Book Reviews
« Previous EntriesBook Review: Connected, by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler (Part 2)
Monday, February 15th, 2010In Friday’s post I began reviewing an intriguing new book: Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler. Today I want to finish my review, first by putting up some quotations from the book and then by adding a few comments […]
Book Review: Connected, by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler
Friday, February 12th, 2010I recently finished a fascinating book: Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. It was written by two top scholars, Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler. Christakis is a medical doctor and sociologist who teaches at Harvard. Fowler is a political scientist who teaches at the University […]
Rereading a Classic: Christian Mission in the Modern World by John Stott, Part 3
Friday, February 5th, 2010Today I finish sharing some quotations from John Stott’s classic book Christian Mission in the Modern World. Toward the end of his chapter on mission, Stott focuses on the question of vocation or calling.
I begin with vocation, by which I mean a Christian’s lifework. We often given the impression that if a young Christian man […]
Rereading a Classic: Christian Mission in the Modern World by John Stott, Part 2
Thursday, February 4th, 2010Yesterday I began sharing some quotations from John Stott’s classic book Christian Mission in the Modern World. Today I’ll add a few more:
Let me return now to the Great Commission. I have tried to argue that its Johannine form, according to which the church’s mission is to be modeled on the Son’s, implies that we […]
Rereading a Classic: Christian Mission in the Modern World by John Stott
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010I make it a practice to read classic literature on a fairly regular basis. These days, I often read the classics my children are reading in high school. Thus, in the last year, I’ve read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemmingway’s Farewell to Arms. Sometimes I’m re-reading, as in the case of […]
SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World, by Douglas Estes
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009Today this website is a “stop” on a blog tour for a new book, SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World, by Douglas Estes (Zondervan, 2009). This book offers an in-depth analysis of so-called “virtual churches.” We’re not talking here about what I’ve called “online church,” namely, real world churches that use the Internet […]
Whole Church: Leading from Fragmentation to Engagement, by Mel Lawrenz
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009Today I’m pleased to be part of a blog tour for pastor and author, Mel Lawrenz. Mel has just published a fine new book called Whole Church: Leading from Fragmentation to Engagement. This book has much to offer for church leaders, including pastors, elders, deacons, and others.
At the core, Whole Church proposes an antidote for […]
Recommendation: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Friday, September 4th, 2009Okay, okay, this book has been around since 2001. I’m sure many of my readers have read Peace Like a River and loved it. But if you haven’t read it, I want to bring it to your attention. This is a book you will love.
I started reading this book on vacation. More accurately, I started […]
The Twilight Books: Should You Let Your Daughter Read Them?
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009Odds are that you’ve heard of the Twilight books, even if you’re not a teenage girl. If not the Twilight books, then probably the movie. Yesterday, in fact, it won five MTV movie awards, including Best Movie . . . and Best Kiss.
It’s the Best Kiss part that gets parents wondering about the appropriateness of […]
McKnight and Ford: Book Déjà Vu?
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009Recently I put up a brief review of Scot McKnight’s newest book, The Blue Parakeet. You can read the review here, if you wish. The Blue Parakeet is Scot’s effort to help us think about how we interpret the Bible, and to guide us into a more faithful understanding of Scripture and its truth. One […]
Scot McKnight: The Blue Parakeet
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009Yesterday I described Scot McKnight’s recent visit to Laity Lodge. Today I want put up a brief review of his latest book, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (Zondervan, 2008).
Initially, the most striking thing about The Blue Parakeet is it’s bright yellow color and odd title. What, one must wonder, does […]
Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian, Part 3
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009Today I’m finishing my review the book Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian. As I did yesterday, I will quote portions of the book and then add my comments.
“God’s ultimate purpose for Christians is not to bring them out of this world and into heaven, but to use them to bring heaven into this world. As we […]
Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian, Part 2
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Today I’m continuing the review I began yesterday of the book Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian. My plan is to quote portions of the book and then add my comments. This way you’ll hear Tullian’s own voice as well as mine.
“The point I want to drive home in this book is that Christians make a difference […]
Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian
Monday, April 20th, 2009Today I’m participating in the “blog tour” for Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different, by Tullian Tchividjian. First, I’d like to introduce the author.
I had not heard of Tullian Tchividjian until March 19, 2009. On that day I noticed a USA Today story with an intriguing headline: “Billy Graham’s Grandson to […]
Check Out The Divine Commodity by Skye Jethani
Thursday, April 16th, 2009When I was asked to participate in the blog tour for Skye Jethani’s new book, The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity, I had mixed feelings. I do think it’s essential for Christians (including me) to discover a faith beyond consumer Christianity. So I was inclined to recognize the value in Jethani’s book. […]
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