Books You Should Read – A Great Bibliography

Last updated on: August 31, 2015 at 11:23 am By Byron Borger

Being Sons & Daughters of Issachar. I’ve continually encouraged people to emulate the sons of Issachar, “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (I Chronicles 12:32). However, we must consider what many observe as an ongoing weakness, if not a crisis, of the faithful relevance of evangelical discipleship in twenty-first century culture. There are pressures from the culture–change, choice, speed, technology–and weaknesses from within, even for those who sincerely affirm the Lordship of Christ and count “the cost of... Read more

Book Review: Kingdom Calling

Last updated on: December 26, 2012 at 11:29 am By Bob Robinson

by Laura J. Boggess reprinted with permission of THE HIGH CALLING. When Amy Sherman heard Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City preach on Proverbs 11:10, she was completely entranced. “When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices,” the Proverb says. That’s all. But Keller’s words on that short passage that day inspired thoughts in Sherman that would lead to her latest book: Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good. In Keller’s message, he spoke about the tsaddiqim—the Hebrew for “righteous.” Sherman quotes Keller: “The righteous in... Read more

Beauty Kisses Justice

Last updated on: December 11, 2012 at 9:12 am By Dr. Steven Garber

Dealing with the knowledge of a very broken and depraved world. “Can we know the world, and still love it?” Though a question that has run through my life, and one that I keep working to understand, one of the first times I asked it was in watching Gary Haugen try to make sense of his own life following his sojourn in Rwanda in the mid-1990s. He had been a family friend– with our older children babysitting his younger... Read more

“Redemption” by James K. A. Smith

Last updated on: December 9, 2012 at 9:32 pm By Bob Robinson

Restoring creation will require the Spirit-inspired work of building caring institutions and life-giving habits. Jamie Smith has been named the new Editor-in-Chief of Comment Magazine. I have long loved this publication. I wrote the cover story for their September 2008 issue. James K. A. Smith has been blessed with the wonderful ability to be both a deep critical thinker and a heart-felt worshiper of God. He understands the intersection of loving the Lord our God with both mind and heart.... Read more

Jamie Smith Named Editor for Comment Magazine from Cardus

Last updated on: December 8, 2012 at 11:30 am By Bob Robinson

HAMILTON, December 5, 2012—Cardus Director of Research Ray Pennings announced today that Comment Magazine (www.cardus.ca/comment) will be served by new editor-in-chief Dr. James K.A. Smith beginning January 1, 2013. Smith, a highly regarded public intellectual, author, and professor, has been a long-time friend of Comment, regularly contributing and guest-editing the Spring 2011 issue. In accepting the appointment, Dr. Smith noted his excitement at being able to contribute to a magazine “that blends depth of analysis with breadth of audience, all... Read more

Habits of Heart

Last updated on: December 7, 2012 at 3:17 pm By Dr. Steven Garber

“Habits of heart.” I first heard those words in the mid-1980s. Robert Bellah and company successfully brought into the late 20th-century the phrase that Alexis de Tocqueville, in his classic study of America in the early 19th-century, used to articulate that there were “habits of heart” that would be required if the American experiment was to be sustained. The words captured what I was already intrigued by, i.e. the challenge of keeping things alive over time. It is one thing to care... Read more

The Incarnation Dignifies Work

Last updated on: December 6, 2012 at 9:08 am By Bob Robinson

The fact that Jesus became a human and worked as a carpenter helps us reintegrate faith and work. Contemplate the mystery of the incarnation. It is the story of our all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal, sovereign, creator God humbling himself to become one of us. “In him (Jesus Christ) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is... Read more

Who is to Blame for the Secularization of our Culture?

Last updated on: December 5, 2012 at 9:34 am By Bob Robinson

As I said earlier this week, a major theme I hear in evangelical churches is a deep frustration about and fear of the culture. Evangelicals see the world around us and wring our hands, seeing an increase in humanism and the demise of traditional values. We point our fingers and blame others for the culture spiraling downward away from God’s intentions. But are they really the only ones to blame? Certainly everyone is culpable for their sins, and the human race is fallen and... Read more

“How Are Our Lives Different at Church and at Work?” – Doug Barr

Last updated on: December 4, 2012 at 9:07 am By Bob Robinson

In this video, the good people at The High Calling recently spoke with Doug Barr, CEO for Goodwill of Southern California, about how we’ve bought into the false idea that our work and church lives take place in two separate worlds. As John Castle points out in his excellent post Stop Compartmentalizing Your Life, we have a tendency to put our lives on an assembly line; each piece assembled separately from all the others. We maximize our efficiency by trying... Read more

Anna Karenina and the Reality of Marriage

Last updated on: November 30, 2012 at 9:27 am By Dr. Steven Garber

“Don’t leave your brains at the box-office.” They are words that I try live by, hard as it is. Having a lifelong love for movies, all the way back to the Varsity Theater in Davis, CA for Saturday morning matinees when I was a little boy, I have spent hours of my life setting in one more time to a good story, cinematically-told. Along the way I met Donald Drew (author of Images of Man: A Critique of the Contemporary... Read more