Evans believes that we read what we are looking for in Scripture, that it really is like a wax nose. Therefore, she encourages readers to read with a prejudice of love rather than power, self-interest, and greed. Ultimately, I’m afraid that my concerns move beyond Evans’ problems with interpretation, and straight to her view of... Continue Reading

The core thesis of Mind and Cosmos can be simply stated. Darwinian materialism has failed to account for several undeniable features of human existence: consciousness, reason, meaning, and moral values. The problem is not that the answers haven’t yet been found, but rather that the paradigm itself precludes any satisfactory answers. All attempts to explain the mental and... Continue Reading

There were, to my mind two significant shortcomings to the book, that are related. The first is an real appreciation for the role of the church in the spiritual life of the individual. He does have a place for attendance at worship, but that seems to be the extent the involvement of the church. The... Continue Reading

The aim of The Gospel Call and True Conversion is to present a thorough treatment of repentance and genuine conversion. According to Washer, gospel reductionism has filled our churches with false converts.   Paul Washer. The Gospel Call and True Conversion. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2013. 200 pp. $20.00. Many millennials have fallen victim to easy believism.... Continue Reading

Hurtado concludes, therefore, that the earliest devotion to Jesus was in some sense “binitarian.” Christians worshiped Jesus not a second god, but worshiped him alongside the one true God of the Jews.  Such a radical and astounding “mutation” within early monotheistic Judaism cannot be accounted for, argues Hurtado, by the evolutionary model (or, for that matter, most... Continue Reading

I’ve not mastered “busyness” myself and fully expect a lifelong battle to maintain a healthy work/life balance, but here are some practical ideas that have helped me over the past few years. Obviously they are ministry focused, but many of them can be applied more generally as well:   I thoroughly enjoyed reading Kevin DeYoung’s... Continue Reading

One of the greatest strengths of Oliphint’s project is that, in a covenantal apologetic, there is no clear boundary between apologetics and evangelism. As Oliphint reiterates throughout his work, apologetics ought to be understood foremost as persuasion; persuading men and women of the truth of the Gospel.   K. Scott Oliphint, Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practice... Continue Reading

The most interesting part of Noll’s criticism is the fact that he chooses not to look closely at his own brand of evangelicalism: the Reformed churches.   When Mark Noll’s Scandal of the Evangelical Mind hit the market in the early 1990s it created a “title” wave that continues to move out in multiple directions. This fact... Continue Reading

DeYoung offers up three dangers that busyness presents: ruining our joy, robbing our hearts, and covering up the rot in our souls. He then lists seven diagnoses to help the harried reader start to discern the root of her busyness.   I suppose there was a time in my life when I would answer that... Continue Reading

…when you have turned the last page, you will feel—as I did—that all of them are now dear friends, a cloud of witnesses, pointing you to Christ in the midst of ministry life.   Once upon a time, I walked in the teacher’s lounge of the school where I worked.  The teachers on their break... Continue Reading