anti-Christian way to think about sex, gender, and power. It’s a brutal read, but for me it provided context for my disparate memories of the evangelical world’s attempt to synthesize masculinity and Christianity.
Du Mez shows how evangelical leaders over decades attempted to articulate and defend a certain vision of masculinity, one embodied by John Wayne (and intentionally projected by our former president). The Christian man, according to this vision, is a (white) American one; he gets things done; he isn’t afraid of a fight and getting his hands a little dirty; he believes boys should be boys; he drinks beer and he loves guns; he would beat up anybody who dared call him a sissy. He is a tough, frontier man, the good guy, who nobly uses violence when needed to defend women and children from the scary threats of outsiders, who generally are people of color (be they Native Americans, Mexicans, African-Americans, Muslims). Du Mez draws this convincing image from decades of popular evangelical books on masculinity, such as Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson and Wild at Heart by John Eldridge. She quotes the Baptist scholar Alan Bean as saying, “The unspoken mantra of post-war evangelicalism was simple: Jesus can save your soul; but John Wayne will save your ass.”
Du Mez narrates how the patriarchal theology of evangelicals, in which men were treated like kings and male pastors like God, created an environment conducive to the current scandals of abuse in the evangelical world (particularly in churches of the Southern Baptist Convention). The #ChurchToo movement, inspired by Hollywood’s #MeToo movement, revealed a church culture that permitted, covered up, and denied the very real abuse of women and children in the evangelical world.
While reading this book, there were many times I heard myself saying, “Not all people who call themselves evangelicals are this way!” I wondered if everyone mentioned in the book got a fair hearing, and there’s really no way for me to verify this one way or another. But the evidence Du Mez presents is overwhelming and convicting. It left me with a general sense of disgust and grief, and even a healthy sense of fear at how many have morally failed in this work of ministry. -Cambron Wright; Firebrand
Du Mez shows how evangelical leaders over decades attempted to articulate and defend a certain vision of masculinity, one embodied by John Wayne (and intentionally projected by our former president). The Christian man, according to this vision, is a (white) American one; he gets things done; he isn’t afraid of a fight and getting his hands a little dirty; he believes boys should be boys; he drinks beer and he loves guns; he would beat up anybody who dared call him a sissy. He is a tough, frontier man, the good guy, who nobly uses violence when needed to defend women and children from the scary threats of outsiders, who generally are people of color (be they Native Americans, Mexicans, African-Americans, Muslims). Du Mez draws this convincing image from decades of popular evangelical books on masculinity, such as Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson and Wild at Heart by John Eldridge. She quotes the Baptist scholar Alan Bean as saying, “The unspoken mantra of post-war evangelicalism was simple: Jesus can save your soul; but John Wayne will save your ass.”
Du Mez narrates how the patriarchal theology of evangelicals, in which men were treated like kings and male pastors like God, created an environment conducive to the current scandals of abuse in the evangelical world (particularly in churches of the Southern Baptist Convention). The #ChurchToo movement, inspired by Hollywood’s #MeToo movement, revealed a church culture that permitted, covered up, and denied the very real abuse of women and children in the evangelical world.
While reading this book, there were many times I heard myself saying, “Not all people who call themselves evangelicals are this way!” I wondered if everyone mentioned in the book got a fair hearing, and there’s really no way for me to verify this one way or another. But the evidence Du Mez presents is overwhelming and convicting. It left me with a general sense of disgust and grief, and even a healthy sense of fear at how many have morally failed in this work of ministry. -Cambron Wright; Firebrand
"Just because we can say something doesn’t mean we should. There are ways of confronting abuses of power, and I am certainly not condoning a mindless obedience. But Christians need to understand that the best place for difficult conversations is usually not online.”
"Outrage exhibits few if any of the short- or long-term characteristics Scripture associates with righteous anger. Righteous anger is aimed at the glory of God,, but outrage is an angry reaction to personal injury or insult. Where righteous anger is purposeful and designed to advance specific objectives and ends, outrage exhibits little critical thought as to its underlying focus, motivations, expressions, or ends.
"Outrage is motivated by a desire to punish or destroy rather than reconcile or refine. It is frequently accompanied by hubris and a confidence in its judgment, categorically rejecting any nuance. Outrage is fast and decisive rather than reflective, choosing to exhibit God’s retribution rather than reflect his persistent, steadfast love." -Ed Stetzer; Christians in the Age of Outrage
"Outrage exhibits few if any of the short- or long-term characteristics Scripture associates with righteous anger. Righteous anger is aimed at the glory of God,, but outrage is an angry reaction to personal injury or insult. Where righteous anger is purposeful and designed to advance specific objectives and ends, outrage exhibits little critical thought as to its underlying focus, motivations, expressions, or ends.
"Outrage is motivated by a desire to punish or destroy rather than reconcile or refine. It is frequently accompanied by hubris and a confidence in its judgment, categorically rejecting any nuance. Outrage is fast and decisive rather than reflective, choosing to exhibit God’s retribution rather than reflect his persistent, steadfast love." -Ed Stetzer; Christians in the Age of Outrage
"If God is simple, there can be no real distinction between his essence (or substantial form) and attributes… Properly speaking, God is good by virtue of God, not goodness. He is wise by virtue of God, not wisdom. He is powerful by virtue of God, not power. He is love by virtue of God, not love. And when we say that God is goodness itself, wisdom itself, power itself, and love itself, we do not mean that these are so many really distinct parts or forms in God, but simply that He is all that is involved in these terms by virtue of His own divine essence as such… There is nothing in God that is not identical with His divinity, nothing that is not just God Himself” (pp. 42, 43).
From "All That is In God" by James E Dolezal
From "All That is In God" by James E Dolezal
Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us" by Westminster Seminary theologian Michael Horton.
“The fear of God is living with the grain of reality. … We did not make ourselves, so it is insane to live as though we could be whatever and whomever we choose. We do not belong to ourselves, but to God.”
“The Fear to End All Fears,” sets out the Scriptural basis for a proper fear of God.
“All of our fears come down to this one: we are afraid of Someone knowing our deepest secrets, cherished transgressions, and failures to fulfill our chief end.”
"Don’t mistake God’s kindness and patience as a sign that he is either unable or unwilling to unleash his wrath. Even now, there may be some reading this who have lived around Noah’s ark all your life, so to speak. You have camped around it and played in its shadow and on its scaffolding, even as this barge of salvation was being built. But you have never entered the ark. Like an old coin, your religion is something you carry around in your pocket. It even has an image of Christ, but this image has lost its embossing and is now faded."
“When we raise our eyes to heaven, something strange happens to us. Fears of our circumstances, including life, vocations, and the condition of the environment, are so moderated that we are able to engage in stewardship with hopeful responsibility instead of utopianism or despair.”
“The fear of God is living with the grain of reality. … We did not make ourselves, so it is insane to live as though we could be whatever and whomever we choose. We do not belong to ourselves, but to God.”
“The Fear to End All Fears,” sets out the Scriptural basis for a proper fear of God.
“All of our fears come down to this one: we are afraid of Someone knowing our deepest secrets, cherished transgressions, and failures to fulfill our chief end.”
"Don’t mistake God’s kindness and patience as a sign that he is either unable or unwilling to unleash his wrath. Even now, there may be some reading this who have lived around Noah’s ark all your life, so to speak. You have camped around it and played in its shadow and on its scaffolding, even as this barge of salvation was being built. But you have never entered the ark. Like an old coin, your religion is something you carry around in your pocket. It even has an image of Christ, but this image has lost its embossing and is now faded."
“When we raise our eyes to heaven, something strange happens to us. Fears of our circumstances, including life, vocations, and the condition of the environment, are so moderated that we are able to engage in stewardship with hopeful responsibility instead of utopianism or despair.”
Mabry talks about where our culture is on certain issues and the approaches we see around us. His cultural engagement is helpful, particularly in the chapter on ‘Politics and Kingdom’ where he helpfully shows us the dangers of putting our hope in politics:
If his party wins, he wins. If it loses, he not only loses but faces an existential crisis. It’s not just that he’s not ok; he cannot be ok. Why? Because he’s relocated his peace from the unchanging promises of God to the changing winds of politics. (132)
Mabry’s solution is that by ‘embracing the biblical tension between present politics and the future kingdom, we can develop the virtue of justice not only in ourselves but in our cultures’ (148) -Be Thinking
If his party wins, he wins. If it loses, he not only loses but faces an existential crisis. It’s not just that he’s not ok; he cannot be ok. Why? Because he’s relocated his peace from the unchanging promises of God to the changing winds of politics. (132)
Mabry’s solution is that by ‘embracing the biblical tension between present politics and the future kingdom, we can develop the virtue of justice not only in ourselves but in our cultures’ (148) -Be Thinking
“An important way that a theological tradition such as Methodism can remain both a faithful witness in terms of its past heritage as well as relevant to the challenges of today is the frank recognition that this tradition has been called forth by God to participate in the broad, rich, and generous life of the church. . . Simply put, the church is never only about us or the present moment,” but about the whole sweep of the purposes of God through all the world -The Next Methodism: Theological, Social, and Missional Foundations for Global Methodism
April 11, 2022: Texas Monthly: How a Texas Monthly Writer Wound Up Writing Billy Graham’s Biography
William Martin’s journey from Rice professor to Billy Graham expert began with a simple assignment, one that would alter his life for decades to come.
William Martin’s journey from Rice professor to Billy Graham expert began with a simple assignment, one that would alter his life for decades to come.
In Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision, theologian David Wells argues that the Church is in danger of losing its moral authority to speak to a culture whose moral fabric is torn. Although much of the Church has enjoyed success and growth over the past years, Wells laments a "hollowing out of evangelical conviction, a loss of the biblical word in its authoritative function, and an erosion of character to the point that today, no discernible ethical differences are evident in behavior when those claiming to have been reborn and secularists are compared." The assurance of the Good News of the gospel has been traded for mere good feelings, truth has given way to perception, and morality has slid into personal preference. Losing Our Virtue is about the disintegrating moral culture that is contemporary society and what this disturbing loss means for the church. Wells covers the following in this bold critique: how the theologically emptied spirituality of the church is causing it to lose its moral bearings an exploration of the wider dynamic at work in contemporary society between license and law an exposition of the secular notion of salvation as heralded by our most trusted gurus--advertisers and psychotherapists a discussion of the contemporary view of the self how guilt and sin have been replaced by empty psychological shame an examination of the contradiction between the way we view ourselves in the midst of our own culture and the biblical view of persons as created, moral beings Can the church still speak effectively to a culture that has become morally unraveled? Wells believes it can. In fact, says Wells, no time in this century has been more opportune for the Christian faith--if the church can muster the courage to regain its moral weight and become a missionary of truth once more to a foundering world.
Mar 29, 2022: Washington Examiner: The Mothers and Daughters of the Bible Speak: Lessons on Faith From Nine Biblical Families
Bream’s first book in the Women of the Bible Speak series, The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today, was released in March 2021 and appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for 15 weeks in a row.
“It’s striking to me that these women are so relatable, all these centuries later,” Bream told the Washington Examiner. “Like us, they make good and bad decisions. Some endure trials and suffering that are hard to understand, but what’s consistent through all the stories is that God was working the entire time.”
Bream’s first book in the Women of the Bible Speak series, The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today, was released in March 2021 and appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for 15 weeks in a row.
“It’s striking to me that these women are so relatable, all these centuries later,” Bream told the Washington Examiner. “Like us, they make good and bad decisions. Some endure trials and suffering that are hard to understand, but what’s consistent through all the stories is that God was working the entire time.”
We want the love of a mother, the love a father, the love of a friend, the love of a spouse, the love of someone. We want an enduring and unconditional love. Even the worst criminal locked up in prison longs for someone to love him. Have you ever thought about why? If the origin of the universe is an accident, and if through time and chance human beings are who they are, why do all people want to be loved? Further, we might also ask why all human love is ultimately disappointing. No spouse loves us exactly like we want. Too often family love erupts into friction and conflict. Friends fail us. We desperately want someone to love us perfectly. This is why loneliness is so painful. I have spoken often to my church and others about my struggles with loneliness through years of singleness (not that those two always go together, they just seem to for me). There is a palatable ache within that can wash over you like waves of despair. I could analyze it. I could philosophize about it. I could even teach on it. But I could not overcome it. Then I began to look at the pain from the perspective of beauty and to consider why I felt the way I did. I came to discover that loneliness was not an enemy but a friend. It is a painful reminder that I was not made for myself. I was made for Him, and the pain is God’s way of saying, “Here I am!” Loneliness has become a guide and a friend in my spiritual journey. When I feel lonely, I am feeling theology inside. All the pleasures, desires, and loves in this world will not take that pain away. We desperately want someone to love us perfectly, yet no one does. But when we wake up to the fact that no relationship can fully satisfy, we realize that we are lonely for God.”
–Steve DeWitt, Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything.
–Steve DeWitt, Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything.
Feb 24, 2022: Christianity Today: The Arc of White Evangelical Racism Is Long, but Complicated
The last several years have witnessed no small uptick in accessible academic books about evangelicals. Some of the most striking works have explored the political and racial history of the movement. This is evident in books like Jemar Tisby’s The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism, John Fea’s Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump, and Thomas Kidd’s Who is an Evangelical?: The History of a Movement in Crisis.
The last several years have witnessed no small uptick in accessible academic books about evangelicals. Some of the most striking works have explored the political and racial history of the movement. This is evident in books like Jemar Tisby’s The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism, John Fea’s Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump, and Thomas Kidd’s Who is an Evangelical?: The History of a Movement in Crisis.
| --Greenfield's First Law of Political Analysis.” ― Jeff Greenfield |
Feb 18, 2022: Alabama Baptist: Author shares personal battles overcoming anxiety, depression
Christian communicator and author Caris Snider is passionate about sharing the hope of God with those battling anxiety and depression because she’s been in their shoes.
In a recent TAB “Amplify” podcast, Snider spoke about her book, “Anxiety Elephants: A 31-Day Devotional to Help Stomp Out Your Anxiety,” and how her personal experiences with mental health issues inspired her to write about anxiety and depression.
Christian communicator and author Caris Snider is passionate about sharing the hope of God with those battling anxiety and depression because she’s been in their shoes.
In a recent TAB “Amplify” podcast, Snider spoke about her book, “Anxiety Elephants: A 31-Day Devotional to Help Stomp Out Your Anxiety,” and how her personal experiences with mental health issues inspired her to write about anxiety and depression.
Feb 17, 2022: Baptist News Global: Everything you need to know about the rise in efforts to ban books from libraries
“We’re seeing an unprecedented volume of challenges in the fall of 2021,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s office for intellectual freedom, said in late November. “In my 20 years with ALA, I can’t recall a time when we had multiple challenges coming in on a daily basis.”
“We’re seeing an unprecedented volume of challenges in the fall of 2021,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s office for intellectual freedom, said in late November. “In my 20 years with ALA, I can’t recall a time when we had multiple challenges coming in on a daily basis.”
Jan 28, 2022: Allan R Bevere: If We're Going to Ban Offensive Books, Let's Start with the Bible
It is also important to mention that state representatives in Tennessee have made several attempts to make the Bible the official book of the Volunteer State, which highlights the ironic nature of irony. If Maus is a book to be kept from our children, then the Bible should have been banned first, not held up as some gold standard in children's literature. Allow me to cite just a few passages to make my point.
It is also important to mention that state representatives in Tennessee have made several attempts to make the Bible the official book of the Volunteer State, which highlights the ironic nature of irony. If Maus is a book to be kept from our children, then the Bible should have been banned first, not held up as some gold standard in children's literature. Allow me to cite just a few passages to make my point.
Jan 28, 2022: Nashville Pride: Critical Race Theory—banning of Black authors in schools, libraries, prisons
In the summer of 2020 and the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, a major publishing house turned down the opportunity to obtain Headlee’s book Speaking of Race: Why Everybody Needs to Talk About Racism – and How to Do It.
The reason?
“They said they had enough books on race and that this topic is covered for us,” Headlee said. “It was very surprising since we were offering it in the summer of 2020.”
In the summer of 2020 and the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, a major publishing house turned down the opportunity to obtain Headlee’s book Speaking of Race: Why Everybody Needs to Talk About Racism – and How to Do It.
The reason?
“They said they had enough books on race and that this topic is covered for us,” Headlee said. “It was very surprising since we were offering it in the summer of 2020.”
Jan 20, 2022: Denison Forum: A balanced review of “Fault Lines,” Voddie Baucham’s critique of modern social justice
Voddie T. Baucham Jr.’s Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe provides an in-depth perspective on how social justice has divided our culture, our country, and the church, and how the tenets of modern social justice employ narratives that do not match with evidence.
Voddie T. Baucham Jr.’s Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe provides an in-depth perspective on how social justice has divided our culture, our country, and the church, and how the tenets of modern social justice employ narratives that do not match with evidence.
Reclaiming Surrendered Ground: Protecting Your Family From Spiritual Attacks" by Jim Logan [c]1995 Moody Press ISBN: 0802439489
Few families are aware of the Devil's attacks. Fewer know how to withstand them. Is yours ready?
Jim Logan used to think spiritual warfare was a radical idea. That was before he realized just how real it was, especially in the lives of families.
Moved by this discovery, in a ten-year span he read over 400 books on spiritual warfare and counseled hundreds of families under satanic attack, soon emerging as a spiritual warfare expert.
Reclaiming Surrendered Ground
represents the insights gained in those years of study and ministry, and it contains the principles he turned to repeatedly in counseling families. Logan will help you and your family:
Few families are aware of the Devil's attacks. Fewer know how to withstand them. Is yours ready?
Jim Logan used to think spiritual warfare was a radical idea. That was before he realized just how real it was, especially in the lives of families.
Moved by this discovery, in a ten-year span he read over 400 books on spiritual warfare and counseled hundreds of families under satanic attack, soon emerging as a spiritual warfare expert.
Reclaiming Surrendered Ground
represents the insights gained in those years of study and ministry, and it contains the principles he turned to repeatedly in counseling families. Logan will help you and your family:
- Become alert to the enemy and his tactics
- Discover your areas of vulnerability
- Live freely in Christs victory
Jan 5, 2021: Religion News: Brian McLaren says there’s a good reason your beliefs stopped working
Beliefs are propositions, or statements that we say are true. That was the definition of faith I grew up with: it was the development and management of correct beliefs, and little more. What that means is that you can be orthodox and also a racist, or a tyrant over your family.
That makes no sense. Jesus did not say, “By your beliefs you will know them.”
I would rather define faith as the way we orient ourselves to meaning and mystery. When we expand faith, there’s still room for robust discussion of beliefs, but we’re able to see that beliefs in themselves are not the point. That brings us to Stage 4, Harmony, where we start to see that love is the point. I use Paul’s verse in Galatians—which we should all know by heart—where he says the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself in love.
Beliefs are propositions, or statements that we say are true. That was the definition of faith I grew up with: it was the development and management of correct beliefs, and little more. What that means is that you can be orthodox and also a racist, or a tyrant over your family.
That makes no sense. Jesus did not say, “By your beliefs you will know them.”
I would rather define faith as the way we orient ourselves to meaning and mystery. When we expand faith, there’s still room for robust discussion of beliefs, but we’re able to see that beliefs in themselves are not the point. That brings us to Stage 4, Harmony, where we start to see that love is the point. I use Paul’s verse in Galatians—which we should all know by heart—where he says the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself in love.
"Why Government Can't Save You: An Alternative to Political Activism" by John MacArthur [c]2000 Word Publishing ISBN: 0849955556
MacArthur lays out a very convincing argument against having way too much faith in government.
MacArthur lays out a very convincing argument against having way too much faith in government.
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"Wild At Heart: Discovering the Secrets of a Man's Soul" by John Eldredge
Thomas Nelson Publishers 2001 ISBN: 0-7852-6883-9
Every man was once a boy. And every little has dreams, big dreams, dreams of being the hero, of beating the bad guys, of doing daring feats and rescuing the damsel in distress. Every little girl has dreams, too: of being rescued by her prince and swept up into a great adventure, knowing that she is the beauty.
But what happens to those dreams when we grow up? Walk into most churches, have a look around, and ask yourself: What is a Christian man? Without listening to what is said, look at what you find there. Most Christian men are…bored.John Eldredge revises and updates his bestselling, renowned Christian classic, Wild at Heart, and in it invites men to recover their masculine heart, defined in the image of a passionate God. And he invites women to discover the secret of a man’s soul and to delight in the strength and wildness men were created to offer.
Thomas Nelson Publishers 2001 ISBN: 0-7852-6883-9
Every man was once a boy. And every little has dreams, big dreams, dreams of being the hero, of beating the bad guys, of doing daring feats and rescuing the damsel in distress. Every little girl has dreams, too: of being rescued by her prince and swept up into a great adventure, knowing that she is the beauty.
But what happens to those dreams when we grow up? Walk into most churches, have a look around, and ask yourself: What is a Christian man? Without listening to what is said, look at what you find there. Most Christian men are…bored.John Eldredge revises and updates his bestselling, renowned Christian classic, Wild at Heart, and in it invites men to recover their masculine heart, defined in the image of a passionate God. And he invites women to discover the secret of a man’s soul and to delight in the strength and wildness men were created to offer.
"Why Revival Still Tarries" by Chad Taylor [c]2005 Destiny Image Publishers ISBN: 0768422752
A great message for a complacent church in the 21st Century..particularly here in America where "having it all" is confused with "being blessed."
A great message for a complacent church in the 21st Century..particularly here in America where "having it all" is confused with "being blessed."
Dec 7, 2021:
The Shack by William Young People loved The Shack because it replaced the God of the Bible (which deep down they possibly didn’t feel comfortable with, because His ways are beyond our understanding and bad things happen, and it upsets our sunshine version of Christianity) and gave them a God who made them feel good, who took the God of the Bible and said, “That’s not really God, this is what God is like…” and gave them a diluted, false version of Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and a dose of Sophia, Greek goddess of wisdom. I was sure that anyone with even a modicum of discernment would throw the book in the trash. I had underestimated how wide the door of deception had opened. I lost friends who were pastors who were furious at me for questioning the book. One pastor railed at me, “I haven’t had a relationship with God for years, but now I have my ‘Papa’ back! You can’t take that from me!” Nothing jarred me more than seeing grown men of God just abandoning clear truth because something tugged their heart, justifying the scriptural butchering by saying, “It’s just fiction, it’s not the Bible!” I confronted someone on this the other night. “What about the satanic Necronomicon. Can I read it? It’s just fiction. Can I read pornography? It’s just fiction.” They thought that a bit extreme. Of course it was. - Gregory Reid |
While we are on the subject of theology, it is note worthy that the God portrayed in Young’s novel “does not need to punish people for sin” (120). Thus the traditional view of the Deity as Judge is dispensed with because “sin is its own punishment.” It appears that history’s wisest man, Solomon, must have been in error then, when he recorded in Ecclesiastes that he had seen “righteous men perishing in their righteousness and wicked men living long in their wickedness” (Ecclesiastes 7:15). He had also observed “righteous men getting what the wicked deserve, and wicked men getting what the righteous deserve” (Ecclesiastes 8:14). Most would agree, I think, that Solomon’s observations are far more in keeping with how the world actually works than Young’s attempts to “airbrush” the concepts of sin an devil. -William P Young; Christian Scholars Revue
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"You've Already Got It: So Quit Trying to Get It" by Andrew Wommack [c]2006
One of the most used...yet overlooked and misunderstood scripture in the Bible is the one where Jesus, just before He died on the cross, said "It is finished!". Even still, it has not stopped many a Christian from trying to finish what Jesus already did. Wommack addresses that and other issues where much of our struggle is in trying to do stuff Jesus already did. He utiilizes a lot of the book of Ephesians.
One of the most used...yet overlooked and misunderstood scripture in the Bible is the one where Jesus, just before He died on the cross, said "It is finished!". Even still, it has not stopped many a Christian from trying to finish what Jesus already did. Wommack addresses that and other issues where much of our struggle is in trying to do stuff Jesus already did. He utiilizes a lot of the book of Ephesians.