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CALVIN RECONSIDERED by Larry Stout 1/3/10

I regret that John Calvin does not have an anniversary every year, because the wealth and quality of the books that have come out on the great Reformer this year has been astounding. I have either purchased or obtained from the library virtually all of these, and there have been many, many gems. 

CHURCH POLITY: WHAT DOES IT MATTER by Larry Stout  8/1/09

DEATH OF DOCTRINE by Larry Stout, 3/29/09
I commented in a previous PrayerNet about the rampant doctrinal ignorance among American Christians. Evidence of that is found in the recent Pew Forum On Religion and Public Life noting that fifty-seven percent of evangelicals believed people who follow religions other than their own can enjoy eternal life.  (The researchers were so shocked by the results that they repeated the poll – and found exactly the same results).

CHRISTIANITY LITE by Larry Stout, 1/18/09
 The Roman Empire did not oppose Christianity because of their believe in Jesus as the Messiah. There were many gods that were worshipped within the Empire.  What made Christianity so offensive was exclusivity claimed by the Christians.  They believed that faith in Jesus Christ was the only way to eternal life.  This was why Christians could not bow to Caesar, and that was why they were persecuted.  

CALVIN IN HIS OWN WORDS by Larry Stout, 12/15/08

CALVIN IN HIS OWN WORDS – PART II by Larry Stout
 I intended to simply include a ‘Calvin Quote’ in each of the PrayerNets in 2009, but I have discovered a lot of new information that deserves to be shared about the coming quincentenary of John Calvin.  

BE THOU MY VISION by Larry Stout, 7/27/08
Since returning to the United States in October of 2006, Debbie and I have been actively searching to find our place after our ministry in Latvia. What has transpired in these past twenty-months appears to be our ministry finding us!
Local – we have found a wonderful church in nearby Williamsport, Citychurch, and Debbie and I have been able to build trusting relationships there. It appears I may be assuming more of a leadership role in the church in the future.
National – I have hoped to develop more leadership work in the United States, but it has been slow in coming. I currently am working with my son-in-law, Robert Mattox, to build a leadership-coaching network. There is still much work to do in this area, but it has been slowly progressing.

HAVE YOU READ THE SHACK? by Larry Stout
For the record, I have not read the novel, The Shack, by William Young. My wife, however, has read it, and has asked the question quoted in my article title to almost every Christian she meets. The book has even been written about in the New York Times, so be assured, if you have not yet heard of this book – you will.
What I find even more fascinating than the popularity of this one particular Christian novel, is the fact that there are currently fourteen books centered on Christianity that are currently on the New York Times bestseller list. This is the highest number to have ever occurred on this prestigious list. Of course, the anti-Christian tomes written by Christopher Hitchens (God is Not Great) and Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) also hit number one on the NYT list. And, if we add Ophrah’s latest endorsement, Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth, a New Age spiritual guide – we begin to see a pattern.

SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE by Larry Stout
I was once taught a trick about learning that I never forgot. To learn a new subject area, simply find the three top books in this field and read them. I am often asked by young people to suggest a short list of best books in a particular area, so I thought I should begin to do this in a more systematic way.
I would hope that this could become a regular series on various topics, and hopefully those faithful readers of the PrayerNet would recommend their own favorites. My first topic is apologetics – what are the best books that would be useful to a Christian interested in sharing their faith in this post-Christian world.

TREASURES FOUND IN TALL TALES by Larry Stout, 5/11/08
I remember years ago reading a quote by William F. Buckley who commented that he could not believe he was fifty years old before he read, Moby Dick. I had the same experience at discovering the marvelous Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis at age 55. I had read the first book in the series (Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe) with my children sometime in the 1980s. But for some odd reason that I cannot fathom now, I never continued to read the rest of the books. With the advent of the new film, Prince Caspian, I thought it would be a good idea to read the book and compare it with the soon-to-be-released film. I found such an astounding blessing in reading Prince Caspian that I could not stop till I finished the seventh volume in the series, The Last Battle.