Book Reviews
Recommended Books (Autumn 2019)
As the cold North Wind begins to blow into our communities, we wrap up our last outdoor chores for the year and seek shelter inside as summer winds to an end. The extra hours inside provide a great time for reading individually and as a family. Listed below are several recommended books that we have particularly enjoyed over the past few months. We hope you will find something useful for your future reading. Please be sure to share your favorite books from the past quarter in our comment section. ____________________ Kathryn Butler Between...
read moreHow We Get Our English Bible: A Review
by Jacob Riggs How We Get Our English Bible: Understanding About Different VersionsRobert E. PicirilliRandall House, 2019ISBN: 9781614841050 Near the end of my reading this book I told my wife, “Next to God’s Word, this may be the most important book for every Free Will Baptist to read.” I said that, and still believe it, for three reasons: (1) some Free Will Baptist’s who are KJV-only (in the National Association of Free Will Baptists, 10% believe that the KJV is the only version we should use for preaching, teaching, and personal study, and...
read moreBook Review: Between Life and Death
Back in the fall of 2018, I was processing feelings of grief after losing my grandfather. He passed away at home surrounded by family and friends. I remember cherishing these final moments with him. In the days after his memorial service, I remember encountering the work of Kathryn Butler on Oceans Rise. I honestly can’t recall how I stumbled upon this blog, but her forthcoming book Between Life and Death caught my attention. I was just completing my first unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, North Carolina,...
read moreModern Technology and the Human Future: A Christian Appraisal
(Note: An earlier version of this book review appeared on the Center for the Study of Ethics and Technology website) The world is changing quickly. The nature of the change varies from region to region, but behind these economic, social, and political “accelerations,” to use Thomas Friedman’s term, lays one unified force: modern technology. “Modern automatic machine technologies,” as author and professor Craig Gay states it, are reshaping our present and, in so doing, are reshaping the future. Believers and unbelievers agree on this, though...
read moreRecommended Books (Spring 2019)
Whew! The school year is over, and everyone is ready to unwind. However, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to become complacent during down times. Our less constrained schedules allow us to focus on other areas of our lives. Students and teachers especially should take this opportunity to develop their minds and spirits at a more even pace. But regardless of your vocation, we have a few reading recommendations for you. We have found these books to be particularly insightful on a wide range of topics, and we think you will too. Please leave us your...
read moreThe Fourth Strand of the Reformation: A Review
Evangelicals exist along a spectrum concerning their interest in ecclesiology. Some are largely disinterested in what the Bible says about how to structure the local church. Yet others express a revived interest in ecclesiology, which ministries such as 9Marks have deeply influenced in the Baptist world. Where we fall on this spectrum isn’t driven entirely by our soteriology either. We might be tempted to think that the interest in ecclesiology is inexorably linked to the revival of Calvinism. But I can assure the reader that I have many...
read moreBook Review: Reset by David Murray
by Zach Vickery We live in a culture that is constantly pushing us to more productivity. There’s never a shortage of self-help books and blogs full of hacks to make life easier and more productive. In some ways, this push is a good thing since it encourages us to be good stewards of the time God has given us. Since the Garden of Eden, God intended for humans to work. Scripture, especially the wisdom literature, gives us instruction on not wasting our time and instead on using time intentionally. For example, Proverbs 13:4 says, “The soul of...
read moreRecommended Books (Winter 2019)
The old PBS program Reading Rainbow opened with a song that argued that reading allows us to go anywhere and be anything, even if only for a moment. While PBS has aired more than its share of silliness, that point is important. Reading really does open whole new vistas for the reader and makes it possible for us to travel to distant lands and learn new ideas from the comfort of a favorite sitting chair. Words, in themselves, are wonderful, almost magical, things. They encapsulate and convey our thoughts beyond our minds. As Bradley Green...
read moreRecommended Books (Autumn 2018)
As we near the Christmas season, we begin searching for good gifts for our loved ones. Books provide an endless supply of unique and meaningful signs of our affection. Below you will find some of our most recent finds and old favorites that may be meaningful for you and those on your Christmas list. Some selections are classics of the Western literary tradition while others are fresh releases from popular, academic, and ministry publishers. We think you’ll be able to find something of value in each selection. ____________________ Aesop,...
read moreRecommended Books (Summer 2018)
Books have an interesting ability to speak into our lives. Obviously, we often select works that promise insight into specific subjects with which we are grappling, but sometimes we accidentally stumble on books that almost seem to be specially written to address particular situations we are facing. This means that each new book holds unbounded promise between its pages. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed these selections over the past few months and think you might also find them interesting. With a wide range of subjects covered, we’re sure we have...
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