Entries Tagged 'Books' ↓

It feels kind of strange to be writing a “review” for a Bible, especially as someone who affirms Scripture as authoritative, God-breathed, inerrant, etc. The word “review” gives off a connotation of standing over God’s Word with a critical eye or something, like “hmmm . . . The ‘Bible’, eh? Never heard of it. How’re the sales at Amazon and B&N?” Rest assured, though . . . this is a review of features, not content.

So, Crossway recently released their English Standard Version Bible in a new format, the “Personal Size Reference” (PSR) Bible. After seeing that it had some features I like and some favorable reviews here and there, I went ahead and ordered one from the Westminster Bookstore. It arrived today.

This review will be scored, per feature, on a WIN/FAIL basis. (A few of you might get that. )

Continue reading →

. . . and get the one pictured/linked here. Seriously fantastic stuff.

Unless, of course, you like your kids learning their Bible stories as simplistic, poorly-illustrated morality plays with absolutely no connection to the person and work of Jesus, that is.  Then, by all means, keep the one you have.

Zoë’s loving hers, and so are Mommy and Daddy.

(* Feeding to the dog or shredding for use as rodent bedding are acceptable substitutes for burning.)

The book doesn’t release until February, but the folks who pre-ordered got their link to the PDF today.  Look for a review some time in the next week.

You really have no excuse now. Subscribe now to the best music mag around.

(HT: Travis)

Just saw this on Mark Driscoll’s blog . . . read about Re:Lit (Resurgence Literature), an upcoming book imprint from The Resurgence and Crossway. Looks promising.

(Post #2 in the baptism series is coming soon. Seriously. It’s mostly done, actually. Been a busy couple of weeks.)

Since it was asked, here’s what I picked up at the book sale (extended until 1PM EDT today, by the way!):

For myself . . .
Beyond The Bounds
Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood
Building Strong Families
Contending for our All (biography of Athanasius, Owen, and Machen)
Counted Righteous in Christ
A Godward Life
The Justification of God
The Hidden Smile of God (biography of Bunyan, Cowper, and Brainerd)
The Legacy of Sovereign Joy (biography of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin)
Preaching the Cross (with chapters by Piper, Dever, Mohler, Duncan, Mahaney, and Sproul)
The Roots of Endurance (biography of Newton, Simeon, and Wilberforce)
Sex and the Supremacy of Christ
Suffering and the Sovereignty of God
Taste and See (aka: A Godward Life, Vol II, expanded edition)

For Amy . . .
Devotions for Ministry Wives (’cause church leaders’ wives face some pretty unique challenges at times)

For a co-worker . . .
Desiring God

There’ll be a whole lot of reading going on.

So Desiring God (John Piper’s ministry) has been having a book sale since yesterday.  Every book in the store for $5.

I got 16 books.
Sixteen.
For $88 after shipping.
Retail value easily at least $250-300.

I don’t know whether to be proud of my frugality or ashamed of my booklust.

(Sale’s still going on through tonight, by the way.  Get in while the gettin’s good.)

CNN.com ran a story the other day that intrigued me. It was about the book pictured here, titled The Dangerous Book for Boys.

It’s pretty easy to balk at the title and some of the premises. Our natural reaction as parents (and hopefully, as humans in general) is to protect our children from danger. We buy fences, gates, doorknob protectors, closet locks — all good things — to keep our kids out of harm’s way.

Still, something about this book is exciting. Beyond just teaching our boys about tying knots, skinning rodents, and great historical battles and wars, it helps to train them to be unafraid of risk. As much as we sometimes don’t want them to grow up, our boys will someday — and soon — be the men of the world, and over the past couple of decades, too many have been and are being coddled in home and school environments where competition is seen as intrinsically evil, where they are insulated against any sort of unpleasantness. The result has been an entire breed of “soft men” — men who take no risks in life, who take no responsibility for their own actions, who run from marriage and fatherhood, and who spend time defending nothing but their own foolish self-interests.

Don’t get me wrong. Not every man should get married. Not every man will be a father. Not every man will or should find things like guns, trucks, and Ultimate Fighting very appealing. That’s not my point. My point is that we are to be workers and we are to be defenders. Just as Nehemiah told his Jerusalem reconstruction crew to wield a shovel in one hand and a sword in the other, so all men are to labor and to protect what they’ve been given. I’m not the father of a boy yet, but if I’m so blessed in the future, I want him to love working with his hands. I want him to feel a duty to protect his mother and his big sister. I want him to “slay the dragons” and vanquish the bad guys when he plays.  Then (if God allows) he won’t be a lazy man. He’ll be bold enough to ask the girl out. He’ll know how to protect his wife and his children. He won’t be afraid to take risks in business or in ministry. This is the kind of man I want my daughter(s) to marry and the kind I want to raise if given the opportunity.

Don’t stifle your boy’s innate sense of adventure, parents. Let him play with toy swords to slay the bad guys. Encourage him to come to the aid of the fair maiden. If he wants to take a flying leap from the couch, don’t stop him (not every time, anyway). You may be helping to stem the growing tide of soft men.

I’m buying this book.

(No, I have not been reading John Eldredge. Hell no, in fact.)