The UmBlog

Crossway Books has released another book on the Trinity. Last summer, Fred Sander's book, The Deep Things of God , came out, and I was able to read and review it over Christmas break. It was a phenomenal book. Of course, not everything that can be said about the Trinity has been said, but I was curious how the authors of this volume, Philip Ryken and Michael LeFebvre, would distinguish it. Whereas Sanders approached the subject philosophically, but not to the exclusion of the Biblical revelation, Ryken and LeFebvre approach the topic biblically, but not to the exclusion of philosophy. This book is half the length of Sander's book. It has four chapters. The first chapter, The Saving Trinity, is an exposition on the opening prayer in Paul's letter to the Ephesian church. The second chapter, The Mysterious Trinity, is more philosophical, but surveys the Old Testament, looking at the bread crumbs left by God to point towards the New Testament's fuller revelation. The th...

Even the full title of this book jazzes me, The Deep Things of God: how the Trinity Changes Everything by Fred Sanders. This book was one of my favorite Christmas presents. I like it so much I want to share it with everybody who wants a little more philosophical depth to their understanding of the gospel. I've been reading Sanders for years now at the blog, The Scriptorium . He writes well and loves God. I love that this book is a celebration of evangelicals and their trinitarian theology, but he does not need the filoque clause to distinguish the Holy Spirit, so even an Orthodox Christian can enjoy this book. Sanders is not ashamed of his evangelicalism, and he wants evangelicals to not be ashamed. He wants us to know our trinitarian credibility is real, so he limits himself to (almost) only reference Protestants, from Tyndale to Calvin to Wesley to Edwards to Watts and Warfield and a bunch of people I never heard of. I'm really glad to meet some of these people in my reli...

"The Holy Spirit is here to reawaken people," says Reverend Laldawngliana, a spokesman for the Presbyterian Church of India in Shillong. He says similar religious experiences proclaimed the beginning of a reawakening in the region in 1906, just two years after the last great revival in Wales. The Presbyterian Church celebrated the centenary of the revival with special congregations and prayer services in April.

As i grew in grace and out of legalism i relaxed in my formalism in praise. a campus gropu doesn't usually have hymnals and organs. in fact the campus praise in song leaders sounded alot like my youth group's band. but where i grew up, the youth's band style was abandoned in big church. i also found out some churches also had bands in their big church. this worship was emotional and physical. don't get me wrong, the hymn "and can it be" brings tears to my eyes. and i love belting it out. but i found freedom in college to include in my praise clapping (just like camp and youth group) and kneeling and hand raising and unashamed out of key singing. i also encountered in my trans-denominational college church charismatics. and then i ended up at a vineyard my senior year. but there's a cautionary note at this point of the story. i returned to campus and the group had fallen under the spell of someone off campus who offered many answers. and instead of pointin...