[Secularization] advances rarely by external opposition but by a gradual process of assimilating the Christian drama, doctrines, doxology, and discipleship to the nihilistic plots of this fading age. The ultimate threat is never that the world will continue to be worldly, reducing reality to human flourishing and immanent frame, but that churches will fail in…
Deep Work
Do you struggle to memorize Scripture? Do you find yourself constantly distracted? Unable to focus on what matter’s most? Join the club. So what can you do about it? Enter Deep Work by Cal Newport. In his book, Newport identifies that an epidemic of people living distracted and consequently unproductive lives exist. Read more over at Rookie Preacher.
Unchanging and Changing
Just as my assurance of salvation rests in the fact that God cannot change, my hope of sanctification rests in the fact that I can. What a greater disavowal of the gospel of grace than to claim it is capable of changing every sinner's heart but mine? Jen Wilkin, None Like Him
Blogging Beale | The Temple and the Church’s Mission | Eden as Temple, Chapter 2, Pt. 3
This post continues the discussion of G.K. Beale's book, The Temple and the Church's Mission. As we finish summarizing chapter two, we will look at Beale's arguments for believing that Eden was a temple mountain-sanctuary. This part of Beale's work has been especially influential on biblical scholars. Peter Gentry follows many of Beale's conclusions about Eden as…
Do vs. Done
The law says, "do this", and it is never done. Grace says, "believe in this", and everything is already done. The first part is clear from what has been stated by the Apostle and his interpreter, St. Augustine, in many places. And it has been stated often enough above that the "law works wrath" and keeps all men…
More than an Underdog
The reason for this persistent story line of the Bible is not simply because the writers like underdogs. It is because the ultimate example of God's working in the world was Jesus Christ, the only founder of a major religion that died in disgrace, not surrounded by all of his loving disciples but abandoned by…
We All Believe
All knowing begins with what Michael Polanyi calls a "fiduciary framework." (fiduciary = pertaining to fides, "involving trust"): an interpretive framework that one takes initially on faith until it proves itself by yielding a harvest of understanding...If Polanyi is right, Christian theology is no worse of than modern science. Everyone has to have faith in something…
“The Benedict Option” by Rod Dreher–Reflections
Rod Dreher's new book, The Benedict Option, has been something of a lightning rod (pun intended) in current discussion. Some have taken an enthusiastic liking to it, while others have not been so favorable towards it. Much of the concern seems to cluster around the idea that Dreher is advocating for Christians to withdraw from the wider culture.…
How To Deliver a Gripping Sermon
Many preaching books focus on the content of preaching. They will provide a detailed method of understanding the Bible and then turning your study into an outline to preach. But what happens when you actually get up to speak? How do you keep people awake? In their preaching book, Saving Eutuchys, Gary Millar and Phil Campbell cover…
You Are What You Love by James K.A. Smith (Or, how do you grow in love?)
James K.A. Smith in his book You Are What You Love. According to Smith, love is “a baseline inclination” of the heart (16). All people love something at the core of their being. Not only is love at the core of who people are; love is a virtue. And “virtues, quite simply, are good moral habits” (16). We…
Raising Lazarus 