Josh Riley of worship.com has written a very gracious and detailed review of With One Voice, written by my wife and yours truly. An Excerpt: There's no shortage of relationship books on the market, to be sure. But some discount the Christian perspective to the point that they offer little hope, or encouragement, to the Christian striving to live lives pleasing to God. And some Christian books on the subject tends toward checklists and "principles," some of which are helpful but focus too much on the goal of marriage and too little on the process of living a life of ministry and service in … [Read more...] about Review of With One Voice by Josh Riley
Practical Ministry
Evangelical Feminism and Liberalism
On this weblog, I have posted several times on my concern that the evangelical church, on a whole, seems to be losing its moorings on central issues such as God's design for men and women. Some churches move towards egalitarian positions on matters such as women in leadership in the name of cultural progress, following arguments such as those developed by William J. Webb. Others, such as City Church in San Francisco, CA, are moved more by more traditional evangelical feminist arguments. An example of an articulate scholar of this persuasion is Dr. Ben Witherington. Wayne Grudem, whom … [Read more...] about Evangelical Feminism and Liberalism
Jerry Walls Interview – Modern Reformation
Dr. Jerry Walls will be interviewed this Fall in the periodical Modern Reformation. I had the privilege of reading the interview in advance of its publication. An outstanding spokesman for classical Arminianism (a position I do not hold), Walls really tries to understand Calvinism and avoid its caricatures. I found his book Why I am not a Calvinist (co-authored with Dr. Joe Dongell, InterVarsity Press, 2004) to be an clear and fair presentation of Arminianism. Dr. Walls provides a strong argument for a libertarian view of human freedom as opposed to compatibilism (the view that God's … [Read more...] about Jerry Walls Interview – Modern Reformation
Talking to people rather than about them
A good word from Pastor John Piper on why talking to people, rather than about them, is often more difficult yet more loving. Excerpt: But Jesus does not call us to make safe choices. He calls us to make loving choices. In the short run, love is often more painful than self-protecting conflict-avoidance. But in the long run, our consciences condemn us for this easy path and we do little good for others. So let’s be more like Jesus in this case and not talk about people, but talk to them, both with words of encouragement, because of the evidences of grace we see in their lives, and with words … [Read more...] about Talking to people rather than about them
Introduction to my wife, Marni
My wife Marni will be posting some book reviews here, so I'd like to introduce her to you a bit: The former Maren Kristine Haugen grew up in Palo Alto, CA where after being homeschooled through elementary school she demonstrated academic prowess as a high schooler at Crystal Springs Uplands School. Her English SAT score is more than 100 points higher than mine, yet I have the audacity to call myself a writer. Marni also played the trombone, acted in several plays, and was involved in summer camps such as City on the Hill which taught leadership and the formation of a Christian … [Read more...] about Introduction to my wife, Marni
Billie Graham – Newsweek Interview
I finally got around to reading the Newsweek interview of Billie Graham, now 87, and mostly avoiding the spotlight nowadays. The interview is a bit disappointing in some ways, notably: (p. 6): When asked whether he believes heaven will be closed to good Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or secular people, though, Graham says: "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won't ... I don't want to speculate about all that. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the whole world, and I think he loves … [Read more...] about Billie Graham – Newsweek Interview