Showing results by author "Douglas Wilson" in All Categories

In the Garden of Eden, there was only one "No." Everything else was "Yes." In this short book on childrearing, Douglas Wilson points out that we have a Father who delights in us and makes it easy for us to love and obey him. If that is the kind of Father we have, shouldn't we earthly parents do the same? Wilson explains how parents should not just try to get their kids to obey a set of rules or to make their house so fun that following the rules is always easy. Instead, he calls for parents to instill in their kids a love for God and His standards that will serve them well all their days.

Evangellyfish is a ruthless, grimly amused, and above all, honest look at one of the darkest corners in the western world. Douglas Wilson, a pastor of more than 30 years, paints a vivid and painful picture of evangelical boomchurch leadership...in bed. Chad Lester's kingdom is found in the Midwest. When Lester is (falsely) accused of molesting a young male counselee, his universe begins to crumble. He is a sexual predator, yes. But strictly straight. Detectives, reporters, assistant pastors, and old lovers and pay-offs all come out to play.

As parents, it is easy for us to look back and see the shortcomings of our own education. Since many of us were taught in public schools, we often have a pretty good idea of what we don't want our children to learn. But what exactly should we give them instead?

Sinister forces lurk in the corners of the Iron Kingdoms - restless souls, mischievous and cunning creatures, darker beings that bargain for mortal souls. Most pass unmarked, shunned, or avoided, but there is one group willing to seek out and study what others fear. In abandoned halls and forgotten ruins, the investigators from the Strangelight Workshop illuminate the darkness, armed with wisdom, curiosity, and specialized tools.

Andrew awakes in a strange garden perched on the side of a mountain. The boy can't remember who or where he is. But he does know that he has a task to do - and it's very important he complete it exactly the way he was instructed, no matter who - or what - tells him otherwise...At the every step of his quest. Andrew is faced with a choice: Will he do what he knows he must, or will he take a shortcut? He will meet new friends, bitter enemies, and some who are a little of both as he discovers his story is at once stranger and more magical than he thought.

God has designed each family to be a culture. It is the duty of the father to ensure that the shaping takes place according to biblical wisdom. Through the Messiah, God promised blessings to his people, "their children, and their children's children forever". The norm for faithful members of the covenant is that their children will follow them in their faithfulness. The oddity should be children who fall away. Unless we reestablish faithful Christian culture in countless homes, we will never reestablish it anywhere else.

In the beginning, great power is only great potential... Renowned for both martial and arcane skills, the mighty warcasters of the Iron Kingdoms possess the unique gift of bonding with and commanding mighty warjacks on the field of battle. Yet despite their inborn abilities, these powerful soldier-sorcerers began as novices, forced to harness their talents in rigorously structured military training programs or through the brutal crucible of battle.

In John Knox: Stalwart Courage, Douglas Wilson staunchly defends this staunch reformer, not only lauding his stalwart courage, but also upholding his much-neglected gentler virtues - love, mercy, tenderness, and humility. At Knox’s funeral, one of his friends said, “Here lies one who neither flattered nor feared any flesh.” John Knox sought the approval of neither commoner nor queen, but only his God. John Knox was a reformer of church and culture worthy of honor and emulation, and his story should be one we know well.

Romans is more than a collection of proof texts for Reformed theology. It is an exposition of God's plan to take back the world. In this new commentary, Douglas Wilson tackles Paul's meaty letter passage by passage, explaining Paul's central message: Jesus’s death and resurrection have transformed the world. God has brought an end to the old covenant and ushered in a new covenant, joining Jews and Gentiles in one new people.

Papa Don't Pope: Why I'm Not a Roman Catholic (And Why the Future is Protestant) evaluates some of the most important issues between Roman Catholics and Protestants, including personal interpretation, apostolic succession, sola Scriptura, and so on. So this little book should be a huge help for anyone (Catholic or Protestant) with honest questions, as well as for anyone looking to interact with the original Protestant vision. But what's the point in stirring up differences between Geneva and Rome?

Trusted by Classical Conversations for thousands of CC Challenge students. Paul requires Christian fathers to provide their children with a "paideia of the Lord." To the ancient world, the boundaries of paideia were much wider than the boundaries of what we understand as education. Far more is involved in paideia than taking the kids to church, having an occasional time of devotions in the home, or even providing the kids with a Christian curriculum.

Fatherlessness is a “rot that is eating away at the modern soul,” writes Douglas Wilson, and the problem goes far beyond physical absence. “Most of our families are starving for fathers, even if Dad is around, and there’s a huge cost to our children and our society because of it.” Father Hunger takes a thoughtful, timely, richly engaging excursion into our cultural chasm of absentee fatherhood.

In Rules for Reformers, Douglas Wilson poaches the political craft of radical progressives and applies it to Christian efforts in the current culture war. The result is a spicy blend of combat manual and cultural manifesto. Rules for Reformers is a little bit proclamation of grace, a little bit Art of War, and a little bit analysis of past embarrassments and current cowardice, all mixed together with a bunch of advanced knife-fighting techniques. As motivating as it is provocative, Rules for Reformers is just plain good to hear.

The Gospel should teach us to say "my life for yours." Our desire should be to have this love transform everything we do, room by room. This book works its way through every part of the house, examining each part in light of Scripture. The claims of God are always total, and this should be evident on the doorposts and in a sink full of dishes. Self-centeredness destroys in monotonously similar ways. Giving up life for another produces a harvest of kindness and mercy. Household questions should always begin with, "Is this my life for yours?"

What do you want most for your kids? A good job? A happy marriage? A long and healthy life? Perfect attendance at every holiday? A life without enemies? David and Esther and Job are not impressed. Some of God’s favorite characters offer us a different vision: make your children count. In this book, the goal for parents is not to keep them forever, but instead, to raise the kind of men and women who know what to do when Goliaths, tyrants, and hurricanes descend. What will your family legacy be?

Reforming Marriage, by this same author, began the discussion of covenant headship. This collection of essays, Federal Husband, continues that discussion in greater depth, dealing with more specifics of federal husbandry.

Douglas Wilson writes to a young man on how he should pursue a woman. Feminism has catechized us in many lies about what makes the sexes attracted to each other, and evangelical pastors have often only reinforced those lies with platitudes about servant-leadership. When they find out that being a doormat doesn’t attract anyone, young men often rebound to the secular manosphere. Douglas Wilson offers his own commonsense advice, sharp-edged and thoroughly biblical, not just on how to be the kind of man who attracts the right woman, but how to be the kind of man that keeps her.

The book of Revelation was written to do just that: reveal. In this commentary, Douglas Wilson provides a passage-by-passage walkthrough of the entire book, showing how John’s most notorious prophecies concern the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Explaining symbols and characters as he goes, Wilson shows from the text that not only is this book not an elaborate code, but that Revelation is not even ultimately concerned with the end of the world as we know it. Revelation is about the triumph of the Church, which always happens when the Man comes around.

This book by Douglas Wilson shows that many who call themselves Reformed have in fact lost the older Calvinistic teaching about the objectivity of the covenant and the promises made to Christians at baptism. Multitudes of faithless, corrupt Christians show that they do not believe what God said at their baptism.

Marriage is not a vending machine, and love is not two quarters to put into it. It's a manner of life, not an exchange of commodities. So, what does it look like when a man loves a woman? Douglas Wilson answers that question in How to Exasperate Your Wife and Other Short Essays for Men, and his responses are as wide-ranging and humorous as they are incisive and down to earth. He explains why men's distorted view of wisdom handicaps their understanding of their wives, and he exposes rigid (and wrong) approaches to marriage and relationships.