Month: June 2015

Book Reviews2 Comments

Review of ‘This Hallowed Ground: A History of the Civil War’ by Bruce Catton

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Bruce Catton, This Hallowed Ground: A History of the Civil War (New York: Vintage, 2012; repr. Doubleday, 1956). Paperback | Kindle My wife and I celebrated our tenth anniversary by touring Civil War battlefields in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Standing in the fields where soldiers fought and died gave me a tree-and-leaf view of the battles, but I felt lost in the details because I did not have a forest view of the war. Park rangers and tour guides recommended Bruce Catton’s books, so I went to Barnes & Noble and purchased This Hallowed Ground. Originally subtitled, “The Story of … Continue reading Review of ‘This Hallowed Ground: A History of the Civil War’ by Bruce Catton

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Review of ‘Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism’ by Timothy Keller

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Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism (New York: Viking, 2015). Hardcover | Kindle All Christians have a spiritual responsibility to “teach and admonish one another with all wisdom” (Col. 3:16). Some Christians have a further responsibility to teach the word of God more formally, whether in a Sunday School class or from the pulpit. While all Christians can read Tim Keller’s Preaching profitably, it is intended specifically for those with more formal responsibilities to communicate the faith. (Because most readers of this book will be pastors looking for sermon help, however, I’m going to refer throughout … Continue reading Review of ‘Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism’ by Timothy Keller

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Review of ‘Freedom from Speech’ by Greg Lukianoff

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Greg Lukianoff, Freedom from Speech, Encounter Broadside No. 39 (New York: Encounter Books, 2014). Paperback | Kindle Freedom of speech is a bedrock American principle. It is enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but it cannot be reduced to that amendment. Instead, as Greg Lukianoff points out in this Encounter Broadside, it reflects “cultural values” and “intellectual habits,” such as giving the other side a fair hearing, reserving judgment, tolerating opinions that offend or anger us, believing that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, and recognizing that even people whose points of view we … Continue reading Review of ‘Freedom from Speech’ by Greg Lukianoff

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Review of ‘Mission Drift’ by Peter Greer and Christ Horst, with Anna Haggard

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Peter Greer and Chris Horst, with Anna Hagard, Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities, and Churches (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2014). Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle “Without careful attention, faith-based organizations will inevitably drift from their founding mission.” So write Peter Greer and Chris Horst in Mission Drift. The most obvious form of such drift is the outright secularization of the organization. But secularization doesn’t happen overnight. It is preceded by small compromises that, when put together, lead to fundamental changes in the organization. The purpose of Mission Drift is to help faith-based organizations avoid drift by paying … Continue reading Review of ‘Mission Drift’ by Peter Greer and Christ Horst, with Anna Haggard