I have always enjoyed recommending books, and for the final “Beyond the Wicket Gate” column of 2010, I thought it might be helpful to share some of the significant books that have been published so far this year, books that you may not have heard about but should consider reading. This list is not exhaustive.... Continue Reading

Reformed Christians are, of course, familiar with the civil use of the law to restrain evil. But as Augustine put it, “[C]ertain laws are established which are called civil laws, not because they bring men to make a good use of their wealth, but because those who made a bad use of it become thereby... Continue Reading

Most Christians are familiar with the story of Naomi, and her famous daughter in law, Ruth. Naomi is one of the few women whose story is told at some length in the pages of the Christian Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible. But as with so many other stories, many a reader has often wondered what... Continue Reading

The cancer underneath, according to the NSYR, is not that our kids have become detached from the faith of their parents and elders, but rather they are swallowing it whole. Dean goes a long way to clarify this assertion. Kenda Creasy Dean’s ‘Almost Christian’ is a response to a longitudinal study by Christian Smith and... Continue Reading

Every church and its employees want to feel confident that their compensation plan is reasonable and fair. Now you can know for sure by comparing your plan with those of thousands of other church workers nationwide. Based on a national survey of nearly 5,000 churches, the 2010-2011 version of the well known and highly respected... Continue Reading

A Review of Justified: Modern Reformation Essays on the Doctrine of Justification, Michael Horton, Editor This past Thursday I got to spend the day with my friend Mike Horton and others at Westminster Seminary in Escondido. Mike Horton asked if I would come and speak in chapel, meet with the faculty, and have a time... Continue Reading

White Horse Inn has published this blockbuster review on the web for downloading in a PDF formatting. Read the conclusions in this article and then download the entire document for further reading. Conclusion Reared in a pietistic evangelical environment, I recall the revolution in my own faith when the eschatology of the prophets and apostles... Continue Reading

…it contains a plethora of thought that is sorely needed… Sadly, I also think the book falls short in a number of areas. My objective…is to highlight both the strong points and not-so-strong points There is no subject that invokes as much passion in me as that of a Christian’s interaction with culture. I was... Continue Reading

The novel should prompt us to ask whether we’re living as if Christ is our real freedom, or whether we’re putting too much hope in political or relational freedom. Just as the tsunami of attention for Jonathan Franzen’s new novel Freedom began, I was looking for a topic for a Christian Legal Society talk at... Continue Reading

How would you address some critics who suggest your writing is simplistic? I would give them a good John Stott book or a John Piper book. I realize that I’m kind of nightstand reading. Some people write lullabies; I write lullabies. Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make A Difference, by Max Lucado –... Continue Reading