A Portrait of Calvin by T.H.L Parker

 John Piper says that his first encounter with John Calvin was through this short biography, called Portrait Of Calvin by T.H.L. Parker.  Hearing that made me want to pick this book up.

I will say first of all that John Calvin was not what I had expected.  Because of "Calvinism" he has been portrayed as this cold, unfeeling, almost dictatorial leader.  Reality though, none of those is true.  He was actually a very warm, tender individual.  He showed great care and concern for the people he was pastoring.

Though there was political influence that he showed, the reality is that he was simply a pastor.  He preached the word of God and he did that consistently.  Throughout his life he would preach in an expository fashion through books of the Bible.  Whether it be Old Testament or New Testament, he plodded his way through passage after passage, making the central theme of his preaching Christ and the core of that preaching focused on the passage.

If you would like a taste of who John Calvin was, not simply as the historical figure that you've heard about, but a closer examination of his life and ministry, then I would like to highly recommend this book.  You can get a hard copy through Amazon, but the Desiring God website has a free ebook (that's where I picked it up).

If you read it, let me know what you think.

The Dragon's Curse

I found The Dragons Curse by J.J. Abrams with the free books on Amazon.  I noticed it because it was J.J. Abrams... I think the same J.J. Abrams known for his work in television and movies.  It was free, so I picked it up.

The book's description on Amazon:

An innkeeper's son is entrusted with a dragon egg, leading to a quest to restore the ancient race of dragons to their former glory.

The setting was definitely medieval times.  No description was given of the time or place.  The kings and kingdoms are not mentioned in detail, but only in passing, focusing on the boy and his grandfather. Though there was definitely some predictable aspects of the story, there were also a couple of twists and turns along the way.

One particular aspect that I enjoyed was that the boy was continually respectful to his parents and others throughout the book.  So often there is the expected rebellious hero that has to go through a series of issues with the parents and other authorities, which leads to other complications in the story.  This book didn't go that route.  The parents were also portrayed as open-minded and wise, something that lacks in so much literature geared towards the preteen and teen crowd.

I would recommend this book.  I am going to try to get one of my kids to read it.  Like I said, it was geared toward the younger crowd, but it definitely portrayed a respect and wisdom of the adults in the book.  There was also the promotion of good character and the value of hard work and that finding your place doesn't always mean leaving.

I don't think the kindle book is still free, but it is still an affordable price.  Click on through to Amazon and check it out.

Fake Love, Fake War

I want to direct you to an incredibly thought-provoking article.  It concerns the combined topics of porn and gaming addictions.  If you've never made that connection, then you've never really paid attention to a gamer before or you've not known or been a porn addict.  The similarities, on a purely initial-impression perspective, are striking.

The article is called Fake Love, Fake War.  It is written by Russel Moore and you can find it on the Desiring God blog.  Allow me to quote a couple of paragraphs that really grabbed my attention.

Near the beginning of the article, Moore makes this valid point:

Pornography promises orgasm without intimacy. Video warfare promises adrenaline without danger. The arousal that makes these so attractive is ultimately spiritual to the core. 

Satan isn't a creator but a plagiarist. His power is parasitic, latching on to good impulses and directing them toward his own purpose. God intends a man to feel the wildness of sexuality in the self-giving union with his wife. And a man is meant to, when necessary, fight for his family, his people, for the weak and vulnerable who are being oppressed.

It is so valid and so important to understand that what we wrestle with is not flesh and blood, but principalities and power... We are in a spiritual warfare.  If we don't recognize this, we become vulnerable to attack because of our naivety.

Near the end of the article he makes this statement... Which, when I read it, I may have given a quite verbal and vocal "amen!" or at least a "wow!"

Moreover, these addictions foster the seemingly opposite vices of passivity and hyper-aggression. The porn addict becomes a lecherous loser, with one-flesh union supplanted by masturbatory isolation. The video game addict becomes a pugilistic coward, with other-protecting courage supplanted by aggression with no chance of losing one's life. In both cases, one seeks the sensation of being a real lover or a real fighter, but venting one's reproductive or adrenal glands over pixilated images, not flesh and blood for which one is responsible.

Besides the importance of these words, especially as I attempt to raise my own boys into men, I absolutley admire Moore's ability to put to words things that I've thought in ways that make more sense than how I've thought them.

Read the entire article... It's worth it.  Click here.

The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton - Book Review

Until a few months ago, I did not realize that G. K. Chesterton was a writer of fiction.  I knew of his books on such topics as orthodoxy and heresy, but was unacquainted with the fictional works that had an impact on such authors as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.  The first book I read was Manalive.  I wrote a review of that book not too long ago.

The Man Who Was Thursday was described by C. S. Lewis as, "A powerful picture of the loneliness and bewilderment which each of us encounters in his single-handed struggle with the universe."  It is about a man named Syme, who is employed in the service of the British Police, in a special department, by a special man, to fight against the anarchists of the world.  As he infiltrates the inner circle of anarchy, taking the name of Thursday, as each member of the inner ring has a name of a day of the week, he is left wondering, and fighting to determine, who is this man named Sunday?

I've really enjoyed reading Chesterton's stories.  There is a certain whimsicalness to his writing as he attempts to discuss serious topics through the use of story, but he does it in a way that the belief system that he is discussing plays a part in the story the way a tent plays a role in the circus.

If you haven't read any Chesterton, this one would be a good place to start.  A mix of sci-fi, fantasy, and socio-political drama-comedy!

Wide Open Door for Preaching the Gospel

"Is not this then the very time when the door is wide open for the preaching of the Gospel? 

The age in which we are living is so similar to the first century in many respects.  The old world was exhausted then.  The flowering period of Greek philosophy had come and had gone, Rome in a sense had passed her zenith, and there was the same kind of tiredness and weariness, with consequent turning to pleasure and amusement. 

The same is so true today; and so far from saying that we must have less preaching and turn more and more to other devices and expedients, I say that we have a heaven-sent opportunity for preaching."

From Preaching and Preachers by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

The Explicit Gospel - Book Review

I just finished listening to the Christian Audio version of The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler with Jared Wilson.

Of all of the books that I've read on the Gospel in the last few years, I would rank this one near the top.  Matt Chandler does an excellent job of explaining the Gospel in an... well... explicit way.  He describes the Gospel in the broader perspective as the "Gospel in the Air" and the "Gospel on the Ground" is the more personal aspect of the Gospel. He then discusses the dangers of focusing on one aspect of the Gospel without taking into account both the big and the small picture of what God is doing.

I especially appreciated his personal approach, sharing stories and experiences that illustrated different aspects of the Gospel.  In many of his stories he was willing to share how he had struggled or gotten it wrong in the past; times where he had shared the gospel in not-so-perfect ways, but God's grace was even in those events of his life, as he so adequately shares.  One story he titled, "The Dirty Rose" was especially touching.

If you have questions about the Gospel or you are simply desiring a deeper understanding of the Gospel, then this is a good book for you.

David Cochran Heath, the voice talent for many of Christian Audio's works, does an excellent job of reading through this book.  In my opinion, a good voice talent will cause you to forget that you are listening to an audio book, and it will feel more like you are listening to someone talk to you while you are driving down the road.

Visit Christian Audio to purchase this book or to view other Christian Audio Titles.

Ephesians Message with Illustrations!

Final Ephesians message from Chapter 3 with illustrations from my son.

Click to Enlarge