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February 27, 2015  David Murray   1 comment

Best Book Deals

Everyone’s a Theologian by R. C. Sproul ($3.99)

Systematic Theology: The Complete Three Volumes by Charles Hodge ($2.99)

Defending Inerrancy: Affirming the Accuracy of Scripture for a New Generation by Norman L. Geisler and William C. Roach ($1.99)

Old Testament Survey by Paul R. House and Eric Mitchell ($2.99)

Introducing the New Testament: A Short Guide to Its History and Message by D. A. Carson ($4.99)

Jesus, Continued…: Why the Spirit Inside You is Better than Jesus Beside You by J. D. Greear ($2.80)

Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoung ($0.99)

Politics – According to the Bible by Wayne Grudem ($4.27)

You, Your Family and the Internet: What every Christian in the digital age ought to know by David Clark ($3.99)

Wellness for the Glory of God: Living Well after 40 with Joy and Contentment in All of Life by John Dunlop, MD ($1.99)

The Daring Mission of William Tyndale by Steven J. Lawson ($3.99)

The Christian’s Great Interest by William Guthrie ($1.99)

Minimalist Living And Loving It: 40 Proven Steps To Simplify Your Space, Declutter Your Life And Increase Productivity by Kathy Stanton ($2.99)

Geronimo: The True Story of America’s Most Ferocious Warrior edited by S. M. Barrett ($0.99)

For the Kids:
Spy for the Night Riders (Trailblazer Books Book 3) by Dave and Neta Jackson ($2.99)

Best Blogs

3 Indispensable Heart-Qualities for Joyful, Effective Ministry – ChurchPastor.com

A Pattern Among Fallen Pastors – Lessons for Us All

Advice to Young Pastors from Conrad Mbewe, Ligon Duncan, and Ken Jones | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

10 Wisdom Principles on Hearing and Speaking | The Christward Collective

4 Wisdom Principles for Multiethnic Ministry | Biblical Counseling Coalition Blogs

Keeping His Commandments | TGC

The Christian Use of the Imprecatory Psalms | Gentle Reformation

4 Tips to Memorize (Almost) Anything | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

How Memorization Feeds Your Imagination | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

What It Looks Like to Be Adopted | TGC

God’s Word, God’s World, & Reverence | The Cripplegate

The Psalter: Smartphone of the Soul (revisited) | Gentle Reformation

Experiencing the Trinity — JOETHORN.net

Brothers, Love Your Sisters | Gentle Reformation

plea for sanity | Don’t Stop Believing

God Wants His Children to Enjoy Creation | Desiring God

5 Ways Theology Speaks to Science

More Thoughts on Furthering the Dialogue on Creation | Studying His Word and His Works

Can We Arrive at a Young Earth and 24-Hour Period Days in Genesis One from Scripture Alone? A Guest Post by Steve Ham | For H is Renown

Why Racial Reconciliation Is a Gospel Issue | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

Religion and Politics: An Interview with Russell Moore by Nathan W. Bingham | Ligonier Ministries Blog

How I Misused Nouthetic Counseling

The Forgetfulness That Leads To Depression | The Blazing Center

My Favorite Posts on Anxiety | Brad Hambrick

Worry & Happiness | The Cripplegate

How to Find Bread and Water in the Dungeon of Depression – Borrowed Light

7 Things NOT to Say to a Depressed Christian Parchment and Pen Blog

Spurgeon’s Sorrows, by Zack Eswine

rejoicing in lament | Don’t Stop Believing

Don’t Blame Your Schedule For Your Burnout – Eric Geiger

Pyromaniacs: Sufficient Fire conference audio and video are available

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  • Harley Jake Schwartz

    First, I apologize for a long post on a specialized subject.

    In reference to the TCG articles on memorizing and the Memory Palace technique…

    I have been dabbling with memory techniques for the past few years but became seriously involved in practicing them in the past four months to study for a major accounting license, and I am stunned by how much more I can memorize, how much more I can recall, and how accurately I can recall it! I can say for myself that I can remember much more with less review. We are usually taught to memorize things rote, but it’s a dreadfully unproductive way to memorize. The reason it does not work is because you do not associate the memory with anything. Therefore, you spend a lot of time reciting a verse over and over and are likely to forget it just because you don’t have anything to trigger it in your memory.

    The people who practice the memory techniques described in the article usually develop an astounding memory if they persist with it. One memory champion has memorized 52,000 entries in the Chinese-English dictionary just by mentally pinning each entry to a different part of his body!

    However, for anyone interested in learning more about the Memory Palace technique or other mnemonic techniques, PROCEED WITH CAUTON. In the TGC article it says to associate memories with images that are absurd or strange in order to ensure you remember them, which might be neither here nor there morally, but some mnemonists take it a step further and will teach you to use images that are violent and lewd to secure memories in your mind. Be very careful when looking up the technique on the internet, because some of the instructors are worthy to be censored in places.

    Also, there are ramifications to the Third Commandment. Whatever images you use to remember Scripture, we should avoid ones that will inevitably drain the power of that Scripture, or somehow cheapen that Scripture in our mind.

    However, back to the positive. The method of memorization described in the TGC articles is far more fun and effective than traditional rote, and I recommend the memory palace technique, and I’m thankful to see the articles published!

    I have two recommendations:

    Augustine on memory. For anyone who has studied the memory palace concept or practiced it, they will quickly recognize it in Augustine’s “Confessions:”
    http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confess.xi.viii.html

    Here’s a gem of a book called “Mnemonics Applied to the Acquisition of Knowledge.” The book title states its purpose: using what you already know to acquire more knowledge. I assume the author is Reformed judging from the references to Whitefield, Andrew Fuller, etc. For anyone interested, at least read the essay “Philosophy of Mnemonics.”
    https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=the+art+of+memory+pike

    Thank you Dr. Murray!