As our society becomes increasingly secular, we can no longer assume much common ground with most people regarding their conviction that the Bible is the Word of God. Some of that is because of the attacks of people like Bart Ehrman, who are spending their careers writing and speaking about the human (and not divine) origins of Scripture. As you think and preach about the inspiration of the Bible, here are a couple of books I’d recommend:

Can We Still Believe the Bible?: An Evangelical Engagement with Contemporary Questions by Craig Blomberg

Blomberg is a conservative, evangelical scholar who takes the Bible seriously, and he’s also well-informed about the latest critical scholarship. This is a timely and helpful book.

Taking God At His Word: Why the Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me by Kevin DeYoung

DeYoung is a good thinker and writer from the Reformed perspective who believes in the all-sufficiency and inerrancy of Scripture.

Good stuff I ran across recently:

The Bible Project videos

Have you seen these videos yet? If not, I think you’ll be impressed. There are things here and there to disagree with, but for the most part they’re spot on. And they’re very well-done.

When Was the Exodus? – A Review of “Patterns of Evidence: Exodus”

If you read many modern commentaries on Exodus, there’s a good chance you’ll read the conclusions of a scholar who doesn’t believe the Exodus actually happened, at least not in the sense it’s recorded in the Bible.

Protect Your Family With Circle

Our family uses Skydog for Internet filtering/monitoring, but it expires pretty soon. I think we’ll probably give Circle a try—it gets good reviews.

Bits and Pieces for Young Ministers: Discipleship, Rest, and Reading by Thabiti Anyabwile

I found this helpful and refreshing, though I’m not necessarily in his target audience.

Should America welcome Syrian refugees?

It seems like every week there’s another issue that’s causing all sorts of extreme reactions. This week’s issue is the question of America’s accepting Syrian refugees. Here are a few articles that address some of the underlying principles:

Immigration Policy Must Be Based on More Than an Appeal to Compassion by Kevin DeYoung

Praying For Our Enemies by John Alan Turner

Should we really close the border to refugees? Here’s why fear drives out compassion by Trevin Wax