The Man Christ Jesus (Theological Reflections on the Humanity of Christ) by Bruce Ware

First of all I would like to thank Crossway Books for providing this book to me in exchange for a review.  I appreciate their reviewers program and have almost always been pleased with the products they publish.

Dr. Bruce Ware's book on the Man Christ Jesus is a wonderful new book that looks at the Divinity and the Humanity of Christ and how those combined to bring to mankind the needed Messiah, the perfect Sacrifice to pay for the penalty of our sins.

Most books when they look at this subject tend to dwell on the Divinity of Christ as that seems the most important fact to uphold and explain how Jesus was truly the Son of God and the second member of the trinity.  In doing that they dwell on Divinity and often don't write or defend the thesis very well as to the humanity of Jesus.

Dr. Ware wrote this book to explore and express the truth about the humanity of Christ Jesus.  The book gives what I believe is the best defense theologically for the humanity of Christ and the necessity of that humanity to fully satisfy the payment for the penalty of our sins.  Also the books gives great insight in to how important it is for us to understand that Christ Jesus was truly a man who lived in a human body and was tempted by all of the things that tempt mankind.  The difference between Jesus and us is that he lived his human life without sinning!  How is that possible?

Dr. Ware takes great care to develop the fact that Christ Jesus was able to live a perfect sinless life because he walk in union with the Holy Spirit and depended on the Holy Spirit to give him the strength and guidance to live such a life.

Would it be possible for us to also live a sinless life?  Well our sinful human nature makes that impossible, because in Adam we have all sinned.  But in theological terms yes we could if we were truly dependent on the Holy Spirit for complete guidance in all of our life situations.  The problem is that no one ever gives fully over the Holy Spirit every situation, because sin is satisfying to our decaying human sinful flesh.

Do we have the power of the Holy Spirit?  Yes.  Does the Holy Spirit live in us?  Yes, if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ and accepted his substitutionary payment for our sin on the cross.

So, Dr. Ware asks this question, "Why don't we depend more on the Holy Spirit?"  That is a great question and each of us will have to answer that on our own.

There are many other details that Dr. Ware delves into regarding the Divinity and Humanity of Christ Jesus.  But I was so pleased with his approach of looking mainly at the humanity side and giving us such good teaching on why the Son of God had to be a man and also be God.

I would recommend this book for every pastor and layman.  You will enjoy it and it will become one of the favorite books in your library.

Thank you Dr. Ware for such a timely and masterfully written text.

Every Good Endeavor: by Timohy Keller

Tim Keller has given us another excellent resource. In my 40 years of ministry I have done lots of things, one of those was operate the Job Training Program for an inner city ministry. We had a ten week Theology of Work (written by Dr. Keith Phillips) course that we took our young people through and then helped them to find good employment opportunities.

Until now I have not found a book on the Theology of work that I felt did an adequate job with the subject. Keller's book handles it well, documents the Biblical principles and gives a good practical application for all that he is discussing.

Do you feel as though you have a "job" or a "calling"? That is one of the questions asked by Keller. Most of the time people think of a "calling" as being something a Pastor / missionary / professional Christian worker has from God. But Keller does a great job of reminding us that God put work in place as something for all of us, and it is a "GOOD" thing. Thus we are all "called" by God to do our work in a way that pleases Him and brings honor and glory to His name.

God gives each of us talent and intellect. He gives each of us a "calling" to the work that we do. As such we need to be asking other questions such as, how can I bring honor and glory to God through my daily work? How can I share God with others through my daily work? How will my attitude at work actually be a positive witness to others about my walk with God.

Keller's book is wonderful. It would be a great book for small groups to read together and then discuss. I would recommend that it would even be a great book for you to read, place on your desk at work and see if it will generate discussions with co-workers about your belief that God gave us work as a "good" think not as a punishment.

I believe everyone will benefit from this book.

Enjoy!

Church Planter, by Darrin Patrick

I think what I most enjoyed about Darrin Patrick's work is his description in part one of the book about "The Man" that is called to be a church planter / leader / pastor.  In seven chapters he goes through the character traits and qualifications of what a man needs to possess to be an effective church planter / leader.  His topics range from the "Rescued Man" to the "Shepherding Man."  He gives very good descriptions for you to dwell on as well as good practical advice for what it means to be a Shepherd / leader of your flock.

The second section of the book is "The Message" and deals with the importance of the Gospel.  The importance of having the correct message, well established and not watered down to be satisfying to all people.  The Gospel is a difficult message and sometimes harsh.  The Church Planter must be courageous in delivering the message to those that need to hear it.  They can not faint in the face of opposition.  There will be people who want them to soft peddle the Bible to make it more palatable for the hearers.  But the Church Planter needs to know the Truth, teach the Truth, and live out the Truth in their life.

Finally his last section deals with The Mission and gives very good advice and exposition of the task at hand and how when done well the task will transform the community, the culture and eventually the world.

All men thinking of going into Pastoral Ministry should read this book.  They should delve into it, make it a part of their life, add it to their collection of good books to have on their shelf and to refer to often.

I read this for an assignment with a group here at church.  By adding it to the books, Biblical Eldership and The Shepherd Leader I think it gives you just what you need to have a well rounded discussion of what it means to be "Called" into the Pastorate and what you will need to understand to be able to guide God's people through the turmoil of today's culture.

Enjoy!

The Shepherd Leader by Timothy Witmer

Timothy Witmer does a great job in this book describing his view of what a "Shepherd Leader" ought to be. There may be some that thinks he takes to long to get to the point, or that he is working to hard to "re-describe" the role of a Leader, but if you work your way through the entire text you will not be disappointed as it all comes together for a complete and well documented discussion of how Leaders need to be Leading their church.

I found the book the most helpful and interesting book on Shepherd Leadership that I have read in recent years. Witmer's thesis is that the church is experiencing a crisis of "Leadership." He will document what he believes the crisis is and then do a good job of working through what he believes is a "Biblical" answer to the crisis. His further premise is that "The Fundamental responsibility of church leaders is to Shepherd God's Flock."

So, what does it mean to Shepherd? That is a topic he handles well and uses many good resources from Keller's work on the 23rd Psalm to Tim Laniak's work on "They Smell Like Sheep." Those works gave us a good introduction to what it means to be a Shepherd and why sheep need a Shepherd. Witmer goes into that deeply and even further into why doing a poor job of shepherding is so damaging to the church today.

He will address the topics that Jesus taught when he accused the Rabbi's of being poor shepherds. Do those same conditions hold true for today's pastorate? The answer is, YES. Why is that true? Well Witmer will lack out the argument and give you the answer in a clearly written work.

Witmer divides the book into three Sections;
Section One: Biblical and Historical Foundations
Section Two: So What' a Shepherd to Do? (A comprehensive Matrix for Ministry)
Section Three: Putting it all together

He describes what he sees as the problem, addresses it with good foundational material and then gives you very practical advice on how to proceed with leading the flock that God has placed in your care.

You will find good discussion on what it means to be a "professional paid" staff member and what the role of the "laity" is.

I found the book helpful in coming to terms with how our Pastors (paid professionals) should work in partnership with our Elders (Lay people) to lead our congregation in a way that is Biblical and absolutely clear about the importance of proper care.

I would say the book is for all Christians, but especially to Pastor's and Elders and / or Leadership teams of the local church. It will give you a lot of good material to discuss and then put into action.

Enjoy!

Dreams and Visions, by Tom Doyle

There is a new / old phenomenon happening in the world today, that is "dreams and visions." That is the title of this wonderful book, but a reminder of something amazing that is happening. This isn't about just any dreams or visions, this is about "God Sightings," maybe more precisely "Jesus sightings." In this book Tom Doyle pulls together a collection of stories from a collection of Middle Eastern Countries that will encourage, inspire and educate you as to what God is doing in "Muslim dominated" countries.

As a Pastor and Missiologist I often teach classes about the need for people to become "missionaries" to "closed access" countries. These are countries where a traditional missionary can not gain access. They often times are Muslim countries that do not want Christianity to be introduced into their nation.

But even though human missionaries can not gain access that is not stopping God for doing His work. Doyle chronicles for us, true stories, how Jesus is appearing in dreams and visions to Muslims and sharing with them His peace, gentleness, security and love. He quietly enters into their religious world through an avenue that most "Western Christians" think is long out of use. He is entering through appearing bodily to people in dreams and visions.

When Christ appears he brings with Him a sense of love and peace that the people who experience it cannot deny. They can't run away from it and actually are drawn to it. They are drawn to it so much that they are seeking out people whom they know are Christians and asking for help.

What's amazing is that they are coming to Christ even though they know it could mean their death.

This is a must read for all Christians who are wondering how God will be made known among Muslims. This is a must read for Muslims who wonder if Jesus truly existed and was he just a prophet or as he stated, the Son of God. This is a must read for people worried about the Middle East and the war and violence that is going on there. You will be encouraged that there is an avenue of peace that can transpire and overcome the hatred and violence that is happening.

I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in what is going on in the Middle East.

The Stars Shine Brighy, by Sibella Giorello

Our main character Raleigh Harmon works for the FBI, the only problem is she thinks outside of the box and often does not follow protocol. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? For the FBI they feel that is a bad thing. Only bad things will happen when you bend the rules. You should always follow protocol. The problem is she gets results when she bends the rules. She never violates someones rights, she never blatantly breaks a law, she just goes about things a bit different.

Because of that she is under investigation by the internal affairs department of the FBI for how she works. During that investigation though she is asked to take an undercover assignment at a Horse Racing Track where it appears that there is organized crime rigging the races. Raleigh knows very little about horses, but she does know people.

Our author does a good job of weaving a story together that is not only realistic but downright frightening in a sense. I won't give you the part that is frightening because that would give away some of the plot of the story and be a spoiler, but let me just say that I enjoy how the author brings you along with the story and keeps bringing in new sub-plots that add and build the tension.

There are no major action/adventure/shoot outs that many of these books have, but that doesn't lessen the thrill of the read. Giorello develops her characters well and just when you want to dislike someone you actually end up liking them, or vice versa.

There are Christian undertones at places in the book. Raleigh has a deep faith and she thinks through what her values and stands ought to be based on her beliefs. She seeks God's help at times, but it is not overly done. So, I believe all readers will enjoy the book and not be offended by the mention of faith, it is part of the character of Raleigh and adds to what we know about her.

I enjoyed this read enough that I am going to backtrack and buy her other books. She held my interest, keep me reading and was just down right entertaining.

Enjoy!

Mistakes Leaders Make, by Dave Kraft

I first of all want to thank Angie Cheatham and Crossway Publishing for sending me a copy of this great little book, I appreciate their generosity and their trust in my giving an honest review.

Dave Kraft brings over forty years of ministry insight together with his work in eight different churches and para church organizations to give us a good little book on mistakes that leaders, especially pastors, often make in their ministries.  He tells the story of one fictitious church and it's multiple ministry staff.  Each staff member has a different mistake that they fall into and either overcome that mistake through prayer and Godly intervention or they fail and their ministry pays the price.

Some of the mistakes are allowing ministry and pride replace Jesus as the main point of our life.  It may look good to be so heavily involved in ministry, but at what cost?

Another mistake is comparing yourself and your ministry to others and always trying to improve so that you can be "just like" or "better than" the other ministry.  Instead Kraft points out our need to be humble and be content in our assignment from the Lord and to do our best to bring Honor and Glory to God instead of trying to "one up" some other ministry.

Other mistake is when we allow harmony amongst our body of believers and the staff to replace the real task of addressing conflict, addressing errors and at times making the hard decisions that might mean letting a staff person go or asking and Elder to step down.  Why do we so often try to sweep issues under the rug instead of dealing with them?  Usually everybody sees the "Elephant" on the table, so why not just address it.

This book is filled with practical ideas, practical solutions and down right honest writing that for some of us pastors may hit a little bit too close to home for our comfort.  I know that it left me asking myself about my motives, my work, my work ethic and most importantly my relationship with Jesus.

I would highly recommend this quick read for any Pastor or Elder, especially recommended for those in Seminary who are preparing to enter into ministry, this book may help you keep from stumbling out of the gate when your race starts.

Enjoy!

Jonathan Edwards and Justification, by Josh Moody

Moody does a good job of bringing several writers together to put together a short work describing the issue of Justification and Jonathan Edwards view of the subject. Each author looks at a different angle of the written work of Edwards and brings to light his thoughts and energy in relationship to Reformation Theology and specifically Justification.

The work is fine, but I felt that it was repetitious at times. I felt that the subject was delivered in a dry academic way that will, I believe, not keep the attention of many lay readers. Pastor's and academics will find it interesting, but nothing startling new comes to light.

I found myself left just wanting to read Edwards himself and not someone else view of the material. I kind of felt like I have with many Christian Books lately, so many books on the Bible saying so much of the same, why not just read the Bible itself and saturate my mind with the words of God?

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Desiring the Kingdom, by James Smith

I was assigned this book as part of a Theology Discussion group at church. So I was a bit unsure of what I was getting into as I opened the pages. The book is "academic" to say the least. When you approach the book do so with paper and pencil in hand and a good bit of time to devote to each reading. You will be challenged to think, digest, react and then decide, do you agree with Smith or disagree with Smith.

The main tenant of the book appears to me to be the thought that man is a liturgical being. He is born to worship! He desires to worship! He lives to worship! The question is, "what will he worship?" John Piper rightly tells us in his book, "Let the Nations be Glad" that Missions exists because Worship doesn't. When God created the world and then created man He created man with the purpose of bringing Honor and Glory to God and to delight in God, in other words to Worship God.

But our world has delved into a world of sin, paganism and worldliness that God never intended. Even the most gracious of humans, the most gentle of humans, the most kind and caring of humans have succumb to the sin nature of man. We all have a tendency to "worship" something and usually that worship is not the God of our Bible.

Smith will argue that there are several things taking the place of our rightful worship. He will use the examples of The Mall, The Sporting Event and The American University to show that we have replaced the Worship of God the Father with the worship of materialism, sports, entertainment, celebrities and the Intellect.

He will delve into the Philosophical worldviews that have developed and then continue on into a Christian Worldview, but he won't stop there, he will actually go further to declare that even a Christian worldview is not where we should land. You will need to read to learn where he lands.

He also will write that we have put to much credit on the intellect, to much weight on the necessity of learning and have made books, learning and the University things to be worshiped more than the God of the Bible. He will argue that God did make us intelligent beings, but that God gave us his Emotive character and that our faith needs to reside not in our intellect but in our Gut. That's correct, we are emotional romantic people who are pushed more towards the belief in something by our emotions and romance than necessarily by intellect. He will argue that the world / advertisers have it correctly, we are pushed more towards decisions by sex than we are by anything else. That may fly in the face of many Christians but I think he may have a very strong point here. Sex sells. Just watch a little TV and you will know that.

He reminds us that as Christians we often preach and teach, use your intellect to over ride the sex drive. Use your brains to over ride your emotions. Use your wisdom to put down your feelings.

But didn't God make us feeling creatures? So, the question is not that our feelings are bad, but how do we attune ourselves to our feelings, allow them to talk to us and move us without allowing them to drive us to sin. That same phrase could be used with the word "intellect". Yes, our intellect can also drive us to sin when it is mishandled, look at the amount of Pride in some people.

This book is not one that I completely agree with, but it did make me stop and think. I did not buy all of his arguments, but I did have to pause and wonder about them. I think he points out many areas that Christians need to be concerned with and meditate on.

This is not a simple read. It is not for the new Christian. It is not for someone looking for a devotional book. This is a serious read for a serious study and will take you time to work through it. I would recommend that you not read it in isolation, but that you read it as part of a study group that can pick it apart and grow from what you learn.

God bless and Enjoy!

The Hole in our Holiness, by Kevin DeYoung

As DeYoung starts out his book on Holiness he has a basic premise that we will find over and over again in the text.  "The problem of holiness is that we don't really care about it."  That can sum things up pretty well.  According to Scripture God calls us to 'holiness.'  He says to us, Be Holy for I am Holy.  So, if God calls us to that how can we accomplish it?  Can we accomplish it?  Or are we to sinful to even think of accomplishing it?

In the first chapter DeYoung points out to us that there is a gap between our love for the Gospel and our love for Godliness.  We say we love the gospel but by our actions we display that we don't particularly care about godliness (holiness).  DeYoung states, "No matter what you profess, if you show disregard for Christ by giving yourself over to sin--impenitently and habitually--then heave is not your home."

With that concept in mind there are many people attending church on a weekly basis that heaven is not their home.  They may think it is but it can't be.  Why is that?  I think it is mainly because we don't want to grasp the truths of Scripture and apply them to our lives.  We want to love the Savior but not love His commands.  If you truly love the Savior you will desire to fulfill His commands and you will attempt with all your heart, soul, mind and strength to live a godly life.

Given the layout of the book I believe that the reader will discover that the most powerful chapter is chapter six.  "Spirit-powered, Gospel-driven, Faith-fueled Effort."  This chapter alone is worth the price of the book. DeYoung gives us a well articulated chapter on what it means to plug the hole in our holiness and put into action the truths that we have been taught and want to believe can make a difference in us.

Bottom line, you can live a godly life with the help of the Holy Spirit.  You can lead a godly life that will show others who God is and how He can take a repentant sinner and turn his life around to be a useful instrument for the Lord to use.

This book is for every believer but especially for the believer that is grappling with what it means to live a godly live and to be holy as He is Holy.  Take seriously the call to become part of the Royal Priesthood that Peter talks about in his writings.

Enjoy!

Dangerous Calling, by Paul David Tripp

I want to thank Crossway Publishing and especially Angie Chetham for sending me an advance copy of Dr. Tipp's new book.  This book will be released for purchase on October 31, 2012.  But it can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com at this time.

This new book by Dr. Tripp is one that every Pastor should put in his library and one that they should make a point of reviewing (re-reading) at least every 18 months or so.  The book is an encouragement to Pastors about how serious the calling to Pastoral ministry is.  It is also a reminder that if we are not careful we will fall into some very bad habits and wrong thinking that will bring harm to the Kingdom and disrepute to the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This book is also one that every Elder Board should take a look at.  It will be helpful to remind them of the dangers of the Pastoral Calling and Ministry and what they can do as the church board to hold their Pastor’s accountable as well as bring encouragement into their Pastor’s lives.

The main concept that struck me most from this work was the idea that, “We do not teach well the word of God or serve the church well unless we are awestruck by the Power & Nature of our Lord and Savior.”  This was a central theme that was well developed, especially in Part two of the book.  Most Pastors enter the Pastorate because at some point in time in their life they were “awestruck” by the power and majesty of the Lord.  But as they continue to serve they often times find that the “awe” of the Lord starts to diminish.  In place of that “Awe of God” they start to have an “awe of themselves!”

The book is divided into three sections. 

·              Section one examines the “Ministry Culture” that Pastors fine themselves in. 

·              Section two examines the “Danger of losing your Awe, i.e. forgetting who God is.” 

·              Section three deals with forgetting who you (the pastor) are.

Dr. Tripp in section one deals quite a bit with reminding Pastors that they are taught in seminary that they should be a bit aloof from their congregation.  They should live in isolation because of their calling.  But he points out the dangers of this type of life style, how it has the tendency to cause the Pastor to feeling as though he is a bit above others, when in actuality we are the same when it comes to the chance of Satan hitting us with a bout of pride or arrogance.  Now, he isn’t saying that the Seminaries are teaching wrong things; he is just concerned that sometimes Pastors don’t get a good picture of their need for accountability and how to be transparent and vulnerable with their congregation in ways that are building for them and the Kingdom.

I found myself in such agreement with the many things that Dr. Tripp wrote, and also found myself convicted of where my own attitudes and life style have fallen short, that I have ordered a case of these books to be delivered once they are printed so that I can share them with many Pastors whom I care about and feel will benefit from this book.

This book is not written for laypeople, it is written specifically for the clergy.  BUT, if you are a layperson and you care about your pastor and the dangers that he faces on a regular basis you will also learn much from this well written text.  Maybe you could also purchase the book as a gift for your pastor and give it to him along with a note of encouragement from you that you care about his life and ministry.

The Sword, by Dr. Bryan M. Litfin

The Sword is the first book in a trilogy called, Chiveis Trilogy.  Chiveis is a town is a village in the year 2440.  But while it is in the future it is living in the past.  Dr. Litfin is a professor of Theology at Moody Bible Institute, but he decided to write a trilogy to bring Biblical principles to bear in a way that literary people would enjoy.  As I read this first book I couldn’t help but think of the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.  I believe that Dr. Litfin has penned a story that is just as riveting.

The book takes place in the future, but the people live in a Medieval setting.  The reason for this is because there has been a nuclear holocaust in the year 2042 that was brought on by a Pandemic that was sweeping the world.  The Plague was killing off 40% of mankind and in doing so it was not kind to any class of people or any region of the world.

As the turmoil of the Pandemic forced countries into hysteria there were several smaller, nuclear, countries that decided that they could possibly take over their regions.  So, they unleashed a barrage of nuclear missiles that devastate the major capitals of the world.  But not to be outdone, those countries, the United States, China, Russia, and Israel unleash their weapons of mass destruction and plunge the world into a nuclear winter that almost succeeds in wiping out humanity.

Now four hundred years later there are small enclaves of humanity trying to rebuild civilization.  Chiveis is one of those small enclaves.  Our story revolves around the exploits of Captain Teofil of the Royal Guards.  He is a warrior extraordinaire.  But as the story starts he is about the meet his end at the hands of a bear.  He has fallen and is about to die when the bear is brought down by the arrows of a hardened woodsman / hunter, who actually turns out to be a beautiful woman, the daughter of farmers.  Her name is Anastasia. 

This first volume in the series will revolve about Teofil and Ana and the adventures that bring them together and expose the hatred and violence of the local region of Asbtrilbel.  Teo and Ana will fight for their lives and in the process they will uncover a Religious Book (the Bible) that was hidden four hundred years earlier by a man who wanted God’s word preserved for the future generations.

Teo and Ana will be sent on a path of discovery to try and determine if this God of the ancients is the one true God and the one that they should truly be worshipping.  As they determine that he is they will find that their lives are pushed the limits in trying to get the people of Chiveis to leave their old religion and come to the true religion.

The problem, the High Priestess of Astribrel has no desire for the true word of God to be exposed and the people to rally around it.  She will do everything in her power to continue to worship Satan and to make his name the most powerful.

This is truly a great book and I look forward to reading the next two installments.  I believe that anyone who loved The Lord of Rings will love this book.  Any Theology student will be given much to think about, especially in the realm of thinking about a people who have never, repeat, never heard the word of God spoken.  How will they respond?  How will they be won?  How will God prove victorious in the long run?

Enjoy!

Tidewater Inn, by Colleen Coble

A small island, a Archeological Historian, a kidnapped young woman, a grieving family, a broken apart family, a young man whose parents have been killed, a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer, and a search and rescue dog, what do they all have in common?  The answer, Colleen Coble’s new book, that’s what.

Coble takes us on a journey to the small fishing island of Hope Beach in the Outer Banks.  There we will find a community of people who seem to live somewhat in the past.  The Island can only be reached by boat.  So, there are just a few cars on the island, most people get around by bicycle. 

Libby and her partner Nicole are going to find that even though this is a blast to the past there is much deception, intrigue, guile, evil, greed and just plain hatred to go around to make you realize that human nature is the same no matter where you go.

There will be the mystery of a kidnapping, the mystery of a murder, the reunion of long ago separated siblings and much talk about “what would Jesus do” with all of the drama that will unfold.

This is typical Coble book with romance and intrigue tied together along with a good dose of people trying to find peace with God.

The book works on so many levels, but there were just a few troubling spots for me.  The search of the Kidnapped Nicole seems to not be as much on the forefront of people’s minds as I would have thought would be true.  They get involved in searching but then back off, then search again and then back off again.  Why not just search flat out 24/7 until she is found?

Well, that troubling fact doesn’t deter from the plots of the story as much I thought it might. 

All in all this is another good Coble novel.  I enjoyed it and look forward to the next in the series, Rosemary Cottage.

Enjoy!

What Jesus Demands from the World, by John Piper

John Piper does a great job with this good book on the "demands" that Jesus makes. Many people think that Jesus has way to many rules to live by, that He is a difficult Master to follow, that He is not interesting in making life easy for his followers. But that is not true.

Piper points out that Jesus has two comments about his demands, "1) I make demands because I have the right. 2) I make demands because I will help you." As you follow through on these thoughts it makes plenty of sense. Jesus is the Son of God and thus he has all the right and power to make demands on the lives of his followers, BUT, he makes those demands with a follow up thought, I WILL HELP YOU! Jesus doesn't leave us alone to fend for ourselves, He gives us plenty of help so that we can accomplish the tasks that He gives us.

After the introduction Piper then goes on to examine 50 Demand's that Jesus makes. Each of these chapters are short, you could almost use the book as a 50 day devotional guide to learn more about how to live for Jesus.

This is a great book for all Christians to read through. It may appear a bit long, but don't let that make you nervous. If you read it as a devotional you will be able to get through it and it won't require huge amounts of daily time.

This book is a good concise text on what it is that Jesus expects from His followers, if you have ever wondered about it this book will answer it. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Radical, by David Platt

I know I can't say anything that others haven't already said in their reviews, but I will give a few minor reflections on the book.

1. The Church in America is in deep turmoil. We are sold out on living the American Dream and that means that we forget to live out our lives for Christ. The Lord calls us to radical discipleship and that means, sell everything and follow Him! Are you willing to do that? It's different than what the American dream says.

2. Platt's description of the USS United States, which was a troop carrier ship designed to carry 15,000 troops to war, is a great example of the problem of the American Church. The ship was commissioned, but never carried troops to war. It was the largest and fastest troop ship ever constructed. But WWII was over once it was commissioned and another major war had not broken out. So, we converted it to a luxury liner for the politicians (The President) to use. It was converted and carried 2,000 in luxury.

The American Church is the same. The church was called to a war time mentality by Jesus, but instead of us preparing and going to war we instead have turned the church into a 'luxury liner' church with great programs, safety, warmth and no major commitment. This is no way to win the war.

3. Platt pushes our buttons and tells us that we need to be 'radical' in our commitment to the Lord and he will be radical with His work with us. Part of what Platt reminds us is that Jesus didn't promise us 'safety' in our ministry. In reality He promised us that we would be treated as He was treated, which was poorly. Platt says, unless you are called to a dangerous ministry maybe the Lord isn't in the calling. Now, he does go on to say that not everyone will be called to a dangerous ministry, but if you are called, are you willing to go? Or will you abandon your faith and let others go?

The last chapter of the book does a great job of asking you to commit to a one year experiment that will change your life. He calls you to five commitments that he feels will impact you. I think they are well written, well documented and are just the tip of the iceberg of what Jesus calls us to.

Read the book, commit to the one year experiment and see what the Lord does in your life.

War of Words, by Paul David Tripp

Paul David Tripp's book, War of Words is a great book. For anyone who is counseling others, working with conflict resolution or just trying to learn more about how our struggle with communication can take a turn, this book is for you.

The tag line for the book is "getting to the heart of your communication struggles." That sums up the whole book in just that short phrase. Why is it that we struggle to communicate? Why is it that our words get us in so much trouble? Why is it that conflict seems to arise out of our words delivered to others? The answer is, we don't understand the power of our words and how they can either help or hurt.

A quote from page 200 in the book summarizes this thought, Tripp writes, "My father was saying, 'Paul, words matter. They will either contribute to a solution or further the difficulty. Speak with caution and care.'" This piece of advice is one that we all need to learn. Paul was trying to decide how to approach fellow employees of a part-time job who were stealing from the employer. He knew it was wrong and he wanted to confront the issue, but his fathers words of advice helped him to stop and think through what he was going to say before he just rambled and ran into trouble.

The book is divided into three sections;

Part One: Talk is Not Cheap, this section is actually a history lessons from the Bible in the power of words. It goes through the power that God has when He speaks to the power that Satan has when he speaks to how humans cause real hurt, pain and alienation with their words.

Part Two: A New Agenda for Our Talk: This section delves into the theory behind the "war of words" and how our relationship with God gives us the power to change and put into action a new way of thinking.

Part Three: Winning the War of Words: This is the practical section of the book.

I loved the way that parts one and three bookend the middle section. It is well thought through ,well written and does a wonderful job of communicating the points that Tripp wants to make.

The heart of the book can be summarized in Part One, Chapter Four, "Idol Words". This chapter gives the nuts and bolts of what Tripp is driving at. You will want to read this chapter a couple of times. Page 58 gives a wonderful definition of what an "idol" is and why our words can become idols.

Overall this book is great. I found this book with my studying towards becoming a "Peacemaker" through Peacemaker Ministries. It is probably one of the best books I have read off their resource list.

I think very Pastor, Elder, Sunday School Teacher, Counselor and lay person would benefit greatly from this book. Read it, mark it up, and best of all form a book club to talk about what you are learning from it, you won't be disappointed.

Enjoy!

Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible, Edited by Wayne Grudem

This guide to reading the Bible is a good sourcebook for the serious Bible Student. It is not a casual read. Each of the chapters is a different article that is written by an "academic" writer. Each article covers a different aspect of the Bible. Part one of the book is focused on the Old Testament and each chapter delves into the Historic, the Poetic and the Prophet's.

Part Two is titled: Background to the New Testament and deals with the 400 year gap between Old and New Testament. It deals with the history of the culture at the time of the writing of the New Testament and a specific chapter on the Jewish world at the time of the New Testament writing.

Part Three deals with the Theology of the New Testament and then three chapters. One Chapter deals with the Gospels and Acts. The next Chapter deals with the Epistles and the final Chapter deals with Revelation.

Again, I felt that this was a good book, but fairly academic. Not all of the details are needed by everyone interested in reading a Bible and wanting to have a brief background. There are more technical discussions than the casual reader needs to be brought into.

Thus this is a good book for Pastors and serious Lay Leaders who are looking for an introduction to the Bible.

Two other books that do well to bring you an overview of the Bible are:
1. God's Big Picture, tracing the storyline of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts, this would be a great book for the casual reader and Theologian
2. Welcome to THE STORY Reading, Loving and Living God's Word, by Stephen J. Nichols

The difference between Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible and these other two books are that the first book is a compilation of writings and thus there is not as good a flow to the writing. The other two books are by single author's and the flow is better. Also they are not as academic as the first.

I appreciate Crossway Publishing putting together this group of writers and if you are serious about getting a background of the Bible you will enjoy the book. But if you are a more casual reader then these other two books are good.

Enjoy!