One temptation in the pastorate is to become too concerned in the institutional life around you- church programs, denominational positions, etc. Of course we need to interact with the broader world but we must beware of the entanglements and allurements of position and prestige. It is too easy to get to the point where we …
Nehemiah is downright fiery and aggressive when dealing with the enemies of the people of God. He prays that they be judged and their sin not be forgiven (4:4-5). He beat some and pulled out their hair (13:25), and he chased away a false priest (13:28). Much can be said about this, but Packer makes …
Continue reading ‘Nehemiah and Opposing those who Oppose the Church’ »
I have just finished reading J. I Packer’s A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom from the Book of Nehemiah . The book wanders a bit, but as would be expected there is much wisdom here. Packer properly points out that the book is about not simply “leadership lessons” but about the renewing of the people of …
This is not actually a book to read to your children, but it is a great book about reading The Book to your children. Family worship, so common in previous days (indeed lack of it was often considered grounds for discipline!), has fallen on hard times. Terry Johnson’s The Family Worship Book: A Resource Book …
This post is just a clarification one. Occasionally I hear people almost apologetic about reading this blog since they are not pastors. I have mentioned this in some comments, but I want to put it here just for clarity, my focus in writing is on pastoral ministry, but I hope that pastors as well as …
When the new semester begins here at Union in about a week and a half I will be teaching a course on Pastoral Ministry. I am hoping this will also help me to write some things here that I have been wanitng to get to. Anyone interested can see the syllabus here. This syllabus is …
Quintus: A Story about the Persecutions of Christians at the time of Emperor Nero, R. Weerstand (2d ed.; Pro Ecclesia Publishers, 2000) This book started out a bit slow with almost too obvious “preaching points.” You could tell that the author was overtly trying to teach about life in Rome and to make theological points. …
Fountain of Life, Rebecca Martin (Christian Light Publications, 2001) This was a fair book. It was not real exciting for young boys and misses it a bit on Jewish life. It comes across with a too exalted view of the Sadducees (probably not intended)- the Sadducees are the nice open-minded guys in contrast to the …
Last year we covered Greece and Rome in our homeschooling, so we looked at a number of books on the Illiad and the Odyssey. We were very pleased with the two books by Rosemary Sutcliffe,Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad and The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey . Mrs. …
For Christmas I received a copy of the excellent book, What Luther Says: A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active Christian. This book is the result of some serious work! It contains over 1600 pages of selected passages from Luther’s writings arranged in topics alphabetically. This makes it a wonderful reference tool. You will probably …