2010 marked the second full year that I’ve focused on reading and reviewing good Christian books. I thought I could take the time to look back and assess the books I’ve reviewed in 2010. By the Numbers: Total Reviews: 30 (including 1 DVD) 2010 Publishers Reveiwed: 13 Pages Read: over 6600 Blog Posts Written: 168... Continue Reading

Do you remember when you first read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis? Many people, like me, trace their love of fantasy fiction back to that moment. As I gobbled up each of the seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia series, I entered a world of knights, chivalry, valor, magic... Continue Reading

With more than 260,000 books published in the United States alone in 2010, any “Top Ten Books of the Year” lists should be digested with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, we all love year-end lists. So Collin Hansen, Andy Naselli, and I put together a list of books recommended for pastors, seminarians, and other Christian... Continue Reading

Begat: The King James Bible And The English Language By David Crystal, Hardcover, 320 pages Oxford University Press, USA, List price: $24.95 If you’ve ever “fought the good fight” or chuckled at “what comes out of the mouths of babes,” you just might agree with him. Phrases with roots in the King James Bible are... Continue Reading

In today’s church, the Old Testament is often overlooked. When attention is drawn to it, the focus tends to be on creation science, Proverbs for daily living, Psalms for devotional nourishment, and character studies for us to emulate. The Christian church largely focuses on the New Testament for its teaching and preaching. In a sense... Continue Reading

I have always enjoyed recommending books, and for the final “Beyond the Wicket Gate” column of 2010, I thought it might be helpful to share some of the significant books that have been published so far this year, books that you may not have heard about but should consider reading. This list is not exhaustive.... Continue Reading

Reformed Christians are, of course, familiar with the civil use of the law to restrain evil. But as Augustine put it, “[C]ertain laws are established which are called civil laws, not because they bring men to make a good use of their wealth, but because those who made a bad use of it become thereby... Continue Reading

Most Christians are familiar with the story of Naomi, and her famous daughter in law, Ruth. Naomi is one of the few women whose story is told at some length in the pages of the Christian Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible. But as with so many other stories, many a reader has often wondered what... Continue Reading

The cancer underneath, according to the NSYR, is not that our kids have become detached from the faith of their parents and elders, but rather they are swallowing it whole. Dean goes a long way to clarify this assertion. Kenda Creasy Dean’s ‘Almost Christian’ is a response to a longitudinal study by Christian Smith and... Continue Reading

Every church and its employees want to feel confident that their compensation plan is reasonable and fair. Now you can know for sure by comparing your plan with those of thousands of other church workers nationwide. Based on a national survey of nearly 5,000 churches, the 2010-2011 version of the well known and highly respected... Continue Reading