Off Site Reviews – Page 2

Offsite Review: An Unpredictable Gospel: American Evangelicals and World Christianity, 1812-1920

August 22, 2013 by Adam Shields

John H Armstrong has introduced me to a number of good books. He has a wide ranging reading list and more importantly, he is interested in the whole church, not just the small evangelical corner of it. He posted some thoughts about An Unpredictable Gospel: American Evangelicals and World Christianity, 1812-1920 by Jay Case this … Read more

Offsite Review: Aliens in the Promise Land: Why Minority Leadership is Overlooked in White Christian Churches and Institutions

August 19, 2013 by Adam Shields

The church in the US has many things to say to culture about how to minister to the poor, how to advocate for the weak and how to value family. But one area of social justice that seems to consistently be missing (or at least under-addressed) is the role of minorities among predominately White denominations … Read more

Offsite: Sermonsmith

August 12, 2013 by Adam Shields

Pastors are readers. Based on a Barna research project the digital world is also changing the way Christians read. But within the church, the role of preaching communicating the truth of the gospel is still central. So I am happy to recommend a new podcast/blog devoted to interviews with pastors focused solely on improving the craft of … Read more

Offsite: Read GK Chesterton’s Orthodoxy Together

August 8, 2013 by Adam Shields

Matthew Lee Anderson and Trevin Wax are hosting a group discussion of GK Chesterton’s classic book Orthodoxy. I have read Orthodoxy (but it has been a while). The discussion opened with a post on why you should read orthodoxy a couple days ago. And then once a week there will be a new post on … Read more

Offsite: Christian Fiction is Not a Victimless Crime

July 31, 2013 by Adam Shields

I ran across a provocatively titled blog post Christian Fiction is Not a Victimless Crime today. The short version of the post is that most Christian fiction readers are White women over 45 (mostly suburban). Which is why there is a huge number of Amish, Historical Fiction and Romance titles at the local Christian book … Read more

Offsite Review: After You Believe by NT Wright

July 29, 2013 by Adam Shields

I have not read a lot of NT Wright lately, but I have read many of his books. One of the important parts of reading an author widely is that you can see a broad view of their theology (or whatever they write about.) But because you always read with your own perspective, you will miss things that others, with a different perspective see in the same text.

As anyone that reads much by me, I am not reformed. But I do take seriously reformed perspectives. One of the really well written reformed blogs is Mockingbird. It is particularly good at reviewing (and thinking theologically) about contemporary film, TV, literature and cultural trends.

Recently Mockingbird posted a review of NT Wright’s After You Believe (which was titled Virtue Reborn in the UK.) I have started (but not finished) After You Believe twice. Both times I just got distracted by other books. And both times I picked it up after I had already read a number of Wright’s books recently.

Offsite: 7 Lesser Known CS Lewis Books Worth Reading

July 23, 2013 by Adam Shields

This is the 50th Anniversary of CS Lewis’ death. That is why McGrath’s new biography of Lewis was released along with his even newer academic treatment of Lewis’ intellectual life (The Intellectual World of CS Lewis). After reading McGrath’s biography I decided to read through a number of Lewis books. But for those that have … Read more

Offsite Review: The End of Our Exploring by Matthew Lee Anderson

July 9, 2013 by Adam Shields

One of the best young public Christian intellectuals that I know of is Matthew Lee Anderson. He is the lead blogger at MereOrthodoxy and author of Earthen Vessels and now The End of of our Exploring: A Book About Questioning and the Confidence of Faith.

I started reading Anderson’s new book and while I have not finished (and probably won’t post a review until next week) this review by Aaron Armstrong captures the spirit of the book.

Also this week, Anderson and his publisher are having a buy one get one free sale (get a free ebook copy if you purchase a copy. So read the review and then buy a copy.

Christians don’t really know what to do with questions. Some of us seem afraid to ask anything; others seem terrified to receive answers. But questions were never meant to be a source of angst nor a mask for unbelief.

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Offsite: 14 Books Becoming Movies

June 27, 2013 by Adam Shields

Obviously I am a fan of books. But I am also a fan of books being made into movies. In part because I like to see things from a different perspective. I love listening to musical covers. I prefer re-reading books in either audio or print (the opposite of whatever I read the first time.) … Read more

Offsite Review: Words for Readers and Writers: Spirit-Pooled Dialogues

June 22, 2013 by Adam Shields

I am a big fan of beautifully written words. It is not just a good story, good stories are important and necessary for good fiction. But there is something else about the richly written phrase. Carolyn Weber is one of the masters of this craft.

James Matichuk has a review of Word for Readers and Writer: Spirit-Pooled Dialogues by Larry Woiwode that evokes the kind of love I have for Weber’s writing. Looks like a book worth picking up.

When I picked up Word for Readers and Writers: Spirit-Pooled Dialogues I had no idea who Larry Woiwode was. I had read his bio and knew he was an award winning novelist (William Faulkner Foundation Award, John DosPassos Prize, plus a finalist for the National Book Award and Book Critics Circle Award), recipient of the Medal of Merit from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Poet Laureate for the state of North Dakota since 1995. But I had not read any of his works, much less heard of them until I picked up this book.

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