Posts by Aimee Byrd

  1. Posts by
  2. Posts by

Posts by

A New Kind of Librarian

Jan 23, 2013
I read an interesting article yesterday by Laura Hazard Owen claiming that although more people are buying their books online, there is a disconnect between where they are making their purchases and how they are discovering their books in the first place. She claims that even the popular sites like...

Gospel Amnesia

Jan 18, 2013
Gospel Amnesia , Luma Simms (GCD, 2013) The title gives you a pretty good clue about this book. It’s a condition that we all need to be on guard against. And it can even be contagious. None of us are immune to its pervasiveness. Whole churches can be infected. The author herself had a pretty bad...

The Wheels Are Full of Eyes

Jan 16, 2013
I went through such a stage of reading through the puritans in my late twenties and early thirties and that does something to you. Most of it is good, of course, but you do develop some quirks. For instance, I began thinking in long-winded sentence form. But I digress. It was a providential...

Now I'm Aimee, Down to Sleep*

Jan 14, 2013
Every night as a child I said the same bedtime prayer. You know the ditty: Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. And then came the barrage of “God blesses.” When I began to have a more mature prayer life, I grew...

Questions I Have When I Get to Heaven

Jan 11, 2013
Now we walk by faith, but then we will have sight. Now we are given the written Word of God to study, sit under its preaching, meditate on, and pray. We are given the church of believers, the body of Christ, and the testimony of those who went before us. We are given the means of grace through the...

Preservation and Perseverance

Jan 9, 2013
There is a continuous call to perseverance found in the sermon-letter to the Hebrews. These exhortations are strong warning passages scattered throughout verses 2:1-4; 3:12-4:13; 5:11-6:12; 10:19-39; and 12:25-29. With an audience of believers (the first intended audience being believing Jews),...

The Sign for "Boring" is Picking Your Nose

Jan 7, 2013
[caption id="attachment_1726" align="alignleft" width="240"] This is a boring rendition of boring.[/caption] This weekend I had the pleasure of attending my friend Marilyn’s 70 th birthday celebration. Her son and daughter-in-law wanted to surprise Marilyn, and they invited our whole Tuesday...

Digital Heirlooms?

Jan 4, 2013
My granddad is a retired Independent Baptist preacher. After he retired and he and my grandma were downsizing, he passed along some books from his library that he thought I would like. Although I don’t hold to the strong, dispensational theology that granddad preached, he still had some treasures...

God's Grace Displaces Us

Jan 2, 2013
If you’ve read any Flannery O’Connor, you are aware of her proclivity to take the reader into the darkness of humanity amidst the everyday, mundane life. She shows us that maybe our ordinary is familiar and common, but it is anything but unexceptional. We discover much about ourselves and the...

After You Read the Book...

Dec 27, 2012
Delighting in the Trinity , Michael Reeves (IVP Academic, 2012) A good book sticks with you after the read. So instead of a usual book review, I thought I'd share an instance of how I am still Delighting in the Trinity: “Well, we all came from stardust…” Sometimes the holidays provide more...

Beauty and Harmony

Dec 21, 2012
My mom, her three sisters, and her brother sing gospel songs a cappella. They all have great singing voices, but they have a more special beauty when they are harmonizing together. I thought about this as I was reading Michael Reeves highlight the source of this beauty of diversity in unity in his...

Get Your Arms Up! A Fighting Mentality in Perseverance

Dec 19, 2012
I used to think that my family was strange. Growing up with a father that taught martial arts in our home, there was a distinctive mentality that I was brought up in. Some families discuss current events or how they have contributed to society that day over the dinner table. My family would talk...

Sacred Bond

Dec 17, 2012
Sacred Bond , Michael G. Brown and Zach Keele (Reformed Fellowship, 2012) Sometimes I feel like some of my family and friends start tuning out when I begin throwing the “covenant” word around. It isn’t one that the Baptist churches I grew up in used very often. The lingo sounds kind of strange to...

Why I Don't Give a Top Ten List of My Favorite Books of the Year

Dec 14, 2012
It’s that time of the year when bloggers are faithfully posting their top ten reading lists for the year. Some of my readers have asked me to do the same. I didn’t come through last year and I won’t this year either. I don’t do it for the same reason that I hate giving a star rating on my Amazon...

Getting What We Don't Have

Dec 12, 2012
I keep seeing messages like this one on Facebook for the Christmas season: “We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” And while I was in the grocery store with my 7-year-old son, he says...

The Situation Room

Dec 10, 2012
I’ve always wanted a fireman’s pole in my house. How cool would that be? I’ve even thought of the perfect place to put it—behind my closet door in my bedroom. We have a little bit of money put away to finish our basement and I’ve been trying to convince my husband to incorporate my vision: my...

Our Creed

Dec 7, 2012
Our Creed , Mark G. Johnston (P&R, 2012) I have encountered plenty of Christians who believe that creeds are divisive. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary reports approximately forty-one thousand (so-called) Christian denominations or...

The Measure of God's Thoughts Concerning You

Dec 5, 2012
I can always go to Michael Horton’s The Christian Faith for inspiration and reflection. He has a beautiful section on The Trinity and Creation. Horton sums it up including a quote from Colin Gunton about the transcendence and immanence of God: In this Trinitarian economy, God is simultaneously...

Waiting in the Ordinary

Dec 3, 2012
I’ve been reading over Gene Edward Veith’s book, God at Work , a second time this weekend. He gives the reader much to think about concerning our vocations. One point that he emphasizes that I particularly like is that our vocation involves the here and now. What is our current situation? Who is...

Get Real

Nov 30, 2012
“Authentic” is a popular theological term in the church these days. You might not have a clue what propitiation or sacerdotalism means, but all you have to do is talk about being authentic and you have trumped the conversation. I actually really like the word. But I’m afraid it is losing it’s...

Do I Sin Less Now?

Nov 28, 2012
I’ve noticed a bit of a theme going on in some of my reading. It even came up in the comments of my last post. If we really are growing in the faith, shouldn’t we be sinning less? What does it mean to be a mature Christian? After all, we are being sanctified and transformed into Christ's likeness...

It Will Be Here

Nov 26, 2012
Thirty-Seven? What does that even mean? Two prime numbers, side by side—what would Augustine have to say about their significance? I think I’ve figured out the conundrum to all those brain-creaking word problems in math. As soon as you hear, “If a train leaves Station A, traveling at 60 miles and...

Afterward and Nevertheless

Nov 14, 2012
Exercise. What thoughts come to your mind when I say this word? Duty? Guilt? Pain? How about excitement? I know I have some active readers who enjoy exercise. But do you always? Sometimes I have to talk myself into changing my clothes and training. What am I training for? Mainly just to maintain...

Bad Company?

Nov 12, 2012
The apostle Paul quotes a well-known proverb derived from a Greek comedy in 1 Corinthians 15:33. I like the NIV translation of it, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” Did you ever consider that you may be your own worst company? Paul Tripp repeats a line several times in his...

Should Seminary Professors Also Pastor Their Students?

Nov 5, 2012
Currently I am reading through Paul Tripp’s latest book, Dangerous Calling . It is a diagnostic book about the anemic culture surrounding the pastorate. The marketing for this book piqued my interest. While it is targeted mainly for pastors, it also invites anyone who is concerned with a healthier...

Stop Me When I'm Passin' By*

Nov 2, 2012
So at my last Book Review Club , my friend Dana starts her review by saying she picked her book on Anne Frank from the book mobile that makes Friday stops in her neighborhood. We’re not very polite in Book Review Club. No one can formally give a review without being rudely interrupted a kabillion...

Because We Are All Unlikely Converts

Oct 29, 2012
The Secret Thought of an Unlikely Convert, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (Crown & Covenant, 2012) “How our lives bear the fruit of Christ’s spilled blood is important” (ix). In her book, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield gives a testimony that truly glorifies our sovereign, loving, living God. I...

I Get By With A Little Help From My Readers...

Oct 26, 2012
I have a question for you guys—well, it’s actually more like a question that leads to a lot more questions. As I was reading When Your Husband is Addicted to Pornography , this pesky question was swarming around my thoughts and I couldn’t swat it away. I don’t really have an answer, so I want to...

Your Questions Answered: An Interview with Vicki Tiede

Oct 24, 2012
As promised, here is my interview with Vicki Tiede. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for graciously going along with my idea to wait for questions from my readers. That did not give her much time to work on a response. But as you will see, she put much care into answering your...

When Your Husband is Addicted to Pornography

Oct 22, 2012
When Your Husband is Addicted to Pornography , Vicki Tiede (New Growth Press, 2012) I saw that Tim Challies has highlighted that Vicki Tiede's book is available for free today on Kindle. I posted this review when it was first published two years ago and thought it would be a good idea to repost...

Our Shining City on a Hill?

Oct 19, 2012
In Search of the City on a Hill , Richard M. Gamble, (Continuum, 2012) Do you believe that America is the “city on a hill” that Christ was referring to in his Sermon on the Mount? Are there more than one of these cities? Was Jesus talking about a civil nation at all, or was this a metaphor of the...

Husband-Training

Oct 17, 2012
Train up a husband in the way that he should go, And when he matures, you get the credit. Oh wait, that’s not how the verse goes? Are you sure? Because sometimes I think that well-intentioned wives operate from this mantra. I’m not sure if it all started with the changes the Industrial Revolution...

Interview the Author Yourself!

Oct 15, 2012
Next Monday, I will be reviewing Vicki Tiede’s new book, When Your Husband is Addicted to Pornography . I was honored to be a part of the blog tour for the kick off of this book. While there is thankfully more available for the men who are struggling with this sin, there hasn’t been much for the...

Why Do You Go to Work?

Oct 12, 2012
Gene Veith wrote an excellent article for TCG on the purpose of our work. I encourage you to read it here . This article is even more relevant, given our present economic issues. Why do we go to work in the first place? Is it merely for the paycheck that affords us to do all the things we really...

The Empty House

Oct 10, 2012
Every Fall I think about this. Last fall I wrote about it. Here's one of my favorite oldie but goodies: The fall reminds me of my dear friend Sarah. We grew up together. Sarah has that fiery red hair that blazes like the leaves in October. We both shared birthdays in November and fall was our...

*Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

Oct 8, 2012
I just bought a new toaster oven. My ol’ faithful recently died, and I don’t like living without one. What a great appliance. Microwaves have their moments of usefulness, but a nice convection toaster oven really adds to the quality of what you may be heating up. My regular oven is not convection,...

Tweety Byrd

Oct 6, 2012
So, I finally did the whole Twitter-thing. I've had a love/hate relationship with computer networking. Real faces are so much better, but it is a blessing to have a cyber-community of people who share the same favorite topic of conversation! You'll never believe how many Aimee Byrd's are on Twitter...

Baahahaha!

Oct 3, 2012
I haven't had adequate time to write an article for today, so I thought I'd share a hilarious link about the publishing process: The Publishing Process I didn't have to go through all of these steps, but you can figure out what stage I'm at now. Thanks to my friend Trillia Newbell for linking to...

The Editing Process

Oct 1, 2012
This week's been pretty busy as I've been traversing through the editing process for my book. While the original creating is challenging as well, it can be difficult to get back into the flow of the text when you are trimming your thoughts, accessorizing, and polishing. I have been both excited and...

Fierce Women

Sep 28, 2012
Fierce Women , Kimberly Wagner (Chicago, IL: Moody, 2012) I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. While on another website, I saw an advertisement for this book and the title pulled me right in: Fierce Women, The Power of a Soft Warrior . What’s that all about? So I clicked the Amazon link to find...

The Weight of Expectations

Sep 26, 2012
I don’t follow UFC (that’s Ultimate Fighting Championship) fights like I used to. Back in the day when Royce Gracie was introducing the world to the wonders of Brazilian Jujitsu, my whole family would get together to watch the fights. I also remember the crazy hype when Vitor Belfort won a fight in...

Reading Reflection:

Sep 24, 2012
Longing to Know , Esther Lightcap Meek (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press, 2003) Knowing is the responsible human struggle to rely on clues to focus on a coherent pattern and submit to its reality (13). As I mentioned in my review, Esther Lightcap Meek’s Longing to Know is one of those books...

Jesus is Already Betrothed

Sep 21, 2012
Have you noticed all the hoopla on the internet about the new partial (and by partial, I mean eight partial lines) manuscript discovery that has been named The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife ? I would refer you to Michael J. Kruger’s or Dr. Mohler’s articles for a scholarly synopsis, and even its possible...

Longing to Know

Sep 19, 2012
Longing to Know , Esther Lightcap Meek (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press, 2003) My first exposure to philosophy was in high school. I thought it would be a cool class to take, but it proved to be far above my head. When we took a whole class contemplating how we know the color red is really red...

Toughest Event on the Planet

Sep 17, 2012
Have you heard of the Tough Mudder? If you check out their website here you will see that it is a 10-12 mile, hardcore challenge. British Special Forces designed the 25 military-style obstacles that make up the course. The task seems insurmountable, as the website boasts that it will “test your all...

Reading Reflection:

Sep 14, 2012
The Midnight Disease , Alice W. Flaherty (Boston; NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) This is an interesting book that I picked up on sale a few years back. It had me at the subtitle: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain . Much of the book is about a brain state called...

It Depends on How You Read the Scale

Sep 12, 2012
I have a goal: I want to be strong when I’m fifty. And I’m talking about muscles. Did you know that your muscles begin to deteriorate when you hit the big 5-0? I want a good head start so that I can keep my strength going as long as possible. So I workout. And I happen to really like it. But lately...

Life Everlasting

Sep 10, 2012
Life Everlasting , Dan C. Barber and Robert A. Peterson (P&R, 2012) At my last book club, my cousin reviewed the book Heaven is for Real . It had already been negatively reviewed several months ago in our group, but she wanted to read it for herself. If you haven’t been living under a rock...

Something to Hold Fast

Sep 7, 2012
“Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23). We are plodding through Hebrews in the women’s Bible study at my church (yes, still!). I started in February, and we are now inching our way through the “hall of faith” in chapter eleven...

What a Woman Wants in a Man

Sep 5, 2012
As I was rollerblading the other day, I was thinking about artistic geniuses (stop laughing). It seems that every unbelieving artistic genius is also a bit insane—or a lot insane! I always thought it was because they just had too much talent to handle, but I came to a different conclusion about...