About a year ago I spent a couple hours talking with my long-time friend, Adam Day (a professor at Tyndale Seminary in Amsterdam, the Netherlands), about the question of how much and in what manner it is appropriate for a Christian author to promote his or her writings. We talked about pitfalls, motivations, and the … Continue reading Personas, Platforms, and Profits
Category: Culture
Wordle or God’s Word?
What is the average amount of time it takes to solve a Wordle puzzle? I can’t locate any hard data on this question, but a guy who wrote a computer simulation to figure out the best two starting words for Wordle—and who claims he has played Wordle “a million times”—estimates that it takes about 15 … Continue reading Wordle or God’s Word?
What is a “Stronghold”? (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
“We pray against this stronghold…” Have you ever heard someone utter this line in prayer—or have you uttered it yourself? If you have ever used this expression, what did you mean when you used it? What is a “stronghold”? The answer to this question depends upon 1) whether you are trying to define the word … Continue reading What is a “Stronghold”? (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
“Authenticity”
Authenticity. Now there’s an important word in our generation. Young people are fed up with fakeness and sick of sham. Not long ago a youth pastor told me that the kids in his youth group preferred listening to unpolished or even stammering speakers whom they perceived as genuine over speakers who were slick but inauthentic. … Continue reading “Authenticity”
Would You Believe If God Gave You a Miracle?
“If only God showed me an extraordinary miracle, I would believe.” Really? Are you sure that you would actually start believing in the existence of God and in what he has said about his Son Jesus Christ if you experienced a dramatic miracle? I think such an assumption is highly questionable. My skepticism is not … Continue reading Would You Believe If God Gave You a Miracle?
“Just Say No” to Sin?
Do you remember the “just say no to drugs” campaign waged a number of years ago? (The slogan “just say no” continues to be used in schools across the country.) The assumption of the slogan was that kids could simply say “no” whenever faced with temptation. Is that true? Can we simply say “no” whenever … Continue reading “Just Say No” to Sin?
The Problem with Four-Views Books
Four-Views books—or Three-Views or Five-Views—are now so popular that it’s difficult to remember a time when they didn’t exist. Dozens of such titles have been published in the past thirty(??) or so years. The format of multiple-views books will be familiar to many reading this blog: Four (or three or five) prominent theological representatives on … Continue reading The Problem with Four-Views Books
Christian Hospitality
My wife is remarkably hospitable—far more than I. For ten straight years at her instigation, we invited all of my enrolled college students over every week during the academic year for dinner and spiritual conversation. (Fortunately, it never happened that they all showed up on the same evening. Whew!) We have scaled back a bit … Continue reading Christian Hospitality
Seven Favorite Christian Books of 2021
I read quite a few good Christian books in 2021. Here are seven of my favorites, plus a bonus book. Insider Church: Ekklesia and the Insider Paradigm, by S. T. Antonio. What should a church composed of Muslim-background believers in Jesus look like? How contextualized can/should such a church be? Solid and readable Christian ecclesiology … Continue reading Seven Favorite Christian Books of 2021
Modern Miracles: A Short Book Review
There is no better time than Christmastime to read a book about miracles, is there? I have just finished reading Craig Keener’s new book: Miracles Today: The supernatural work of God in the modern world. But this book is not about miracles that took place in the first century (see his outstanding two-volume tome Miracles … Continue reading Modern Miracles: A Short Book Review
Kindle Afresh 