Gaining a heart of wisdom
I have a tendency to get stuck in time. It was true when I was single; it has been true of my days as a parent; it is true when my back flares up or when I am sick. I believe -- falsely -- that whatever is going on at the moment is insurmountable and… Continue reading Just One Thing: Story Arc
The Answer to Our Cry by Rick McKinley: A Book Review Everyone is looking for freedom. Most of us are looking in all the wrong places with the idea that freedom involves getting what we want. The Answer to Our Cry is not a series of steps, but a spotlight on the truth that true freedom is the ability to:… Continue reading Invitation into Relationship
If John Owen's book, The Mortification of Sin, seems theoretical and heavily theological, Chapters 9, 10 and 11 turn the tide by putting in the believer's tool-belt practical and efficient tools for carrying out Romans 8:13 ( . . . by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body). He refers to his advice for killing sin as "directions." First,… Continue reading Directions
Not a Chance -- God, Science, and the Revolt against Reason by R.C. Sproul and Keith Mathison: A Book Review R.C. Sproul has not written a small-minded, fear-mongering diatribe against science. His purpose in Not a Chance is to point out the precipitous slide into fiction that occurs when the brilliant minds that discover and… Continue reading The Edges of His Ways
The memoir meets spiritual formation literature in Nathan Foster's The Making of an Ordinary Saint; and in case the name "Foster" has a familiar ring to it, think "Richard Foster" of the seventies-era classic Celebration of Discipline. Nathan is Richard Foster's son, and a handful he was, apparently. Now with addiction and bitterness in the rear-view… Continue reading “Going Saint”
In Chapter X of John Owen's The Mortification of Sin, he urges his readers toward a "clear sense" of: 1. The guilt of sin -- "It is one of the deceits of a prevailing lust to extenuate its own guilt." 2. The danger of sin -- "Of being hardened by deceitfulness; . . . of some great temporal… Continue reading Getting a Clear Sense — A Letter to a Much-loved Child
Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin: A Book Review I can't recall the last time I devoured a book in one evening, but that's what happened with Women of the Word. I'm sure the reason is Jen Wilkin's laser focus on the topics that (after my family) are most important to me -- knowing the Bible… Continue reading Essential for Teachers and for Learners
A Mom's Prayers for Her Son by Rob & Joanna Teigen: A Book Review There's nothing like becoming a mother to ratchet up the frequency, sincerity, and desperation of one's prayer life. My husband and I had four boys in eight years, and I was horrified to realize that a new blender comes with more instructions than… Continue reading The Most Important Thing You Can Do for Your Son
John Owen did not exactly hang a sign saying, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" over the door of this chapter, but he has given a stern warning to those who would dally with sin. Over all six of Chapter 9's ominous symptoms, Owen's exhortation from Chapter 2 hangs like a dark banner: "Do you mortify;… Continue reading Danger Signs
50 Women Every Christian Should Know by Michelle DeRusha: A Book Review The fifty women profiled in this feat of meticulous research were definitely world changers. Covering over 900 years of Christian history, Michelle DeRusha has included the familiar names of recent history (Flannery O'Connor, Ruth Bell Graham); the less familiar names of previous centuries… Continue reading 50 World Changers
Living Our Days 