In only 15 days, ESN will be joining 18,000 of our closest friends at Urbana 12, InterVarsity's triennial missions conference. As in years past, we'll have an exhibitor table, and I'll be hosting a seminar on "Serving Christ as a Professor." One of my favorite things about conferences is learning about new books —or, even better, old books that I somehow hadn't known about. Most of the attendees at Urbana are undergraduates, so the conference is a great opportunity to send them away with a fresh reading list for … [Read more...] about What Books Should We Suggest at Urbana 12?
john stott
Can Intellectuals Also Be Activists? (John Stott Remembered)
Last week, John Stott went to be with the Lord. As an author, theologian, and working pastor, few people have had as large an influence on evangelical Christianity around the world over the past 100 years. Fittingly, his death came during the IFES World Assembly, a global gathering of evangelical university ministries, symbolic of Rev. Stott's lifelong passions for the Gospel, the university, and global Christianity. FYI: I've listed a collection of obituaries and remembrances of John Stott's life at the bottom of … [Read more...] about Can Intellectuals Also Be Activists? (John Stott Remembered)
A Faith & Culture Devotional
If you don't already have a copy of A Faith & Culture Devotional, click here to learn how to enter a drawing for a free copy. The first drawing is on August 31st and the second on September 7th. Whether or not you win a copy, consider starting off the new term with a copy in hand. Thank-you to Kelly Monroe Kullberg for her work on this project and the gift of this week's devo from John Stott, see excerpt below. Note: You may remember our June study Stott's classic Your Mind Matters. I believe that … [Read more...] about A Faith & Culture Devotional
Is there a Christian intellectual presence on your campus?
A few different strands of thought came together for me this morning in the form of a question. Let me throw out the question first, and then elaborate. Is there a public Christian intellectual presence on your campus? Here are the threads that came together for me. First, in our recent book discussion of John Stott's Your Mind Matters, Stott describes a kind of intellectualism that is very public. For example, in chapter 3, he "examines six spheres of Christian living, each of which is impossible without the … [Read more...] about Is there a Christian intellectual presence on your campus?
Your Mind Matters 4: Acting on Our Knowledge
John Stott wraps up Your Mind Matters with “Acting on Our Knowledge.” He begins by pointing out that we avoid the swing from anti-intellectualism to hyper-intellectualism, by remembering "just one thing: God never intends knowledge to be an end in itself but always to be means to some other end." As a corollary to the mind and biblical knowledge being essential to the six spheres of Christian living, see Your Mind Matters 3: The Mind in Christian Life, Stott highlights the truth that: "the acquisition of … [Read more...] about Your Mind Matters 4: Acting on Our Knowledge