One Month to Live

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

by Kerry & Chris Shook This was a pretty solid book. It had a little bit of the trappings of pop-christianity, but at the root was a solid message: How would your priorities change if you knew that you had only 30 days to live?

On Grace and Justice

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

I think there is a popular thought that goes something like: "Yes, God is just. However, He is only just because He offers us Grace." We need to be aware that God is just and He would be just even if He were not gracious. I thank God that He is ...

The Four Loves

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

by C.S. Lewis The greatness of Plato's Symposium is to the greatness of this book as the sphere of the Earth is to the sphere of the fixed stars. The four loves are: Affection, Friendship, Eros, and Charity (Storge, Philos, Eros, and Agape). I especially connected with Lewis' redemption of Eros. The sternest feminist ...

Gödel, Escher, Bach:

Friday, May 16th, 2008

an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter This is a pretty good book. It does a great job of "continuing" from where my St. John's liberal education left off into the 20th century. The author's style is well-suited for introducing extremely complicated ideas in the most copacetic way possible. However, what the book ...

On Rejection

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

or Ration vs. Emotion I have lived a very sheltered life, I haven't experienced much tragedy. Just remember that, because I want to keep this in the proper perspective. Rejection is really rough. My reason and my emotion generally get along pretty well. Sometimes my emotions decide to rebel against their rational ...

Fire From Heaven

Monday, May 12th, 2008

I have a feeling that 1 Samuel 19:20-21 and 2 Kings 1:9-12 looked very similar in the spiritual realm. Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers ...

The Pilgrim’s Progress

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

by John Bunyan Excellent book. I especially like the second part and the aspect of community that it points out. The motley crew of pilgrims all traveling down the road to the King's Dominion is very encouraging and insightful.

Proverbs 13:23

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, But it is swept away by injustice. (NASB) This is basically the entirety of the book I read a little bit back: The Mystery of Capital. The author adds in a few accounts of history,empirical evidence, and practical answers to this problem, but ...

The Radical Reformission

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

reaching out without selling out by Mark Driscoll I had to resist quoting the entire book here. Mark points out a middle way between sectarianism and syncretism. This involves engaging the culture more than extreme fundamentalists are comfortable with, while also sticking to fundamental doctrines more openly than liberals want to.

21st Century Luther

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Mark Driscoll on the "Emerging Church" "I love you, but you are going to Hell, but I love you, and you don't need to go to Hell." "'If we lose the Virgin Birth, what do we really lose?' Um... the bible, and Jesus... That's kinda a lot!" (Preceding quotations are actually paraphrases from ...

Sexual Sin

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

This is going to make it in my daily link post, but it's worth its own post. There is biblical truth, practical advice, and no pulled punches in this sermon by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church: Sexual Sin (1 hour and 15 minutes)

Boy Meets Girl

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

by Joshua Harris I read part of this back when I bought it 7-ish years ago. If you get past the jargon-y parts it has some solid advice.

Genesis 29

Monday, January 21st, 2008

a.k.a. Laban sucks. Two things really hit me this time around through Genesis 29. The first was Jacob's response to seeing Rachel for the first time. He's hanging out next to the stone that covers the well which requires all the shepherds to work together in order that it might be ...

Matthew 7:3-5

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008

And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove ...

Monday, January 7th, 2008

in necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas In essentials: unity, in non-essentials: diversity, in all things: charity. St. Augustine

Streams of Living Water

Monday, January 7th, 2008

by Richard J Foster Streams of Living Water identifies the "six great traditions of the Christian faith," Gives an historical, biblical, and contemporary example of a person who best exemplified each tradition, then points out the strengths and potential pitfalls of each tradition. The traditions are: Contemplative, Holiness, Charismatic, Social Justice, Evangelical, ...

Isaiah 20

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

So... When you are worrying that you don't know what God is saying because it sounds crazy, you might want to check out Isaiah 20. It's a pretty short book. It basically goes: God tells Isaiah "Hey... run around naked for a while." Then the next we hear, God is telling ...

Life Together

Monday, December 3rd, 2007

by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Reads like an epistle to any group of Christians in an intentional community...

The Varieties of Christian Experience

Friday, November 16th, 2007

I really need to get and read Streams of Living Water by Richard Foster. My uncle told me about it about four years ago, and I've been thinking about it a lot since then. Most recently when I was reading The Twilight of Atheism. Each instance of the local church has ...

The Twilight of Atheism

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World by Alister McGrath Interesting history of the west from about the Protestant Reformation to the present (focusing mostly on 1789-1989).