March Reflections

-
One quarter of 2011 has now passed us all by. I hope you used it well.

Top Posts of March 2011

1. "Love Wins" By Rob Bell - Controversy wins again I suppose. 

2. Regent Summer School - I am glad this post was the second most popular. I know it is because of links on Regents web pages, but still, if any post is to be popular then I am glad it is this post which points people to a good place. 

3. Controversy Rages On - Indeed... 


Obviously I didn't learn anything from my top posts that I didn't already learn last month. However, despite none of them being in the top 3, I was able to follow through on my promise to review other books. Some of the highlights, in my own mind (regardless of what the number of hits might say!) were:
"To Change the World" by James Davison Hunter - a must read if ever there was one. 
"Is God a Moral Monster" by Paul Copan - An excellent handling and exploration of very difficult questions. 
"An Unsettling God" by Walter Brueggemann - Thought provoking and intelligent. 

As well as those being highlights, I have found that I enjoy reviewing good books a lot more than bad ones. I am still striving towards a balance in accepting free books and reviewing other good books, but hopefully I am on my way. 

Do you have any suggestions for my blog? Any requests? As I mentioned in one of my book reviews, I was reading it and reviewing it because a friend asked. So, ask away!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forgiveness: A Hard Word From Luther

-
"Those who follow Christ grieve more over the sin of their offenders than over the loss or offense to themselves. And they do this that they may recall those offenders from their sin rather than avenge the wrongs they themselves have suffered. Therefore they put off the form of their own righteousness and put on the form of those others, praying for their persecutors, blessing those who curse, doing good to the evil-doers, preparing to pay the penalty and make satisfaction for their very enemies that they may be saved. This is the gospel and the example of Christ." - Martin Luther (Quoted by Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge, pg. 161-162)
Read more

A Good Tree Bears Good Fruit....

-
Image
"Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." - Matthew 7:17-18 "One of the most powerful ways to influence the behavior of a system is through its purpose or goal. That's because the goal is the direction-setter of the system, the definer of discrepancies that require action, the indicator of compliance, failure, or success toward which balancing feedback loops work. If the goal is defined badly, if it doesn't measure what it's supposed to measure, if it doesn't reflect the real welfare of the system, then the system can't possibly produce a desirable result. Systems, like the three wishes in the traditional fairy tale, have a terrible tendency to produce exactly and only what you ask them to produce. Be careful what you ask them to produce." - Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems. 
Read more

A Gracious Reading of Rob Bell

-
The Journey So Far The controversy rages on over Rob Bell's upcoming new book. No matter what happens now, this controversy has effectively guaranteed that 'everyone who is anyone' will need to read this book. Either to find out what is wrong and bash it, or because someone we generally disagree with also disagrees with the book so it has to be good stuff! Then, because 'everyone' is reading it, people like me will 'have to' read it to. After all, I am a pastor, and if many of my people are reading and being influenced by a book, don't I need to know what is going on as well?  Or so the reasoning will go... and perhaps I will read it, who knows. In the meantime, none of this will stop me from continuing to join this fray which I probably ought to have stayed out of in the first place. Onwards, Christian... :) The Latest Salvo The latest salvo has been fired by DeYoung  claiming that not only do we not need to talk with Bell but, more importantly, it...
Read more