Redemptive

Take note of this new book, The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor. It’s an essay collection on the Christian use of words in writing, speaking, and singing. No doubt the more bloggers who understand and practice the teaching in this book, the better, more God-honoring the blogscape will be. Here’s one endorsement:

“Solomon tells us, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits’ (Prov. 18:21). Words kill and words give life; they’re either poison or fruit. They have massive potential for both good and evil. They have the power to either build up or tear down. The contributors to this volume understand this well, and they show, in both theologically deep and practically down-to-earth ways, how the church must be marked by redemptive speech. They show how the sweetness and strength of the gospel-the sweetness of grace, the strength of truth-should flavor everything we say. John Piper asks, ‘What would the world be like-the home, the church, the school, the public square-if words were used the way Jesus used them?’ Read this book and find out.” Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church; author, Unfashionable

(FTC Note: Despite this glowing post, I have not been materially compensated in any way by Crossway or the editors and writers of this wonderful book. A PDF is available for free to anyone through Desiring God Ministries. I heartily recommend the staff at the FTC read this book along with the Bible and surrender to Christ.)

“The West Oversea Experiment”

I missed this while I was off in Minot, and it was only brought to my attention a couple days ago. Our friend Dr. Gene Edward Veith posted this entry on his blog on Sept. 28, asking his readers to go buy West Oversea and drive my Amazon ranking up (in spite of what Phil posted below, I have to admit I do check my status occasionally).

Much thanks to Dr. Veith for this support.

Live Q&A with Randy Alcorn

Author Randy Alcorn will be online Thursday at 2:00 p.m. eastern to discuss his new book, If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering & Evil. I heard him talking about the book last week on Moody’s Prime Time America, and it sounds like a good one. Is it as good as the books Ravi Zacharias has done on the same subject? I don’t know, but it sounds like a good book on its own.

Did anyone join the live Q&A with Bruce Wilkinson the other day?

“Goddess Unmasked”

Remember what they told you in college about the Mother Goddess, and how all the ancient religions worshiped her, and how modern wiccans are actually carrying on her timeless cult? Remember those eminent theologians who complained that the Christian church had covered up the essential femininity of God?

Balderdash, says Philip G. Davis, in the new book, Goddess Unmasked, reviewed here at The American Spectator Online by the always readable Hal G. P. Colebatch.

(Colebatch, by the way, is an e-mail friend of mine. He’s co-written a book for Baen Books, and allowed me to read the beginning of an unfinished mystery he’s working on. I really look forward to reading the whole thing in print someday.)

Oh, You Wrote a Book?

Published author Andy Crouch posted a letter he wrote to soon-to-be-published author Adam McHugh, saying it’s great that your book is coming out, but don’t think anyone will care about it for a while.

“What will be a big deal,” he writes, “hopefully, over the coming months, are individual letters, emails, conversations and even (we hope!) reviews from grateful readers. This is what makes it worth doing, in my opinion—the amazing chance to meet people for whom your words were genuinely, even dramatically, helpful.”

And avoid your book’s Amazon ranking. It’s pointless.

Snowy weekend, with Norway sightings

There was snow on the ground when I got up on Sunday, and more snow this morning. It hasn’t completely disappeared as of posting time, and will probably last the night. Is this the beginning of a long, long winter? Probably not, but it could happen. This is Minnesota.

My cold is much better, thanks for asking, though not entirely gone. The swelling has receded on my hand and the bruising has lightened, but I still have a substantial goose-egg on the back, and only about 70% use of it. That will take a while to come back, I expect.

I would have liked to have spent the weekend recuperating, but I was pretty booked. Friday night was a Sons of Norway meeting, which I’d promised to attend (can’t remember why).

Saturday morning my dance card was clear, so I was able to buy a few shirts I’d been meaning to buy. I also called in to two local radio talk shows, both times in connection with the general hilarity surrounding Nobel Peace Prize award. I told the David Strom Show my theory about the reason for the award—that Oslo is a B List city socially, and they just wanted the world’s greatest celebrity to visit so they could get his autograph. I called the First Team of the Northern Alliance Radio Network to explain how to pronounce “ø.” (Answer: Say “er,” but quit before you get to the hard “r” on the end.)

At noon, I had the annual meeting of the Georg Sverdrup Society, at which I was scheduled to read my new translation of one of Sverdrup’s articles. It went pretty well, as far as I could tell. Then there was the business meeting, and then the board meeting, and eventually I got home to wash my clothes.

Sunday I treated like a sick day, even though I wasn’t all that sick anymore. I figured I had a rest day coming. You know, the Bible never actually says you have to go to church on the sabbath. What it does say is you have to rest. It’s one of those points where I enjoy being legalistic.

Finally Friday

It’s Friday (in case you haven’t been paying attention), and I made it through the week. My cold is getting better, as is my hand (but more slowly).

I have a meeting tonight, and a meeting tomorrow. All in all, I’d far rather lie on the couch.

From an anonymous source: The Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form. I don’t see how that can possibly be improved on.

Made contact today (through Facebook), for the first time in about forty years, with a former college roommate, now a retired military chaplain. He says he still tells the story of how I helped him find assurance of salvation (he’d been one of those who kept going back to the altar to be converted, again and again) by taking him through 1 Peter 1:3-12.

I’d forgotten about the incident entirely. As with most of my relationships, I’d remembered mainly the mistakes I’d made and dumb things I’d said.

If I weren’t me, I’d probably feel some satisfaction in that. I’m grateful to him for telling me about it, in any case.

Oxford American Interview with Sam Tanenhaus

The Oxford American interviewer sums up some of Tenenhaus’ thoughts in his new book on conservative politics: “Knee-jerk Oppositionism, in an urgent time when Americans must find common ground, whether they like it or not, to subdue overwhelming problems, is most worrisome. A wise man once said that you do not prove superior intelligence merely by finding fault with everything in the world.”

Tanenhaus is editor of The New York Times Book Review and talks about his book and his role at the Times. (via The Literary Saloon)

Book Reviews, Creative Culture