Category Archive

Justin Taylor recently encouraged his readership (which includes myself) to check out an Op-Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal by Eric Felton on the self-publishing boom in the Kindle market.  The article’s title: “Cherish the Book Publishers – You’ll Miss Them When They’re Gone.”  The thrust of the piece is that book publishers do the grunt-work of weeding out the myriads of bad books so that we can more easily find the diamond in the rough: Shouldn’t we be … Read More

Don Sweeting has a great post on the relationship between worship and justice–a connection made by the Old Testament prophets, to which American evangelical Christianity seems to be re-awakening. 

Walter Kaiser writes:¹ 

According to the “New Homiletic” [a term coined by David Allen], every sermon or lesson from the Bible must chiefly be “interesting.” But what biblical support could we give for this assertion?

If you’re part of a monolithic congregation primarily comprised of young people, this is probably not an issue (or not as big of an issue).  If you’re part of a multi-generational congregation which includes folks from the World War II generation, then, chances are, this issue is alive and well.  Because I witness it in my own fairly large church, I believe it’s a fair generalization to say that, by and large, the older generation cares deeply about the wedding … Read More

I run in circles that consistently expose me to those with the view that so-called “high art” is the only legitimate art.  Everything else is at best a weak attempt at art-making or at worst worthless rubbish, so they say. Kenneth Myers’ schema, which has received heavy praise and usage among high-art-only advocates, is usually, in some form, the philosophical crux of their argument (whether or not they are conscious of Myers). Myers wrote the influential book All God’s Children … Read More

Because the Gospel isn’t motivation enough… (I don’t want to blast the company.  I just got this email from a popular liturgical supplier.  I honestly kept looking for the punchline.  There wasn’t one.)  

It’s interesting that Apple’s logo is a bitten piece of fruit.  The first time that happened, the whole world fell apart. I’m not sure who originated the thought, but I’ve heard Tim Keller say many times, “Idolatry happens when good things become ultimate things.”  I was passed on an article which made a lot of comparisons between the tech giant Apple and religion…particularly Christianity.  Here are some highlights: “Apple products aren’t just consumer-friendly, sexy gadgets, but instruments of the divine.” … Read More