Stopping to Think

  Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice: An Urgent Appeal to Fellow Christians in a Time of Social Crisis by Scott David Allen My rating: 2 of 5 stars Read this book on the recommendation of a friend. I was severely underwhelmed. Let me begin by saying that I have a lot of sympathy with his basic premise that social justice ideology as a totalizing worldview is incoherent, dangerous, and not what we want governing our society. As Christians we should want justice, and want it defined on God's terms, not the world's. Having said that, this book doesn't have a lot to recommend it. The explanation of Biblical justice is very thin, and basically came to a classical liberal idea of negative rights without addressing the biblical concepts of corporate responsibility and the positive responsibility of the who have to those who don't. On the flip side, I don't think he did a great job of articulating the very Social Justice mindset he was seeking to critique. I woul

  "God wonderfully delivers his church from death by death." John Calvin, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, pg 22

  The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It by Jamin Goggin My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is a 5 star concept with 2.8-3 stars worth of execution. The essential premise is this: we can either embrace power from below (the way of the dragon), or we can embrace the power from Above (the way of the Lamb). Goggin and Strobel write from the conviction that not only has our culture embraced the way from below (which we should expect), but that the church has as well. We have swallowed the lies of the world concerning the true nature of power and promoted a form of leadership that has little resemblance to the Jesus who emptied himself and took the form of a servant. And the way they go about exploring this idea, interacting with Scripture and by interviewing older believers whose lives exemplify this way from above, is super useful. The concept of simply sitting with and listening to wiser older believers is some

  "To make hearers into doers, we need to appeal not only to the intellect but also to the imagination." Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Hearers & Doers, pg 70

  Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger My rating: 4 of 5 stars I wish I could give it 3.5, or 3.75. The prose is 4, sometimes five. The story is a solid four, though the plot becomes pretty predictable and I saw the end coming with 12 chapters still to go. There were portions that I found wholly unnecessary. But there were enough interesting subplots to keep me interested. Probably the most gripping thing about this book was the way he circled around this idea of the awful grace of God. It only receives brief mentions directly, but the concept pervades the feel of the book, and I found it...I'm struggling for how to explain the way I felt about it. Helpful isn't the right word, but neither is enjoyable. Moving conjures the wrong image. It'll stick with me. A grace we can't understand. A grace beyond comprehension. A grace that penetrates the ordinary. View all my reviews

  "A preacher must learn to listen to God before he speaks for Him." Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching, pg 26

  The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant My rating: 4 of 5 stars Grant is a fascinating individual, and a good writer. I listened on an audiobook, which made it at times difficult to follow everything he was describing, given that I was unfamiliar with the geography. I assume a good printed edition with battle maps would have alleviated that frustration. Again, because of the audio form, the amount of detail was at times tedious. But Grant's attention to detail is amazing, and it was informative to hear his evaluation of other generals, North and South, as well as his assessments of political leaders. Whetted my appetite for more Civil War history. View all my reviews

  "The society that promotes chastity promotes true wedded love. The land of marriage, despite all the troubles that sinful human beings bring upon themselves, is a paradise by comparison with the land of easy fornication and childlessness by choice." Anthony Esolen, Life Under Compulsion, pg 123

  In an article that is very worth your tim e, Jared Wilson talks about the fact that pastors are paid to sit and stare out the window-or, in other words, to think, pray, and meditate on Scripture. This seems counterintuitive to many parishioners, and to many pastors as well. One of the reasons, Wilson argues, is because we have mislabeled the "pastor's study" as the "pastor's office." He then gives the following quote from Eugene Peterson to that effect: “A misnaming replaces ‘pastor’s study’ with ‘office,’ thereby further secularizing perceptions of pastoral work. How many pastors no longer come to their desks as places for learning but as operation centers for organizing projects? The change of vocabulary is not harmless. Words have ways of shaping us. If we walk into a room labeled ‘office’ often enough we end up doing office work. First we change the word, then the word changes us.” The whole article from Wilson is worth your time. What are you expectin

  The Last of the Mountain Men: the True Story of an Idaho Solitary by Harold Peterson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Sylvan Hart was a fascinating man. I'd love to read a biography of him. This book is less biography, and more magazine style profile, interjected with the author's own nostalgia for a bygone era, some fascinating bits of Idaho (and other western) history, and a little travel log thrown in. Peterson pulled it off for the most part, though it would have been better if he had done a little more reporter stuff and a little less ametuer philosopher stuff. Definitely worth a read if you want an interesting story, or are interested in Idaho history. View all my reviews

  "Modern people, though they cherish great thoughts of themselves, have as a rule small thoughts about God." J.I. Packer, Knowing God, pg 83