The response to the book has been remarkable. Several prominent blogs have highlighted it as “the best defense of Old Testament ethics.” Scot McKnight at Patheos.com has done a series on my book, and I continue to be interviewed on radio programs and by prominent bloggers. I am regularly speaking on this topic of Old Testament ethics—including... Continue Reading

Net profits…from the cards go to the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Every time a card is purchased through October Wednesday, at least half the purchase price will go directly to donation. Presently the cards are priced at 3.00 each with free shipping included, and 1.50 of that will go directly to... Continue Reading

… Zealot is seriously flawed in many ways. There are many factual errors (some of which I will highlight below), but more importantly, Aslan’s approach matches the flawed approach of Jesus Seminar scholars, which is almost guaranteed to produce a skewed picture of Jesus. Zealot’s claim is essentially a conspiracy theory: Jesus was really a... Continue Reading

We cannot rejoice enough over what God has done for us. Let’s sing and preach about His wrath, warn the unrepentant what’s coming, and tell them that through Christ alone, as the hymn states, they can avoid it. That is the gospel   When I read that the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) decided to exclude from its hymnals the song “In... Continue Reading

If you haven’t stumbled across Simonetta Carr’s excellent set of “Christian Biographies for Young Readers,” you and your children are missing out. Each of the six titles in the series are beautifully illustrated, historically accurate, age-appropriate biographies for upper elementary-aged children. In the last couple years I have reviewed three of the titles and wanted... Continue Reading

This spontaneous audience choir has been happening every night, in every performance. It’s not normal Manhattan audience behavior: When The New York Times first noticed the singing, it published a story about it on the front page. The audience—largely African-American the night I attended–probably isn’t made up of typical New Yorkers. Two African-American ladies next to me... Continue Reading

It’s not that I don’t read works that disagree with my own perspective on the reliability of the gospel accounts. I do. Nevertheless it’s hard to justify setting aside time to read a work that is breaking no new ground. And apart from an awkward interview, I don’t think anyone would even be talking about... Continue Reading

Jesus is king, Jesus rules the church, the church is the visible representation of Jesus, and Jesus has uniquely tasked the church with missions. Add these four claims together, and you begin to understand why a rightly governed church is crucial to the spread of the gospel…. Not only that, Scripture tells us Jesus’ rule... Continue Reading

One area that has me thinking is simply the reason why we drink. I’ve often looked at the case for alcohol being such a staple in church history more on the level of necessity. With the poor water quality, drinking alcoholic beverages was a matter of health. And, yes, I’ve always looked at it as... Continue Reading

Nor is “professor of religions” what he does “for a living.” He is an associate professor in the Creative Writing program at the University of California, Riverside, where his terminal MFA in fiction from Iowa is his relevant academic credential. … What about that Ph.D.? As already noted, it was in sociology. I have his... Continue Reading