The hope of Christians for creation is not that we will be able to make things entirely correct through our efforts. Rather, we work with the knowledge that we have been given a ministry of reconciliation, which includes all of creation (cf., Col 1:20; 2 Cor 5:16–18). We work toward reconciliation in hope, but recognize that hope will not be fulfilled until Christ comes again. Creation exists in futility in the present age because of God’s curse on creation. (Gen 3:17–19) Our task is to till the ground in hope, making our living, (Gen 3:20) looking forward to the moment when God supernaturally sets everything right.

This transient event was a reminder that there is order in the universe. There is design. Care was taken by a mind to create something that is wonder-full. And, if we’re willing to take a little of our time, we’re likely to get a glimpse of the transcendent even in this world of banal imminence. These moments are gifts from God to draw us out of the ordinary into a sense of awe at his nature. That is something no human mind can deny.

Michael Rood of ‘Rood Awakening!’ ministries is careful to distance himself from Pharisaical traditions, but his teaching has more in common with the Judaizers Paul dealt harshly with throughout his life. His message is intended to lead them away from salvation.

For those who love reading and thinking about reading, this book is a delight. Perhaps it will not change the world, but it did enrich my soul.

In both books, Anderson notes that “distinguishing between good and bad questions is like distinguishing good and bad music.” He also highlights the “‘touch’ that separates great pianists from good ones” (Questions, 158; cf. Exploring, 164–65). There is an intangible quality, an eye, or a feel that differentiates the good from the great in every discipline. You can’t checklist your way to the Hall of Fame in a sport, to musical greatness, or to academic excellence. On the other hands, you can often checklist your way to adequacy. And adequacy is a precursor to excellence.

In a culture that tends to see so many things in terms of quantitative production rather than qualitative excellence, even a dose of what Newport prescribes can be beneficial. Knowledge workers that reconsider their harried lives through his unhurried lens will find plenty of things to reevaluate, especially for those of use who recognize a purpose beyond income and self-gratification in our work.

Everyone has stories. As the Moth authors write, “You are a multitude of stories. Every joy and heartbreak, every disappointment and dizzying high––each has contributed to the complex, one-of-a-kind person that you are today” (3). That’s part of their motivation in telling stories, in coaching storytellers for their show, and in producing their book about storytelling.

When Paul warns servants to do their work “as for the Lord” (Col 3:23) he is getting at this why. Obviously, we’ve got to work so we keep a job in order to eat (or for slaves, so they didn’t get punished), but that’s not enough. We have to focus on the next deeper question to have success. We have to see God as the final object of our efforts if they are going to have real merit. And, I think, we are more likely to have new habits or behaviors stick if we make God’s glory the animating purpose of our actions.

The brevity and fragility of life is exactly what makes the Puritans different from our contemporary “entrenched intellectualists,” who “present themselves as rigid, argumentative, critical Christians, champions of God’s truth for whom orthodoxy is all” (31). Truth and life were altogether too important to waste with argumentative posturing and saber rattling, The Puritans certainly battled many things in culture and in print, but in their writings, those always seem to be penultimate goals—the ultimate goal was increasing love and knowledge of the God of the universe.

How and How Not to Be Happy is an exercise in asking questions and reasoning through options for the source of happiness with the aim of explaining to a broad audience where true happiness can be found.

Impossible Christianity isn’t DeYoung’s sexiest work. It is clearly and solidly written. It can be read in a couple of hours or subdivided to be consumed over a few days. It tends to be more sermonic than ground-breaking. Nevertheless, it is a good and helpful book.

This is the sort of book that would be a great gift for the struggling parent of young children wondering how the treadmill of dishes, laundry, activities, and meals could matter in eternity. This is the sort of book that can serve as a reminder to those who are not leading ministries that their contributions are vitally important. Impossible Christianity offers a kind word for those who are struggling to find meaning in the repetition of daily life. As such, it is a valuable book for the church.

For Americans the year 1776 has legendary status. It is, of course, the year that the Continental Congress declared the United States independent from the colonial power of Britian.

As it turns out, the year was actually globally significant in a number of other ways. The Industrial Revolution was getting into full swing, there were a number of significant philosophical movements afoot whose effects we are still discovering today.

Andrew Wilson’s book, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West is an attempt to bring many of those streams together to help explain how the world got turned upside down.

Guardrails keep us on the pathway. They prevent us from falling off the cliff. They give us comfort that, though the paneling on our car may be damaged, if we slip on the icy road, yet we will not die.

A mountain road without those guardrails leaves us with a much greater fear. And that fear brings with it a greater pain. We experience that pain whether or not the worst happens, because we know there is a much higher likelihood that it will.

More than a decade into our home education experience, Macauley’s book fairly represents what we have been trying to do. I commend For the Children’s Sake to parents trying to figure out how to make a choice about educational methodologies. The Charlotte Mason approach is worth consideration, at least.

Macauley is realistic about the approach. She repeatedly notes areas in which she didn’t always get it right, because any educational process entails imperfect humans helping imperfect humans to learn. But she also provides illustrations of ways that her chosen approach can be self-correcting.

As a society, we need to think about the costs that technological expectations place on all of us. We need to think about how poor infrastructure exacts a permanent tax on each household. It may be that costly bike/walking trails and real bike lanes on roads could open up opportunities for reduced economic burdens in the long run. It may be that the cost of printing hard copies of things and not using the latest whizz-bang app could lower entry requirements for society.

Whether we are studying the interaction of heavenly bodies, the multiplication tables, or the differences between a noun and a pronoun, we should never cease to consider the big picture. The God who created all things did so with order and continues to maintain the world in that order. Our response should be wonder at the works of his hands and a desire to understand his handiwork better.

It would be interesting to see the results of a “person on the street” poll of self-identified evangelical Christians on the question, “What is the most significant threat to the church?”

I have a sneaking suspicion that the results would be much more indicative of the sources of media is most popular among the surveyed population than a real threat. Is the biggest threat CRT (are we even talking about that anymore?), “wokeism” (whatever that is), the effects of the sexual revolution, corporate greed and capitalism, political and social persecution of Christians, sexual abuse?

This is a book that offers encouragement to those early in their Alzheimer’s journey. There is dignity for those who suffer from the malady. Subtly, Martin encourages readers to examine the assumption that we are our memories and that we cease to be who we are as a result of cognitive decline. Kathleen’s distinct personality remains with her to the end; that offers hope for all parties in the face of diagnosis.

Putting the Socratic method to work to develop curiosity is a good thing. Encouraging honest exploring of different viewpoints among people of all ages would improve our discourse. As Socrates’s life demonstrates, the toxic discourse is nothing new