Standing in awe of the potent strength of our God, we’re confronted with our own impotent frailty as his creatures. As Paul says, though, it’s our very weakness that most fully displays God’s power (2 Cor. 12:8–10). We’re small, Billings reminds us, and we must learn how to live that way. We, God’s people, have been drawn out of Sheol because our Savior, Jesus Christ, descended into it for us.
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“I am writing this book…because I believe in preaching…I believe in you–God’s preachers–both beginning and seasoned ones…[and] I love and cherish God’s people in the local church who are the valuable recipients of the preached Word” (13). Matthew D. Kim teaches preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and as a fairly new preacher myself, I found…
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“This book is about revealing racism. It pulls back the curtain on the ways American Christians have collaborated with racism for centuries” (16). Jemar Tisby–self-described as a Christian, historian, writer, and speaker–takes readers on a trip down memory lane. The twist is, many, particularly white, readers have rarely–if ever–visited this street before.
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To be ‘blessed’ or to live the ‘blessed’ life, as James puts it here, is to “remain steadfast under trial.” It’s faithfulness to God even amidst the hardest times, that defines true blessedness.
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I’ve been reading The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby (Quote List in the coming weeks). Though the book came out last year, I’m only getting to it now. While I knew I would agree with the thesis the book argues (captured in the subtitle), I’m…
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Gavin Ortlund does exactly what he sets out to–he teaches us how to find the right hills to die on, and he does so with the intellectual skill of a scholar and the patient wisdom of a pastor.
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This season in history is a difficult one for all of us, and more so for some than others. In this article, I address the necessity of biblical lament. I write about how God even wants to hear our cries of pain, how he’s teaching us to even love the difficult things he brings into…
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Jay Kim has done a service to the modern church with his recent book, Analog Church. Kim is the pastor of teaching and leadership at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California. He also serves on the core leadership team of the ReGeneration Project and cohosts the ReGeneration Podcast, all while he lives in Silicon Valley with…
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Matthew Emerson’s book newest book, He Descended to the Dead, is fantastic! Matthew is a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University and the newly appointed dean of the Hobbs College of Theology and Ministry. Emerson is also the executive director at The Center for Baptist Renewal and blogger at Biblical Reasoning. Book Overview Emerson’s chief aim with the…
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I was asked to write a brief article for Modern Reformation reflecting on Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. I reflect on the three points of what the disciples were thinking, where Jesus was heading, and why we’re now rejoicing. Here’s an excerpt: They knew, rightly, that Jesus had the power to overthrow…
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Book Reviews, movie reviews, writing and blogging
Biblical and Systematic Theology According to the Scriptures
Informing the Reforming
“Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”
my life & work in words
flotsam, jetsam, messages in bottles
Christian Reviews of Ideas and Culture
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
