In the next chapter, Rod Dreher outlines a modern description of and rationale for the Benedictine order. And in the particulars, he says a number of wise and good things. Dreher sees one of the most essential things. “We need to embed ourselves in stable communities of faith” (Loc. 760). And living by rule is …
Finding the Seven Thousand
The second chapter of Dreher’s The Benedict Option is really quite good overall. I found myself agreeing with much of it, and agreeing also with the various qualifications Dreher made as he went along. What he does in this chapter is give a brief intellectual history of the West’s apostasy, and in the main, he …
Catacombs or Cloister?
So I would like to invite you to read through The Benedict Option with me. For the most part we will go a chapter at a time, although this first time out we will take the Introduction and Chapter One together. For various reasons this is an important book, and how we respond to it …
The Shack
Because The Shack has now been made into a movie, I thought I should bump this old review of the book to the top of the pile. This was first published on 8/21/08. I had been asked by several different people what I thought of The Shack, a hot selling book by William Young. It …
Book of the Month/March 2017
Our annual Grace Agenda conference is coming up later this month, and our outside guest is Mike Reeves. You can check out more details on the conference here. The fact that we were having him speak for us motivated me to read a couple of his books, Delighting in the Trinity and Rejoicing in Christ, …
Review: Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was a very fine book on writing. Some really shrewd wisdom in this thing. One of my favorites is this: Choose words the average writer avoids but the average reader understands. Rarely used words are not …
Review: The Portable Dante
The Portable Dante by Dante Alighieri My rating: 4 of 5 stars Of course, glorious and wise. Well worth it. But I was struck — and perhaps unfairly — with the Christlessness of his Heaven. View all my reviews
But the Happily Part Takes Work
I was privileged to contribute three of the devotionals in this book of 30 devotionals for married couples. Other contributors include Francis Chan, John Piper, David Mathis, and more. It is published by Desiring God, and they are currently running a Valentine Day special on it. All this being the case, why wouldn’t you head …
Book of the Month/February 2017
I am going to be praising this book highly, so let me get just a couple of criticisms out of the way at the very front. This book is a “reimagining” of the apostle Paul, one that defends him from some very common modern misunderstandings. It undertakes this task on the basis of a very …
Book of the Month/January 2017
Testimonies are powerful. The apostle Paul gives his testimony in the book of Acts more than once, and he did so to great effect. The center of New Testament-style evangelism is found in the two-fold ministry of preaching and testimony. How will they hear without a preacher (Rom. 10:14)? And the one who believes has …