Mathew B. Sims's Blog, page 11

The Word Became Flesh by Renée Bates #AdventSeries13

The Word became flesh.

Let it sink in. Let these words pierce you. These are serious words, heavy words. They bear in themselves the weight of the ocean crashing down upon our very souls. And yet, because of the very Word Himself we are able to bear them. We are able to revel in them and when this baffling Truth meets indwelling Spirit we find breath drawn in sharply and tears burning our

Review: John Walsh’s The Art of Storytelling

If you plan on purchasing The Art of Storytelling, consider supporting Grace for Sinners by purchasing from Amazon.

9 out of 10 Stars
Author: John Walsh
Publisher: Moody
Reading Level: Leisure



This may be the most fun book I’ve read this year. As a writer, reader, and story lover, the title The Art of Storytelling grabbed me. Storytelling sometimes seems mysterious and out of reach.

Review: Robert Tracy McKenzie’s The First Thanksgiving

If you plan on purchasing The First Thanksgiving, consider supporting Grace for Sinners by purchasing from Amazon.

10 out of 10 Stars
Author: Robert Tracy McKenzie
Publisher: IVP Academic
Reading Level: Moderate

For me a good history book is humble, honest about limitations, and about successes and failures of characters involved. Robert Tracy McKenzie’s First Thanksgiving soars on all

Live Like Free Peoples of Middle-earth: Friendship, Fellowship, and Food (Part 2)

With my original post in this series I introduced my objective which is trying to grasp a Christian vision for living from Tolkien’s Middle-earth. My first point examined the doctrine of sovereignty in Tolkien’s writings. That theme is overarching across all of Middle-earth and required a discussion a bit longer than these next few points. After writing out each point, I’ve decided to

Suffering with Aslan

I’ve been slowly reading through The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with my daughters before bedtime. I’ve tried reading through it a few other time but they never seemed immediately interested so I would set it aside and come back to it later. It finally clicked and they were very interested in Lucy, Narnia, Mr. Tumnus, and the mysterious Aslan.

We finally arrived at the climatic death scene

Review: Everett L. Worthington Jr.’s Coming to Peace with Psychology

If you plan on purchasing Coming to Peace with Psychology, consider supporting Grace for Sinners by purchasing from Amazon.

8 out of 10 Stars
Author: Everett L. Worthington Jr.
Publisher: IVP Academic
Reading Level: Moderate



The intersection of theology and psychology is a heated topic today. You have a spectrum of opinions on the helpfulness of one to the other and also the crossover

Live Like Free Peoples of Middle-earth: Christian Discipleship in Tolkien’s Created World

“Gandalf Laptop Wallpaper” at www.fanpop.com. Posted by user i_luv_angst

At this year’s Desiring God National Conference, Joe Rigney, Assistant Professor of Theology and Christian Worldview at Bethlehem College and Seminar, gave an interesting talk about Narnian Discipleship and has since released a book titled Live Like A Narnian: Christian Discipleship in Lewis’s Chronicle. This prompted

Rehearsing the Gospel in Communion with the Saints of Yesterday

As Western Christians with nicely bound, real leather Bibles and digital copies on all our smart devices lying around our home like pollen in the spring, it’s easy to think that’s the way it has always been. However, consider this, the first written Scripture may be Job and next in line would be the books of the law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy).

I’ve read the events

The Offense-Monger’s Juke

It is all to common for offense-mongers of all stripes to bust a move when the twenty four hour offense cycle is low on offense. The juke goes something like this:

Perceived or Real Offense, Tragedy, or Social Issue
Other person mentions some of other topic (innocently or not)
Offense-monger says something like, “How you can even think about X, while Y is happening.”

Another common twist to

Renèe Bates at ERLC Blog: "Find No Rest Here, Saints"

Renèe Bates has been a guest writer at Grace for Sinners almost half a dozen times over the last year. She'’s been a huge relief over the last few months. I’ve had my hands full with releasing A Household Gospel, baby girl coming in December, and my ordinary duties and she’s been writing a post a month for me if you haven’t noticed. She recently told me someone from The Ethics & Religious