Die Young; burying your self in Christ, by Hayley and Michael Dimarco

Let me first say that Crossway Books sent me an Advance Proof of this book, it has not yet been released to the public.  I want to thank Crossway for making this available to me.

If you were to be told today that you had a week to live how would it change your life?  What would you do different?  Who would you talk to?  What projects would you finish?

Also, if you were told that you were going to die what would you do to try and avoid it?  Or change the outcome? Or maybe you might even feel sorry for yourself and start to go into depression.  No one wants to die, it's a strange thing, knowing that heaven waits for us, we still don't want to die and leave our loved ones behind.

The Dimarco's book looks at death, but it's death to self, not a physical death.  They take a radical stance regarding self death because frankly Jesus took a radical stance at self-death.  Jesus said, if you want to follow me,  then pick up your cross daily and follow me.  In other words, die daily and follow me.  Death is not easy, death is not fun, death is not a picnic, BUT, self-death is guaranteed to bring you freedom and happiness that you have never been able to imagine.

The opening comment from Hayley is, "At the moment that I died my life changed forever. . . " What an interesting statement.  Of course your life changes forever once you die.  But let's step away from the physical death and look at the self-death.  That type of death also will change your life forever.

Each chapter takes us through another aspect of the self-death.  This book is radical and the way it looks at the issue seems radical, but it is really thought provoking and good.  I have not marked up a book this much, nor written in the margins this much in a long time.

Here are the subjects of each chapter;
1.  Death is the New Life (Spiritual life comes out of our self-death)
2.  Down in the New Up  (Luke 14:11 sums it up, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted")  Are you willing to be humbled?  Are you willing to lead a humble simple life and not try and exalt yourself?
3.  Less is the New More (It's not those of us who have nothing but those of us who wish for more who are poor, Hayley & Michael Dimarco)  Hayley's personal story is that you had an idol in her heart, it was the idol of Shopping Therapy.  She discovered that buying is a drug.  Materialism is our downfall, we hoard when we should disengage and give away.
4. Weak is the New Strong, (bottom line, when we are weak HE is strong).  Here is an excellent quote from this chapter, "After a time we start to learn that passion doesn't equal strength, and our sinful nature rears its ugly head."  We live defeated lives because we are struggling with sin.  Admit your weak and seek the help of Him who is strong.
5.  Slavery is the New Freedom.  (would you rather be the slave or the master?)  In our culture we all believe that we need to be in control of our lives.  But the Dimarcos show us that it is actually more freeing to be a slave to the Master.  The Master gives us our marching orders.  The Master watches out for us.  The Master provides everything we need to do the task we have been called to.  So, it is freeing to be the slave rather than have all the struggles of being the master.

Well, you can see that each of those chapters, as well as two more, have lots of info that you will need to delve into.  The book will drive you to stop and meditate on scripture.  It will force you to admit that you haven't necessarily looked at scripture in a proper manner.  Each chapter has loads of scripture, stop, look them up, read them, write them out, pray them out and ask our Lord and Savior to drive those points home into your life and then start applying them.

Another neat feature of the book is that every few pages you stop and have a personal story (thought) from either Hayley or Michael about their lives and how their lives demonstrate the points they are trying to make.  These are very encouraging snapshots.  They are honest, and often times hit way to close to home for comfort.

At first I wasn't to sure that I was going to like this book.  But I must admit that it took me longer to get through it than normal, why?  Because I kept going back over and over the points they were making and looking at the scripture, writing notes and then asking the Lord, through prayer, to bring these lessons home into my life.

I can't wait for this book to hit the store shelves so that I can order ten of them and take my small group through it.

Thank you Crossway and Hayley and Michael for such a pertinent reminder of why we need to die to self and live for Christ.

Christian Apologetics Past & Present, Volume 2, 1500 to present day

In this second volume from Crossway Books we have biographies and writings from Christian Apologists from the 16th century to present day.  The book starts with Martin Luther and moves through to modern day Apologists such as Os Guiness.

The editors have put together brief biographies of those writers they are highlighting and then give us either an article they have written or a chapter out of one of their famous works.  The intent of the this work is to help every Christian learn more about those writers / theologians who have shaped our thinking in regards to Christianity.

This second volume is over 700 pages, so it is not a quick read, but it is an extensively researched and produced volume that will help everyone who works through it to learn more about the Early Church Fathers up to an including our most modern day thinkers.

Since it is a collection of writings you can pick and choose how you will read through the work.  You can first read about your favorites or read about Apologists you have heard about but have never read.  So, pick and choose the ones you want to start with, but don't ignore those you don't know, you will be encouraged by all of the depth of knowledge and wisdom these thinkers share with us.

Finally, it is hoped that as you become familiar with these scholars that you will want to read other works that they have penned or the full work from which the articles in this work are taken from.

What a valuable tool.

Enjoy!

The Meaning of Marriage; by Tim and Kathy Keller

Tim and Kathy Keller provide us a great resource for the Biblical Theology of Marriage. As a pastor of a church with a demographic of 80% single adults we find that Keller has a great opportunity and need to research and teach on the subject of marriage. His congregation obviously will be thinking about marriage and thinking about whether or not it is a cultural covenant or a Biblical covenant.

Keller bases his book on a series of messages that he first gave in 1991, but he has refined those messages over the years and delivered them many times. So, with the background of 37 years of marriage and the many years of counseling others and preaching about marriage he has a profound sense of what our culture, especially our Western Evangelical Church culture, needs to hear. He has taken his messages, refined them and added pertinent data from Christian and secular sources to provide us a great book.

Don't neglect to look at his bibliography and download some of the articles that he mentions in the book.

Each chapter builds on the previous one. Maybe the best chapter happens to be Chapter Six, Embracing the Other. It is written by Kathy and does a great job of defining the roles of men and women (husbands and wives) in the marriage relationship based on Ephesians 5. It is nice to hear from a woman's perspective how those roles are defined and best played out in marriage. Kathy gives good insights and lots of good information that I plan to incorporate into my pre-marital counseling situations.

Chapter seven deals with Singleness and is just as profound as chapter six on providing good and sometimes very new thoughts on how the Bible relates to marriage. Given the fact that Redeemer Church has 80% single adults this chapter is well researched, well written and comes with lots of experience behind it. This is a wonderful chapter. Chapter eight deals with the topic of sex and has great information.

This book is a must read for any couple thinking of marriage or for any Christian Counselor who is dealing with people and their marriage issues.

Finally, the best principle for me from the book was on page 168 when Keller states that the most powerful tool in any marriage partners arsenal is the gift of "Forgiveness!" That is absolutely true and something that many people forget about. If you have the ability to love your partner, forgive your partner and seek forgiveness from your partner you will succeed in marriage.

Well, enough said, stop reading reviews of the book and just buy it, you won't be disappointed.

Thinking. Loving. Doing. A Call to Glorify God with Heart and Mind

This is a good compliation of thoughts by several well know Christian writers / preachers. It is a short book but a profound book for all of us to read, understand, ponder and then put into action.

The goal of the book is to push us beyond the fact that the Christian Life is that of engaging the intellect. We also need to put into action that which we are reading. I think that the opening line in Thabiti Anyabwile's chapter sums this up, "The fullest expression of Christian living is a combination of head, heart and hands. In involves receiving truth through the head, which ignites new affections in the heart and flows out in action through the hands." To many of us are so busy gaining knowledge that we neglect to put what we learn into action.

In the first Chapter, Rick Warren mentions how he went to church on Sunday morning and in Sunday school was encouraged to take an application from the lesson. Then in service he got another application, then on Sunday night a third application from scripture and on Wednesday night a fourth application. He was so busy getting applications he was suppose to follow through on that he never had time to follow through. Does that sound like your church?

We need to follow Thabiti's thought and put the head knowledge into our heart and let it flow out through our hands as we take action to apply all that we are learning about scripture.

But further the book challenges us that we as Evangelical's in the West have lost the art of "Thinking." We critically think about what we read or learn. We don't delve into learning about God so that we can "Think" about who He is, what He does and what He desires His children to be doing. Christians today are not challenged to THINK. They are challenged to sit and listen to others who have supposedly done the thinking for them.

Rick Warren's chapter challenges us as Christians to become learners, to immerse ourselves in learning about God, to read continually, to saturate our minds with the things of God so that when we act we are acting out of a knowledge base of Biblical thought.

Art Mohler's chapter delves into the need to look at Worldviews, see how they have developed, why they have taken hold in our cultures and what we need to understand regarding them so that we can critically anyalsis and respond to them. We need to study not just our own Christian worldview but the worldview of others so that we can acknowledge and address them in a way that challenges them to look at Christianity to find the truth.

R.C. Sproul then takes us through a study of Philosophy and the Philosopher's of the past. He looks into what the early philosophers were thinking, how they pondered our world and cultures and why they came to the conclusions that they came to. He then works through Paul's address in Acts to the philosopher's regarding their statue to the 'unknown God.' He knew their thoughts and that they gathered everyday to dialogue about "what is new?" He brought them the answer to what is new and it was in the form of Jesus Christ. But to do so he had to study, learn, understand others thought processes and then see how Christianity fit into that mode of communication to help people come to understand Christ. Today we don't think that way.

The Thabiti gives us in his chapter a dilogue about encountering Islam with the Mind of Christ. It is a challenging chapter that will help you develop a critical mindset on how to approach our fellow humans who happen to follow the teaching of Mohammad.

Finally Francis Chan challenges our thinking and our lifestyle. His chapter sums up the problem and approaches us with a challenge of how are we going to live today.

This book is short, but very challenging. It will push you to want to "THINK" and learn and grapple with today's issues but then to take your Christianity, your faith, your love for Christ and want to love others enough to do something about sharing what you have learned so that they to can come to know the Savior.

This books is one that would be great to read as part of a book club and then talk through the lessons learned and then hold each other accountable for how you are going to put it into action.

Enjoy and Think while you read!

God's Grand Design; The Theological Vision of Jonathan Edwards

First of all I want to thank Crossway Books for sending a copy of this book seeking my thoughts via a review.

Sean Michael Lewis does a wonderful job of research and analysis of the preaching ministry of Jonathan Edwards. His years of teaching experience with this subject show in the way that he prepared and presented the material.

In today's culture and theology with it's resurgence of "preaching the Gospel from both the Old and New Testament" it is refreshing and reassuring to discover that Jonathan Edwards was preaching this way in his ministry long before today's resurgence. Edwards saw the Gospel as being previewed and painted in word pictures through the history of the Old Testament and the lives of the Patriarchs. He pulls the Gospel from Creation, from the story of Noah, the stories of Abraham and the nation of Israel, especially the exodus from Egypt and final settlement in the promised land. Edwards preaching of theology was solid and grounded in the Gospel. He was not a pioneer of that method, but he certainly was one who held the line and preached it well.

It was encouraging to know that with our modern day emphasis on the Gospel and how it is found in both the Old and New Testament I was pleasantly affirmed to know that the great Jonathan Edwards had walked this path before us.

This book is not an easy read, it will demand that you take your time, read it thoroughly and thoughtfully and then meditate on what you have read. Edwards is a figure that most of us have heard about, but we haven't studied much of his work. Instead we look at Calvin and Luther of John Moody and kind of skip over the era of the Puritans. But Lewis gives us a great gift in describing Edwards and his preaching. He extensively quotes Edwards and that reinforces the points that he is drawing us towards from the teaching ministry of Jonathan Edwards.

This is a book that every serious student of Theology should read. It will give you good understanding and encouragement of how a pastor daily thought about Theology, taught Theology through his sermons and lived it out in his life.

Enjoy!

25 Books that Every Christian Should Read, by Renovare ministry

This book reviews 25 important Christian books (according to the folks at Renovare') that will change your life. In the foreword Chris Webb asks, "Are there any definitive books every Christian should read, other than the Bible itself?" Then he goes on to answer that questions from the viewpoint of the staff at Renovare'. They feel that Christians need to be well read in their Bible, memorize scripture, study scripture and apply scripture. But they also feel that Christians need to be well read in the "Classics" of Christian thought as presented in the writings of wise saints, poets, thinkers and the early church fathers.

As such they have put this first book together to highlight what they feel are the 25 most important texts for us to read in conjunction with our Bible. The book will introduce you to each of the 25 books, their authors and give you a biography of that author and a synopsis of the book itself. They include excerpts from the books to whet your appetite for what you will find when you get your hands on the actual book.

Here is a sampling of the great Christian thinkers that they write about; St. Athanasius, St. Augustine, Thomas a Kempis, Brother Lawrence, G.K. Chesteron, etc. etc. This book lives up to one of the main claims in the introduction. It serves as a handbook to have beside you as you read the great works by these authors. It gives you good information and help in knowing what it is you are about to delve into.

One other point to make, the committee wants to make it perfectly clear that these books will change your life. BUT, they are not just easy reads. They are books that you must dig into, you must read and read again to catch the truths contain in them. They are scholarly works that demand attentive reading. 

I can't really say a lot more about how wonderful this guide book is. If you are truly interested in the great thinkers of Christianity then this is a wonderful guide book that you MUST have in your library.

Enjoy!

Walking in the Spirit, by Dr. Kenneth Berding

Dr. Kenneth Berding gives us a very readable and useable booklet on the Power of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He is a professor of New Testament at Talbot Seminary. He spends time with students dialoguing about their walk with Christ, their lives with the Holy Spirit and how they have a tendency to not understand how the Holy Spirit in their life is their source of power.

I thought that Chapter three was extremely well written for our culture today. Using the premise of a discussion with a student who just didn't feel that the Holy Spirit provided any real power to help him overcome sin, Dr. Berding gives us some solid writing on why we might feel that way. In using Romans 8 as his main thesis he delves into different subjects about the Holy Spirit. In Chapter three it is whether or not the Holy Spirit provides us the ability to just say 'no' to sin but only if we are saying 'no' by the Spirit. What he means is this, if you want to get a handle on your sin life it is not just simply saying no to sin, but it is saying through the power of the Holy Spirit, no to sin and yes to putting that sin to death. What does it mean to 'put it to death?' Page 48, "So, to put to death really means to render ineffective, something that might need to be done again and again. Just remember, though, putting to death the deeds of the body is active. There is no passivity here."

Chapter four deals with how we are lead by the Spirit. Often times we acknowledge that the Holy Spirit lives in our lives (if we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior) but we don't allow the Holy Spirit to actually lead us. In this chapter Dr. Berding gives us good advice on how to let the Holy Spirit lead. How to know when the Spirit is leading and how to get out of the way and to allow the Spirit to take charge.

This little booklet is a great commentary on the 8th Chapter of Romans and will provide you with very practical information that you can put to use. For me the one verse that really stuck out was Romans 8:9, "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him." This was a sobering thought as I dwelt on it. If I have students who don't feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, or they don't think the Holy Spirit gives them power to overcome sin the I have to ask them this question, "are you actually a follower of Jesus Christ?" Because if they are a follower of Christ they should be experiencing a deep and growing relationship with the Holy Spirit.

This little booklet with it's dialogue questions at the end of each chapter will give you a good tool for leading a small group discussion on the value and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Enjoy!

Jesus + Nothing = Everything, by Tullian Tchividjian

Tchividjian addresses what many of us are experiencing who have been followers of Christ for a long time, we keep adding things to the Gospel. Why do we do that? Because as Tchividjian points out on page 37, "identify where your restlessness is rooted--because that's where a confrontation with the gospel is needed.". What he is talking about is that we add to the Gospel to attempt to resolve the restlessness that we feel with life.

The Gospel is Christ crucified and resurrected. It is not Jesus plus running an orphanage. Nor is it Jesus plus feeding the homeless. Nor is it Jesus plus abiding by a set of our own moralistic rules. No, everything we need is just Jesus and only Jesus. it isn't that good works are bad, it's just they don't bring us salvation. That is through Christ alone and His work on the cross)

When we add to the Gospel we are adding our own idols ofnthe heart. Tchividjian does a wonderful job giving us many quotes from Godly men to remind us that it is the idols of our hearts that are our ruin;

Augustine, "God, you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

Martin Luther, "whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God."

John Calvin famously said that all our hearts are idol-making factories.

Tullian Tchividjian, "idolatry is simply trying to build our identity on something besides God."

As a conflict coach for Peacemaker ministry I find myself captivated by Tchividjians thoughts and premises. He is so correct that we humans strive to find fulfillment and pleasure and meaning through the Gospel, but if it doesn't quite fit in our box, we add to it to make it fit. We add to it so our own pleasures are satisfied.

I agreed with Tchividjian that my problem was seeking to please people more than seeking to please God. By trying to please people you tend to water down the Gospel. You remove the rough edges so they will like it. But some of Christianity is difficult and we can not avoid it. We must seek to serve Him and Him only.

I recommend this book to all Christians who are struggling with restlessness in their hearts. They will find answers to their questions if they approach this read with an open heart and soul and mind. Jesus is all we need and after reading this book you will better understand why Jesus + Nothing = Everything.

I do want to thank Crossway books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

God bless you and enjoy reading and thinking!

What is the Mission of the Church? by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert

Any industry asks the question, "what is our mission?" That is the driving concept that businesses build their product line, service department and advertising around. Those companies that understand their mission and develop well grow. Those companies that don't understand their mission and don't develop it well do not succeed and eventually close their doors. Hallmark understands the greeting card business, McDonald's understands the fast food hamburger business and they have been successful.

So, why is it that the church doesn't seem to understand it's mission? Why is it that the church doesn't plan and develop their ministries to articulate and pursue it's mission? Why do we often get sidetracked into other areas of business that are not our true mission? If McDonald's started selling computers at their same site as fast food we would wonder what they are thinking. it's not necessarily wrong for them to diversify, but it would seem that they should stay in the food business not go into technology.

So, with the church, What is our Mission? Is it to just Shepherd the people that we already have? Is it go provide social services to the poor? Is it to stand up for Justice for the poor? Is it to stand up for immigration rights for those seeking a better lifestyle?

All those things are good and not necessarily bad for the church to be involved in, but they are not the main mission of the church. So, what is the main mission of the church. On page 69 DeYoung and Gilbert give their capsule summary, "then it should not surprise us in the least that Jesus would end his earthly ministry by telling his disciples, 'You will be my witnesses' (Acts 1:8). It shouldn't be surprising that he would launch them into history with the command, 'Go . . . and make disciples' (Matt. 28:19). After all, that's exactly how the great riddle is solved: sinful people are brought into God's presence by becoming disciples of Jesus through faith and repentance, and they can do that only through the witness of the apostles as they proclaim the good news about who Jesus is, what he has done, and how we should respond as a result."

The mission of the church is found through our study of the Bible. "It is a fourfold story that we find in the Bible. 1) Creation, 2) Fall, 3) Redemption and 4) Consummation." (see page 68 DeYoung and Gilbert are going to develop their summation and their concept of the fourfold story of the Bible throughout this book. Their desire is for the layman as well as the paid profession pastor to understand that the mission of the church is to be witnesses of Jesus and Jesus crucified. We need to teach the Bible strongly and not water down the principles and applications that we find. We are not to become just a social service agency, we are to stay a people committed to passionately declare the Glory of God through the story of the Bible and help people find their way to God through understanding the ministry of Jesus.

The author's will also be careful to remind us that as we get our mission correct and preach the Gospel correctly that people will come to know the Lord, join the Church universal and then change their lifestyles to conform to Christ. That change of lifestyle will mean that people will want to do community service, they will want to give to the poor, they will want to stand up for social justice and other issues, but they will do it as an offshoot of their main mission which is to preach Christ and preach Him crucified. To explain to people the mission of the Gospel as told through the Bible.

I appreciated the fact that DeYoung and Gilbert make it clear up front (page 25) that, "this is not a book by and for biblical or theological scholars," instead it is written clearly enough for laypeople as well as the theologically astute. Their goal was further stated on page 23 as, "we want Christians to understand the story line of the Bible and think more critically about specific texts within this story." I think that is well done in their book. They have not written this as Theological tome but they have written it clearly enough for all to understand but they still want us to THINK CRITICALLY about what we read and what the Bible has to say.

So, tackle this book with the desire to delve into your Bible and think through all that is stated. You might not agree with all they say, but if you think critically you will grow, you will learn and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you as to what you should be learning.

God bless and enjoy!

The Tehran Initiative, by Joel Rosenberg

In this second of three books regarding the end times for Israel in regards to her struggle with her neighbors in the Middle East Joel Rosenberg again shows that he can combine the headlines from today with scripture from the Holy Bible and predict with uncany accuracy what the headlines will read in the near future.

The Tehran Inititative picks up where The Twelfth Iman left off. If you have not read The Twelfth Iman you should really consider reading it first so that you will understand the flow of this middle book in what will be a triology. The Twelfth Iman is making inroads in pulling all of the nations of the Middle East together into one Caliphate that will group together to destroy the Little Satan (Israel) and the Big Satan (the United States).

The Twelfth Iman is the Messiah of the Muslim world. He has come to set up a new Kingdom that will control the entire world and bring a one world government that will change the course of the world economy as well as bring the proper religion (Muslim, Shariah Law) into place. The people of the Muslim world are flocking to the Twelfth Iman, but their national leaders are a little more skeptical. But they are turning to him one by one and building the alliance.

The Christian community on the other hand sees the Twelfth Iman as the predicessor to End Times Theology. The ushering in of the False Prophet and the Anit-Christ. So, we have a classic conflict of religious authorities that is taking place.

On one side is Israel and the U.S. and on the other side is the Muslim world. The question is, will the CIA be able to effectively inflitrate Iran and the Twelfth Iman's ruling group or will they fail and plunge the world into a war that will see nuclear destruction as it has never been seen before.

Will the U.S. and Israel remain partners or will the U.S. back away from Israel and leave them to face their fate on their own?

As usual to a Rosenberg book it starts out with a policital disaster. The Twelfth Iman's group attempts to assinate the President of the United States, The President of Egypt and the Prime Minister of Israel in one terrorist attack. They are partially successful. This starts the tensions building and the showdown begins between Israel and Iran, between Israel and the United States and also between Iran and the CIA. Who will come out on top? Will the world come to an end?

As usual, a second book in a triology brings answers to the first book but then leaves questions unanswered that will be finalized in the third book. 

But this book is a page turner. Once you start it you won't want to put it down. I guarantee that you will enjoy this read if you enjoy political end times thrillers.

Enjoy!

Forever: Why You Can Live Without It, by Paul Tripp

Paul Tripp again delivers a book that is not only readable but it is highly relevant to our culture today.  We are a culture that is motivated to cram as much into our day as possible and if necessary go to work.  We work so that we have the money to do the things that we really want to do.

But as our culture gets more involved we are finding that the soccer moms are more stressed out than ever.  They spend their day, cleaning, doing laundry, taking the kids to school, soccer practice, ballet lessons, piano lessons, after school events, church events and then family events.  By the end of the day or the end of the week everyone falls into bed totally exhausted to grab a few hours sleep before starting the routine again.

Why do we do that?

In “Forever” Tripp is trying to help us sort out why we do what we do and what is the meaning of life for each of us.  He believes that Christians have especially lost sight of ‘Forever.’  We are supposed to live our lives with the hope of Eternity in our hearts.  If that is true why don’t we slow down enough to look at our lives and ask this question, “What impact does this event have on eternity?”

Now granted some events have little or no impact on eternity yet God is happy we do them because they bring joy to our present life.  But often times we strive to gain more money to buy more things to impress more people when with eternity in mind they have no impact on our Eternal Life.

Many people today are seeing counselors because they can’t say no.  Or they don’t see any value in their lives.

Dr. Tripp wants us to stop and ask this question, “What did God have in mind for us when he planted the hope of Eternity in our hearts?”  Wasn’t it to give us some perspective of what value we ought to place on present day activities?

My favorite chapters in his book were;

Chapter 2, “The Pack-it-all-in Mentality”

Chapter 7, “Hope Can’t Live Without Forever”

Chapter 8, “Suffering is Harder When You Have No Forever”

Chapter 9, “Forever and Your Relationships”

For me the most impacting was Chapter 8, “Suffering is Harder When You Have No Forever.”  I think Dr. Tripp does a great job of helping us to understand why bad things happen to good people and then to further understand why some people handle suffering better than others.  With the hope of “Forever” in your heart you can see that present day suffering pales in comparison to our Eternal Future with the Lord.  It helps us to have a different outlook on life.

This book is going to be one of the best tools you can put in your library to help you in processing today’s hectic lifestyle with our hope for the future.

The King Jesus Gospel, by Scot McKinight

In this new book from Scot McKnight he tackles his belief that the modern church has gone on to loose the Gospel Message by going off 'mission' and just focusing on "Personal Salvation." He has a good point. For many people the idea of the Gospel is to lead people to salvation. But then what? They often times just stop there, excited that another soul has been added to The Kingdom. But where is the follow up? Where does discipleship come in to play? What really is the Great Commission? Is it to lead people to personal salvation or is it to teach people to obey 'all' that I have commanded?

I think that McKnight does a good job of hitting on the point that he is trying to drive home. His chart on page 30 sums it up well;

The Members The Decided The Discipled

Where do you fit? What do you think the Gospel pushes? Is the church only about community / membership or does it go beyond that to include leading people to Christ, personal salvation, in other words The Decided. It is McKnights contention that the modern church gets people to be part of the Decided group but then doesn't bother with helping them to become The Discipled.

The Gospel is about the story of Jesus Christ! It is about why the Son of God had to come to earth and take on the form of man and die on a cross and then be resurrected from the dead. It is about atonement, sacrifice, obedience, etc. etc. etc.

Don't let your Gospel message just be, "Everyone needs to hear about Salvation." Make sure your Gospel message is the true message of the Bible, God's word, God's desire. Make sure it includes 'teaching them to obey all that I have commanded.'

There is quite a bit more that McKnight touches on, but this is the basic premise. Be sure the Gospel Message you preach goes beyond Personal Salvation to include discipleship.

Enjoy!

The Beginning and End of Wisdom, by Douglas Sean O'Donnell

First of all I would like to thank Crossway Publishing for sending me a copy of this book to review and place on my blog.  God bless you Angie and my other friends at Crossway.

What a unique and wonderful collection of sermons regarding the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament.  Douglas O’Donnell gives us six sermons from the Wisdom literature.  He preaches the first and last chapters of three different books, Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes.

The seventh chapter is, “How Shall Wisdom Be Preached?” and is included to help the lay person and pastor evaluate how they will approach the study of wisdom literature and then communicate it to their listeners in an appropriate way.  This is the practical chapter and is well written and helps us see how Christ used the wisdom literature to convey New Testament truths to His listeners.

O’Donnell has two goals in the writing of this book.  “1) To help you know and enjoy the Wisdom Literature so that you might preach on it more often; and 2) to show you how to preach Christ from this genre.”  I believe that he accomplishes his goal.  The first six chapters handle his first goal and the seventh chapter and the Appendixes handle the second goal.

I believe that not only are his two goals met, but I think there are two benefits that the reader will get from this book.  Benefit #1 is that you will be encouraged and challenged by the sermons in the first six chapters.  Benefit #2 you will find tools that are helpful in your study and understand of the Wisdom Literature and how they relate to the New Testament.

This is a quick read, if you want it to be.  But it is a long read if you take the time to digest all that is said, all that is developed and then you seriously apply the principles that you will learn about teaching the Wisdom Literature.

Both laymen and Pastors will benefit from this short work and find that it is not overly academic, but instead, highly practical and encouraging.

Enjoy!

All is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir, by Brennan Manning

If you are at all familiar with Brennan Manning and his speaking and writing then you are going to be highly interested in this book on his life. For seventy seven years Manning has walked this earth and lived a life dedicated to the Lord. But he has also lived a life that has been bound by sin, overcome by grief and weighed down by character flaws. In other words, he is a sinner saved by Grace. 

If the Apostle Paul were here today I believe he would write a book very similar to Brennan's memoirs. The two of them would stand side by side and probably debate who was the greater sinner, Paul or Brennan. But if we are all honest we could join that debate. 

Brennan does not hold back any of the truth. He lets us see his life in all it's beauty and all it's ugliness. As a young boy troubled by his mothers reaction to his birth and childhood he carries those pains into his adult life. He has an absolutely amazing experience with our Lord at the age of twenty-two. He is overcome by the power of Christ's love and forgiveness. His life is changed and he strives to tell others about how Christ wants us to live our lives. 

But he also confesses to the fact that even though he was a sought after speaker he would leave the conferences and spend days holed up in a hotel room and drinking himself blind. He would then pull himself together and travel to the next venue and speak again. Now, this wasn't his whole life, he wasn't always bound by drink. But it came back again and again and again. 

Manning shares about his love for Christ, his love for the priesthood, his love of his wife, his love of his friends and most of all his love for God's words and actions that allow a sinner such as he to be assured of salvation and a place in Glory for eternity. 

I was amazed that when I sat down to read this book I couldn't stop. I had to keep reading. I had to hear the story of how a sinner handles his sin while serving his Lord. When I finished I realized that I had read the whole book in one sitting. That's how much it captured me. It helped that I was at home with a cold and didn't have anywhere else to go. But still the writing is excellent, the topic captivating and our Lord and Savior is amazing. 

Beware though, this book may be difficult to read if you have loved Manning's talks and writings and have idolized him in the past. This will definitely knock him off the pedestal but it will put Christ right up on it where He belongs. 

Enjoy!

The Hardest Sermons You'll Ever Have to Preach, By Dr. Bryan Chapell

Dr. Bryan Chapell has put together a wonderful collection of essays from well known established Pastors who often are called upon to preach the tough sermons at funerals that have devastated a family, a church or a community. How do we as faithful Pastors respond in such times of crisis? How do we write and preach sermons that will be tools in the Redeemer's Hands to bring comfort and care, show empathy and compassion, and yet preach the Gospel in all situations? 

The books is broken down into five sections, they are; 

Part One: Preaching in Response to Tragedy 
Part Two: Preaching after the loss of a child 
Part Three: Preaching funerals with Especially Difficult Causes or Circumstances 
Part Four: Preaching funerals for Public figures 
Part Five: Preaching after Suicide 

Then there are three Appendixes to help the pastor deal with putting together these sermons and helping families to cope with the stresses they are facing. 

Within the Five Categories listed above there are twenty-five chapters written by people such as John Piper, Bryan Chapell, Tim Keller, Michael Horton and others. The combined wisdom of these men and the years they have spent in preparing and teaching these difficult sermons gives them a unique perspective and they provide us with guidance that is difficult to find almost anywhere. 

If you Shepherd a Flock of any type you will eventually be faced with a difficult crisis. I'm convinced that this will be the first reference book that you will reach for when you sit down to start writing that sermon that you desire to bring hope and healing to your congregation. 

I want to thank Dr. Chapell for putting this together and believe he has given a very valuable gift to the Body of Christ. 

Enjoy!

The Hardest Thing to Do, by Penelope Wilcock

First of all I want to thank Crossway Books for sending me an advance copy of this book to read and review.  I am grateful to them for this and was profoundly blessed by Penelope Wilcock's latest novel.

The Hardest Thing to Do is the fourth book in "The Hawk and the Dove" series.  It follows one week after book three has left off.  The St. Alcuin monastery is awaiting their new Abbott, Father John who will be replacing the recently departed Abbott Peregrine.  So, this is a story of transition.  It is a time for the monastery to welcome a new leader, to have some new beginnings, to celebrate the previous ministry of a faithful Abbott and to ask God's blessing on the new ministry of the new Abbott.

St. Alcuin is know for it's grace, mercy and peace that it bestows on any visitor that happens to need a place to stay.  It is also a loving community that is faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and loves the people of the areas surrounding their monastery.  It is a vibrant place with a great new group of young men who have entered the monastery and are learning the ways of the Monks.

But not only is this going to be a time of transition for the monastery but it will be a time of learning for them as well.  While they have done a great job of growing in Christ they are still needing to learn.  This shows itself in that when they hear the news that St. Dunstan's has burned down many of the Monks are grateful that those at this spiteful monastery have died and will cause no more trouble.  This takes Abbott John by surprise.  They should not be joyful over the death of other Monks or the lost of a monastery.  But it is true that that community treated others very poorly and took advantage of the people who lived around the monastery.  Also their Abbot Prior William was no friend to Abbott Peregrine and actually abused him verbally on many occasions.  So, good riddance to him.

But then the news comes that there is a traveler at their door who is seeking assylum.  It turns out to be Abbott William, the man that many at St. Alcuin's dispise.  He is seeking refuge in their monastery as no other monastery or community will give him refuge.  His hands and arms are badly burned and need tending to and he just needs a quiet place to live.

The turmoil this request will invoke is amazing.  Immediately Abbott John finds himself at odds with the majority of Monks in his monastery.  He wants to be loving and provide a place for William to heal and to also grow.  But the others want nothing to do with him (almost all the others, there are three who agree with John).

This sets up the novel to weave the story of how a group of Monks will have to come to terms with their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and their belief in grace, mercy, peace and love.  How will it be lived out?  How will they respond?  How will the Lord reach each of them and help them on their journey?  Oh, and what will happen with the hated Abbott William?

Wilcock does a wonderful job of weaving the story, building each of the characters and addressing so many of the hurts that many of us carry with us.  She will show how forgiveness and love can overcome bitterness and hatred.  If you have ever thought of being involved in Peacemaking Ministry this book will give you a great example of what is involved and how it is a difficult ministry but highly rewarding.

I completely enjoyed this book and found myself underlining so many nuggets of truth that I forgot that I was reading a novel and not reading a true story about the loving work of Jesus Christ.  I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did and learn as much as I did about what our response to difficult circumstances ought to me.

Thank you Penelope for this wonderful work of love.

Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl

I was reading a counseling book on the "Search for Meaning" and in the introduction Dr. Gary Collins stated, 'For a number of years Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning was required reading for all incoming freshmen at a Christian Liberal Arts college where I taught.' The statistics showed that students who read this book upon entering college did better in their academic life because it helped prepare them to understand what their true desire in life was. 

So, before I finished that book I purchased this book and read it. I was amazed at all of the lessons that are taught, all of the theories that made sense and the purpose that it gives towards the work of a counselor that was so practical. 

The first half of the book talks about Fankl's time spent in a Nazi prison camp. He talked about how there was only a 1 in 28 chance that the prisoner would survive the camp. Most either died from disease or malnutrition or they were sent to the ovens where they died. Many more died by their own hand. Their lack of hope for a future drove them to suicide. 

Frankl took his observations of human nature and the experience in the war camps to think through the best way to provide counseling for people who are stressed, anxious, depressed, etc. The counseling he came up with is called 'Logotherapy.' He states that "Logo" is a Greek word which denotes, "meaning," and therapy is the method used to help people learn to deal with their neuroses. 

So, 'Logotherapy' focuses on the future, that is to say, on the meanings to be fulfilled by the patient in his future. In other words, what is the meaning of life for the individual that is being counseled. As a counselor you must remember that the meaning of life for each of your patients will differ. There is not one easy answer that works for everyone. Each person is different. One of Frankl's favorite quotes is from Nietzche and it is, "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." The point of that statement is that people can endure any suffering, any disease, any hard life lesson if they know that they have a reason to live for. 

This is why a patient with cancer may beat all the odds, in other words, he is told he has only two months to live, but because he desires to see his child graduate from college he might actually live for 9 more months until that accomplishment is fulfilled and then the person takes a turn for the worse and dies. There was meaning for life, so life was lived. 

The second half of Fankl's book expresses his thoughts on why Man's Search For Meaning is so powerful and so necessary for each person. The subject is not fully discussed, this is a summary of his overall therapy method and learning. But it gives you a great introduction to what he believes is a good therapy format. 

After reading through this short book I can see why Dr. Collins and others felt that this was a good book for college freshman to read. The statistics gathered by George Barna were that upon entering college when asked what they hoped to accomplish, students answered 84% of the time that they wanted to find the meaning for their lives. The other 16% stated they wanted to gain a degree to earn more money and satisfy their desires. 

So, let's help our students and others learn more about the meaning for their lives. From a Pastor's point of view I was amazed at how well Viktor Frankl's thoughts weave right into Holy Scripture and are so pertinent. 

I think all serious students will gain much insight from this short work. 

Enjoy!

Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?, by C. John Collins

Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?

By, C. John Collins

The subtitle for this book gives us a quick glimpse as to why this book was written.  It states, “Who they were and why you should care!”  There has been a real controversy lately that revolves around the aspect that Adam and Eve were not real people but instead are figurative / symbolic of humankind.

Should it matter to us whether they were real or symbolic?  YES!  There are very solid reasons why it is important that Adam and Eve were real historical people whom God created as the first man and woman.

The book of Genesis reads as though they are real people, not just figurative.  God gives them life and they have personality.  God gives them instruction and they learn from walking in the garden with God.  God gives them free will and they take that free will and abuse the privilege by eating of the fruit that was forbidden.

Bottom line, they sinned!  Through their sin all mankind to follow will enter this life in a state of fallen sinfulness. 

Maybe the best way to help you understand this books intent is to quote the beginning of Chapter 6, “Conclusions.”  C. John Collins states, “What I think I have shown;  I do not claim to have solved every problem or to have dealt with every possible objection.  But I trust I have shown why the traditional understanding of Adam and Eve as our first parents who brought sin into human experience is worthy of our confidence and adherence.  It does justice to specific Biblical texts, and suits the Biblical story line, with its notions of representation and covenantal inclusion; it also provides a meaningful explanation for everyday experience.  It is the view articulated or presupposed in Genesis, in Paul, and, above all, in the Gospel presentation of Jesus.  The alternatives are less satisfactory, and possibly even disastrous, on all these counts.”

Collins accomplished that conclusion in the text of the book.  His chapters headings are as follows;

Chapter 1, Introduction

Chapter 2, The Shape of the Biblical Story

Chapter 3, Particular texts that speak of Adam and Eve

Chapter 4, Human Uniqueness and Dignity

Chapter 5, Can Science Help us pinpoint “Adam and Eve?”

Chapter 6, Conclusions

Collins takes a good bit of time taking about the book of Genesis.  He then traces the references to Adam and Eve through the Old Testament.  He follows that by addressing how the Apostle Paul viewed Adam and Eve in his epistles and also had Jesus referred to Adam and Eve through his teachings as shown in the Gospels.

Further there is some reference to Adam and Eve drawn from Revelation to give us kind of the bookends of the Bible.  Genesis starts with Adam and Eve and Revelation sums up why God had to do what He did to bring mankind back to a place where the sin of Adam and Eve has been dealt with and man can now live a life free of sin.

Chapter 5, Can Science Help us pinpoint “Adam and Eve” starts out by referring to the crux of debate that has happened.  That crux is that scientist believe that human DNA “points to a population of several thousand people from whom all humans have descended, not just two.”

Collins will work through that discussion and draw on the material he has laid out in the first four chapters of his book to express why he doesn’t believe that is an appropriate belief.

If you are going to deal with any people who question the reality of Adam and Eve or who question that the Bible really addresses them as historical accurate figures rather than just symbolic figures used for the sake of story, then you need to read this book.

C. John Collins does a good job of giving us well thought out logical material to help us lead our ‘skeptic’ friends to further understand their Bibles and see the true storyline that God has woven through history and that He shows us in His Word.

Enjoy!

Why O God? Suffering & Disability in the Bible and Church

Here is another great book put out by Crossway.  The editor is Larry J. Waters.  Below is my review;

This new book from Crossway is one that every Pastor of Pastoral Care or every Pastor of Disabled Ministries is going to need to purchase and keep on hand. The essays are amazing. They are not so much academic in nature as they are personal and practical in nature. 

Each of those contributing to the book have either dealt with their own disability (Joni Erickson Tada) or are the care giver for someone who is disabled (Gregory Hatteberg for his wife Lisa). Their experiences give them a platform from which to write with passion, grace, understanding and insight. Each of the authors also comes from a very deep Biblical Commitment to the truth of God's word and the truth of God's love for His creation, man. 

I think one of the major things that struck me was the love each of these people has for their spouses. Often times you find the author referring back to the marriage vows that were taken when they first married. Those vows of in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better or worse. . . . these vows really come home to people who have a spouse who is dealing with a disability. They see how those vows are important. They are a commitment that they made before God and need to be fulfilled. When God made vows with man he made a commitment to always fulfill those vows, His Covenants were promises that were and are always fulfilled. 

The statistics that get pointed out often are that many spouses abandoned or divorce their disabled spouse because it is too difficult to deal with. This is not what they signed up for. But low and behold the authors remind us that no, really, this is what they signed up for. This is how they will show the world the Love of Christ, how they respond to this crisis and to their loved one. 

Further the book gives many practical suggestions to us the church about how we should minister to the disabled. How we should treat the handicapped. How we need to be careful that we don't treat these people as though they are broken or sinful or (can I really say this) dumb. Yeah, several times it is pointed out that we at times treat the handicapped as though they don't have any IQ or cognitive abilities. That is not always the case. So there are good practical notes for us to take as we develop our ministries and reach out to our communities. 

One last major section that I appreciated was the discussion often to us about the Biblical aspect of Suffering. How do we respond to people who are in pain? How do we respond to people who are disabled? How do we answer their honest questions of, WHY ME? 

How do you help people to move past the bitterness and anger at God and help them to honestly see the blessings and gifts that God has given to them. I really think the best chapter for me was Chapter Five. Gregory Hatteberg tells of the terrible development in his marriage with Lisa when they discovered that she had MS. She gave birth to four fabulous children and had a husband who was in Seminary and wanting to go into ministry. What would the MS do to their dreams. Well, you need to read it for yourself. But Gregory's selfless love for his wife and family are the things that we Pastors wish we would see in all couples who get married in our churches. 

Well, I have gone on to long. Do you realize by now that I loved this book? I think we all need to read it, think about it, and gain all of the insights we can from it. If nothing else please learn about how God wants you to keep the VOWS that you make. 

God bless and Enjoy!