Mathew B. Sims's Blog, page 17

Grace for Thanksgiving

I sat across the table listening to a friend share his struggle with being thankful for his wife. I realized after he was done confessing this, I had been chewing the same bite of my hamburger for the last five minutes. I was struck by how similar his struggle was with my own.

I immediately thought to myself, “Why is it so difficult to be thankful? Especially for people who we love and should instinctively be thankful for?” Think about your own life. Maybe it’s not your spouse. Maybe it’s your...

A Household Gospel: That’s What the Promises Are For

I thought I would share an excerpt from my shortly to be released book A Household Gospel. This is from the opening of the conclusion.

I’m writing this chapter in the twelfth inning. I’ve had the main body of this book written for well over a month, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on how I wanted to conclude the book. Through the summer, my pastor Brian Habig preached through the book of Joshua. He handles the Old Testament context masterfully and always points us back to Jesus Christ in a...

Review: N. D. Wilson’s Death by Living

4 out of 5 Stars
Author: N. D. Wilson
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Buy Death by Living
Reading Level: Easy

I’m an N. D. Wilson fan. I raved about Notes from a Tilt-a-Whirl  and was eager to read Death by Living. If you love Wilson, Death by Living won’t disappoint. It’s more of the same joyful, all of life Christian worldview. It’s vivid imagery, poignant snark, and exuberant faith in the God who created all and ordains all will excite to live to die.

He takes you on an adventure. Throughout h...

Something Only God Unties

I just finished one of the most enjoyable novels I’ve read in a while. I was sitting bored in Barnes and Noble. I had just finished reading Finally Free and was itching for some good fiction. I tweeted asking for some good recommendation and received one Peace Like a River  by Leif Enger. 
You may have noticed Leif being utilized on my twitter feed and on my blog recently. So much rich truth. So much hauntingly beautiful imagery. I want to make a single point and I hope I don’t g...

Review by Douglas Kofi Adu-Boahen: Matt Chandler’s To Live is Christ To Die is Gain

4.5 out of 5 Stars
Author: Matt Chandler
Publisher: David C. Cook
Buy To Live is Christ To Die is Gain
Reading Level: Easy

Douglas Kofi Adu-Boahen hails from London, England where he recently completed a BA in Journalism and currently teaches both Sunday School and Foundations of the Faith classes at GraceLife London, a church plant in central London. He blogs at Fiery Logic.

More often than not, when Christians think of “spiritual maturity,” the idea goes something like this: I got...

Worrying for Our Children

Some might wrongly think, if you write a book on a topic, you’re an expert. I hope you will find when A Household Gospel releases, I make it abundantly clear I am anything but an expert on the topic of the home. I’m an ordinary guy who’s learning daily to trust Christ for the grace I need for that day. That became more evident to me over the last three weeks.

I’ve spoken about my battle with depression. It often starts with fear of the unknown and not trusting God. I think something like,...

God will have his resurrection fruit

“When a person dies, the earth is generally unwilling to cough him back up. A miracle contradicts the will of the earth.” Leif Enger
After Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden, God cursed the ground saying,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat th...

Review by John Paul Ortiz: Tullian Tchividjian’s One Way Love

5 out of 5 Stars
Author: Tullian Tchividjian
Publisher: David C. Cook
Buy One Way Love
Reading Level: Easy

John Paul Ortiz is a slave to the living Christ (and occasional guest blogger). Acoustic singer/songwriter currently residing in Corpus Christi, Texas. Using the gifts given him to work up hymns and spiritual songs to make much of our Maker. Lover of the church, reading books, cats, and theology. Deserving every flame of Hell, but through Christ receiving every grace of Heaven.You can fo...

Review: Jeff Goins’s The In-Between

7 out of 10 Stars
Author: Jeff Goins
Publisher: Moody
Buy The In-Between
Reading Level

Jeff Goins encourages us to stop living in the past and future and start living in the right now. He points out most of life happens in the ordinary moments of life, and often we are too focused on the past and future to live fully in the present. He encourages us,

Between raising a child and learning to be a better spouse, all while managing the challenges of working from home and starting a business with less t...

Review: Paul Stutzman’s Biking Across America

4 out of 5 Stars
Author: Paul Stutzman
Publisher: Revell
Buy Biking Across America
Reading Level: Liesure

Travel memoirs are one of my favorite genres. Paul Stutzman, author of Hiking Through, has written another enjoyable one. His first explores his trip from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail after his wife passes away. He contemplates life, God, and the trail. It’s an excellent read. Some years after his northbound trip on the AT, he’s at it again. This time he’s biking 5,000 miles from...