Bruce A. Ware, The Man Christ Jesus: Theological Questions on the Humanity of Christ 
(Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 55–56:
Another application from this brief account of Jesus’s boyhood experience in Jerusalem is that Jesus understood the importance of engaging in biblical and theological discussion and learning. We don’t know the exact content of the discussion that took place, but [Read more…] about Are Theological Discussions a Waste of Time?
Don Carson answered that question recently for TGC’s blog.
He draws three inferences:
Conclusion: “We sometimes observe that hard cases make bad theology. But easy, formulaic answers to questions of suffering are invariably reductionistic — and they make bad theology, too.”
Read the whole thing.
Wayne Grudem evaluates the Jason Bourne films (his critique applies to The Bourne Legacy as well) when he discusses the CIA in Politics—According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 424–25:
THE CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the primary organization that gathers and analyzes information about other countries, especially about potential enemies of the United States. In other words, the CIA coordinates America’s spy network abroad. [Read more…] about Wayne Grudem on the Jason Bourne Films
Many modern readers assume that slavery in the New Testament is equivalent to the race-based slavery of the African slave trade. While not defending the Greco-Roman institution of slavery, Tim Keller and Don Carson explain why it’s important not to equate it with the race-based slavery that we may be more familiar with.
Timothy Keller, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work 
(New York: Dutton, 2012), 213–14, 280–83.
Paul is speaking to servants and masters [in Ephesians 6:5–9], and this raises many questions in the minds of modern readers about the Bible’s depiction of the evil of slavery. While much can be said about this subject,* it is important to remember that slavery in the Greco-Roman world was not the same as the New World institution that developed in the wake of the African slave trade. Slavery in Paul’s time was not race-based and was seldom lifelong. It was more like what we would call indentured servitude. But for our purposes, think of this passage as a rhetorical amplifier and consider this: If slave owners are told they must not manage workers in pride and through fear, how much more should this be true of employers today? And if slaves are told it is possible to find satisfaction and meaning in their work, how much more should this be true of workers today? [Read more…] about Keller and Carson: Greco-Roman Slavery ≠ Race-Based Slavery
I recently read this book to my daughter Kara, and she hung on every word:
Starr Meade. Keeping Holiday. Illustrations by Justin Gerard. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. 192 pp.
Here’s what Jenni and I wrote about it in 2008 in a Themelios review entitled “Theology for Kids: Recommending Some Recent Books for Younger Children”: [Read more…] about Keeping Holiday: “You don’t find the Founder; he finds you. He’s not just the Founder; he’s the Finder, too.”
In this 2006 sermon on John 1:19–37, Mike Bullmore shares how God used John Piper to move him from teaching at TEDS to pastoring CrossWay. Listen from 4:47 to 9:23.
“Yep. God does stuff like that.”
There’s a sale this week (through Nov. 25) for God’s Love: A Bible Storybook:
I interviewed the author, Champ Thornton, about this children’s book in July.