Osteen’s New Book Is Out! (Plop, Plop. Fizz, Fizz.)

“Become a Better Me”???? Mercy, I’m already WAY too good at being me. I’ll have to pass, thanks. Ugh.
Note to self: Start a new category called “What I’m Not Reading.”
(HT: Dan Greenfield, though his presence on Osteen’s mailing list makes me wonder about him.)

Owen on Soul-Satisfied Sanctification

Three great statements by C. H. Spurgeon, Matthew Henry and John Piper have become a great blessing in my spiritual life. All insist that the best way to remove the teeth of temptation is to find a greater satisfaction in intimate fellowship with God. They can be found here.
Add to those a similar thought [...]

Top This: Bull 1, Man 0

Man runs from bull. Bull catches man. Ouch.
(Warning: not for the squeamish. On the other hand, my local paper printed the picture, so how bad can it be?)
Question 1: Why is it that men do this, while women generally watch from a safe distance?
Question 2: Since we’re on a “reader input” roll, [...]

Who Said It? More on Thinking and Feeling

Much to my surprise, my recent post on the priority of thoughts over feelings was quite controversial. My proposition was that our feelings must follow and be controlled by biblically sound thought. Some heartily agreed. Some heartily disagreed. With that conversation in mind, I was glad to come across the following [...]

On Our Trip to Colorado!

If it seems unusually quiet around here, it’s because I’ve spent the last week in Colorado at a family reunion. This is my extended family: all of us, Mom and Dad, Jeff’s, Dan’s and mine. Here are the highlights of the trip, including lots of pictures. (I know that looking at someone else’s vacation pictures [...]

Correction on My Zichterman Post

A friend has brought to my attention that “A Tale of Two Amishmen” (which I discussed here) was written by Jocelyn Zichterman, not Joe.  The concluding paragraph credits J. R. Zichterman (Jocelyn) as the author, not J. T. Zichterman (Joe).
FWIW.

What I’m Reading: The Promise and the Presence, or, So THAT’S Why Dispy’s Make Fun of “Already, Not Yet”

I’ve been reading Alva J. McClain’s The Greatness of the Kingdom, and I thought I’d compare it to an understanding of the kingdom that is a bit broader. To that end, I picked up another book that has been wasting away on my bookshelves for many a year and gave it a read. [...]

Horatius Bonar on the Sanctifying Power of the Cross

“The secret of a believer’s holy walk is his continual recurrence to the blood of the Surety, and his daily [communion] with a crucified and risen Lord. All divine life, and all precious fruits of it, pardon, peace, and holiness, spring from the cross. All fancied sanctification which does not arise wholly from the blood [...]

Borrowing Brains: Best Books on the Christian Home?

Well, my last two attempts at borrowing brains (here and here) have reaped benefits, so I’ll go back to the well again. What are the best books you’ve read on the Christian Home? I’m preaching a short series on the home before jumping into I John. We have some 80 regular attendees [...]

What I’m Reading: The Bible Basis of Missions

Most pastors have some old books that they’ve picked up second-hand, often from older pastors or friends, and have carried around from college to home to church office. You know the kind: the books with other people’s names in the front that sit on your shelves year after year, but which you’ve never read [...]