The Theater of God’s Glory: Calvin, Creation, and the Liturgical Arts
W. David O. Taylor (Eerdmans)
Chances are, most churches today aren’t looking to John Calvin as a source of liturgical inspiration. After all, the Genevan reformer was notoriously skeptical about incorporating music or ceremony into the church service; too great a focus on material things could only encourage idolatry and superstition. But this is only half of the story, according to Taylor, assistant professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. “Calvin’s account of materiality outside of the liturgical context,” he writes, “is distinctly optimistic.”The Theater of God’s Gloryshows how Calvin’s theology “offers itself—perhaps surprisingly—as a rich resource for the practice of Christian worship.”
Engaging Globalization: The Poor, Christian Mission, and Our Hyperconnected World
Bryant L. Myers(Baker Academic)
Globalization is a huge and astoundingly complex phenomenon. On one side of the ledger, you have rising prosperity, technological innovation, and an unprecedented ability to connect with people from faraway places. But these blessings come with considerable costs. Myers, a global development veteran, wants the church to grapple more vigorously with the economic and social forces transforming our world. He asks, “Will we ignore globalization and remain closeted in the spiritual realm with our backs to the world? . . . Or will we instead engage globalization as a mixture of God’s grace and human sin and question its promise of a particular kind of better human future by offering a more complete vision of human flourishing as understood from Scripture?”
Utmost Ongoing: Reflections on the Legacy of Oswald Chambers
Compiled by Discovery House
Earlier this year, Macy Halford released My Utmost: A Devotional Memoir, her account of growing in faith through repeated readings of Oswald Chambers’s classic,My Utmost for His Highest. Halford appears as one of 27 contributors in this collection of tributes to Chambers and his perennially popular devotional (originally published in 1935). The lineup includes “scientists, doctors, musicians, pastors, a soldier, a CEO, and others, from young authors to established Christian teachers.”
