Christian Focus Across the Web highlights important news and blog posts related to our books. This week’s highlights are below:
Matthew Kratz Reviews The Priority of Preaching - Thank you Matthew Kratz for taking the time to put together a detailed and thorough review of The Priority of Preaching by Christopher Ash. Below is a quote from Matthew's review, explaining who will benefit from this book.
"Not only would this be a highly beneficial resource for anyone preaching the word of God it is also helpful for anyone who needs to understand how scripture uniquely empowers and directs. This would help in not only corporate decision making, but individual and familial as well."
Matthew's full review is available on his The Truth Will Set You Free blog.
Isaiah by the Day - "It's brilliant." - John Brand has been working his way through Isaiah by the Day: A New Devotional Translation by Alec Motyer. We wanted to share a bit of what he had to say in a recent blog post titled Motyer on Isaiah and OT Prophecy:
"I’m still enjoying and benefitting from Alec Motyer’s Isaiah Day by Day, a devotional commentary on Isaiah published by Christian Focus and using Motyer’s own translation of Isaiah with loads of annotations. It’s brilliant.I was really struck this morning with his Thought for the Day on Isaiah 13:1-22, an oracle against Babylon. It is such a concise statement that says so much about the purpose and nature of Old Testament prophecy and with such evangelistic zeal."
The full blog post can be found on John's Cutting It Straight blog.
Justin Taylor on Pastoral Interruptions - In our fast-paced world, many of us live in a state of constant of interruption. Like everything else under the sun, this too is not new. Even in the late 18th century, John Newton experienced the problem of constant disruption. Rather than seeing these interruptions as a threat to peace, he saw them as opportunities for ministry. Below are some quotations Justin Taylor recently shared from John Newton by Marylynne Rouse and Richard Cecil on his Between Two Worlds blog.
"John Newton, the blasphemous slave-trader turned tenderhearted pastor, knew what it was like to live in a state of constant interruption:I have seldom one-hour free from interruption. Letters, that must be answered, visitants that must be received, business that must be attended to. I have a good many sheep and lambs to look after, sick and afflicted souls dear to the Lord; and therefore, whatever stands still, these must not be neglected.
And he also knew that interruptions are not threats to peace but opportunities for ministry:
When I hear a knock at my study door, I hear a message from God. It may be a lesson of instruction; perhaps a lesson of patience: but, since it is his message, it must be interesting.
Quoted in Richard Cecil, John Newton, ed. by Marylynn Rousse (Christian Focus, 2000), p. 139 (first quote), p. 76 (second quote)."