Quick Takes

More media of note.

Gospel Deeps: Reveling in the Excellencies of Jesus Jared C. Wilson (Crossway)

The gospel is about saving individual sinners. You hear the message of Christ’s atoning death and resurrection, you believe it, and you get to spend eternity in heaven. Sounds great! But is there anything else to the story? More, says pastor Jared Wilson, than we could ever imagine. “[T]he gospel of Jesus Christ,” he writes, “is big. Like, really big. Ginormous, if you will. And deep. Deep and rich.” In this follow-up to 2011’s Gospel Wakefulness, Wilson plumbs the depths of our gospel’s ginormousness, revealing something far grander than a one-time transaction between sinner and Savior. Not only does he address our tendency to diminish, through individualistic notions of salvation, the cosmic dimensions of God’s redemptive plan; perhaps more importantly, Wilson reminds us of the gospel’s continuing relevance in the lives of believers. It’s not something we move beyond or “graduate from” once we’ve heard it and believed it. Like the author’s MacBook Pro computer, there are “functions” of which we are entirely unaware, and layers upon layers of mystery to explore.

The Life of the Body: Physical Well-Being and Spiritual Formation Valerie E. Hess and Lane M. Arnold (IVP)

I love to exercise. I also love eating foods (in immoderate quantities, alas) that negate the benefits of that exercise! Clearly, this split-personality disorder has implications for my health and outward appearance. And anecdotally, at least, I’ve often sensed a connection between my physical condition and intellectual sharpness. Until encountering The Life of the Body, however, I hadn’t really pondered the spiritual impact of oscillating between workout warrior one moment and glutton the next. Rejecting the body-soul dualism to which Christians have often succumbed, authors Valerie Hess and Lane Arnold reflect on the many ways fitness, nutrition, and other aspects of bodily care can aid or impede a relationship with God.

Pursued: God’s Divine Obsession with You Jud Wilhite (FaithWords)

One reason people resist Christianity is that they suspect God, having kept a meticulous record of their wrongs, just wants to punish them. Even committed Christians can find themselves fleeing God’s gracious embrace, fearing they need to continually earn his love through good deeds and the avoidance of sin. Fortunately, says Las Vegas pastor Jud Wilhite, God keeps lovingly pursuing us—even when we reject his advances. God, Wilhite now realizes, “wasn’t pursuing me to give me a ticket and send me to jail. He was pursuing me to give me the life I was meant to live.” Wilhite takes readers through the Book of Hosea to illustrate how God’s steadfast love overcomes even our bitterest betrayals.

Apocalyptic Fever: End-time Prophecies in Modern America Richard G. Kyle (Cascade Books)

If you’re like me, you don’t get all hyped up on doomsday stuff. You like to congratulate yourself for keeping your senses when some kook starts sounding off about the looming end of the world. You scoffed with everyone else in 2011 when Harold Camping made his ill-fated forecasts of apocalypse. You made facetious quips about slacking off at work last year, on account of the Mayan calendar’s speculations. But for all this self-styled sobriety, contemporary America retains its stubborn fascination with end-times scenarios. In Apocalyptic Fever, Richard Kyle shows how surprisingly widespread this mindset has become. “Americans,” he writes, “have a tremendous appetite for prophecy, more than nearly any other people in the modern world.” It’s not just Protestant fundamentalism scratching the eschatological itch, says Kyle, but a veritable “hodgepodge” of denominations and movements. And don’t forget secular strains of the apocalyptic virus, typically focusing on such fears as overpopulation and global warming. Of course, it’s worth remembering that, like many wrongheaded passions, end-times zealotry isn’t so much wrong as misplaced. After all, there really will come a Judgment Day, even if we’ll never learn the exact date from the un climate change panel or Camping.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

The Hidden History of Insider Movements

Cover Story

Worshiping Jesus in the Mosque

Cover Story

Why Evangelicals Should Be Thankful for Muslim Insiders

Cover Story

How Much Muslim Context Is Too Much for the Gospel?

The Gospel Hand-Off

So, Who Hallows God's Name?

My Top 5 Books on Mental Illness

Are You Worshiping the Idol of 'Open Options'?

Review

The Sin of a Preacher Man

Catholics and Baptists Together

Testimony

My Train Wreck Conversion

How Can Short-Term Missions Best Advance God's Mission?

Review

God Repairs the Shattered Glass

Election Is for Everyone

Excerpt

How Should Christians Get Rid of Garbage in their Hearts?

The Zombie Apocalypse

News

Fifty Shades of the Good Book

News

Schools Tussle Over Sex Standards

The Great Tiny Baby Rescue

Given Deborah, Jael, and Judith, Why Shouldn't Women Serve in Combat?

Editorial

Discipleship Is Messy

News

How Should Christian Satellite Networks Evangelize Muslims?

News

Kenyan Jihadists Target Surprising Recruits: Ex-Christians

The 2013 Book Awards

Top 10 News Stories of 2012

Wilson's Bookmarks

Letters to the Editor

Exclusive: Christian Wiman Discusses Faith as He Leaves World's Top Poetry Magazine

News

Hope for the Gay Undergrad

News

Should Christian Colleges Build Top-Ranked Football Teams?

News

Quotation Marks

News

Go Figure

News

Gleanings

Change to Believe In

View issue

Our Latest

News

Ghana May Elect Its First Muslim President. Its Christian Majority Is Torn.

Church leaders weigh competency and faith background as the West African nation heads to the polls.

Shamanism in Indonesia

Can Christians practice ‘white knowledge’ to heal the sick and exorcize demons?

Shamanism in Japan

Christians in the country view pastors’ benedictions as powerful spiritual mantras.

Shamanism in Taiwan

In a land teeming with ghosts, is there room for the Holy Spirit to work?

Shamanism in Vietnam

Folk religion has shaped believers’ perceptions of God as a genie in a lamp.

Shamanism in the Philippines

Filipinos’ desire to connect with the supernatural shouldn’t be eradicated, but transformed and redirected toward Christ.

Shamanism in South Korea

Why Christians in the country hold onto trees while praying outdoors.

Shamanism in Thailand

When guardian spirits disrupt river baptisms, how can believers respond?

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