Time To Expose Evil
Believers are called to expose lies and darkness with truth and light.
Jesus and the disciples were routinely opposed, rejected, hated on and violently assaulted. They were even put to death. The world hates the gospel, and the demons can’t stand Christ. So to be a follower of Jesus means we will also be hated and abused. Even if we do not directly speak out about the... Continue Reading
Trueman Among the Pagans, or Jonah in Nineveh
Carl Trueman’s latest exploration of what our abandonment of God is doing to our humanity may sound familiar, but it will be news to his new, larger, and secular audience.
Trueman recalls the biblical Jonah. Jonah preached his message to covenant Israel, and his reward was to be sent to Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian empire, with a message of doom. “In three days, God will destroy your city.” Something unexpected happened—the people of Nineveh obeyed their king’s command to repent in sackcloth and ashes.... Continue Reading
Sometimes I Get It Wrong
[Bingham] shows how the Reformed tradition offers better answers and, crucially, answers that are more consistent with Scripture.
‘A Heart Aflame for God’ is as good a book as any I have read this year and one I wish I had read last year. It refreshed my understanding of spiritual formation and deepened my confidence that the Reformed tradition has deeply satisfying means for developing, increasing, and moving forward as a Christian. ... Continue Reading
The Voice of “A Great Awakening”
As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, are we not a nation in need of revival?
Policy-making may be useful for cleaning the outside of the cup, but the problem is the inside, the spiritual. We need godly politicians, but we need real preachers far more. Our world is prone to spiritual slumber. It always has been, and until that trumpet blast at Christ’s return, it sadly shall be. But... Continue Reading
Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism
Israel-hatred and Jew-hatred usually go together.
[Antisemitism: What Everyone Needs to Know by David Harris]. Those not familiar with the age-old diabolical curse of antisemitism need to be educated here. And a book like this is just the place to start. Yesterday I examined the brand-new volume by Hussain Abdul-Hussain: The Arab Case for Israel: And Other Essays from a... Continue Reading
Book Review: The Desecration of Man by Carl R. Trueman
The only real options, Trueman argues, are the consecrated Christian or Nietzsche’s atheistic madman.
Our culture rejects the Christian idea that the question of man’s significance is directly tied to the question of God. If, as Christianity teaches, human beings are created in the image of God, the two questions are inseparable. According to the Christian view of man, human beings are created, embodied persons with obligations, limits, and... Continue Reading
Where and How To Meet ‘Our People’
Even if your reading diet does not regularly include history, I’d encourage you to change that with this book.
The joy of ’30 Key Moments in the History of Christianity’ is that it introduces a period of history most Christians know little about. Even Reformed Christians, who tend to put a premium on knowledge of church history, still often skip quickly from the Apostles to the Councils to the Reformation (probably also pausing to cover... Continue Reading
The Sexual Revolution Can’t Keep Its Promises
Review: ‘The End of the Gay Rights Revolution’ by Ronan McCrea.
‘The End of the Gay Rights Revolution’ is a heartfelt attempt by an insider to honestly assess the movement. Yet as he points toward sexual autonomy as an essential good, McCrea demonstrates why unfettered freedom can never be the lodestar for personal and societal well-being. He worries about external backlash, but the evidence shows that the... Continue Reading
Top Ten Biographies of Martin Luther
Ranking the biographies was a difficult task.
Mathison highlights classics like Roland Bainton’s Here I Stand, substantial works like Martin Brecht’s three-volume set, and more recent accessible titles by authors such as Scott Hendrix, Eric Metaxas, and Herman Selderhuis. There are probably more books written about Martin Luther than any other prominent figure of the Reformation. In 2017, the anniversary of... Continue Reading
A Call to Action from Gad Saad
Important truths from an important thinker.
Gad Saad urges ordinary people to stop being bystanders in the battle of ideas and to boldly defend reason, truth, and Western values against the spread of “idea pathogens” like woke ideology and political correctness. Let me begin with a disclaimer: If you know anything about Gad Saad—and about me—you might be thinking, ‘OK,... Continue Reading