Mike Wittmer

What I think. What I know. What I think I know.

  • tempted and tried

    This took me way too long to get to, as I’ve had it on my must read pile for more than a year, but last night I finally had a compelling reason to read through Russell Moore’s Tempted and Tried, and I rekindled my dormant man crush for him. We think a lot alike and…

  • the new normal

    I was teaching last night so I missed it, and I am too busy to watch it on my DVR, but according to its own press release the NBC show “The New Normal” is the latest attempt to mainstream homosexual behavior. The strategy began with “Will and Grace” (according to Joe Biden), made significant strides…

  • waters of promise

    As I have taught on baptism and wrestled with how it is often practiced in our Baptist churches, I have concluded that we too often limit God’s role to mere spectator. He isn’t doing anything in baptism except watching us testify to our faith. It would be textbook Pelagianism if we thought that baptism was…

  • center church

    I recently received Tim Keller’s new book, Center Church, and I think I’m really going to like it. This is an exhaustive textbook that explains Redeemer’s philosophy of ministry—and I suspect it will be our generation’s go to book on this topic. Every church ministry course should require this text, and every pastor should read…

  • Hannah Coulter

    Summer ends tomorrow, and just in time I finished my last summer novel, Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. I was turned on to reading Berry by my Cornerstone colleagues, and I’m glad I did. Like Garrison Keillor and his fictional town of Lake Woebegone, Berry has constructed an entire world centered around the farms of…

  • wrecked

    The steering wheel of my riding mower was smashed last week when I: a)      Mowed the lawn while texting. b)      Hooked a chain to the steering wheel to pull a dead tree stump out of the ground. c)      Became entangled with my children’s swing set and flipped the mower upside down. The embarrassing answer became…

  • Thatcher on the Good Samaritan

    I learned a lot from Robert Sirico’s, Defending the Free Market. He explained how interest rates encourage responsible behavior (i.e., credit card rates should be high, for imagine how much Americans would borrow if these rates were artificially low); how important it is for the poor to retain their dignity by contributing what they can…

  • Steinbeck vs. Sirico

    In honor of the big debate we might have this fall, if we can get past the “put ya’ all back in chains” and “legitimate rape” comments, I just finished reading John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Robert Sirico’s new Defending the Free Market. Steinbeck’s classic tale is a powerfully moving story about migrant…

  • cover up

    Here is my latest draft for Our Daily Journey, using a story from Carl Trueman’s Histories and Fallacies, p. 63-64. Any suggestions for improvement are always appreciated. Thanks! read > Joshua 7:1-26 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and…

  • Scripture, science, and evil

    I much enjoyed Alvin Plantinga’s important book, Where the Conflict Really Lies:  Science, Religion, and Naturalism. It’s a chance to read the premier Christian philosopher at the top of his game, in a winsome style that is accessible to anyone. If you had difficulty wading through the analytical arguments of Warranted Christian Belief  and God,…