My boys & I recently read George MacDonald’s Phantastes. C. S. Lewis famously said this book baptized his imagination. I can’t say our experience was so lofty. It is a challenging book to follow, though there are beautiful and wise comments along the way. The last portion of the book is quite good as the [...]
Archive of posts tagged books
New at The Children’s Hour
I have recently posted several new reviews at my blog on children’s books, The Children’s Hour. I have a positive review of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic, The Lost World, which is a fun read with some good lessons to mine. I was quite disappointed with the final installment in Alister McGrath’s children’s trilogy, Darkness Shall [...]
Holiday Reading
At this time of year, among other things I’m often thinking of what I might read over the holidays, and I typically have in mind more books than I can possibly get to. So I thought I’d share the books recently purchased or received (often due to the generosity of my colleague, Ben Mitchell) which [...]
Books for Boys
[from The Children's Hour] A colleague recently asked me for some recommendations for books for boys, so I thought I’d post my list and reflections here. Many more no doubt could or should be listed, but below are some books my boys and I have enjoyed. I compiled the list by giving a quick look back over [...]
Hobbits & Hope
“Hope is more than an engine for endurance; it is the deep, heartfelt understanding that though we may fail in our mission, and though we may perish alone in the dark, the Shadow will pass away and goodness will triumph.†Louis Markos, On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis [...]
Psalms Book now Available
I am pleased to say Forgotten Songs: Reclaiming the Psalms for Christian Worship (B&H), edited by Richard Wells and myself is now available. At Amazon you can see the table of contents as well as preview the book quite well. The preface and conclusion will give you a feel for the aim of the book. [...]
Spurgeon, When We Need to be Made Weak
Terence Peter Crosby has done us a favor by compiling and editing C.H. Spurgeon’s Forgotten Prayer Meeting Addresses (Day One Publications, 2011), a collection of addresses on prayer which were not included in the massive collections of Spurgeon’s sermons. This is a gem for anyone who appreciates Spurgeon- and who can’t use encouragement in prayer? [...]
Select Practical Writings of John Knox
I have enjoyed perusing Banner of Truth’s republished edition of The Select Practical Writings of John Knox. When this volume was originally published in 1844 it was part of an effort to make available to “every family†the “good old theological literature of Scotland,†particularly “those venerable treatises of practical theology and personal religion†which [...]
Samuel Stennett on Preaching
Particular Baptist Press has recently republished Samuel Stennett’s An Exposition of the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, and it is worth purchasing. Stennett (1728-1795) served as a Baptist pastor for almost 47 years in London and composed many hymns including “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks.†In the introductory portion of his exposition Stennett provides [...]
Dictionary of Scripture & Ethics: Neither Scriptural nor Ethical
Preparing for my annual survey of commentaries and biblical reference works for Preaching Magazine (see last year’s installment) which will be out soon I needed to assess Baker Academic’s Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics (2011), edited by Joel Green. It is a large reference work so I decided the best way to get a feel [...]
