For the first time in over eight months, our family has Internet service at the house. Because of this, I’m breaking out the “Combing the Net” series once again, which will hopefully please the many readers who keep asking for it!
Why Christians Should Read Camus — I’m really excited about this new series from The Gospel Coalition blog entitled “Commending the Classics”! Hard to think of a better guide through classic books than Dr. Leland Ryken.
Can Books Become a Burden? — As a guy who still has a few unread books from the last T4G Conference sitting on my impressively full bookshelves, I have felt the same struggles with book pride as Aaron Armstrong. And my wife can certainly empathize with the desire to see books disappear from every available table surface in the house!
The Shocking Truth About Famous Hymnwriters — Encouragement for those whose hymns (or poems, books, blog posts, etc) aren’t consistently spectacular. There’s also some good wisdom in the comments on this post.
Thoughtful Reviews of Blue Like Jazz: The Movie — I’ve not yet seen the movie, but would like to even though I wasn’t particularly fond of the book.
- From Christianity Today: “As a satire, it works; but again, to the extent that the film sketches a different vision of Christian faith, it falters, largely due to the weak foundation it’s given by Miller’s book.”
- From The Atlantic: “The film doesn’t show skeptics anything distinctive about Christianity. And it tells believers not to share what they know, but instead to apologize for it.“
- From Red Like Blood: More of a preview, really, since it was written before the movie was released, but I will view the movie with the same questions about Christian moviemaking that this author has. I’m also currently enjoying the book he co-authored, Red Like Blood: Confrontations With Grace, which attempts to provide the same sort of gritty, realistic portrayal of Christian life as Donald Miller’s book, without sacrificing the gospel.
A powerful short film about the “new atheists”:
Honey and Locusts 