Jan 14 2012
Anti-Aging Cures
Anti-Aging Cures: Life Changing Secrets to Reverse the Effects of Aging
About Kevin Holtsberry
Posts by Kevin Holtsberry:
Jan 14 2012
Fairy tales and Fantasies are as old as the world
N.D. Wilson in the introduction to Twilight Land by Howard Pyle:
Fairy tales and fantasies are as old as the world. This is an easy thing to forget. It is easy to see only the stories we tell today – fresh and shiny – and then assume that they came from nowhere, that they have no ancestors, and no narrative parents whatsoever. But today’s fantasies are built on a rich imaginative heritage, a global heritage. As long as there has been language, there have been stories. And as far back as we can trace, those stories have been about dragons and magic and sacrifices, fools and wise men and wizards, fate and luck and love. What we call realism in storytelling is a relatively new concept. It is the sapling in the wood surrounded by towering moss-covered giants as old as history, giants grown up out of myths and legends. Fantasy.
Jan 13 2012
The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight
I love reading challenging non-fiction books, but I almost always struggle when it comes to posting reviews. I want to wrestle with the ideas, debate premises and offer conclusions. But all too often I lack either the time or the focus, or both, to do them justice. So I procrastinate and frequently end up doing nothing. Not really a good practice for a book blogger, right?
I mention this because I have been avoiding posting on The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited for this reason for quite some time. I am not sure I can do it justice or engage the real meaty issues it touches on. But the good folks at Net Galley and Zondervan didn’t send me a review copy so I could fret about my self-esteem … So. Some thoguhts below.
First, what is this all about anyway? Publisher synopsis:
Contemporary evangelicals have built a ‘salvation culture’ but not a ‘gospel culture.’ Evangelicals have reduced the gospel to the message of personal salvation. This book makes a plea for us to recover the old gospel as that which is still new and still fresh. The book stands on four arguments: that the gospel is defined by the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15 as the completion of the Story of Israel in the saving Story of Jesus; that the gospel is found in the Four Gospels; that the gospel was preached by Jesus; and that the sermons in the Book of Acts are the best example of gospeling in the New Testament. The King Jesus Gospel ends with practical suggestions about evangelism and about building a gospel culture.
This is a powerful examination of what it means to speak of the Gospel and how our understanding of it impacts our “Gospeling” or evangelism. McKnight argues forcefully that to present a plan of salvation, or soterian, gospel is to miss the larger picture of scripture and God’s plan for the universe.
As noted, there is a lot packed in there and a lot you can, and should, debate. But for now, a few thoughts … Keep Reading
