Guinness, Os. Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2015. 272 pages. $22.00. Every follower of Jesus Christ is called to be a witness of his life, death, and resurrection. Yet we live in an age when fewer and fewer people in our culture are interested in the truth of the gospel, and more and more people are resistant or even hostile to it. In response, many Christians and churches have simply given up on evangelism, hoping their … [Read more...]
‘SBC and the 21st Century’
Allen, Jason K., ed. The SBC and the 21st Century: Reflection, Renewal, Recommitment. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2016. 269 pages. $29.99. What does the future look like for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)? The SBC is one of the largest denominations in the world, with over 15 million members and over 40,000 churches in the United States alone, but both membership and baptism numbers have been slowly declining for several years. For Southern Baptists, this decline raises … [Read more...]
Spurgeon’s sorrows
Eswine, Zack. Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression. Geanies House, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2014. 144 pages. $9.99. Many Christians know what it is like to go through dark times of the soul, whether because of circumstances, disposition, or dryness in one’s relationship with God. Many other Christians know what it is like to watch those they love go through those dark times, wondering how they can help or what they can say. Sometimes those dark times … [Read more...]
‘Zeal without Burnout: Seven Keys’
Ash, Christopher. Zeal Without Burnout: Seven Keys to a Lifelong Ministry of Sustainable Sacrifice. Purcellville VA: The Good Book Company, 2016. 123 pages. $9.99. God calls every Christian into ministry. Every believer in Christ is called and equipped to serve their local church. God calls some to serve in vocational ministry as a way to make a living, but he calls most to serve him in addition to working at a job. Our entire lives are meant to be lives of ministry; our specific … [Read more...]
‘Ministry in the New Marriage Culture’
We live in a culture that is increasingly hostile to what the Bible teaches us about sexuality, gender, and marriage. Christians seeking to live out their faith beyond their homes and churches have faced resistance, criticism, accusations of discrimination, and in some cases legal action. Religious liberty bills designed to safeguard the freedom of those who seek to live out a biblical ethic have recently been signed into law in both North Carolina and Mississippi, and they have met with … [Read more...]
An inside look at Huckabee by former Pathway contributor Scott Lamb
In 2007 Mike Huckabee went from being a relatively unknown governor to a nationally known politician, coming in second for the Republican nomination for President in 2008. Since that time he has hosted a weekly cable news show, written several books, and championed conservative values and causes. In May 2015 he announced that he was running for President again, and he’s currently in the midst of that campaign. While many politicians have similar experiences and accomplishments, what makes … [Read more...]
God works in us, therefore we work
From the earliest days of the church Christians have been debating the relationship between the power of God and our responsibilities as human beings in living the Christian life. Is the Christian life essentially a matter of passive trust, of getting out of the driver’s seat and letting Jesus take the wheel, or is it active obedience, just applying more discipline and effort to spiritual matters? Is living the Christian life all of God, all up to us, or some combination of both? This isn’t … [Read more...]
Vocationally called by God
In the Lord’s Prayer we are told to pray for our daily bread (Matt 6:11). This prayer is a model of what it means to trust and ask God to meet our needs, our physical and spiritual needs, by asking God to provide our most basic need, the need to eat. But how does God normally give us our daily bread? None of us got up this morning, went outside, and collected the daily bread that God deposited on our doorstep while we were sleeping. We either went to the refrigerator or drove somewhere to … [Read more...]