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[photopress:Old_hands_on_Bible.jpg,thumb,right]I recently had a conversation with a well-known pastor who claimed that theological colleges shouldn’t teach theology. After dropping that bombshell, he explained what he meant. Instead of simply teaching theology, he said, they should teach students how to do theology.
The distinction is important, and goes for churches as much as for theological colleges. Every Christian – not just those who will become our pastors – needs to be equipped to know not just what the Bible says, but how to find out what the Bible says. Sadly, few of our churches explicitly teach this skill, and most Christians are relying more and more on preachers and commentators to tell them what the Bible says, and losing the joy of discovering it for themselves.
Worse still, some evangelical churches appear to be preaching a new Catholicism. Just as medieval priests did not believe that the laity could be trusted to read the Bible on their own, so many evangelical churches give the impression that it’s just too risky to let the ‘ordinary Christian’ read the Bible without the help of more experienced Bible teachers in print or in person.
Continue reading ‘Better Bible Study’
Popularity: 5% [?]
[photopress:hp7_high_1.JPG,thumb,right]Don’t worry, there are no spoilers for Deathly Hallows in this post!
I confess. I’m a big fan of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books – and have been since I discovered Chamber of Secrets nearly ten years ago. I understand why some Christians baulk at the concept of good witches and wizards, but frankly I just cannot see the difference between Rowling’s writings, and those of Tolkein, and countless tales of Merlin and King Arthur which I grew up on.
The Bible is clear, witchcraft is wrong. But if I lay aside every book that contains things that are wrong, I will only ever read the Bible. The doctrine of common grace – not to mention that of common sense – surely demands otherwise. We should be far more worried about books who’s subliminal messages are opposed to Christian virtues than we should about Harry Potter. A great deal of children’s literature promotes lifestyles that are directly opposed to Christian values and morality. It relatively simple to sit down with your young son or daughter and say “Real witches and wizards are not like Harry Potter. Look with me at what the Bible says”. It is much harder to say, “The underlying meta-narrative of the book you are reading runs contrary to a Christian worldview”. In other words, we ought to be much more wary of the devil’s subtle attacks, and his great desire for us to accept as normal that which God says is unnatural. Harry Potter is an easy target, but surely it should not be our primary target.
Continue reading ‘Life, Death, and Harry Potter’
Popularity: 5% [?]
[photopress:the_word_became_fresh.jpg,thumb,right]Any preacher who has read Ralph Davis’ commentaries on the Old Testament historical books, or heard him preach, will be in no doubt that he is a man who has that rare combination of exegetical thoroughness, no-nonsense application, warm-hearted pastoral concern, and not a little dry humour to boot. It is a brave preacher who will preach from a passage in Joshua – 2 Kings without at least consulting Davis first.
The logic of Davis’ exegesis is usually so compelling, that the preacher can often be left asking himself the question, Why couldn’t I see that? This makes this new book (full title: The Word became Fresh: How to Preach from Old Testament Narrative Texts) extremely appealing.
After an introductory chapter on the right approach to the Old Testament, Davis deals with seven different ways in which Old Testament writers get their readers’ attention and make their point. Each chapter is full of brief, but pertinent, examples from Scripture, which makes one wish a Scriptural index of the passages discussed had been added.
Continue reading ‘Review: The Word Became Fresh, by Dale Ralph Davis’
Popularity: 4% [?]
HymnQuest is a computer database of hymns and songs used in worship. It is not a new, computerised hymnbook, but rather an electronic bookcase of existing hymnbooks (350 of them, to be precise) that is fully indexed, cross-referenced and searchable. Hymnbooks included in HymnQuest include Christian Hymns, Mission Praise (in its various incarnations), Grace Hymns, Junior Praise, Praise!, The Scottish Psalter, and Songs of Fellowship (both volumes). Two notable omissions are the Wakeman Trust’s Psalms and Hymns of Reformed Worship, and Sankey’s Sacred Songs and Solos. A full list of all the hymnbooks included in the collection is available on the publisher’s website: www.hymnquest.com
The strength of HymnQuest lies in the way it combines it massive size with a user-friendly interface. The collection includes more than 13,600 tunes and over 18,600 hymns, including from Isaac Watts (196 hymns), Charles Wesley (530 hymns) and more modern authors such as Vernon Higham (166), and Graham Kendrick (296). The full-text of most of the hymns is included, though only the first line of the tunes is available.
Of course, having 18,600 hymns on CD is of no benefit if you are unable to access them easily, and that is where HymnQuest excels.
Continue reading ‘Review: Hymnquest 2006′
Popularity: 3% [?]
War and Grace is a terrific book. It contains thirteen mini-biographies all involving people caught up in the First or Second World Wars.
The stories are wonderfully varied. Some show how Christians involved in the conflict were helped and strengthened by their faith. Others tell of those converted during or following the war. There are stories of generals and civilians, and of both men and women. The stories tell of Americans, Britons, Germans and Japanese, of those who survived the war, as well as those who did not.
What marks this book out is the obvious love Don Stephens has the people he writes about. The following comment is not uncommon: ‘For over thirty years I have had the privilege of writing and speaking to…’ War and Grace is truly a labour of love. You feel that the author knows each of the men and women in the book, and as a result the reader feels he knows and understands them, too.
Continue reading ‘Review: War and Grace by Don Stephens’
Popularity: 3% [?]
If the mark of a good book is that it causes you to worship your Saviour, then The Jesus Gospel is truly an excellent book.
The subtitle ‘Recovering the Lost Message’, demonstrates the book’s purpose – it’s a response to Steve Chalke’s The Lost Message of Jesus, which cause something of a furore in 2003. This was not simply because Chalke was denying the atoning work of Christ on the cross – countless numbers have done that over the generations – but that Chalke was denying penal substitution whilst claiming to remain evangelical.
Thankfully, Liam Goligher does not defend the truth of scripture by poring over Chalke’s work point by point. Instead (to paraphrase Spurgeon), he lets the lion out of the cage. The Jesus Gospel is no mere defence against liberal theology, it’s a glorious affirmation of the truths of the whole Bible in relation to the Cross.
Continue reading ‘Review: The Jesus Gospel, by Liam Goligher’
Popularity: 3% [?]
Reading is good for you… and I don’t just mean reading blogs! But if you’re concerned about the spiritual well-being of other Christians, it’s important for you not just to read books, but to encourage other Christians to do the same. And one of the best ways of doing this is ensuring you have a bookstall at your church.
I believe every church should have a well-stocked bookstall for at least two reasons. The first is that God uses good books to change lives. Thousands of Christians can testify to that. Perhaps you’re one of them. The second reason is that the church is full of busy people. Too busy, sometimes, to drive into town and spend thirty minutes browsing through the hundreds of books in their local Christian bookshop, trying to find a book they hope will be helpful. Too busy for that - but no so busy they can’t spend five minutes after the morning service glancing through the thirty or so carefully selected books on their church bookstall.
Do you want to run a church bookstall? Here’s how you can do it.
Continue reading ‘Reading is good for you!’
Popularity: 3% [?]
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