a pastor in Austin
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IVP has been kind enough to allow me to pick out some of their recent releases for review. I look forward to reading the books that caught my attention and sharing them with you here in the months to come. First up is a book called Deepest Differences: A Christian-Atheist Dialogue, by James Sire, and [...]
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It’s as if Rodney Stark wrote The Rise of Christianity with me in mind. The subject matter of Christianity, and the historical and analytical presentation style are all right up my alley. Through the perspective of a sociologist, Stark dug through the first 300 years of Christianity to see what it was that caused Christianity [...]
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It’s been over four years since I sat down with Jeff for a conversation that would mark me for the better.
Jeff had been in my high school ministry. Now, a few years out of high school, he was struggling with his church experiences. Jeff was always a writer, and he had written a book [...]
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Every nation has a peculiar contribution to make to the interpretation of Christianity. The Son of man is too great to be expressed by any one portion of humanity. Those that differ from us most will probably contribute most to our expression of Christianity.” — E. Stanley Jones (once again, 80 years ago) in The [...]
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The quote I just posted came from E. Stanley Jones’ reflections on a conversation he had with Gandhi (as recorded in The Christ of the Indian Road). Jones, who befriended Gandhi as a missionary in India, asked the great leader what would be required for Christianity to be “naturalized” in India. Gandhi had a four [...]
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we are inoculating the world with a mild form of Christianity, so that it is now practically immune against the real thing. Vast areas of the Christian world are inoculated with a mild form of Christianity, and the real thing seems strange and impossible.” — E. Stanley Jones (80 years ago) in The Christ of [...]
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“Dang. NT Wright beat me to it.”
That’s what keeps going through my head as I’ve been reading Surprised by Hope.
When I think of how I want to use my voice, one of the main themes that comes up is dualism. Simply put, dualism is the idea that this physical world is a mess and the [...]
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I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dave Kinnaman since college; our wives have been good friends going back to their glorious Jr. High days. The time we have spent together has been sporadic, but I always know a thoughtful and engaging conversation is in store when we spend time together. Most of all, Dave and [...]
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I was tagged for confession a week or so ago by Christine Sine. The instructions for the meme are:
1. Apologize for three things that Christians have often got wrong. Your apologies should be directed towards those who don’t view themselves as part of the Christian community. Alternatively, apologize for things you personally have done [...]
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Last week, while mowing, I was trying to catch up on a backlog of audio I’ve downloaded. Up in the queue came “The Gospel and Our Culture” (streaming audio) by NT Wright. Dr. Wright (or Tom as I call him when I pretend we are friends) presented this lecture as part of a lecture [...]
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When I first saw Cities of God, the subtitle hooked me: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome. That captures two passions I’m carrying right now — the need to plant churches in urban areas, and Roman history. How could I not like this book?
Truthfully, I didn’t like it [...]
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