Archive of entries posted by Ray
More on Great Hymns from a Children’s Book
At my blog on children’s literature, The Children’s Hour, I have recently posted a review of Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers, by Douglas Bond. It is a great book with insights useful for adults as well as children. Here are some particularly good quotes that speak to our role in directing the worship …
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The Church, the Safe Place to Become
Over the next few weeks at Union we are honored to have Nigel Goodwin as our Scholar-in-Residence. Nigel is founder and director of Genesis Arts Trust based on the Isle of Wight in the UK. Nigel was mentored by Francis Schaeffer, and he is passionate about the place of the arts in the faith. In …
John Piper on the Cure of Souls in Despair
When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God–and Joy , John Piper (Crossway, 2006), pb., 79 pp. I read this little book this weekend and was really helped by it. Piper deals well with the difficult issue of depression. This would be a helpful book to give to …
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Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers
Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers, Douglas Bond (Christian Liberty Press, 1999), pb., 242 pp. This was a delightful read! We are officially Douglas Bond fans now! This book is significantly different from the Crown & Covenant books, however. In fact, as we began this book, my boys thought it was a bit slow …
Richard Alleine on the Oversight of Souls
Alleine (1611-1691), like his other Puritan counterparts, understood the importance of oversight. Addressing his hearers on the importance of guarding their hearts (Prov 4:23-27), he mentioned others whom God has ordained to watch over us. He quoted Hebrews 13:17 and then wrote: “We deal so plainly and so closely with you, we are so instant …
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Bunyan on the Privilege of Church Membership
“Church fellowship, rightly managed, is the glory of all the world. No place, no community, no fellowship, is adorned and bespangled with those beauties as is the church rightly knit together to their head, and lovingly serving one another…. Hence the church is called the place of God’s desire on earth (Ps. 132:13-16).” (The Desire …
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Baptist Identity Conference & Humility
The Baptist Identity Conference held here at Union last week has been the topic of much blogging, for which I am glad. If you have not seen the links elsewhere, you can look here to download audios of all the sessions. These presentations are useful for pastors. If you are a Southern Baptist pastor, these …
The Hittite Warrior
Hittite Warrior, Joanne Williamson (Alfred Knopf, 1960; Bethlehem Books, 1999) pb, 237 pp. This is a book we read two years ago- my boys would then have been 8, 7, 5 and 2 (the two year old just fell asleep!). The story is set in the time of the Judges and does a good job …
The Joy of Reading to My Children
Last night I was reminded of how much I love the time of reading to my children each evening before bed. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred. I simply was reminded again of how wonderful this time is. We are reading a great book(review forthcoming) that is funny, interesting and brings up the gospel in …