Recognizing and Combatting Shallowness (Don’t Waste Your Life)

I’m spiritually shallow. It’s true.
The Lord has been revealing this to me in a variety of ways in recent days, including my own sermon preparation and devotional life, sermons I’ve heard (including an excellent treatment of the book of Jonah by missionary appointee Tim Bixby), and books I’ve been reading (particularly John Piper’s Don’t Waste [...]

Chime In: Conviction vs. Condemnation

I had another early morning Bible study with some men from church today. We went over chapter 12 of CJ Mahaney’s excellent little book Living the Cross Centered Life, a chapter entitled “Unloading Condemnation.” The friend leading the study (we take turns) started a profitable discussion on the difference between conviction and condemnation—a difference which [...]

Unimportant Quick Hits (7/7/08)

I occasionally post various and sundry important things in a yard-sale-type post I call”quick hits.” This is not one of those times. Rather, it’s a collection of various and sundry unimportant things that have made me smile, laugh, or think (but just a little).
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2 out of 2000 isn’t bad…
I’ve taken around 2000 pictures during my [...]

What I’m Reading: Not Even a Hint

I’m preparing for a short topical series during which I’ll be preaching on gender issues, including dating/courtship, marriage, lust, cultivating a “family” mindset toward brothers and sisters in Christ, and parenting in a sensual world. As part of my preparation, I took a couple hours today to reread Joshua Harris’ little book, Not Even a [...]

What I’m Reading: The Magician’s Nephew

My five ladies and I just finished reading aloud the first (or last) of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Magician’s Nephew. I’ve had a number of friends mention reading them aloud as a family, so I took up the idea in our house. The girls were thrilled; the end of each chapter was invariably met [...]

What I’m Reading: The Elder and His Work

There are a number of books available on local church leadership. In answer to a recent question regarding my favorites, I recommended Dever’s The Deliberate Church (which I blogged on here) and Strauch’s two books Biblical Eldership and The New Testament Deacon (which I blogged on here) as among the most helpful. I’m now glad [...]

What I’m Reading: Living the Cross Centered Life

Last year I benefited from C. J. Mahaney’s little book The Cross Centered Life. Now I’m reading through the expanded version, Living the Cross Centered Life, with two men in our church. We met for the second time this morning, and we had a very profitable time discussing how the glorious gospel is relevant for [...]

What I’m Reading: City on a Hill

I’ve profited from reading several books on the local church in recent years. I’m thankful for all of them, especially because those I’ve read have focused on what the Bible says the church should be and not on some too-clever strategy for church growth. This is a welcome correction, following an era in which (it [...]

What I’m Reading: The Wages of Spin, with Thoughts on Carl Trueman

I was introduced to Carl Trueman “The Teacher” by my online friend Andy Naselli. Andy linked to a series of Trueman’s articles on John Owen last spring, and I listened to them while I ran or mowed my lawn. After enjoying a couple of the lectures, I emailed Andy and casually asked “Who is Carl [...]

What I’m Reading: Studies on the Person of Christ

I’ve been gathering and reading books on the Person and Work of Christ in recent days, in part for the health of my own soul and in part in preparation for a book I’d like to write on Christ-centered Christianity. One of those books is Studies on the Person of Christ by James Stalker (1848-1927). [...]