Saturday, March 19, 2011

Rediscovering the Church Fathers, by Michael A. G. Haykin

Rediscovering the Church Fathers by Michael A. G. Haykin Crossway Books

First of all I would like to thank Crossway books and especially Angie Chetham for sending me this advanced review copy so that I could give an opinion on Michael Haykins new book.


Rediscovering the Church Fathers is a very well written book intended to reacquaint the Christian Church with the early exegetes of Scripture. We pastors and laypeople have a tendency to pick up commentaries that are written by modern day theologians (modern being from the 1800 to present day) to help us better understand scripture.

But we have a tendency to ignore those writers from the early 1st century through the 8th century. These works have been translated and made available in several volumes that make up the larger work known as the Nicene Fathers and the Anti-Nicene Fathers.

One of the Haykin's premises is that when we have ignored the early church Fathers even though they "can provide us with a map for the Christian life." He uses the illustration that we would not try to sail from New York to London across the Atlantic without some navigational guides. We often use guides that were written by the early explorers and take them as "gospel." So, why don't we take the early writings of the Church Fathers and give them the weight of value that they deserve?

Most likely we don't read them because we believe that they will be hard to read, hard to understand and that they won't understand our culture because they wrote at a time when life was totally different.

But as Haykin points out these early writers were giving us insight into the scriptures during a time of great persecution of the church. They personally knew the men and women that were being martyred for the faith. Many of the martyrs were their students. So, who better to give us insight into scripture knowing that their stand against the Greeks and the Romans could very much cost them their lives.

An interesting fact that Haykin points out is that many of these writers were having to answer the questions of other scholars as to why this "New Teaching" of Christians should be listened to. The Greeks and Roman scholars believe that if the writing or thoughts were ancient they must be true, but if they were new they must be suspect.

So, given the fact that today we have people who question the validity of the Scriptures and their relevancy we will find a common bond with the Early Church Fathers because they were wrestling with that same issue even in the 1st and 2nd century after Christ death.

The early Church Fathers looked as Martyrdom as a Gift of the Spirit. Ignatius wrote as he awaited death for espousing the Gospel, "Earthly longings have been crucified and in me there is left no spark of desire for mundane things, but only a murmur of living water that whispers within me, 'Come to the Father.' He truly understood that the things of this world are worthless when put into the perspective of what Christ suffered and what He calls his followers to do.

After an introductory chapter regarding why we should read the early Church Fathers Haykin goes on in the next chapters to introduce us to some very key writers. Chapters include background and details about;
Ignatius of Antioch
Origen, nicknamed Adamantius "Man of Steel"
Cyprian and Ambrose of Alexandria
Basil of Caesarea
and the Mission of Patrick

If these names don't sound familiar that's because we have neglected to read about the early history of the church.

This work is a great primer for the early Church Fathers. It ignited in me a desire to dig deeper into the writings of these early Church Fathers, The Patristics as they are known.

So, how do I start? Well Haykin answers that question. In Appendix #1 he gives you "A Beginners Guide to Reading the Fathers." This short appendix is a great summation of the book and gives you the tools to start into a deeper study.

If you are unfamiliar with the early Patristics this book will wet your appetite. If you are familiar with them but have been ignoring them because you want to read works from modern commentators, this book will wet your appetite to get back into reading the early writings.

The year is early, but this book is right now my #1 recommendation for the year. It might not stay there, but it will take a pretty good book coming in the future to knock it from the top slot for this year.

Enjoy!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Hope for your Heart, by June Hunt

First of all I would like to thank Crossway Books for sending me a review copy of June Hunt's book. Thank you Angie and everyone at Crossway for publishing such useful material for the Christian Community. 


As I do more and more counseling and conflict resolution mediation I discover that the biggest issue people face is the loss or lack of Hope. When couples come for counseling because they are considering divorce they almost always say, "there is no hope for our marriage!" That is a devastating thing to hear. 

Scripturally we are admonished to always be ready to give an answer to others why we have hope in the Gospel. So, the question to be asked is this, "Do you have Hope?" 

June Hunt does a wonderful job of answering the question about finding hope in all situations, in all circumstances, in all the trials and troubles that we face. She discovered while reading through scripture that often times the concept of hope was tied in with a `nautical' theme, specifically the theme of `anchors.' 

So, her question for us is, "Is Jesus the anchor of your life?" She uses Jeremiah 29:11 as a key verse throughout the book. Jeremiah says, "I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Her further premise is, "what an anchor is to a ship, hope is to the soul." 

So, with those thoughts in mind are you confident that you have the `hope' that can carry you through the storms of this life? 

June weaves together counseling tips, scripture, Bible stories and personal stories that will give you plenty of help in developing that "hope in Christ" that can carry you through all of life. 

I think that maybe Chapter three, "Your Unfailing Anchor" is the best chapter of the book. June looks at five physical types of anchors that are used to keep ships either moored in place or steady in strong stormy seas. Each anchor progresses from the simplest to the most complex. The work they must do also progresses from very simply holding a small boat in place to creating enough drag for a large ship to bring it to a stop. 

Knowing the difference in anchors can make the difference in a ship running aground or being completely safe in the storm. So, the analogy is this, is your relationship with the Lord strong enough to hold you in the heavy seas created by major storms as well as holding your row boat steady while you fish? 

There is a lot more to this book than I can share in this review. But one Bible story that June shared caused me to really stop and thing, "Do I have the Hope that would hold me steady in the storm?" The story is when the apostle Paul was on the ship headed to Rome. Their ship was so tossed by the ways that they through the anchor over the side to try and create enough drag to stop the boat. It didn't work, so they threw three more anchors over the side, that's how desperate they were. 

But the true anchor was when an Angel of the Lord came to Paul and reassured him that everyone on board would be saved, not one sole would be lost. Paul shared that assurance with the others and then their "hope" was tested. The ship's captain tried to run it through the reefs to the beach, but instead it hit the shoal and started to break up. It was a disparate situation. But, when all was said and done. The ship was sunk, but not one soul was lost. All made it to shore. 

So, is your hope stronger than four anchors and able to hold you together even in the roughest seas? The epilogue will seek to affirm your answer. The title of the epilogue is, "How to know your anchor will hold." 

After you have read the entire book and have started to see where your hope comes from June will give one last encouragement, our hope is found in Jesus Christ. 

Enjoy!

King's Cross, by Tim Keller

Tim Keller does another wonderful job of communicating the truths of God in this devotional commentary on Mark. This is not an in depth, verse by verse exposition. Instead it takes each chapter of Mark and develops the themes that Mark was trying to convey about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

It is Keller's view, as well as most scholars, that Mark is merely the scribe for the Apostle Peter in the retelling of this the ministry of Christ. Thus you find the stories come with an eyewitness feel even though John Mark was not an eyewitness of the events. It is also believed that Mark was written for the Christians of the persecuted church in Rome, thus more for a Gentile audience than a Jewish audience. Further, Mark is the first of the Gospels that was written, but also the shortest. Mark doesn't spend time developing major story lines as much as just reporting what happened. 

I have been amazed at how often Mark says, "immediately" to express how something happened. There is an urgent feel to the work and Keller does a good job of picking up on that. 

Keller is a great communicator of the truth of God's word. While we would often say he brings new light to this material I would prefer to say that he gives us the ability to connect in new understanding to this material. There is nothing new here, just the newness of a great communicator who has wrestled with the text and given us an explanation that is rich yet easy to understand. 

Read through the Gospel of Mark in one sitting, it shouldn't take you overly long even if you are a slow reader. Then go back and start in on Keller's book and you will be refreshed by the insights that you gain and the understanding you pick up about the different stories that are related. 

I very much appreciate how Keller handles the story of the rich young ruler. He does not tell us that wealth is wrong, what he tells us is that our priorities of how we live our lives is what makes the difference. Jesus came to serve. He asks us to serve. To do that effectively we have to not be putting our trust in our wealth or our material belongings, instead we have to be committed to giving all that up if necessary to be able to love others the way that Christ loved us and calls us to love others. 

Christ had all the wealth possible. He is God, He dwelled in the heavenly places, He had everything under his control. But he willingly gave all that up so that He could come and love us enough to die on a cross for us to present us to Himself as a bride without blemish. Christ understand fully what he was asking the rich young ruler to do, because He had done it. 

That is just one short part of this wonderful book. You won't be disappointed with how Keller communicates and how he develops the theme that this King, Jesus came for a Cross not a throne. 

Enjoy!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Making Sense of Salvation, by Wayne Grudem

Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology is one of my favorite books in regards to Theology. It is well laid out, easy to read and understand and gives you a thorough view of the core doctrines of the Christian faith. This book is the first of seven parts that Zondervan is putting together to make Theology more accessible to laymen (at least that's my opinion). Grudem's Systematic Theology is a large, fairly expensive book that often times is intimidating to laymen. 

But this first in a series of seven books is basically taking the text of the Systematic Theology and breaking it down into seven parts and making those parts available to serious students of the Bible. So, be aware that this is not "new" material, it is repackaging of "parts" of his work on Systematic Theology. 

That said this is a great introductory book to the series. It is relatively short yet is thorough in dealing with the topic of salvation. The chapters include discussions on Grace, Eletion and Reprobation, Regeneration, Justification, Sanctification and Baptism in and Filling with the Holy Spirit, just to name a few. Each chapter is well documented, easy to understand and great for small group discussion times. At the end of each chapter are "Questions for Personal Application." These questions can be used as discussion starters for a small group of learners. The book has 14 chapters so it could be used in a Sunday School setting or in an evening Bible Study time. 

I think that Zondervan has a good idea in repackaging this material to make it more attractive for small groups to use and go through. Grudem is a conservative Evangelical Christian who has provided many good texts to the Christian community. 

If you want to save a little bit of money you could buy his main text, "Systematic Theology" and know that you are getting the same material along with the complete rest of his Theological work. 

I highly recommend this material to serious students of the Bible and believe it will help you grow in your walk with Christ as you learn the main core of Christian Doctrine. 

Enjoy!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Lucky: How the Kingdom Comes to Unlikely People, By Glen Packiam

This review is submitted by my son Ryan.  He asked if he could post it for my friends to see.


You might not realize that a book simply called "Lucky" actually covers as much as this great book does. Reading "Lucky" made me recall my seminary days, as I rediscovered some of the essential truths about the Kingdom-focus of Jesus' message, something that we can so easily lose track of. For those who haven't been to Seminary, this book will be great exposure to parts of Jesus' message that, though often neglected, are essential to understanding God's work in creation. However, unlike my seminary professors, Packiam has the great ability to explain this simply and easily - without doing it any injustice.

More importantly, though, is that "Lucky" doesn't just expose its reader to lofty theological principals. Instead, it makes them real for our lives. Its main point is promise. There is so much to be hopeful for, so much to be grateful for - we are, after all, very lucky. Even if you are poor or lowly or rejected by the world's standards, God accepts you and blesses you. Further, being blessed - lucky - is a promise that changes the way we live. Since, the world's standards no longer matter, being lucky means that we can reject the world while still engaging it.

I recommend this warm and encouraging book. You will find it easy to read, but it is also deep and engaging. Most importantly, though, it teaches us directly from Scripture. "Lucky" reminds us of the central truths of Jesus message about the Kingdom, and those who belong in it (we, the unlikely).

*I recommend it both for individual reading or for a book study group. 



Ryan Curnutt