Sunday, April 22, 2012

Leaving Egypt, by Chuck DeGroat

Chuck DeGroat gives us a great book dealing with the things that enslave each of us. I would highly recommend this book for Pastors doing Pastoral care / counseling. Also Lay Counselors within a church setting would also benefit. The Laity will also benefit from this book, but those of us doing counseling will truly resonate with what Chuck has to say as the examples he uses are easy to tie in with people we are counseling.

Chuck takes a Biblical look at the Israelite nation and their enslavement in Egypt and what happens when they leave that land and set off through the desert for the promised land. He uses that as an example for helping us to see that we have many things that enslave each of us. Whether it is the classics, drugs, alcohol or sex or whether it is not so classic such as social networking, work, sports, food, etc. Each of us has something that has taken some control of our lives. Why do we let that happen and what should we do about it.

Chuck points out how when the Israelites first went to Egypt all was good. Life was fine, they had Joseph there who was in charge and gave them good land, good homes and good work to do. But as they grew in population and another Pharaoh came to power the children of Israel found themselves trapped as slaves. They started to cry out to God and he heard their cries and sent Moses to rescue them.

But once rescued they faced the serious issues of wondering if they had left a good thing behind. What is this desert that they are in. What are the odds that they are facing when they get to the promised land? What about the 'giants' in the land that God wants them to displace? Maybe we were better off as slaves.

The same thing happens to us today. Maybe we are slaves to our workaholic lifestyle. We try to change but then we don't have as much money or prestige and we wonder, should we go back.

Through many real life examples Chuck takes us through the four stages of the crisis that the nation of Israel found themselves in when they left Egypt. Those are stages that each of us face as we leave behind what enslaves us and press on to follow God into the unknown.

The book is well written. It has plenty of examples. It even has review / thought questions at the end of each chapter to help you think through what you read or as discussion starters for a small group.

I think everyone will benefit from this book, but I truly think that anyone doing counseling within the church setting will find this a very practical, useful and at times funny and encouraging read.

Enjoy!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Warfield on the Christian Life, by Fred Zaspel

As part of the "Theologians on the Christian Life" series, Fred Zaspel gives us a wonderful gift with his book on B.B. Warfield. He does a good job of giving us quick simple details on Warfield's life and acheivements and then goes right to the heart of the matter and gives us a glimpse of Warfield's passion for Theology. His passion for serving the Lord and Savior whom he loves.

Every Pastor as well as lay person will benefit from this book. It gives us a true picture of a man committed to the Inspiration and Inerrancy of Scripture. It gives us a true picture of a man who defended Christ's dual relationship, both God and Man, in the face of a new breed of liberal theologians who were desecrating the teachings of the Bible.

You will be encouraged to read how Warfield stood strong against the liberal tide. How he declared faithfully the Crucified, buried and RISEN Christ. As the chair of New Testament Teaching and Theology at Princeton Seminary he had an influencial place to teach his students and write his essays that would become a base from which conservative Bible believing Pastors could attain much clarity, wisdom and courage to preach Christ and Christ crucified. To preach that the Bible is the Inspired Word of God. That Christianity is the only religion where God came 'down' to his creation instead of his creation having to try to obtain higher and higher levels of religiosity to reach 'up' to God.

An interesting fact that Zaspel points out is that Warfield did not want to learn Greek. He came from a family of intellectual's and Greek was a required language to learn. But he didn't want to learn it. He wanted to skip it because he saw no need for it. How ironic that he would eventually become the most polished and qualified expert on the Greek language and the Greek New Testament.

This book will encourage you to want to pick up the sermons of people like Warfield, Spurgeon, Calvin and Augustine . . . even though they are 'outdated' and learn from them because as you find, they are never outdated, they are just like the Bible itself, always current, always relevant, always trustworthy.

Zaspel's writing is excellent and engaging. He holds your attention while driving home the facts of Warfields life and Theology. You won't be disappointed in this read at all.

Regarding Warfield, probably the best summation of his life came from one of his students. Upon his death at the conclusion of the funeral celebration as the coffin was leaving the chapel at Princeton, this student said, "As Warfield left this Chapel so has the 'old Princeton' left with him. Never again will this school be the same." That statement was prophetic. Never again has Princeton been the Biblical stronghold. It has turned liberal and stayed that way. Oh for another B.B. Warfield to come along and have the courage to stand against the Princeton's of this world.

A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis gives us a deep glimpse into his soul in "A Grief Observed." Upon the death of his wife he has a very direct conversation (OK shouting match) with God regarding why the love of his life was taken from him. His journal notes regarding the loss of his lovely wife make up the main bulk of this short text.

We are brought into the very personal loss of C.S. Lewis and his ruminating over the depth of pain that can be felt when you loose a loved one. He found himself often calling out, "Come back, Come back!", only to realize how selfish that request is. He wanted her back for himself, but what pain that would be for her.

He makes a stark observation when he states, "They call Stephen the first martyr. Hasn't Lazarus the rawer deal?" His point being that at least Stephen died and stayed that way in paradise, but poor Lazarus died, went to paradise but then got called back to live several more years on a corrupt earth. Why can't we let the dead go? Why do we cling to them? Why do we wish they were still with us? Don't they have the better deal?

After having written "The Problem of Pain," C.S. Lewis comes to realize that he didn't fully understand his topic when he wrote that. He now knows and understands the deep depth of grief and anguish that a person can feel over the loss of a loved one. In a very honest moment he pens, "don't come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand." Yet, he acknowledges that he was one of those himself.

This book is for all who are grieving. It is for those who have lost a loved one and want an honest look into the heart of a Theologian who loves God and how he struggled with grief.

This might be the best book for any Christian ever to read, digest and understand. It will help you love God more and understand are pain and anguish over loosing a loved one.

Read well for understanding and encouragement !

The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis

In picking up this volumne it has been a long time since I read anything by C.S. Lewis. I had forgotten how logic oriented he is and how these writing of his can be very academic and intellectually stimulating. I picked this volumne up because of dealing with many people and the pain they are feeling with depression.

Lewis does a great job of academically addressing the issue of pain in relationship to our emotions. This is not a book about addressing physical pain, for such a book pick up Joni Erickson's new book, the problem with pain. This book deals with how we as Christians handle the aspect of pain in regards to suffering, relationships, anxiety, depression and extreme emotionally turmoil.

Lewis does a good job of addressing the issue, although at times I think he is far ranging in his dialogue. He addresses the issue of God's omipotence and His goodness. He does an extremely good job of this. Then he moves on to the issue of human wickedness and human pain. The logical progression of his arguments are good. Although it doesn't appear that his dialogue is from a personal experience but from an academic intellectual pursuit.

Just when I thought he was going pretty deep he had one of the funniest quotes I think I can ever write down and use. In discussing the issue of pain with animals he sarcastically is writing about how some people want to believe that all animals go to heaven and have souls and have feelings. He doesn't quite buy into that. But here is his quote that I love, "if the worst came to worst, a heaven for mosquitoes and a hell for men could very conveniently be combined." I wholeheartedly agree!

But probably the main point of his argument is this, all Christians will suffer. He doesn't ask, "Why do good people suffer?" Instead he asks, "why don't all Christians suffer?" He sees suffering and pain as the way for God to help us grow in our spiritual walk with Him.

This book is for every Christian. But it is not light reading. It takes discipline to read, think and then digest what C.S. Lewis is writing. But it will be a good exercise.

Once you have read this you need to follow it up by reading his book, "A Grief Observed", that will be the one that you find absolutely riveting in regards to how he personally deals with suffering, grief and pain.

Enjoy!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon, by Steven Lawson

Dr. Lawson gives us a great little book about the life of Charles Spurgeon and his love of the Gospel of Christ. This is another profile book by Dr. Lawson in his "Long Line of Godly Men" series. There is a brief chapter on the life of Charles Spurgeon that will give the reader a great overview of this Godly man. Then the following chapters detail out the beliefs and convictions of Charles Spurgeon that brought him such great success as a "man of God."

Spurgeon was a five point Calvinist meaning that he believes in predestination. But even though he believes that God has already picked those who will be saved, Spurgeon believed that evangelism was necessary. Many Calvinist discount evangelism, but Spurgeon saw it as his God give duty to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and press for people to make a decision for Christ.

Lawson will detail the passion of Spurgeon for scripture and preaching as well as his passion for holding the Bible in high regard and not abandoning the truths of scripture by preaching feel good sermons. Spurgeons passion is something that is needed today in our church culture. Too many pastors are leaving the Gospel out of their sermons and discounting the Word of God as being authoritative.

This short book should be a great inspiration to young preachers and missionaries everywhere to not abandon scripture and to continue to preach and teach the hard truths of the Bilbe.

I think lay people as well as professional clergy will benefit greatly from this short, but definitive work.

Enjoy!

Disciple: Getting your identity from Jesus, by Bill Clem

Bill Clem does not give us a book on how to disciple someone else, although that can be found by reading this book. What he gives us is a guide on what it means to passionately follow Christ, what Christ expects in a disciple and how a disciple achieves the lifestyle that is consistent with a Disciple of Christ.

This is a practical book. It has a practical outline for us. It spells out why we should have a passion for our Lord and Savior and how that passion should drive us to strive to be a disciple that Christ would say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." Clem's starts out with the Story of God and how that is told through the Holy Scripture and how it is shown through His creation.

He then goes on to talk about the "Hero of the Story," that hero being Jesus Christ. He explains the importance of Jesus being fully God and fully man and how that is necessary for the aspect of being the hero of the story. Without those qualities Jesus can never satisfy the debt that needs to be paid for man to be forgiven of his sin and become acceptable to the Father.

He then goes on to a lengthy discussion about the fact that we are created in the 'image' of God and how we then are to 'image' God in our lifestyles. When we 'image' God then others can see the Savior in our lives and be drawn to the Father through the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Clem's further goes on to discuss the purpose of worship and community in the life of a disciple. Then that works it way into what is the "mission" of a disciple. What are we tasked to do? How do we go about doing that? How will it look if we are doing it correctly?

Finally he talks about the Multiplication factor instead of just the addition factor of how the Kingdom grows. The Kingdom grows by our discipling others who then disciple others. So we multiply our efforts rather than just add one convert at a time. But that will not happen until you have learned how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and until you develop the 'Passion' necessary to be an effected disciple.

This book would be great for small groups wanting to talk about our lifestyles. It would be good for Pastors who want to use it as a resoruce for helping young Christians grow in their understanding of what it means to be a Disciple. It is a great resource and encouragement for even individual study for your own edification to learn how to develop your Christian walk and why Passion for Christ is so important.

I'm sure that all who read this will be encouraged.

Enjoy!

Coming Home: by Stacy Hawkins Adams

Stacy Hawkins Adams gives us a wonderful novel that weaves together several themes, at least themes that I could resonnate with. One theme is that of forgiveness. How do you forgive someone who has hurt you very badly in the past? How do you forgive someone who hurts you in the present, by not being honest with you about their life? How do you forgive someone who has stolen your spouse from you?

The next theme is, how do you trust God to do what He says He will do? Can God really heal the hurts of the past? Can God really give you love and compassion for people who have hurt you? Can God bring 'love' into your life even when you have your guard up and don't know how to trust others?

Finally, how do you deal with trust in a relationship when your partner seems to be delving into past relationships that might prove hurtful to them and to you and cause your chance for a future to be in jeopardy?

Dayna is a career Nursing Care Supervisor, Vice-President, at a regional medical facility. She is dating Warren, the Public Relations director of the institute. She was previously married to Brent, the star athlete at College who was hurt in his second year and found that it was a career ending injury. Their marriage ended when Brent started seeing Tamara, the beauty queen, who swept him off his feet.

It has been seven years since Dayna has seen Brent. She is in love with Warren and his two little boys. She wants a new life and has it. But one evening Brent shows up on her doorstep. He wants to seek forgiveness and to ask for Dayna's help.

This starts a series of events to fall into place that will bring a great novel forth. Brent is dying of cancer but needs Dayna's help to put together a foundation that will be his legacy. His wife Tamara is unsure of involving Dayna, and so is Warren. But it is decided and now the tensions begin.

Stacy Hawkins Adams does a wonderful job of developing the characters, weaving the story line together and drawing us into the emotions that each of the characters are feeling. While enjoying the read you will also be faced with asking yourself the question, what would I do? How would I respond? Could I forgive? Could I help?

I loved the novel and feel that it would be a great read for every Christian who has ever struggled with life, forgiveness, love, trust and above all else, depending on God for help.

Enjoy!

God Loves Broken People, by Sheila Walsh

Sheila Walsh shares from her personal experiences and those of people whom she works and lives with. Doing so adds great credibility to the words that she will speak. The title of the book is very well said as to the main theory of the book. GOD LOVES BROKEN PEOPLE. Not only does He love broken people, but Walsh goes on to explain how His love is a Fierce Love. He is so adamant about His love that He goes way out of His way to explain it, express it and then give us first hand proof of it. The proof is in giving His only beloved Son to die on a cross so that we can have restored fellowship and eternal life with the Father.

This book is one that every Christian will find helpful. It is much like Christ's teachings were, there is something here for everyone to learn. When one person reads a chapter they will pick up something wonderful for themselves and then find that someone else reading it learned a different lesson. That is amazing. But what that shows is that each of us has a history, each of us has past and present sins that we are dealing with and each of us is BROKEN.

Walsh gives many Biblical examples of broken people. David was broken, he sinned with Bathsheba. Paul was broken, he persecuted Christians. Abraham was broken, he lied about his wife. These are people who are in the Hall of Fame of faith and righteousness, yet they are all broken people. So, if they are broken and yet can be rescued and mentioned in the Hall of Fame, how much more are you able to be the same once you learn their lessons and yours and apply those lessons to your life and grow your faith.

I believe that any pastor doing pastoral counseling will find this book helpful. Any lay person who is hurting will find this book helpful. Any small group leader looking for a good discussion starter will find this book helpful. It even has study guide questions at the end of the book for each chapter.

Next to your Bible I think you will find this a well written and powerful book and very encouraging.

Enjoy!