Sasse is a great historian with an eye to the future. This is a really important book that most Americans need to read and appreciate. It paints broadSasse is a great historian with an eye to the future. This is a really important book that most Americans need to read and appreciate. It paints broadly at times, but it can also give specific helps to be a remedy to our cultural divisiveness....more
Esolen is needed. He's a harbinger and prophet correctly decrying the symptoms of the age with an eye to t“Truly tolerant people are hard to offend.”
Esolen is needed. He's a harbinger and prophet correctly decrying the symptoms of the age with an eye to the past and an eye to the future...strange as that may make him look....more
"He who does not prepare for death is more than an ordinary fool, he is a madman." Charles Spurgeon
This book is encapsulaSobering. Sobering. Sobering.
"He who does not prepare for death is more than an ordinary fool, he is a madman." Charles Spurgeon
This book is encapsulated well in it's epilogue. The goal in many ways should not be to preserve life at all costs (this is a modern notion supported by amazing capacities of medicine). The goal should about preseving the quality of the whole life, listening to the patient, walking along with the patient (rather than just informing him), etc.
Simultaneously, this is not an appeal to assist in suicide (though Gawande didn't damn the thought), but to preserve the decency of living while living was left to be had, to preserve the peace of dying.
Wholly missing from the discussion was Christ, who makes our stories complete, who is our true Author and Finisher and Sustainer between the first and last.
While certainly a must-read for physicians, this is a must for children, caregivers, and those who seek to cultivate an art of dying well....more
[The author is one of my 33 first-cousins. He's the only one of them who is older than I am. We haven't seen each other in approximately 20 years so t[The author is one of my 33 first-cousins. He's the only one of them who is older than I am. We haven't seen each other in approximately 20 years so there is very little interest in bias and no cohorting going on in this review. At the time of this review, we probably haven't contacted each other in 6 or more years, save through the Facebook feed.]
This book needs to be read by all who name themselves as Independent, Fundamental, Baptists [there is a group that does]. But more broadly than that, it should be well-received by all different stripes as a clear and well-reasoned appeal to "put on Christ" more than we put on (new) traditions.
Traditions are excellent. Habits are essential. Customs come naturally as we do life and repeat what we know. We all will build and cleave to traditions. But most importantly, we need to emulate the more traditional [first-century] habits rather than later [1950s] habits. We need to crave the early church mindset, and not the mindset of the mid-20th century. Recreating the church for the modern tastes has already shown itself to be a flop. Sticking the 1950s form of church to the 2014+ body is finding itself to be equally awkward.
Chapter by chapter, the author discusses in plain English a wide swath of topics that need to be rethought: youth ministry, separation, music, missions, leadership, outreach, etc. All of these need fresh eyes and heart application.
Homan's insights are keen and lucid. They should be read and examined by prayerful hearts committed to the historic faith....more
Excellent smorgasboard of short chapters on highly-relevant topics for Christians living in this postmodern world.
Ryken has sections devoted to livinExcellent smorgasboard of short chapters on highly-relevant topics for Christians living in this postmodern world.
Ryken has sections devoted to living in the world, the Bible, Love/Marriage/Family, Arts, Science and Tech, Social Issues, Feasts and Festivals, Church Yesterday, Church Today.
Very readable book that offers a great starting place for this broad range of topics. Christians need this....more
Excellent summary apologetic for Christians to insist on a godward education for their children. Must read for all families. 71 stirring pages.
"How isExcellent summary apologetic for Christians to insist on a godward education for their children. Must read for all families. 71 stirring pages.
"How is it possible for men to claim that they believe that He did in fact come back from the tomb, and yet subsequently argue that this does not change absolutely everything?"...more
An excellent, accessible, readable book on conversational apologetics. I read it in less than an hour.
Wilson masterfully cuts to the quick on 13 sepaAn excellent, accessible, readable book on conversational apologetics. I read it in less than an hour.
Wilson masterfully cuts to the quick on 13 separate issues (immorality, antinomianism, feminism, agnosticism, empty scholarship, atheism, election, marriage, hypocrisy, salvation/sanctification, pantheism, evolution, and Catholocism) and makes short summaries of them with effective jabs and counter-jabs.
The instruction is done conversationally between fresh characters for every topic, in an overtly Pilgrim's Progress style. In fact, the conversations happen on the road to The Abyss (unbeknownst to the travelers).
Don't let the topics listed sway you. Wilson teaches you their main sway during the brief conversations.
This is a fantastic cursory look at an array of issues and full of beefy and apt responses....more
This should be a must-read for everyone in ministry. Whoa to those who ignore the command to love the Lord our God with all our minds. Especially helpThis should be a must-read for everyone in ministry. Whoa to those who ignore the command to love the Lord our God with all our minds. Especially helpful are the first 70 pages that outline the 8 primary ways we got to this point...more