In this episode of the Author Talks with Shaun Tabatt Podcast I interview Nancy Drummond about her book Nate Saint: Operation Auca (Christian Focus 4 Kids, 2012).

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About the Book:
On January 8, 1956, Nate Saint and some other missionaries flew to an area near an Auca village and landed at strip of sand that they had named Palm Beach. This was Nate’s final flight for he and four other missionaries on the plane that day were martyred when tribesmen attacked with spears a few days later.

Although this was Nate’s last flight – it wasn’t the end of his work. What he and the other martyred missionaries had done for the Kingdom of God convicted many to listen to God’s call to mission. And the work of evangelism continued to the Aucas too. Many in that village came to accept Christ including several of the men who had thrown their spears on that terrible day.

About the Author:
Nancy Drummond is author of Nate Saint: Operation Auca in Christian Focus 4 Kids Torchbearers series. She is currently working on a new volume in CF4K’s Trailblazers series about Brother Andrew. Be on the lookout for that book in 2014. Readers can connect with Nancy on her Facebook page at Facebook.com/NancyDrummondWriter.

Books Recommended in this Episode:

Books by Nancy Drummond:

 

 

In this episode of the Author Talks Podcast I interview J. V. Fesko about his most recent books, Christ and the Desert Tabernacle (EP Books, 2012) and A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Holiness: Understanding Sanctification (Christian Focus, 2013).

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About the Books:

Christ and the Desert Tabernacle (EP Books, 2012)

Far from being boring or uninteresting, the Old Testament tabernacle, and later the temple in Solomon’s day, is a shadowy picture of Christ and the church. True, people are perhaps easily able to draw the connections between Jesus and the sacrificial animals, as Jesus is identified as the one and only true sacrifice who takes away our sins (e.g., Heb 8-10; 1 John 2.2). But beyond the obvious connections between Jesus and the sacrificial animals, the Old Testament tabernacle is literally an entire world of references, allusions, and foreshadows of Christ and the church.

A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Growing in Holiness: Understanding Sanctification (Christian Focus, 2013)

No true Christian wants to keep on sinning. Yet the battle seems unwinnable. For every slain opponent two more emerge from the shadows. And to make matters worse, an endless stream of pundits are on hand with conflicting combat tactics: ‘Try harder. Do more.’ ‘It’s a matter of mind over matter.’ ‘Imitate Christ. Ask, What would Jesus Do?’ ‘Take a break. Even if you yield to every known sin, you’re still a winner because Christ has forgiven everything.’

In the Bible we find a more coherent and realistic approach to growing in holiness. Victory over sin does not come to the spiritual sluggard. Effort is essential. Even so, self-transformation is not possible. ‘Sanctification is by faith alone in Christ alone.’ The gospel is not just for day one of the Christian life; it’s for the whole journey.

How do we grow in holiness? We grow through the word of God and prayer and sacraments. This book will help us find the benefits of growing in Christ for which there is no substitute.

About the Author:
J. V. Fesko graduated from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, UK, with an earned Ph.D. in theology. Dr. Fesko’s interests include systematic theology, applied soteriology (union with Christ, justification and sanctification, and the ordo salutis), sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Reformed dogmatics, as well as the integration of biblical and systematic theology. He was the pastor of Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian church from 1998 to 2009. He is now presently the Academic Dean and Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Westminster Seminary California. He is also an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Books by J. V. Fesko:

 

 

In this episode of the Author Talks Podcast I interview Lara Williams about her book To Walk or Stay (Christian Focus Publications, 2013).

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About the Book:
Her marriage slowly deteriorated behind the facade of a happy, Christian home. After six years together, with three young children, Lara discovered the devastating reality of her husband’s marital betrayal. Lara gives tender guidance to any woman walking the unexpected paths of betrayal. But even more than that, she testifies of the victorious life in Christ available to everyone, regardless of any shattered hopes or suffocating fears.

About the Author:
Lara Williams lives with her husband and three children in Greensboro, North Carolina. She holds a degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Her blog “To Overflowing” (tooverflowing.com) and website www.LaraWilliams.org encourage women to discover a wildly vibrant faith.

Books by Lara Williams:

 

In this episode of the Author Talks Podcast I interview Diane Montgomery, Gabrielle Pickle, and Sarah Bubar about their book Radical Dating: When God Takes over Your Love Life (Christian Focus, 2012).

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About the Book:
Radical Dating is a fun, comprehensive, Bible-based guide offering candid, relatable insight on guys, dating, singleness, purity, and true love. Most importantly, the authors point readers to the ultimate source of true love, Jesus Christ Himself and to deepen that relationship above all others.

About the Authors:
Sarah Bubar, Gabrielle Pickle and Diane Montgomery – are best friends, study buddies, bridesmaids, and now ministry partners. They started the Unlocking Femininity blog to set the truth of Christ before women and girls in ways that connect with the female heart.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Dannah Gresh (purefreedom.org)
• Mary Kassian (girlsgonewise.com)

I know we’re not quite yet to Christmas, but in the midst of planning and brainstorming about how awesome 2013 is going to be, I’ve been thinking about the new devotional reading I want to begin on January 1st. Here are the devotional books I’ll be using in the new year:

Tell me about the devotional reading you’re planning for the new year. What new devotional books or apps are on your reading list?

We should consider the histories of Christ three manner of ways; first, as a history of acts or legends; secondly, as a gift or a present; thirdly, as an example, which we should believe and follow.

Table Talk: Luther’s Comments on Life, the Church and the Bible, p. 189

In this inagural episode of the Author Talks Podcast, I interview Brian Cosby about his new book Rebels Rescued: A Student’s Guide to Reformed Theology (Christian Focus 4 Kids, 2012).

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About the Book:
Have you ever had a shopping cart with a broken wheel? You push it around and all it wants to do is run into the sides of the aisle. If you were to let the cart go on its own, it would immediately turn and smash into that case of pickles up ahead! You are like that shopping cart! The bad wheel is your heart. It’s always veering off, leading you away from what you were created to be. You were created for God’s love and glory, but instead, your heart pulls you away from Jesus and into something much worse than a case of pickles. Being a rebel at heart means that you do not have the ability to choose God or even to respond to God on your own because you are spiritually dead; we all are. Reformed theology teaches that, because we are more sinful than we could ever imagine, it can only be God who takes that broken shopping cart wheel (our sinful heart) and replaces it with one that has both the ability and the desire to seek him and to follow him. By faith in Christ, you are no longer set to smash into the aisles of sinful destruction. No, he promises to carry us in his grip of grace.

About the Author:
Brian H. Cosby is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. He has written several books including John Bunyan: The Journey of a Pilgrim in the Trailblazers series and continues to write articles for various magazines and journals. You can learn more about Brian and his books on his Amazon author page. Brian pastors at Wayside Presbyterian Church – Signal Mountain, TN.

Books by Brian Cosby:

I have oftentimes noted, when women receive the doctrine of the gospel, they are far more fervent in faith, they hold to it more stiff and fast, than men do; as we see in the loving Magdalen, who was more hearty and bold than Peter.

Table Talk: Luther’s Comments on Life, the Church and the Bible, p. 473

In the legend on the virgin Tecla, who, as they say, was baptized by St. Paul, ’tis said ‘she awakened in him carnal desire’. Ah! loving Paul; thou hadst another manner of thorn in they flesh than carnal. The friars, who live at their ease, and jollity, dream, according to their licentious cogitation, that St. Paul was plagued with the same tribulations as themselves.

Table Talk: Luther’s Comments on Life, the Church and the Bible, p. 425

The Decalogue – that is, the ten commandments of God, are a looking glass and brief sum of all virtues and doctrines, both how we ought to behave towards God and also towards our neighbor; that is, towards all mankind.

There never was at any time written a more excellent, complete, or compendious book of virtues.

Table Talk: Luther’s Comments on Life, the Church and the Bible, p. 268