This article appeared first on theroadtoemmaus.net. I loved my kids’ Bible. It had these handy Q&A sections on every other page, revealing the Bible’s supposed answer to childhood’s biggest questions. I still remember the cartoon little boy asking big questions in a goofy-looking classroom setting. “To honor my father and mother, do I have to … Continue reading God’s Answer to Our Questions
Christ from Beginning to End: How the Full Story of Scripture Reveals the Full Glory of Christ by Trent Hunter My rating: 5 of 5 stars If God has spoken (which he has), then it's imperative that we understand what he has said.Hunter's and Wellum's new book will help both new believers and older saints … Continue reading God Has Spoken
How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age by Jonathan Leeman My rating: 5 of 5 stars Leeman’s book will help any person interested in politics (Christian or not) rethink the foundations of the public square. How the Nations Rage will also help the Christian disenchanted with politics to rethink their … Continue reading Let’s rethink faith and politics in this divided age
Reflect on this quote from pp. 136-137 of How the Nations Rage by Jonathan Leeman: Picture thousands, even tens of thousands, of time machines suddenly showing up all across the land. The nation gasps. News cameras crowd around them. Government officials and police forces quickly engage these strangers as they climb out of their time … Continue reading Thousands of Time Machines
This is part of a series; you can find the other parts here. The hosts of a great podcast, Mere Fidelity, are discussing Augustine’s Confessions (Henry Chadwick’s translation). Here I’ll submit some thoughts on each "book" of Confessions after reading and listening to the most recent discussion. No promises on writing pace. Now let’s talk … Continue reading Confessing With Augustine, Part II
Conversion: How God Creates a People by Michael Lawrence My rating: 5 of 5 stars Conversion is often misunderstood, assumed, or ignored. Yet it is the one and only means by which God makes a people for himself, by which Christ builds his church. Not grasping a biblical understanding of conversion can lead churches to … Continue reading “How does God create a people?”
This is part of a series; you can find the other parts here. I found an excuse to read through a Christian literary classic this fall. The hosts of a great podcast, Mere Fidelity, are discussing Augustine’s Confessions (Henry Chadwick’s translation) more or less each week. Here I’ll submit some thoughts on each “book” of … Continue reading Confessing With Augustine, Part I
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt My rating: 5 of 5 stars Jonathan Haidt answers a seemingly unanswerable question: why are good, morally upstanding people divided by political and religious vitriol? Dr. Haidt's answer isn't simple, and it's not easy to swallow. 1. We make snap … Continue reading “Can we all get along?”
Recently I was given the chance to teach some church history to our church's college students. Not being even close to a church history expert, I relied heavily on Capitol Hill Baptist Church's free resources on the topic and Dr. Bruce Shelley's Church History in Plain Language. Then, taking CHBC's prepared lesson I attempted to apply … Continue reading Constantine, Controversies, and Councils
Understanding the spiritual brokenness of their external culture alone makes a church bitter. Understanding the spiritual brokenness of their internal culture alone makes a church self-loathing. Understanding both makes a church submissive to Jesus as their only hope of reconciliation. (And understanding neither makes no church at all). Two books written by pastors in the … Continue reading A Map and a Field Guide
Sam Knecht 