Some people just like to fight. They're looking for a heretic behind every door, and suspicious of everyone who doesn't think like them ..read more

As a music lover, I have always been fascinated by what musicians say about other people's songs ..read more

The Person of Christ: An Introduction (Short Studies in Systematic Theology), by Stephen Wellum Much of the content of this book will be novel and perhaps confusing to many, maybe most, Christians, which is a tragic thing if author Stephen Wellum is correct in stating that "there is nothing greater than to think rightly about our Lord Jesus Christ." (p.144). In other words, more important than fighting racism; more important than voting for the right presidential candidate; more important than living your best life now; more important than feeling the Spirit move in your heart, according to W ..read more

Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Ideology―Implications for the Church and Society, by Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer The most pernicious false teaching infecting our society and the church today is not liberalism, atheism or communism, but a very broad and complex ideology called contemporary critical theory, which seeks to understand how power operates in societies to "shape, produce and reproduce social inequalities and inequalities." (p.67). If you are familiar with terms like white supremacy, intersectionality, privilege, social binary, critical race theory ..read more

Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality, by Nancy R. Pearcey This is an excellent companion volume to Carl Trueman‘s “Strange New World” for understanding our current cultural moment. Pearcey’s argument is that there is a profound degrading of the body in postmodern thought that is at the root of most of the most pressing ethical issues of the day. “The key to understanding all the controversial issues of our day is that the concept of the human being has been fragmented into an upper and lower story. Secular thought today assumes a body/person split….” (p.15).  ..read more

Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul, by Octavius Winslow Octavius Winslow lived in the 19th century, putting him technically outside the category of “Puritan,” but this book reads just as you would expect from a great Puritan work: profound spiritual insight, theological and yet utterly practical, and passionately Christ-centered.  The purpose of the book is to alert the reader to the “incipient” (in its early stages) signs of spiritual declension in areas like love, faith, prayer and doctrine, in order to prevent one from slowly drifting away from Jesus. “No child of ..read more

When Home Hurts: A Guide for Responding Wisely to Domestic Abuse in Your Church, by Jeremy Pierre and Greg Wilson This is an important book for all pastors and ministry leaders to read. It brings great insight into the sad experience of a victim of domestic abuse, and gets into the deceived head of the abuser as well. It’s not naïve, but realistic about expectations, and at the same time presents a robust view of Biblical repentance. There is some repetition, but that’s OK – there is a lot of information to take in. With the multiple appendices at the end, this book is an excellent resource t ..read more

Grant, by Ron Chernow Should Christians spend time reading biographies of people who weren’t believers? My answer to that question is yes. For one thing, all of history is God’s history, so as we learn about post-Biblical events, we are still learning about God’s providential actions in the world. Also, by God’s common grace, there are many unbelievers who displayed great integrity, courage and wisdom from which all Christians can find inspiration. And it’s always interesting to learn about the spiritual convictions of great historical figures. This biography of Civil War general and U.S. pre ..read more

The Joy of Calvinism: Knowing God's Personal, Unconditional, Irresistible, Unbreakable Love, by Greg Forster In this book, Forster is very intentional in defending Calvinism not by systematic scripture proof, but more by philosophical explanation. So this is helpful for those who have thought carefully about Calvinism and its implications, but it’s definitely not a primer for those merely exploring the doctrines of grace. For example, in defending limited atonement, Forster explains that the non-Calvinist position requires one to believe that Jesus died for "humanity" merely in the abstract ..read more

When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi At some point in their lives, all people wonder about how they will die, and the more thoughtful and reflective among us will wonder if they will die well. That's really what this book is about. Paul Kalanithi was a gifted neurosurgeon who wanted to be more than just a doctor to people – he was more like a medical pastor, seeking to care for people with sensitivity and compassion as they faced their own deaths. Little did Paul know that he would transition from doctor to patient when he was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer.  In the fina ..read more