Oct 8, 2006 | General Theology, Reading
Enjoying the 50th anniversary of Christianity Today? Me too. It explains a lot – just check out the list of influential books for evangelicals over the past 50 years: The top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals – Christianity Today Magazine Rarely am I on the cutting edge of evangelical reading lists. I’m normally quite behind (I am just now reading David Wells, God in the Wasteland – I have some catching up to do). However, I felt completely out of touch when I read CT’s list. Let me rephrase that, I felt completely and thankfully out of touch. If Christy is one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals, I’m not sure I have any more affinity for the term. There are a few books on the list I have not read but wish I had and one day plan to. In fact, out of the 50 list, I think I’ve only read 11 of them. Wow – what a evangelical wimp! The more I contemplate my lack of involvement with the 50 most impactful books on evangelicalism, the more I find myself thankful for God’s providential preservation of my fragile mind. What makes the list so terrible is the placement of some of the more biblically substantive books in relation to the Christy‘s of the list. For example, Darwin on Trial (# 40), Desiring God (# 39), The Gospel of the Kingdom (# 44) and The Knowledge of the Holy (# 49) all placed behind such Scripturally deep texts such as Left Behind (#36), This Present Darkness (# 34), and Late Great Planet Earth (33).... read more
Oct 7, 2006 | Culture
Pulpit Magazine » Blog Archive » Secularist Censorship Phil Johnson chronicles some of the recent secularist censorship going on recently, including John MacArthur’s book, Safe in the Arms of God. MacArthur’s book examines the biblical response to the question, ‘what happens to children when they die.’ Intolerance is on the rise, cloaked in the garb of supposed tolerance. Mein Kampf can no doubt be quickly checked out without the yellow-stickered tolerance warnings, but Safe in the Arms of God is just downright dangerous. Perish the thought that someone might find solace in one of life’s most tragic losses in the Bible. What’s the next level of the secularist’s expressions of tolerance toward... read more
Oct 6, 2006 | Reading
By Their Books We Shall Know Them Dr. Mohler has a great response to an essay written by Jay Parini, a poet and professor of English at Middlebury College, entitled, “Other People’s Books.” Mohler’s comments are great – especially in light of his own collection. Mohler notes, How serious a Bible scholar is this preacher? The books will likely tell. Are the books all old or all new? If so, the reader is probably too contemporary or too antiquarian in focus. Are the books read? If so, the marginalia of an eager and intelligent mind adds value to the book. It becomes more a part of us. I decided that I would give a little thought to my own library and what it says about my preaching and general reading. I store most of my books at the study in my church office. I do most of my study at home, however, so there are two libraries of books for me to keep up with. Just behind my desk at the office are three floor to ceiling sections of books that contain nothing but commentaries. I tend to read the commentaries that are more technical in nature. I would do well to parouse other commentaries or collections of sermons and so would probably be more well rounded in my expositions and use of illustrations. It is a telling weakness in my preaching. The commentaries are all arranged according to the particular book of the Bible and then Author’s last name. I’m not big on putting all the commentaries from a set into one section – not very functional for... read more
Oct 6, 2006 | Reading
I’ve tried to adopt C.S. Lewis’ suggestion – noted by Justin Taylor in the link. Between Two Worlds: Read the Old Books read more
Oct 6, 2006 | Reading
Justin Taylor has some great quotes here – read the best books. I was recently encouraged by another individual – “never read a book that you could have written yourself.” I’ve rearranged a bit of my reading schedule. Between Two Worlds: Read the Best... read more
Oct 5, 2006 | Miscellaneous
Thank You, Dr. John Piper | TheResurgence read more
Oct 5, 2006 | Humor
MUST SEE TV!! Should a pastor be a man of violence? Being from Texas, I got a bit nostalgic as I watched this little clip. Thanks Fred Butler for directing us to this incredible display of spiritual bravado: Hip and Thigh: Preachers and... read more
Oct 3, 2006 | Pastoral Ministry
This from the DGM conference this past weekend: Between Two Worlds: Encouragement for Pastors of Smaller Churches read more
Oct 3, 2006 | Time/Life Management
PastorHacks.Net: Achievable goals… read more
Oct 3, 2006 | Time/Life Management
Keep Your Feet on The Ground While Deciding Time-Frame For Your Goals – lifehack.org read more
Oct 3, 2006 | General Theology
The audio messages are now up from this past weekend’s conference. 2006 National Conference :: Desiring God read more
Oct 2, 2006 | Ecclesiology
Good read on the future of the local church. What’s Next: Local Church – Christianity Today Magazine read more
Oct 2, 2006 | General Theology
Ian Murray is always worth the listen. HT: Justin Taylor 9 Marks... read more
Oct 2, 2006 | General Theology
These should be interesting. HT: Justin Taylor Welcome to The Veritas... read more
Oct 2, 2006 | Pastoral Ministry
Excellent comments from C.J. Mahaney on his observations from the Desiring God conference. Together for the Gospel read more
Sep 30, 2006 | Blogging
Can I really say that word and be taken seariously? I just finished installing Extended Live Archives as the new format for meandering through THE CAPRANICA’s previous posts and categories. The new format will help me search through and retrieve the vast amounts of valuable material located here in the smallest amount of time and with the greatest of ease. Another reason why WordPress whips Blogger. I am still in the process of processing all of my posts under categories. I have 439 posts on this blog and still 197 of them yet to be categorized.... read more
Sep 30, 2006 | Church History
Mark Noll on the rise and impact of evangelicalsim. Where We Are and How We Got Here – Christianity Today Magazine read more
Sep 30, 2006 | General Theology
‘Truth from the Evangelical Viewpoint’ – Christianity Today Magazine The linked article was written by Mark Noll and rehearses the beginning of Christianity Today, which is celebrating fifty years in existence. While in seminary I had the opportunity to glance through some of the first issues of Christianity Today. When it began, CT produced a number of thought provoking theological articles and Bible-centered cultural pieces under the editorship of Carl F. H. Henry. While writing a research paper on Harold Linsdell, I also perused a few issues of CT while he was editor and noticed a similar trend of more Bible-centered articles. George Marsden’s book, Reforming Fundamentalism, provided me a tremendous backdrop to view the beginnings of institutions like Fuller seminary and Evangelicalism’s flagship periodical, Christianity Today. I still say that the class I had in seminary on “Contemporary Evangelicalism,” was one of the most helpful for me in putting the current status of the American church into an understandable perspective. Based on what I read in the old CT issues, Marsden and others, I am convinced that the majority of Evangelicals would not tolerate such a magazine today. Yes, that is to say, in my opinion, CT is not today what it once was. I still have a subscription to CT and read it monthly as well as follow its RSS feeds. More often than not, it merely makes me reach for a tums tablet. Today, it seems that CT no longer wants to speak to issues from “the Evangelical Viewpoint,” as it was defined from its inception, but rather, it simply wants to report on the theological... read more
