Tag Archives: faith

Book Review – From Jesus to the Church by Craig Evans

Craig Evans was my first ever professor at Fuller Seminary – he was teaching a summer course on the gospels. That was my first ever exposure to historical Jesus studies, and I have been hooked ever since. So when I was presented with an opportunity to review Evans’ book From Jesus to the Church: TheContinue reading “Book Review – From Jesus to the Church by Craig Evans”

“Only Two Things are Needed” – The Dogmatic Theology of Karl Barth

How does one go about doing theology? What sort of tools are needed? A bible, some books, a library, maybe a good search engine like google or Wikipedia (just joking there). Karl Barth gives us an answer to this question – What do you need to do theology? According to Barth, dogmatic theology is aContinue reading ““Only Two Things are Needed” – The Dogmatic Theology of Karl Barth”

Two Quick Political Philosophy Reviews – Balibar and Rawls

Spinoza and Politics (Radical Thinkers)  – Etienne Balibar This book was great. I read it as a 3rd year philosophy student at UCLA and I took 2 classes on Spinoza. In one class we studied The Ethics, and in the other we read the Tractatus Politicus. Balibar’s book was mostly about the Tractatus Politicus andContinue reading “Two Quick Political Philosophy Reviews – Balibar and Rawls”

The Cross + Guilty Feelings = Forgiveness!

The truth is that often we feel as though beating ourselves up and dwelling on our sin pleases God. You probably won’t admit this but if you really stop and think about it, you see the grain of truth in it. Its as though we think that God needs to be reminded of our sin.Continue reading “The Cross + Guilty Feelings = Forgiveness!”

Book Review – Clear Winter Nights by Trevin Wax

Let me preface this by saying that I don’t read a ton of fiction, but I recently read Cornelius Plantinga’s Reading for Preaching and I became convinced that as a preacher I need to read more fiction. So when I came across Trevin Wax’s Clear Winter Nights I knew I should pick it up. IContinue reading “Book Review – Clear Winter Nights by Trevin Wax”

Book Review – In Search of Deep Faith by Jim Belcher

Jim Belcher, In Search of Deep Faith: A Pligrimage into the Beauty, Goodnes, and Heart of Christianity, IVP, 2013, 318pp. I read Deep Church when I started doing vocational ministry and it absolutely shaped my approach to ministry so I began to read this book with very high expectations. It’s safe to say that myContinue reading “Book Review – In Search of Deep Faith by Jim Belcher”

Jonathan Edwards: A Brief Theological Biography (Pt. 2)

Edward’s Theology There are several key themes in the theology of Edwards, today I would like to take up two. These key themes are the concepts of freedom and divine grace, “which can be regarded as a pivotal notion of his theology.”[1] A sermon which Edwards preached at his grandfather’s memorial service entitled “Living UnconvertedContinue reading “Jonathan Edwards: A Brief Theological Biography (Pt. 2)”

Thoughts on Multi-Culturalism in Churches

Recently I was asked about practical ways churches can seek to incorporate multiculturalism. However before addressing this type of question we should ask ourselves how important is this and why? Also we should ask ourselves what are our goals be in doing so? Here are my responses to these questions. (It should be noted thatContinue reading “Thoughts on Multi-Culturalism in Churches”

Missiology: Urban Mission Part 8 – Addressing Cultural Heterogeneity

Over the next few days I will be posting some thoughts on an issue facing the future of the church, namely the explosion of urban populations. I will start by taking a look at some of the issues brought up by the urban explosion, and I will conclude by reflecting upon how the Gospel addressesContinue reading “Missiology: Urban Mission Part 8 – Addressing Cultural Heterogeneity”