Amazon.com Widgets

Indivisible: “Body Armor for the Culture War”

From here.

We’ve heard for years that we’re in the middle of a “culture war.” A culture war, unlike a civil war, is not fought with guns and tanks, but with ideas, words, arguments, media, and education. Unlike ordinary political debates, it’s a fight over the fundamental principles on which cultures are based.

In our new book Indivisible, which will be officially released this Monday, February 20, we argue that Americans are “like tourists on a sunny beach. We’ve heard news of an earthquake on the sea floor, hundreds of miles away, but everything still looks normal. People are sipping iced tea, enjoying the warm sand and the sun overhead. Many think, ‘We’ve never had it so good.’ And yet, when we look closely, we notice that the beach is growing wider as the tide recedes toward the horizon.”

The tide seems to be receding even faster in the last few weeks. We all know that our economy is teetering and the federal government is endangering our children’s future with unprecedented deficit spending. As we observe in The Christian Post, 2012 was supposed to be the year when economic issues would dominate presidential debates, and so-called social issues would take a back seat. Instead, abortion, religious freedom, and marriage are also in the headlines.

The first two issues–abortion and religious freedom–come together with the recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate that organizations, including religious organizations, provide health insurance that covers sterilization, contraception and drugs that induce abortion. The Catholic Bishops have been especially visible in responding to this assault on religious freedom. “This country once fought a revolution to guarantee freedom, but the time has clearly arrived to strongly reassert our fundamental human rights,” said the Most. Rev. Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C., Bishop of Peoria. “I am honestly horrified that the nation I have always loved has come to this hateful and radical step in religious intolerance.”

Amazon link: Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before It’s Too Late

The Defense Never Rests: A Workbook for Budding Apologists

By William Lane Craig and Joseph Tang

William Lane Craig and Joseph Tang

New book “Why Jesus?” from Ravi Zacharias

William Dembski Interview

Get it here: www.thebestschools.org/blog/2012/01/14/william-dembski-interview/

I love Dembski. He is an intellectual genius, and honest to the heart. With the persecution he has faced both inside and outside the church, he is also like a modern Galileo.

5 Kindle books at hot prices right now

You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church… and Rethinking Faith

Amazon book: You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church…and Rethinking Faith

Website: youlostmebook.com/

Christopher Hitchens, April 13, 1949 – December 15, 2011

New Atheist Christopher Hitchens has passed on.

Hitchens, who wrote for publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, Slate and Vanity Fair, rose to prominence for his divisive opinions, his unabashed atheism, his scorching critiques of popular figures like Mother Teresa Henry Kissinger, and, above all, his razor wit. (Reuters)

I personally admire Hitchens for having the guts to stand up for what he believed, even if I would disagree with him as his brother Peter Hitchens did (blog, Amazon book “The rage against God”).

Our condolences go out to his family.

From those I follow on Twitter…

  • C Michael Patton: Christopher Hitchens died today. #verysad vnty.fr/vFD9TU Prayers are with his family and brother.
  • Lee Strobel: Feeling grief at Christopher Hitchens’ death. I was among many who shared Christ with him; so sad he rejected Gospel.
  • Douglas Wilson: How to think about the death of the outspoken atheist.
  • Albert Mohler: The point about Christopher Hitchens is not that he died of unbelief, but that his unbelief is all that matters now. Unspeakably sad.
  • Rick Warren: My friend Christopher Hitchens has died. I loved & prayed for him constantly & grieve his loss. He knows the Truth now.
  • Joe Fleener: Christopher Hitchens has died. Let’s pray for his family & those who he’s influenced that they may repent & trust Christ.
  • Larry Taunton: I am truly saddened to hear that my friend and debating opponent Christopher Hitchens has passed away. Our thoughts are with his family.
  • Hugh Hewitt: I am at a loss of what to say about Christopher Hitchens except that he was towards me and my audience unfailingly gracious –and dazzling.

A small book by Hitchens and friend Doug Wilson is available here:

William Lane Craig The Defense Never Rests: Workbook and Teacher’s Handbook

From here.

William Lane Craig The Defense Never Rests: Workbook and Teacher's Handbook

Reasons to Believe: An Interview With Doug Groothuis

Philosopher Douglas Groothuis spent more than 8 years producing his 752-page tomeChristian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. Here’s an interview hitting some highlights.

Q. Your book has amazing breadth, covering everything from the nature of truth, to arguments for God, to evolution versus creation, to the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus, to the challenge of Islam, to the problem of evil – and that’s just for starters! Yet it’s quite readable; you avoid delving too deeply into technical issues while hitting all the key points. I can see this as an invaluable reference book, but I could also envision interested Christians simply reading it cover to cover. How do you hope your book will be used?

A. I tried to make the book accessible, inviting, and intriguing to the thoughtful reader, Christian or unbeliever. But I also wanted to take readers into the material with sufficient depth that they might fathom the force of the arguments for Christianity as objectively true, rational, and pertinent to all of life. There are hundreds of footnotes and a glossary to take the reader further into the intellectual and spiritual adventure of apologetics.

This is not a reference book per se; it’s not an encyclopedia or dictionary of apologetics. Rather, it is, to steal a phrase from Charles Darwin’s account of his Origin of Species, “one long argument,” with many facts, facets, and features. Every chapter marches ahead to the beat of the same apologetic drummer; they form a cumulative case argument for what matters most: Christian truth. However, one could also use the chapter titles and indices for reference purposes.

Christian Apologetics can be used for personal growth in apologetic prowess (1 Peter 3:15-16) or as a textbook at the college or seminary level. The intellectually inclined non-Christian should find the book challenging and interesting as well. Of course, I hope that many will confess Christ as Lord as a result of reading the book.

Q. Absolutely! What camp of apologetics are you most comfortable in and why?

A. I use the apologetic method called the cumulative case approach. Instead of resting the case for Christianity on only one or two arguments, I draw evidence from science, history, philosophy, and other areas. All these arguments converge on Christian theism as the best explanation of the most profound issues in life: Where did we come from? Who are we? What is the basis of morality? What is our destiny? And so on. I offer Christianity as a worldview hypothesis that should be tested according to several rational criteria or principles. Other worldviews – particularly materialism and pantheism – are tested by the same criteria and are found wanting.

Read more here.

THE GOSPEL COALITION: 10 Essential Classics of Western Literature

By John Mark Reynolds

Here are the list of 10 books, but be sure to read the original post to get the context.

  1. Odyssey, Homer. The long journey from the darkness of paganism to philosophy begins here.
  2. RepublicPlato. Justice should be sought for its own sake, but we need a man to die and come to life again in order to fully see it.
  3. Consolation of PhilosophyBoethius. Emo-whining gets a dose of tough love from Lady Philosophy, and the result is a poetic vision of reality.
  4. Divine ComedyDante. The world isn’t quite what Dante imagined, but if wrong in details this great poem is truer as a whole than what you will read in today’s paper.
  5. Faerie QueeneEdmund Spenser. Protestants can be romantic and poetic.
  6. Much Ado about NothingWilliam Shakespeare. If not the Bard’s greatest play maybe the best play for us, because this comedy contrasts our cynicism and eroticism with Christian romance while making us laugh out loud (not LOL).
  7. Paradise LostJohn Milton. We oft like Milton’s Satan more than Milton’s God, revealing more about us than about Milton.
  8. Second TreatiseJohn Locke. If you are an American, this apologist helped create the government you should cherish.
  9. On the Origin of SpeciesCharles Darwin. Darwin tries to remove design from biology and still makes the case better than anyone else.
  10. Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoevsky.Dostoevsky wrestles with seeming meaningless and pain and finds Christ, if not Christianity, victor.

Most of these books should be almost free on the Kindle, so hunt around, then post links in the comments below.

Amazon $1.99 special daily deal for Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Usually $9.90, now $1.99 for today only.

Amazon Kindle book here: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

See also:

Biblical Training, Bill Mounce, and certificate courses

New Certificate, CEU Credits, Annual Report, and The Story of Jesus Speaks!

Dear Friends,

Lots of things are happening at BiblicalTraining. Here are the highlights.

NEW CERTIFICATE

Christians in the Marketplace is a 10 hour certificate taught by Dr. Gerry Breshears and Kent Humphreys and is offered by Western Seminary and BiblicalTraining. It addresses the issue of how do business leaders apply biblical principles to their leadership and interaction with others in the marketplace in such a way that Christ is glorified and men and women are born into the Kingdom of God.

CEU CREDITS AT BIBLICALTRAINING

BiblicalTraining has been certified by ACSI so that we can offer versions of the Certificates for Continuing Education Units. Check out our offerings.

THE STORY OF JESUS SPEAKS

This is our translation of the Gospel of John specifically for seekers and new believers. A friend has just recorded the translation so you can listen to the Story as well as read it.

ANNUAL REPORT

You can download a copy of our Annual Report 2010. It will give you a snapshot of where we are, where we are going, and some financial numbers.

For His Glory,
Bill Mounce

P.S. Response to our last newsletter about helping the Chinese house church system was strong. Please pray for wisdom as we put a core curriculum together for them and all bi-vocational pastors around the world. Thanks to all who are helping with the transcriptions. And please, when school starts in a few weeks, remember to start your Amazon purchases at BiblicalTraining.org.

Kindle books on sale right now

These books are all currently around $3.99 USD or less…

Alternatively — Kindle Books: The BIG deal — 900 books on sale…

Lee Strobel – Ambition, the novel

Official website: www.theambitionbook.com/

 

 Announcing: THE AMBITION

I’m excited to enter the realm of fiction with my thriller,The Ambition, an intricate tale of power, politics and payoffs in a suburban megachurch, a big-city newspaper, and the shadowy corridors of political intrigue. Deception and ambition collide in this edgy story inspired by my years as a Chicago reporter. “Completely riveting,” said one New York Times best-selling author.

Release date is May 17. You can order the book today.
I hope you enjoy it! —Lee

The truth about same-sex marriage

Erwin Lutzer’s book is on Amazon here:

The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage: 6 Things You Must Know About What’s Really at Stake


The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage: 6 Things You Must Know About What's Really at Stake

The Millennials by Thom Rainer and Jess Rainer

ChristianAudio.com have the following available for free until 31 July 2011:

Announcing the July free audiobook download: The Millennials by Thom Rainer and Jess Rainer. This is a fascinating and well-narrated audiobook speaking to one of the major issues facing the church today: how do we, as the body of Christ, reach this segment of young people who differ in so many ways than previous generations?

At more than 78 million strong, the Millennials—those born between 1980 and 2000—have surpassed the Boomers as the larger and more influential generation in America. Best-selling research author Thom Rainer and his son Jess present the first major investigative work on Millennials from a Christian worldview perspective.

There is vital information in [this] book for employers, on how to retain and best use their Millennial employees. Listening to this book as a Millennial, I felt myself nodding up and down repeatedly in agreement. The parts I enjoyed most were the continual quotes directly from the Millennials in the study.” – John, a Millennial

Go here to download.

Awesome apologetics books list

From Apologetics 3:15.

Amazon’s Kindle Ebook Sales Surpass Print (It Only Took Four Years)

From TechCrunch:

Five years ago, if you’d told a fellow book lover that eBooks were poised to surge in popularity and overtake traditional books, you probably would have been met with a scoff and a dismissal about reading too much sci-fi. And yet here we are: Amazon has just announced that it is now selling more eBooks than it is selling print editions, a mere four years after launching the Kindle. Obviously Amazon doesn’t account for all print or eBook sales, but it’s a very impressive milestone.

Amazon Kindle now only $114 USD

Advantages of the Kindle:

  • Instant downloads
  • No book shipping charges
  • Books are generally cheaper (and sometimes much cheaper: Logos versus Kindle example)
  • Read a preview section (about 10%) of any Kindle book for free before buying
  • 1-click ordering
  • Read your Kindle books on your Kindle, Mac, PC, or various other devices
  • Share your books with other Kindle users in your family
  • My personal experience is that I now read significantly more :-)

Buy the Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6″ Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology

Check out an example Kindle book — Ravi Zacharias’ The Real Face of Atheism.

Logos versus Amazon pricing

I have Logos on my Mac. It is a nice App and there is talk of integrating an export to Kindle feature. It is thus tempting to buy “Logos” books rather than “Amazon” books since Logos books could (potentially) be moved to the Kindle for the express purpose of reading on the highly portable Amazon device.

But … it is reasonable to pay $27 to Logos for an RC Sproul book on the Gospel of John when you could buy the identical book for Kindle for $7.99? Further, why is secular pricing so much lower than pricing set by Christians for Christians? I would prefer that my money went into the hands of Logos and RC Sproul than Amazon so that the Kingdom of God may be financially enlarged, but instead I feel ashamed…

Here are the links to the items:
t.co/sO6a6sp
t.co/cFTuLwN