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Showing posts from April, 2014

The Third Day

      The Third Day: The Gospel of Luke Chapters 22-24 by Alex Webb-Peploe and Andre Parker (Scripture from the HCSB) http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/teenagers/books-and-ebooks/the-third-day This new comic book, The Third Day , by Alex Webb-Peploe and Andre Parker, taken from Luke 22-24 (HCSB) is a wonderful depiction of the world, the characters, and the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection.   The opening prologue brings us face to face with Luke’s narrative eyewitness accounts of the events of Jesus.   Taken in a series of snapshot artistic frames, these opening scenes portray well the faces of the apostles, the chief priests, and the events that took place in the ministry of Jesus.   What you get as you read through this is an intimate portrait of the moving events and characters of the story and their emotions as the death of Jesus nears and his resurrection comes to take place.   The illustrations provided in the book are worth every penny and even wer

Salvation by Crucifixiin by Philip Graham Ryken

Salvation by Crucifixion by Philip Graham Ryken http://www.wtsbooks.com/salvation-by-crucifixion-philip-graham-ryken-9781781913079 Former Senior Pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and President of Wheaton College, Philip Graham Ryken is well equipped to deliver a message on the crucifixion that is powerful and timely.  This new book, Salvation by Crucifixion is a brief foray into the meaning and application of the crucifixion of Jesus for the church.  Written with keen insight, historical background, and theological intensity, this book is a sure work to turn to when you want to know more about the crucifixion.  The unique thing about his book is Dr. Ryken’s emphasis that on the cross Jesus accomplished our salvation, thus he captures this point through looking at different lenses like the power, the offense, and triumph of the cross.  Often, as is the case here, the most slender of volumes carry the weight of a large tome. In seven short chapte

Seeking the City

Seeking the City by Chad Brand & Tom Pratt http://www.amazon.com/Seeking-City-Political-Christian-Perspective/dp/0825443040 In their new book entitled Seeking the City by Professor of Theology Chad Brand and Pastor Tom Pratt, the authors seek to focus on the issues of wealth, poverty, and political economy from a biblical, historical, and economic viewpoint.  With both critique and construction, the following pages elucidate a free market capitalist position of the economy that hinges upon free enterprise.  What was benenficial for readers is the authors insistence that there is an underlying moral framework to market economics, for no market system is morally neutral but is always  bent in one direction or another.  This is a wide-ranging and fair assessment of the history and politics of our economy from a robust biblical perspective that addresses the questions we must face in the world in which we live.   Done particularly well was the chapter devoted to

An Inner Step Toward God: Writings and Teachings on Prayer by Father Alexander Men

An Inner Step Toward God  by Father Alexander Men http://www.paracletepress.com/an-inner-step-toward-god-writings-and-teachings-on-prayer.html Father Alexander Men’s life reverberates beyond his own Russia into lives of many who long to pray fervently to God.  Men was a popular Russian Orthodox Priest who was murdered in 1990.  This new translation in English of his collection of prayers is a unique and remarkable work.  What is striking about the collection of prayers here is the immense practicality that these chapters evidence.  From the prayer book to the relationship between our body and difficulties in prayer, Alexander left no stone unturned in his quest to meet the living God, passing his wisdom onto others.  You also get a glance into the workings of the Russian Orthodox Church here and how the liturgy shapes the worship of the triune God.  I know this book will be a jolt of spiritual medicine for weary souls who long to pray more fervently and regularly. I a

Would You Do What They Did?

http://www.bookcrash.com/2014/01/would-you-do-what-they-did-great-christian-leaders-from-our-past/ Would You Do What They Did? by William Dean Hamilton Would You Do What They Did? By William Dean Hamilton Chronicling the life of John Wesley, Martin Luther, St. Francis of Assisi and martyr Thomas Becket, this new book entitled Would You Do What They Did? By William Dean Hamilton weaves together biography, story, and encouragement for today’s believer.  You get a sense of the interior life of the people listed above in these pages alongside the people that knew them best. Taken from letters, writings, and other written work, Hamilton puts together very artful stories that speak about the truth of faith throughout life. In the chapter on John Wesley, Susannah, John’s mother says something extraordinary after John tells his mother that him and his brother are going to be missionaries in Georgia.  She says, “I didn’t teach you about the Bible, theology, and the classics from

Visions of Vocation by Steven Garber

Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good by Steven Garber http://www.amazon.com/Visions-Vocation-Common-Grace-Good/dp/0830836667 From the fast food employee to the Dotcom CEO, vocation is not something to be hidden only for ourselves and to pad our bank account, but we ‘are responsible, for love’s sake, for the way the world is and the way it ought to be,’ (18) writes Steven Garber, author of the new book Visions of Vocation .  What does it mean to know the world and still love it?  What does it mean to be implicated by the world we live in and the devastation all around us?  These questions are a few of the baseline points that Garber seeks to answer in his thoughtful and wise book on vocation.  What is the most telling feature of the whole book is Steven’s insistence that work cannot be deconstructed into a few isolated statements that merely reflect economics and earnings, but that our vocations because of their intrinsic nature affect all of life,

Notable but not New Books on the Resurrection

Important Books on the Resurrection 1. Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright http://www.amazon.com/Resurrection-Christian-Origins-Question-Vol/dp/0800626796/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1396359071&sr=1-1 It goes without saying that I should mention Wright's weighty volume on the resurrection here at the top of my list.  With sustained interpretation of key texts like 1 Corinthians 15, Wright covers a lot of ground and builds the case that the resurrection is pivotal for a New Testament understanding of Jesus.  What is striking in Wright's view is the connection he makes between the creation story of Genesis 1-2 and 1 Corinthians 15.  Because death as been given a final blow through the resurrection, the creation's hope of renewal is sure.  You won't want to miss this important and wide ranging volume. 2.   Risen Indeed: Making Sense of the Resurrection by Stephen T. Davis http://www.amazon.com/Risen-Indeed-Making-Sense-Resurrection/dp/0802