Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Andy Naselli

Sale This Week for God’s Love: A Bible Storybook (iPad App = $0.99; Audio = Free; Book = $13)

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champThere’s a sale this week (through Nov. 25) for God’s Love: A Bible Storybook:

  • The iPad app is $0.99 (normally $9.99).
  • The MP3 download is free.
  • The book is $13 (normally $24.95) with free shipping. Just use the code “MK12THK” during checkout.

I interviewed the author, Champ Thornton, about this children’s book in July.

Why People Hate the Sermon on the Mount

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After I heard Tim Keller’s two-minute illustration (38:45–40:45) on the Sermon on the Mount, I tracked down the article he references.

Here it is (published 25 years ago):

Virginia Stem Owens. “God and Man at Texas A&M.” Reformed Journal 37, no. 11 (1987): 3–4.

Most of the students at my university come from middle-class, conservative, Republican families. The vices here, like the values, are traditional—weekend drunkenness and sexual promiscuity. Things a parent can understand.

Therefore, when I assigned my freshman English class “The Sermon on the Mount,” a selection in their rhetoric textbook taken from the King James Version, I had expected them to have at least a nodding acquaintance with the reading and to express a modicum of piety in their written responses. After all, Texas has always been considered at least marginally part of the Bible Belt. [Read more…] about Why People Hate the Sermon on the Mount

Audiobook Sale for Les Misérables (2008 Translation by Julie Rose)

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roseWhen Julie Rose’s fresh translation of Les Misérables came out in 2008, I began checking and waiting for its audiobook. It finally came out last year, and it’s currently about 50% off from Audible.

Jenni and I have enjoyed listening to it. We’re about 12 hours in to this massive 60-hour book. (Warning: The opening part about the priest is s-l-o-w [and we used double-speed!], but it picks up after that.) Jenni read it several times in her teens, but this is my first time through the unabridged version.

The narrator is not bad. You can sample the audiobook here. [Read more…] about Audiobook Sale for Les Misérables (2008 Translation by Julie Rose)

Critiquing William Webb’s Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic

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Reaoch - coverFive months ago I highlighted Don Carson’s critique of William Webb’s trajectory hermeneutic (copied at the end of this post).

Now there’s a more comprehensive, book-length critique:

Benjamin Reaoch. Women, Slaves, and the Gender Debate: A Complementarian Response to the Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2012.

It revises Reaoch’s PhD dissertation at Southern Seminary under Tom Schreiner, who writes the foreword.

Reaoch makes several arguments:

  • Slavery and the role of women are two critically different issues.
  • The NT neither condemns nor commends slavery.
  • Gender passages apply transculturally because they are rooted in creation.

[Read more…] about Critiquing William Webb’s Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic

Leaders Book Summaries

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[This is an advertisement for Dave Frederick‘s Leaders Book Summaries, written by Tim Stevens.]

booksI don’t know how many times a week someone says to me, “You’ve got to read this book. It’s unbelievable.” If I read every book that someone said was life-changing, I’d spend my entire life reading. With kids, church activities, and my ministry/job—I don’t get nearly as much reading done as I’d like.

In fact, this picture is the current pile of books on my desk that people have handed or sent me. My assistant asked me what I was going to do about the growing column of books. My best idea was to eliminate the shelf above it so the pile can continue to grow. Bottom line: I CAN’T KEEP UP!

A couple months ago I discovered a group called Leaders Book Summaries. Guess what they do? They summarize books. It was started by Dave Frederick, a pastor who believes in the church and believes in leadership. He understands the dilemma we all face between the tyranny of the urgent and the growth we all want as leaders. So he reviews a couple books every month—and sends subscribers a 10–15 page summary, as well as a 2-page “nutshell.” I’ve read several—and they are spot on! Instead of wading through content to get a few nuggets of great stuff—Dave’s team takes the time to whittle down the content so there is gold in every paragraph. [Read more…] about Leaders Book Summaries

Alleviating Poverty

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Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor—and Yourself. 2nd ed. Chicago: Moody, 2012. 272 pp.

From David Platt’s foreword:

[T]his book is virtually required reading for everyone in our church who is intentionally engaging the poor here and around the world. I cannot recommend it highly enough for anyone who is passionate about spreading and showing the love of Christ to the “least of these.” [Read more…] about Alleviating Poverty