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Pursued By God: The Amazing Life and Lasting Infuence of John Calvin © 2009 Faith Alive Christian Resources 147 pages I’ve loved Calvin ever since I read his section on prayer in the Institutes. There are a lot of brilliant theologians scattered throughout history, but Calvin has a passion and piety that set him apart. [...]

Unfortunately, Coupland’s new book (Generation A) was nothing to write home about. There was, however, this great insight from the perspective of Zack: an unabashed hedonist. Praying is funny. When you pray, you leave the day-to-day time stream and enter a quieter place that uses different clocks and values things that can’t be seen.

We’ve spent the last three or four months at my church looking at the life of Elijah from start to (fiery) finish. I collected all the messages in this one post for the sake of convenience. You can find the download links to these messages on the Sermons page. You can find the original posts [...]

Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision © 2009 IVP Academic 279 pages This book was an advance treat. I’ve already read and thoroughly enjoyed the first three books in Wright’s Christian Origins and the Question of God series: The New Testament and the People of God Jesus and the Victory of God The Resurrection of [...]

Here’s another simple bit of advice from the Imitation that we can all take to heart: Also study most to eschew and overcome those things that most fervently displease thee in other men.

In Constant Prayer (The Ancient Practices) © 2008 Thomas Nelson 165 pages This is a beautiful book. It’s not too technical, too profound, or too spiritual: it’s the perfect little volume for anyone considering liturgical prayer for the first time. Like C. S. Lewis, Benson has a knack for finding the right anecdote to illustrate [...]

Here’s a zinger from Charles Foster’s The Selfless Gene: Living with God and Darwin: ID should certainly be taught in schools. It should be taught in the marketing classes. It is a superb example of how, if you package an idea (like shampoo, a skin cream, or toothpaste) in pseudoscience, people will buy it.

The Napoleon of Notting Hill © 1904 Wordsworth © 1996 129 pages Futurists fall into two categories: those who predict the collapse of civilization (Wells, Orwell, Atwood), and those who anticipate sunshine and lollipops (Kurzwiel, The Jetsons). Chesterton invented a new category. In 1904, he wrote a novel about a future eight decades later where [...]

I’m reading Benson’s little book on liturgical prayer, In Constant Prayer. In it he lays bare the secret to a successful life of prayer. The secret to a life of prayer, by and large, is showing up. Awesome.

In this chapter we move from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. Just what is the relationship between Jesus’ death and resurrection? We know that his death is Paul’s most important theme—is his resurrection an afterthought or something more significant? . . .