Just this weekend I finished reading this little book – 75 pages total in the new reprint from Banner of Truth (pictured above). The title is somewhat unfortunate, because very much of what Ryle has to say is applicable not just to young men, but also to young women. The topics covered are not just … [Read more…]
“You tell me God told you to move away – to leave the country! – and I’m not supposed to worry?” Imagine you were the one asking that question. Imagine that the person on the other end – the one claiming God had told them to emigrate – was a dear friend, or even a … [Read more…]
Some of you may know I’m working on a commentary on Jeremiah for Zondervan in the ZECOT series (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament). Here are two posts on other sites which recently came out and which may interest you: From Judgment to Restoration on TableTalk, 15 May 2020. This article gives the big … [Read more…]
Anne Stewart’s Poetic Ethics in Proverbs (Cambridge University Press: 2016) is one of my favorite kinds of books: well-written, incredibly learned, and filled with fresh, stimulating insights into not only what the Bible means, but how it achieves meaning. Stewart’s book has two main parts. In the first part, “Character and Poetry”, she talks about … [Read more…]
Back when I was a PhD student at Wheaton, I remember coming into the library’s cafe area and discovering a book lying on the table: Alan Jacobs’ A Theology of Reading: The Hermeneutics of Love (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2001). This looks interesting, I thought. And it’s one of the pleasures of PhD days that you … [Read more…]
“Don’t worry, the pain is good for you.” Imagine these words being spoken to terminal cancer patients in a children’s hospital, mourners at a funeral, or separated families in a refugee camp… What would you think of a person who said such a thing? Are they naïve? Are they well-meaning but insensitive? Are they crazy? … [Read more…]
“Buy this… it might kill you!” Imagine reading these words in one of the many advertisements flooding your inbox. Who would buy such a ‘gift’? Nobody. “Do this… you might die!” Imagine hearing these words at a professional conference or from a motivational speaker. How many of us would be willing to sign up for … [Read more…]
“My parents are religious, but not me…” “I don’t like organized religion…” “I’m spiritual, but not religious…” How many of us have heard words like this? Perhaps we’ve even said them ourselves? The question I’d like us to think about this week is: what if we are all more religious than we think? What if … [Read more…]
Jackson Wu has an excellent article about how the social isolation of the current pandemic can help us understand what life is like for foreign missionaries. Check it out: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jacksonwu/2020/03/30/using-coronavirus-quarentine-as-missionary-training/
How many of us have ever wished that we could have a new life? It’s not that we meant to mess up our current life. For a time, things seemed to be going well. But then… we lost a job we were banking on. The relationship we had such high hopes for fell apart. We … [Read more…]