Friday, December 11, 2009

A pretty depressing report

Here's a sad note from Justin Taylor. Apparently a recent university study wanted to compare the views of men in their 20s who had never been exposed to pornography against those of regular users. They could not find a single man who had not seen porn for their study. This of course isn't to say that those men are not out there but it should be a sobering warning to us of how pervasive this sin is and how vulnerable we can be to it. Taylor provides a list of resources for battling porn addictions and Nicolas Batzig over at Feeding on Christ recommends a program called Covenant Eyes.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Some book ideas for Christmas

Just realized it's been a while since I posted something here. Hopefully I'll get something more substantial up in the next few days. In the meantime, if you need to give people some last Christmas ideas here are some book recommendations from a few people:
  • Nicolas Batzig top 20 on Biblical Theology - Nick's a church planter for the PCA in Savannah, GA. Most of the books on this list are excellent. Anything by Vos is worth reading even though it can be a tough go. The same applies for Robertson. The Ortland book is a nice short (and hopefully cheap) read. I would also recommend Richard Gaffin's Perspectives on Pentecost and Stephen Dempster's Dominion and Dynasty. My number 1 recommendation for covenant theology developed through redemptive history remains Michael Williams' Far As the Curse Is Found.
  • Derek Thomas' book recommendations for 2009 - Thomas teaches systematic theology at RTS Jackson and is the pastor at First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Jackson, MS. I would particularly recommend Chapell's book on worship, Fisher's Marrow of Modern Divinity, and the Theological Guide to Calvin's Institutes from this list.
  • Sean Lucas' book recommendations for 2009 - Lucas taught church history at Covenant Theological Seminary and has recently returned to the pastorate in the PCA in Mississippi. From his list I would really recommend Keller's Counterfeit Gods and Fisher's Marrow of Modern Divinity (hint that this keeps coming up).