Thoughts on What to Read (When You Get a Chance)

Here are some wet-ink thoughts about reading:

- There is a difference between reading well and being well read. The former may or may not mean anything about what you have gained from reading. The latter usually means you've done a good job.

- If you want a good, robust knowledge about a subject, please, please, please, be sure to carefully, diligently, and honestly read those you disagree with. Read primary sources, too. If you get your knowledge of opposing views from a secondary source, you deceive yourself into thinking you have studied a subject properly. You also set yourself up to look pretty ignorant in "street" conversations. Something When I read those I might disagree with, I picture myself in a coffee shop with them. I try to display the same patience and willingness to hear them out that I would if they were sitting right across the table from me. Usually, as I'm reading I develop a bond with the author and become sympathetic to what I might perceive as an error or blind spot. For me, this is the way to go. It basically amounts to a form of love. It would be clearly unloving to get up and walk out in the middle of a conversation, so why would we do this with books? Don't get me wrong, there's a point where a book might become a waste of time to finish, but for the most part it is better to train yourself to interact with ideas rather than flee from them.

- Along the same lines, read people outside your box. This helps you get a better knowledge of your own weaknesses. Critique from an outside source may be really helpful and revealing.

- Read fiction to expand your imagination.

- Read biographies to raise your own personal standards.


Eh. Nothing profound. Just an excuse to get something posted on this oft-neglected book blog.

Book reviews are in the horizon. I'll try to put all these points into practice.

Read on.
Plev

The Myth of a Christian Religion

Check out some thoughts on Greg Boyd's The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing your Religion for the Beauty of a Revolution.



It was a good read. See why here.




Peace.

Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion

Last week I finished Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion (WWLC) by Kevin Deyoung and Ted Kluck. In May of 08, I read their Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be--which I found extremely helpful.

Their new book was no different! Like the first, it was extremely helpful and the authors articulated a very thorough, witty, and biblical response to the popular attitude of contempt toward the institutional church. Up front, I highly recommend this book to 1) those who are presently weary of hearing all the moaning and groaning about the church's various "failures," and would like a helpful (and biblical) response to such pessimism, or 2) those who are presently moaning and groaning about the church's various "failures" and would like a helpful (and biblical) response to your pessimism, or 3) itinerant ministers. Here's why:

What is this book about?

More and more books are being written on the subject of the church. While you may think this is a good thing, think again. It is becoming increasingly popular to critique the church as becoming more and more irrelevant, oppressive, restrictive, and boring. Many popular authors have grown cynical towards the church and have advocated a "Church-less Christianity" that sees organized, institutional church gatherings as a place that kills, or at least greatly hinders one's ability to know God and find true spirituality. "The church is no longer where we run in order to be saved, but, we are told, where we must run from if we are to truly find God" (160). Instead of weekly gatherings in a church building, three people gathered at Starbuck or on a golf course talking about spiritual things is the way to go.

Invisible, universal church: In. Visible, local church: Out.

What really matters in the minds of a growing consensus of Christians is that God is "bigger" than going to church every Sunday; God is at work in so many other (and equally edifying) ways than sitting in pews or listening to a lecture sermon each week. As we sit in our pews and listen to predictable sermons about things we already know, somewhere in the world somebody or some group of people are starving, dying of AIDS, being oppressed, etc.

As true as this may be, it is only a half truth, and it's not a sufficient reason to forsake the institutional church altogether. As much as ditching the church for churchless devotion may seem to liberate and increase one's service to God, it actually lessens and weakens it.

But the church does have it's issues. The authors acknowledge that the traditional church is often caught being culturally backwards. They also admit that there is room for change, renovation, and toleration in the minds of traditional church goers on the (non)essentials of what it means to be a faithful church. They take an honest look at church-as-we-know-it and affirm that it is flawed and full of sinners thinking sinfully.

But, that's the catch.

This side of heaven, that's how it's supposed to be! Thus, the response to the church's shortcomings is not to bail, but to stick it out and love the church through all it's failures and shortsightedness. It is in this way that the Lord purifies the church and grows individual Christians in character and selflessness. Though one shouldn't excuse the church's sin and negligence due to her unglorified state, one should not expect the church to be perfect. Abandoning the church for it's weaknesses actually lessens inward transformation instead of strengthening it.

In a piercing statement concerning those who have been hurt by church, Deyoung writes:

"In all honesty I can say that in the times I've been hurt by church people or been disheartened, the biggest problems, in the end, proved to be those that came from my own heart. This is not to discount external pressures or difficult situations or the ways in which Christians can hurt each other. Yet even with all these outside factors, my main issue has been [me]. I respond in sinful ways. I feel sorry for myself. I lose faith. I doubt the Word of God. I don't want to forgive. I stop hoping. I get embittered. I grow lazy. I don't stay in step with the Spirit. These are my sins from my heart. Others can make life difficult for me, I can make it unbearable" (84).

How is this Book Laid Out?

The book is laid out in 8 chapters. Deyoung writes four chapters as does Kluck. Deyoung's chapters address and engage the topic of the church under four categories: The Missiological (ch 1), the Personal (ch 3), the Historical (ch 5), and the Theological (ch 7). Kluck takes a more anectdotal and opinionated approach in his chapters that helpfully serves as an alternative (and more biblically guided) way to critique yet praise the church. His last chapter, in my opinion, was his best and encouraged me tremendously (especially the part where he encourages book-lovers to put away their books and just read only the Bible for a year straight!)--there are tons of outlines and marginal notes in that one!

Recommendation:

I highly recommend this book to all. It is literally FILLED with insight and wisdom! In my copy, almost every page is filled with underlines and marginal notes like, "Yes!!," and "Excellent," and "Amen!!" The authors are clear, witty, and biblical. They write in a down-to-earth manner, and are pastoral as well as culturally savvy. WWLC is an enjoyable read. The writers are gifted, eloquent, and adorn their insights with penetrating rhetoric. I found myself rarely checking the time or the number of pages left as I sometimes do with other books. Those who advocate "church-less Christianity" certainly have their work cut out for them. As in Why We're Not Emergent, these guys articulate their position in ways that I want to adopt as my own. Go out and getcha one today.

Itinerant ministers, who have subtly abandoned the local church under the clever guise of love for the univeral church (not to mention the marketing of thier own name), would do well to consider the contents of this book. It will challenge you to get off the road, trust that the Lord doesn't need your "weekenders" to strengthen the church, and do the unglamourous work of week-in-week-out soul care of a local body. Here's a quote for you:

"At times, conference speakers can think of themselves as real sacrifical road warriors, out there serviving travel-related issues all for the sake of "The Kingdom." But sometimes . . . we are reality-averse wussies who just want to leave their parenting problems, marital challenges, and church frustrations behind so that we can have people say encouraging and flattering things about our book or speech" (61).

A-freakin-men to that!!

Quotes:

On Church Growth and Faitfulness:
"There are conservative churches who wear smallness as a badge of honor. Because they sense the real danger of measuring success by numerical growth, they think tiny churches are a sign of faithfulness and big churches are sellouts. Their pastors at times sound as though they're channeling John Owen, and their engagement with culture consists in explaining how modern-day Armenians differ from theological Arminians. They talk in the cadences of another century and specialize in preaching to the choir. There are churches out there that not only don't grow, they are frankly proud that they don't. The church in America can shrink until it shrivels and dies as far as they are concerned. They are interested in truth not results. There is much I admire about this attitude. It is refreshingly nonfaddish and unconcerned about worldly success. But those who hold this attitude are often blind to the ways in which they make it unnecessarily hare for people to feel at home in their churches. They can be inflexible about the wrong things and unable to see how this unbeliever is not always entirely to blame for disliking the church" (33).

On the UnChurched "Liking Jesus but not the Church":
"If outsiders are into Jesus, we'd be foolish not to use that as a starting place, but we'er kidding ourselves if we think most nonChristians (or Christians for that matter) have any idea who Jesus really was and the claims he made. . . . But the Jesus they like is almost certainly not the Jesus who calls sinners to repentance, claimed to be the unique Son of God, and died for our sins. He is almost certainly a nice guy, open-minded, spiritually ambiguous, and a good example. He is guru Jesus who resembles Bono in a bathrobe. If the church is the problem, it is likely because the church gives shape and for an an otherwise malleable and hollow Christ" (78).

On "Authenticity":
"I like people who are honest with their feelings and open about their struggles. But, godliness demands a lot more that just being real. In fact, godliness demands that we stop acting like we want and start acting like Christ. I sometimes find, especially among my peers, that authenticity is not a self-abasing means of growing in holiness, but a convenient cover for endless introspection, doubt, uncertainty, anger, and wordliness. So that if other Christians seem pure, assured, and happy, we despise them for being inauthentic" (89).

On Church Discipline:
"Relationships are indispensable, but not enough. No matter what the teachers of tickling ears say, we do have rules to follow. . . . The church, as the gathering of those who love Jesus, should be pure, holy, loving, and true. . . That's why discipline has traditionally been a mark of the church. Discipline promotes the purity of the church and vindicates the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet how can there be discipline without a church? How can there be accountability if church is not in any way an institution with standards and dogma, but only a gathering of two or more Christians in the park?" (178).

On Reality in Church:
"As evangelicals we've become addicted to "happy ending" stories where we go through "x" (hard thing) and then start praying and then--Shazam!--God makes everything better and we have a nice, utopian story to tell where we are the hero who ends up with the great job, the great family, the time off, the free plane ticket, the lost purse, or the great healthy kids. The fact of the matter is, sometimes (often) the happy ending is in heaven, and the getting there is a really difficult but formative part of our sanctification. And sometimes what God wants in the interim is for us to find our happiness, holiness, and identity in Him, rather than our perfect testimonies" (193).

More on Authenticity:
"Sure, a lot of the Christian pop culture stuff is pretty cheesy; it's certainly not gritty or raw. . . . But a lot of the other stuff out there is pretty vile. Maybe church-goers would stop harping on young people to listen to Smile FM around the clock if the cultural hipsters stopped congratulating themselves for liking Eminem and his manufactured authenticity, as if being real about life is an excuse for being perverse. Maybe churchgoers can learn to overlook some strange tatoos and hair configurations if their counterparts will learn that swearing, drinking alcohol, and doing whatever else seems fetchingly rebellious and oh-so-not suburban middle class are not the leading indicators of spiritual maturity. . . . And in our hypertherapeutic culture, we all need to realize that sometimes being in touch with our pain and being real about our doubts and authentic about our struggles is a form of narcissism and self-absorption more than maturity" (220-21).

The Final Word:
"Don't give up on the church. The New Testament knows nothing of churchless Christianity. The invisible church is for invisible Christians. The visible church is for you and me. . . . Find a good local church, get involved, become a member, stay there for the long haul. Put away thoughts of revolution for a while and join the plodding visionaries. Go to church this Sunday and worship there in spirit and truth, be patient with your leaders, rejoice when the gospel is faithfully proclaimed, bear with those who hurt you, and give people the benefit of the doubt" (226).

Thoughts? Comments?
Go to Church.
Plev

The Courage to Be Protestant: Quotes

I finished reading David Wells' The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth lovers, Maketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World.

Check out my thoughts on the book at my blog, here.

Check out Albert Mohler's interview with David Wells about this book, here.

Because I have written elsewhere about this book, I am just going to give you the chapter titles along with some quotes from each.

Chapter 1: The Lay of the Evangelical Land

"Nevertheless, it is the question that should be raised again and again, not matter how little sense it makes. What is the binding authority on the church? What determines how ti things, what it wants, and how it is going to go about its business? Will it be Scripture along, Scripture understood as God's binding address, or will it be culture? Will it be what is current, edgy, and with-it? Or will it be God's Word, which is always contemporary because its truth endures for all eternity?" (4)

In reference to Market-driven churches:

"What results, all too often, beneath all the smiling crowds, the packed auditoria, is a faith so cramped, limited, and minuscule as to be entirely unable to command our life, our energies, or, as a matter of fact, even much of our attention" (14).

In reference to Emergents:

"Emergents are doctrinal minimalists. . . . By their very posture they are resistant to doctrinal structure that would contain and restrict them. . . . They are not eager to engage (post)modernity critically. Indeed, they are as much submerged beneath it as they are emerging from it. Rather than distancing themselves from their own cultural world because they have been impelled to do so by Christian truth, they are more intent on simply huddling with fellow human sufferers. They may be willing to critique society for its social ills, but they are reserved about making judgements on private behavior such as homosexuality. What is emerging is clearly a rather different attitude about evangelical faith and practice that was seen before. We did however, see these same attitudes in older Protestant liberalism" (17).

Chapter 2: Christianity for Sale

"The evangelical church, or at least a good slice of it, is nervous, twitchy, and touchy about consumer desire, ready to change in a nanosecond at the slightest hint that tastes and interests have changed. Why? Because consumer appetite reigns. . . . Those who attend churches are now like any other customers you might meet in the mall. Displease them in any way and they will take their business elsewhere. That is the fear that lurks in many a church leader's soul because they know that is how the market place works" (36).

"The gospel cannot be a product that the church sells because there are no consumers for it. When we find consumers, we will find that what they are interested in buying, on their own terms, is not the gospel" (53).

Chapter 3: Truth

"So it is in American evangelicalism today. Far too many leaders and churches are out for the quick kill, in instant success, the enviable limelight, the flattering numbers, the bulging auditoria, the numbers to be boasted about--"my church went from ten to ten thousand once I arrived!"--the filled parking lots, the success story all dolled up for the pages of Christianity Today or Leadership. All of this is about the short-term success interest of the pastor(s), not the long-term health of the church. In Christianity, cut-rate products bring a cut-rate future" (92).

"A soft, shapeless Christianity ready to adapt to any worldview may enjoy initial success, but it will soon be overtaken and lose its interest" (94).

Chapter 4: God

"It is important to remember that culture does not give the church its agenda. All it gives the church is its context. The church's belief and mission come from the Word of God. they do not come from the culture either through attraction to it on in alienation from it. It is not the culture that determines the church's priorities. It is not the (post)modern culture that should be telling it what to think. The principle here is sola Scriptura, not sola cultura" (98).

Chapter 5: Self

"Quite a few public schools have banned competitive games because they dent the self-esteem of those who do not win" (139). For my Angelo State kinesiology peeps, does this ring a bell of any one kinese prof who hated dodge ball?

"Today . . . we are less interested in a potential employee's character than we are in his or her competence. In a complex, highly competitive, technological, bottom-line-driven world, competence trumps character. Character is nice but competence is profitable" (145).

"The result of this shift is that today people engage in selling themselves. Personalities are marketable commodities but character is not" (148).

"This has carried over into some of our marketing mega churches and more generally into how churches look at their pastors. Especially in mega churches of the seeker-sensitive kind, the pastor is preeminently a personality on the big screen up front, a performer, who seems close to everyone in the church but in fact is quite remote in most cases" (150).

Chapter 6: Christ

"Whatever merit there is in stressing that postmoderns place great premium on images, on imagination, in relationships, on being part of a community, not of these things can substitute for the fact that the church has to proclaim the truth about Christ" (203).

Chapter 7: Church

"Evangelicalism's inherently para nature asserted itself so that is increasingly became parachurch to the point where the local church, in biblical terms, became increasingly irrelevant. Once these things began to happen, I believe, evangelicalism was on its way to decline" (210).

"Evangelicalism has often become an enterprise separate from the life of the church. Indeed, among the marketers the separation is deliberate and visual. The services have been entirely emancipated from anything and everything "churchy." No pews, no crosses, no collections, no hymns, no pulpit, no sermon--nothing that will in any way lead an unbeliever into thinking that he or she has entered a church" (214).

"Those in a church are unlike other people in their culture because they are hearing, in their church, a World from outside this world. . . . In the church are those who belong to another world. . . . Churches that want to influence their culture are so often tempted to think that to be effective the must hide their otherworldliness and become slickly this-worldly. . . . Churches that actually do influence the culture--here is the paradox--distance themselves from it in their internal life. The do not offer what can already be had on secular terms in the culture" (224).

"However, if the church is going to be truly successful, it must be unlike anything else we find in life. As a result, it will undoubtedly make enemies. It will have enemies, even if they are merely voices in the culture whose intent is to secure ways of life that are antithetical to Christian faith. If the church ever becomes just like anything else we can find in life--as many born-again churches have become--then we can have it without God's truth or grace and without cost. Indeed, we can have it on our own terms" (224).


I know.
Send me your thoughts!!!

Plev

Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor

In my endeavor not to burn myself out before the school year actually begins, I try to read a biography or something a bit lighter during the summer. This was a book I picked up a while back and knew it would be great simply because D.A. Carson wrote it. It isn't Carson's typical type of work, intensely academic requiring a dictionary at hand throughout, but it was astonishing. Carson wrote this book about his dad, and it is encouraging because his dad was an ordinary pastor, no doubt about it. It rekindled my zeal for the pastoral ministry, as well as reshaping my understanding of the pastoral ministry. I now long to minister dilligently, making the most of my time for the days are indeed evil.

I will mention just two things that stood out to me throughout the book.

One was Tom Carson's amazing work ethic and unwillingness to waste any time He would probably look down on reading a book to "ease the mind" as I did when I read about him. His days began anywhere from 6-7 am and ended around midnight, give or take an hour. He disciplined himself to study 4 hours in preparation for his preaching ministry and pray 30 minutes to an hour each morning before lunch. After lunch he would then give himself to visitation and pastoral duties, such as counseling, evangelism, and caring for those in need. At night he would spend time with the kids and family, yet once they were in bed, he would devote himself to reading theology, studying the biblical languages, journaling, or more study for his sermons. He was dilligent and disciplined, something I am not and needed to be exhorted towards.

The second thing I want to draw your attention to was the way he viewed and practiced church. He was a pastor in Canada and he labored for a long time before the Lord began to swiftly bring in his elect from Canada. Here was a typical Wednesday evening schedule, a direct quote from the book. Tom had asked Don to come preach at the church, and this is what Don encoutered that Wednesday evening:

" I arrived at 7:30... There was half an hour of reverent singing, some of it freshly written hymns and songs. Shortly after 8:00 I began to preach. I finished just before 9:30... I answered questions until 10:00 P.M. Then prayer requests were solicited, and almost all of them had to do with the conversion of people or the spiritual growth of people to whom these believers were bearing witness. We got down on our knees to pray about 10:30 P.M. I was the first to leave, sometime between 12:30 and 1:00 A.M., as I still had some preparation to do for my class at 8:00 A.M. the next morning. The Pastor assured me this was a fairly normal Wednesday evening."

I know what you may be thinking, but is there really anything more important than meeting with God's people and engaging in the worship mentioned above?

Get this book, read it, be encouraged, and if nothing else, you can finally say you read a book by D. A. Carson that you fully understood!

Keep reading, and press on to holiness.

Ryan

Summer Review #2: The Newness of the New Covenant by A. Blake White

Well, this week I finished The Newness of the New Covenant (TNNC) by A. Blake White (aka, "B-Dub"). What is interesting about this book, like last post with Broken Walls, is that I know the author personally--he's okay. I lived with him for a time in college. He was at my wedding and I his. We now sit in class together at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and I have seen his study up close and can testify to his diligence and affirm his competence in writing his first book.

So, without further ado:

What is This Book About?

Mr. White's book provides a concise, 57-page (20 pages if you remove the footnotes) framework for understanding New Covenant theology by focusing on "the six major divine-human covenants" (3). One of the most important elements of seeing the big picture of the Biblical story is by understanding the function of covenant in the Bible. One's understanding of the nature of God's covenants is one of the primary factors in determining one's overall theological orientation (Presbyterian, Baptist, Dispensational, etc.). He states, "While covenant should not be considered the center of biblical theology, it is an important theological theme that illustrates at least one significant way in which the Bible's numerous and diverse voices unite with beautiful harmony" (4). From that basis, Blake defines the term "covenant" and then moves on to survey the covenant with creation, with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and finally the New Covenant. Ultimately, "the NT presents Christ as fulfilling all the promises of God in their initial stage" (27), and, "Christ . . . by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, ratified the radically new covenant, which all the other covenants anticipated and foreshadowed" (28). Key New Testament texts from the Gospels, Paul, and Hebrews are examined as evidence for the newness of the New Covenant under Jesus' reign. TNNC argues that one's understanding of the New Covenant "has significant implications for the nature of the church," namely, "the new covenant community, by definition, is a believing community" (56).

This book is a great intro to New Covenant theology. Every one needs a helpful starting point to understanding complex theological issues. TNNC was that for me. Blake is clear and accessible and does not write in an esoteric way. Though his book is not lengthy, it is full of meaty content that will send you to your Bible for hours of study. I guess if you want anything out of your first book, it's that.

Good job, B.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions?
Plev

On deck, Part II of Broken Walls.

Summer Review #1: Broken Walls by Kevin D. Kirkland, Part I

I am going to do this post in two parts. I'll get the second one up as soon as I find time.

I recently finished Kevin Kirkland's debut book called Broken Walls: And Those Who are Called to Repair Them. Check out the ad for the book here.

It was a privilege to read this book for a number of reasons, but one in particular stands at the forefront, namely, I personally know Kevin Kirkland. He and I lived in the same town (San Angelo, TX) for about six years where we would occasionally interact. Thus, to some degree I understand and recognize his passion for the subject he addresses. He loves to pour his life into young people--I have seen this first hand! I have heard Kevin speak a number of times and have watched him love and lead students as a youth minister, through various Sunday-night gatherings, overseas missions, and his traveling evangelistic ministry known as Katalyst (see link above). His love for students comes in second only to his passionate zeal for Jesus. Kevin has spent much time overseas, as the book will reveal, and wants nothing less than to see hordes of people come to know Jesus. So, reading his debut book was interesting. I could literally hear his passionate voice in my head as I read. It was really only a matter of time before he wrote a book. Kevin is filled with things to say, and say he did. So, without further ado, let's look at just that.

What is This Book About?
Simply stated: if we do not take the next generation seriously, we are headed for perilous times. Kevin's heart bursts forth with love, passion, sorrow, and determination for today's and tomorrow's young people--and his zeal is quite compelling. There is no doubt that he is operating under the tremendous weight of how sin is destroying our world and how children across the globe suffer as we sit comfortably in our air-conditioned living rooms watching television and waiting on our next meal. Kevin shouts loudly from the pages of Broken Walls (BW) that we need to repent from our pride and selfishness and let Christ guide us into lives of loving sacrifice and service for our children. This book will strike a deep chord for those who know they should simplify their lives for the sake of others. As the idolatries of American culture are exposed one by one, one's use of money, time, energy, vacation, home, etc., will be challenged in light of Christ's great mission to heal the brokenness of our world.

Kevin shares story after story and statistic after statistic that vividly portray the current state of ruin that our children find themselves in. He knows firsthand the death, deception, and misery that millions of children across the world encounter everyday. From holding dying orphans in Kenya to working with passive parents in West Texas, he has come face to face with the physical and spiritual decay that surrounds the next generation. He is deeply broken, and he invites all who read to share his passion for the healing of our youth.
In light of all this, BW is a smooth read and Kevin's heartbeat is accessible to all his readers. He doesn't write as an expert on the matter, but one who is in the trenches wanting to strengthen his fellow soldiers. One can tell that he has spent a lot of time passionately teaching this from group to group. BW will challenge every reader to play his or her part in the task of being a sage for the youth of our day, whether in sending or going or praying.

(In part II, I will discuss my favorite chapters as well as a few more questions I have. For now, here is a discussion of the use of Nehemiah.)

-Use of Nehemiah?
As I write this in the James P. Boyce Centennial Library at Southern Seminary, I am incidentally sitting right in front of a section of Nehemiah commentaries--no lie. I could literally reach behind me and pull one off the shelf. So, having made that cute little introductory comment, here are my thoughts on how Nehemiah was used in Broken Walls:

In the intro, Kevin writes, "The steps that Nehemiah follows for the restoration of his nation are the very keys that I believe God has called us to utilize in the rebuilding of that which the enemy has destroyed in our own land" (p. xv). He also entitles a chapter, "You are Nehemiah" (ch. 16). From this point, he parallels Nehemiah's situation with our own in America and proceeds to offer practical guidance for how we are to repair the brokenness around us. Kevin is making a passionate plea for us to mourn, fast, pray, and act on behalf of the young people in our nation--make no mistake, this is a great end in itself! Yet, I think an important question should be raised about the means to this end: Is this a proper use of Nehemiah? Now, before you think that my question is rigid and uncaring, even pharisaical, consider that I am not attacking Kevin personally, nor his content. I am only offering a critique of his interpretative approach and his use of Nehemiah. I affirm that everything he concludes in his book is helpful and biblical, but the way he derives his conclusions may not serve as the best model of interpreting Scripture. Could there be a way to say the exact same things that Kevin does that is just as passionate, yet preserves the redemptive-historical significance of Nehemiah's (and Israel's) situation? Or, are there better interpretive approaches that can reach the same exhortations yet remain consistent with New Covenant promises given to the church? I answer both in the affirmative. Let me explain the significance of my question: If Nehemiah's story is truly a model for us in our situation, then it is hard not to expect the obsolete promises that are also given to Nehemiah (and ultimately Israel) in his redemptive-historical context. Kevin's use of Nehemiah can inadvertantly set people up with false expectations about how God will respond to our "rebuilding" efforts. Ultimately, my question addresses the very heart of this book: Can we realistically expect the walls to be rebuilt? I will answer that next time, but in this section my point is that we can find guidance for our situation that is just as urgent, yet also faithful to the redemptive-historical context of Christians under New Covenant promises. In the end I find his interpretation a bit too allegorical and detatched from it's context. Though everything he says is on point theologically, I think his overall thesis could be strengthened if his material was more grounded in the New Testament.

For resources that discuss redemptive history, see:
Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan
Bartholomew and Goheen, The Drama of Scripture
William Dumbrell, The Faith of Israel: A Theological Survey of the Old Testament
Stephen Dempster, Dominion and Dynasty
and, New Dictionary of Biblical Theology

Overall, I have a lot of agreement with Kevin and I think he did a great job on his first book. I will have more to say in due time, along with my thoughts on my favorite chapters. Good job Kevin.

Till the next episode. Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?
Plev

Things to Come...

Well, I know the BB has been in stand-by for a bit. Nevertheless, I frequent this place quite often in hopes that someone besides me has read and reviewed some page-turner.

With school and marriage and work and school and marriage, time spent reading, much less writing time-consuming (yet enjoyable) reviews often takes a back seat. Well, my summer is approaching quickly (two weeks from tomorrow), and I have a big stack of books that have been very patiently waiting on me. I have quite a range of reading planned. You can check out the books I plan to read here. Many of them I will immerse myself in, others I will just browse looking for helpful chapters.

For now, suffice it to say that I look forward to sharing thoughts and ideas gleaned from the minds of other people. For the first time I will have the privilege to begin to read books written by personal friends and acquaintances--cool. But, it makes me feel the need to get on the ball and write a book. Maybe when I get desperate enough I'll just combine all my book reviews and send them off to Xulon, or not.

See you in a few weeks.
Read on.
Plev

When Grace Comes Home - How the Doctrines of Grace Change Your Life

When Grace Comes Home by Terry L. Johnson is a book that I happened to add to my Amazon wishlist based solely upon the cover and the title. The old idiom "Never judge a book by its cover" does not apply to me, as so often I will purchase a book based solely upon its cover. It turns out that this book is one of those gateway purchases. You know the type: one purchase leads to two more. Terry Johnson has actually written three books about grace, this being the first.

Layout

The author leads into the main content of the book by giving a brief introduction to the Doctrines of Grace, focusing in particular on the sovereignty of God, the depravity of man, the sovereignty of God's grace, and man's response. I know those are not the "five points" that we often think of when the Doctrines of Grace are mentioned, but they are all essential doctrines that permeate throughout the five points. Mr. Johnson includes this lead in for those who may not be familiar with Calvinism, or the Reformed faith as he so often refers to it, and also to refresh the minds of those who may be more familiar with the Reformed faith.

After the introduction, the author proceeds to write chapters on how the Doctrines of Grace affect your life on a very personal level. His breakout is as follows (each is a separate chapter):

• Worship
• Humility
• Adversity
• Outlook
• Witness
• Sanctification
• Assurance
• Law and Liberty
• Prayer
• Guidance
• A Faith for Living

Approach

Terry Johnson takes each one of these aspects of a Christian's life and, using Scripture, shows the reader just how the particular aspect is affected (for lack of better word) but the Doctrines of Grace. The reader is shown through Scripture proofs how their lives are touched by the Reformed faith in ways they may not have known before, and each point is elaborated upon with personal applications and historical examples. He also corrects (again, for lack of better word) common misconceptions or beliefs about each subject.

What I Liked

Without elaborating on what Mr. Johnson writes about in each chapter, I will instead tell you that the chapter on prayer was especially convicting. Why we pray, how we should pray, and how prayer changes us were all questions that were addressed in the chapter. Using prayers from men and women in the Bible, the reader is shown Biblical examples of how to pray. My eyes were opened to just how fearful (awestruck) we should be of God in prayer, and how we should prostrate ourselves before Him in heartfelt humility when we come to Him in prayer. Daniel's honesty in his prayer in Daniel 9:4-11 was especially convicting. There was no sugar-coating the sins of Israel, nor was there any attempt at justifying the sin. Daniel honestly and humbly confesses the sins in the presence of a just and righteous God.

A Complaint

As the book progresses, the author tends to keep referring to the Reformed faith more and more as he expounds on each point. While I understand he is reminding or pointing the reader to what the Reformed faith teaches, it feels as if he is saying that all along the Reformed faith has got it right. While I know this is not his intention, it left me wondering how someone new to the Doctrines of Grace would respond. Would they see the author's intention in pointing out the different beliefs, or would they see him as arrogant and assume those who believe the same would be arrogant as well? I would have much preferred him say something along "The Bible teaches" instead of "The Reformed faith has always believed" and the like.

It is nitpicky on my part to point this out, but nonetheless, it was something that I disliked about the book.

Overall

The way the author breaks out each aspect of the Christian's life and how the Doctrines of Grace profoundly affect those aspects was a refreshing reminder of how we should live and why. Conviction (upon my own heart) was rampant throughout the book as I was constantly reminded of just how lacking my own life is in response to God's grace. A solid read that is well worth the space on any person's bookshelf.

A Challenge

This is probably more for myself than any others, but I am taking it upon myself to read more this year. I think I try to convince myself of this every year, but this morning I read something that I pray will keep me motivated.

As I was catching up on some blogs, I stumbled upon an article about George W. Bush being a book lover. Intrigued, I read it to find that he is an avid reader, reading many more books that I do! In 2006 he read ninety-five books. In 2007 he read fifty-one. In 2008 he read forty!

While his numbers may have declined, I found myself ashamed for not taking the time to read more than I do. I barely make it through one complete book a month, and here the leader of the United States of America is reading an average of over a book a week for the past three years! With all the concerns and tasks and travels that he must surely have to endure, he still finds time to read, and here I am a simple state employee bemoaning the "fact" that I just don't have the time to read. Shame on me. 

While his books may not be theological or Biblical in nature, it was not as if he was reading easy material. I have stumbled through a Halberstam book, and to see him reading one as part of his list, I realized that I do not have an excuse. The difficult must be read with the simple. The non-fiction with the fiction. The theological with the worldly.

So my challenge to myself this year, and to anyone else is to read at least a book every other week. One book every fourteen days. Surely it is possible. And my goal is to read biographies was well as theology. Fiction (a small dose) with non-fiction. The difficult with the not-so-difficult. And a book review with each. It is not enough to merely skim through, but to grasp what the author is trying to convey and share with others.

I told Laura I do not like new year resolutions, so this is not one. Instead I will call it a determination, a conviction if you will. Whatever it may be, it is a challenge to myself. Eleven days to finish When Grace Comes Home...

Any suggestions for my reading list?

"Learning to Live Loved": A Review of The Shack

Last week I finished The Shack. I did this because it seemed like everyone, EVERYONE, had read and was talking about it. I know people who read it and loved it and people who threw it across the room. So, I took the plunge to see what I think personally so I can have my own fresh thoughts about it.

I only read one helpful review of this book at Resurgence.com. You can find it here. I also listened to Al Mohler's radio program back in April before I even really knew what The Shack was. From what I remember, Mohler had some helpful things to say. You can find that audio here. Overall, I "limited myself" (no pun intended--you'll see what I mean later) to as little commentary on the book as possible. I wanted to go in as unbiased as I could so that I could actually read the book fairly, willing to acknowledge its strengths and weaknesses. So, here's what I came up with:

What is This Book For?

Ok, is this book fact or fiction? The "Forward" and the "After Words" to the book set the reader up to view this as more than just fiction. Mack is portrayed as a actual friend of William Young who wrote The Shack as the product of their friendship. Though he acknowledges that Mack's memory of the events might be unclear and lead to some inaccuracies, they are real memories nonetheless. The reader is thus encouraged to not take Mack's recollections too seriously, but to "cut him a little slack" (13)--not something you say about a work that is fictitious. Yet, everyone, including those who endorsed the work on the back cover, seem to take this as fiction all the way. In fact, the number one response to all the controversy surrounding The Shack is, "Well, it's just fiction you know" (more on that later). Yet, in the forward and afterword, the author doesn't seem to explain it as fiction. Maybe it's just me.

Also, people who like The Shack, when faced with critiques on the book, play one of two cards. First is the, "Well, it's just an allegory," card. Maybe it's just me, again, but my understanding of the definition of "allegory" is one that involves finding a deeper meaning than what is read on the surface. In other words, an allegory would cause Mack to represent something other than Mack (like, the human heart), or the wooden shack as something that stood for something more than just a wooden shack (like, my greatest fears that are unconquered), or Missy's blood-stained dress as something like the cross. With allegory nothing is taken at face value, but there is always a deeper, alternate meaning. So, though there were some occasional allegorical aspects to some of what Mack saw (like his encounter with Sophia), he had a straight-up, real vision of literal things that leave no room for alternate meanings. Pilgrim's Progress, allegory. The Shack, though having occasional allegorical pieces, for the most part it is a literal, real experience that can be taken at face value. I don't know.

The second card is the one mentioned above: "Well, you know it's just fiction." (For the record, there is a difference between allegory and fiction.) I think this is the weaker of the two responses. All "fiction" means is that the events didn't happen and the characters are not real, but just because something is fiction doesn't mean the ideas that it communicates don't have an impact or are excused from being evaluated. To put it this way, I wonder how many people who have read The Shack would say the same thing about The DaVinci Code, a book that many skeptics have erroneously used as ammo against the Christian faith. My guess is few. The same could be said of movies. It takes no time to admit that the very heart of much American (anti-Christian) ideology is birthed and nurtured by fictitous stories created by liberal Hollywood. What Christian would finish watching Brokeback Mountain and excuse its message by saying, "Well, it was just fiction?" None. Interestingly, those who play the fiction card will immediately turn around and begin telling you what they learned from the book, saying things like, "It really makes you think about how we've put God in a box." Hmm. It takes only a few seconds of reflection to realize that world history itself has been largely shaped and molded by the ideas communicated in famous plays, books, and movies--fiction has the has the powerful ability to inspire, enamor, and educate. Though The Shack overall might be fiction, the ideas it communicates are not. There is clearly a non-fictional theological system that underlies all that God says to Mack. Yet, those who love the book will be tempted to read it uncritically, praising only the good while scowling at those who point out its legitimate weaknesses.

An Answer to the Problem of Evil

Well, ultimately, this book is designed to help people think about God's relationship to great human suffering. Regardless if one walks away saying, "Oh, it's just fiction," this work is an attempt to give an answer to the problem of evil--and it's shallow to think it doesn't have an influence over how people will be inclined to give that answer. That is the main point of the book, so that's what the reviews and critiques need to focus on the most. I will say upfront that if you get caught up in scowling that the Trinity is portrayed as a big black woman, a Jewish carpenter, and a translucent, phantom-like Asian woman, you will miss the point--though I do things can be said about that arrangement. Ultimately, it is not so much how God appears as much as what God says to Mack. Too many people will be prone to making premature judgements about peripheral matters (by the way, I am not saying issues of the Trinity are a peripheral matter) and will seriously limit their ability to help people think through it's central message. So, without further ado...

What I Liked:

Some might shun me if I include what I liked about The Shack. But, I think there are some legitimate strengths about the book. Namely, the story is gripping. This is a book that you never look to see what page you are on or how far you have left to go. The opening chapters that introduce you to Mack's situation will keep you glued to the pages. Young is a good writer. Though he uses imagery that sometimes gets annoying (like, "delicious joy," 211), he's a good storyteller and knows how to build suspense. Also, I identified with Mack in his suffering. When he goes back to the shack for the first time since his daughter was killed there, he has a response that is moving. Mack is portrayed as a father who has a deep sense of guilt for not protecting his daughter, something that seems to be an easy and realistic mindset of one in his situation. Nevertheless, the book is a page-turner. Unfortunately, it seems to be so good that it has the ability to cause people to think lightly of the questionable message it sends about God's relationship to suffering. Nevertheless, I can see why this book is on the New York Times Bestseller List.

There were other things that were good about The Shack. For instance, the book does well at affirming that one can trust a loving God during confusing times of intense hardship and pain. Also, Mack encounters "Sophia," a personification of God's wisdom where he learns not to sit in judgment of how God handles an evil world. Both of these biblical principles are constantly affirmed in The Shack and are worth acknowledging as a legitimate strengths.

Also, one can walk away from The Shack with the affirmation that God cares deeply about human suffering and will never turn his back on a hurting, hating, confused, doubting, and angry individual. That's a great thing and it's communicated clearly.

There are more things that could be said, but overall I didn't find the book as appalling as some. It was a book with legitimate strengths and weaknesses. Though I wouldn't necessarily recommend a suffering Christian to read The Shack (see below), it was worth reading for the sake of knowing what all the hype is about.

Major Concerns:

God's Relationship to Evil:

Though every book has strengths and weaknesses, there are sometimes certain weaknesses that are of such significance that they eclipse the legitimate strengths that might be present. Unfortunately, I think this is the case with The Shack. Let me explain.

My biggest concern with the Shack is it's theodicy (explanation of the problem of evil in relation to God).

Here are some answers given by "Papa" about evil and suffering:

Mack asks: "But I still don't understand why Missy had to die."

Response: "She didn't have to Mackenzie. This was no plan of Papa's. Papa has never needed evil to accomplish his good purposes. It is you humans who have embraced evil and Papa has responded with goodness" (165)

Also, Papa says,

"Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn't mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don't ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only lead you to false notions of me" (185).

Now, if I am reading Scripture rightly, Job would disagree. All 10 of Job's children were killed and his response was, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). The author says that Job did not sin by acknowledging this. Also, after Job is covered in boils from head to toe he says, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (2:10). The narrator of the account furthermore reveals that, though Satan was the immediate agent responsible for Job's affliction, God takes credit (2:3). The end of the narrative refers to "all the adversities that the Lord had brought upon [Job]" (42:11). Though God is not evil and does not rejoice when His creatures experience major suffering, He does orchestrate evil and suffering to accomplish His purposes. Contrary to The Shack, the true God is not a cosmic custodian, merely cleaning up evil as it occurs. God did not just "work good" out of the Genesis flood, He caused it to happen. In other places, He is explicitly said to will suffering (1 Pet. 3:17) and grant it (Phil. 1:29). Most of all, God is said to have ordained the most heinous sin the world has ever seen: the murder of His own Son (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). Yet, God does not do this out of tyrannical cruelty. He does it in wisdom and love, orchestrating all events for the glory of Christ. Unlike "Papa," the God of Scripture would not lift up His (or her) hands in complete denial.

Joseph would agree (Gen. 50:20)

See some good quotes on suffering and the sovereignty of God here.

A Low Perspective on the Perspicuity (Clarity) of Scripture:

The second biggest problem I have with The Shack is that it would just take what I said and affirm that I am "putting God in a box," forcing Him into my preconceived, thus unreliable, seminary influenced notions. Let me explain.

Mack is portrayed as a seminary alum (9). So, according to Young, he has a decent knowledge of the Bible and theology. So, was his seminary education helpful to Mack during all this? Not so much.

When Mack shockingly meets Papa as an African-American woman, he is taken aback. When he observes her with headphones listening to secular "funk" and sees her dancing and clapping, he is all the more confused. The narrator remarks, "Mack struggled to keep up with her, to make sense of what was happening. None of his old seminary training was helpful in the least" (91). Statements like this are made throughout the book.

This casts a shadow on the ability of Scripture to communicate clearly about who God is. The reason I know is because the typical "lesson" that people learn from The Shack is how they have unknowingly put God in a box--the unavoidable implication is that they have done so by letting Scripture determine their view of God. Worrying that Scripture may be a hindrance to your relationship with God will have unfortunate affects to your spiritual walk. I want to be open to what Young is trying to convey. Yes, God can do anything and can't be contained "in a box." Yes, when we see Him face to face we will be in awe in so many unimaginable ways--even realizing we were wrong about some stuff. There is no doubt that many use theological systems to do harm and disfigure the true nature of God. Yet, Jesus' (the biblical Jesus) view is nothing short of full blown confidence in the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. The Jesus of Scripture would encourage us to use the Bible to discern who God is. My fear is that many who read "Papa's" comments will take them as formative to their own spiritual walk, seeing any appeal to Scripture as something that confines and limits God's ability to be God.

Minor Concerns:

Here is a list of other things that I consider minor concerns. By "minor concern" I simply mean that these things do not make up the main point of the book. I still take them seriously, but they are not something to expound on at this time.

Borderline universalism and/or pluralism - 162, 182
View of sin and judgment (God does not punish sin, he only lets sin punish us) - 119-20
Missy's killer is a "child of God" - 224
Hypothetical atonement - 191-92, 225

The explanation for why God is depicted as the father in Scripture - 94
God the Father suffered at the cross? - 95

"Limiting" language - 106, 224
Trinitarian hierarchy - 121-123
A giggly, rock-skipping, boyish Jesus (168-69) who you can playfully "push aside" (175) and "scowl" at (204).
Mack begins to love Jesus more for his playfulness and light sense of humor rather than His lordship - 176

"Especially fond of you" language - 91, 118-119
Satan? The Shack attributes all evil in the world to the independence of mankind - 190, 165

In the end, an interesting statement comes on page 98:

"The problem is that many folks try to grasp some sense of who I am by taking the best version of themselves, projecting that to the nth degree, factoring in all the goodness they can perceive, which often isn't much, and then call that God."

Hmmm, I agree, a little too much. Again, I can see what is being said, but I can't help but think that this is the most ironic statement in the entire book.

Final Thoughts:

In the end, I don't think I would reach for The Shack to give someone as I look for literature to help them understand God's relation to suffering and evil. No matter how passionate you are about the love of God, it is better for your spiritual growth to believe in a sovereign God who lovingly ordains spectacular evil for the glory of Christ. God's sovereignty does not contradict God's love, it magnifies it.

For a more biblical view of God's relation to evil and suffering, there is no better book in my opinion than Jerry Bridges Trusting God. Next to that would be John Piper's Spectacular Sins. For a robust articulation of the glory of the person and being of God, see Piper's The Pleasures of God, or J.I. Packer's Knowing God.

So, there you have it. The next Pilgrim's Progress? I think that is a bit of an overstatement by Eugene Peterson (see front cover of the book). My challenge to all who have read and love The Shack is to read Pilgrim's Progress next to see allegory at it's best and most biblical.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Let me know.

Don't Worry... Beep, beep, beep...

The BB still has a pulse...

But, did I hear someone say Shelfari?

Eron

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

This post as been on hold for quite awhile...but I finally finished it up!! See below for more information. :)

Well I have finally finished this book and I can honestly say it was a great read! At first the book is pretty heavy with a lot of scientific and case study talk, but if you can manage to get through all of that to the point that Pollan is making you will learn a lot. On a personal note, this book has changed my view on a lot of things. This may be a lengthy review of the book as I hope to talk about some of the subject matter in depth and more than just typing up a quote or two. I hope that this review will be helpful and will encourage you to think hard about what you eat and maybe pick up a book on the subject and do some learning too!

To start, the title of this book really sets up what you will find on the 200 or so pages contained within. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (more on the other subtitle later- Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants). The majority of this book is spent defending food, as the title claims. At it's core it is a "A public declaration of principles, policies, or intentions" (definition of the word "manifesto" from dictionary.com) from the eater to the eater. Now one would think that defending food and spending pages upon pages even defining the word "food" seems kind of silly, but Pollan pretty clearly makes the point that food is in fact in great need of such defense. To explain it in his own words:

"...'eat food,' which is not quite as simple as it sounds. For while it used to be that food was all you could eat, today there are thousands of other edible foodlike substances in the supermarket. These novel products of food science often come in packages elaborately festooned with health claims..." (pg. 2)

Pollan sets up in the very first pages of the book his reasoning for why such a defense of food is needed. The book is divided up into three main sections each with numerous subsections or chapters within it.

I. The Age of Nutritionism
II. The Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilization
III. Getting Over Nutritionism

The Age of Nutritionism
The first section unfolds the idea that in the last few decades we have seen an emphasis on the nutrient parts of food over the actual value of the food itself. Vitamins, fiber, saturated fats, etc. The food is no more or no greater than the sum of its nutrient parts. Like I said you have to "weed through" a lot of scientific talk, even some history talk too, to get to the point.

"In the case of nutritionism, the widely shared but unexamined assumption is that the key to understanding food is indeed in the nutrient. Put another way: Foods are essentially the sum of their nutrient parts. From this basic premise flow several others." (pg. 18)

"Indeed, nutrionism supplies the ultimate justification for processing food by implying that with a judicious application of food science, fake foods can be made even more nutritious than the real thing." (pg. 32)

In this section he continues to explain how certain laws passed by the FDA have now, as he puts it, thrown the regulatory door wide open to all sorts of processed and fake foods. He gives examples of margarine, low-fat this and fat-free that, bacon bits, etc. The sky is now the limit to what food scientists can come up with. The ultimate problem being what you have to put in that sour cream to make it low-fat. Take the fat out, put the hydrogenated oils and guar gum in!

This first section also defends real food by talking about the marketing behind the aisles and aisles of processed foods that you will find in a typical grocery store.

"Yet as a general rule it's a whole lot easier to slap a health claim on a box of sugary cereal than on a raw potato or a carrot, with the perverse result that the most healthful foods in the supermarket sit their quietly in the produce section, silent as stroke victims, while a few aisles over in Cereal the Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms are screaming their newfound "whole-grain goodness" to the rafters." (pg. 39)

"As I write, the FDA has just signed off on a new health claim for Frito-Lay chips on the grounds that eating chips fried in polyunsaturated fats can help you reduce your consumption of saturated fats...So can a notorious junk food pass through the needle eye of nutrionist logic and come out the other side looking like a health food." (pg. 52)

Now as a lover of all things carbohydrate and low-fat and fat-free some of these sections were hard for me to swallow. But the truth hurts sometimes, right? Tracing our current obesity epedimic back Pollan points out that as certain fats (as food is simply reduced to its nutrient parts) were deemed as evil, new guidelines were put in place.

"...giving us low-fat pork, low-fat Snackwell's, and all the low-fat pasta and high-fructose (yet low fat!) corn syrup we could consume. Which turned out to be quite a lot. Oddly, Americans got really fat on their new low-fat diet--indeed, many date the current epidemic of obesity and diabetes to the late 1970s, when Americans began bingeing on carbohydrates, ostensibly as a way to avoid the evils of fat." (pg. 50)

The Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilization

This section closely examines the western diet. The quote mentioned above is really what he delves into in this section. That the abundant amount of refined carbohydrates in the western diet is by no mistake at its peak the same time that heart disease and other problems linked to obesity are rising. All it takes is a day of people watching at the mall and hearing the statistic that 1 in 3 Americans is obese to realize something must be wrong with our diet!

"The price of food has fallen, portion sizes have ballooned, and, predictably, we're eating a whole lot more, at least 300 more calories a day than we consumed in 1985. What kind of calories? Nearly a quarter of these additional calories come from added sugars (and most of that in the form of high-fructose corn syrup); roughly another quarter from added fat...46 percent of them from grains (mostly refined); and the few calories left (8 percent) from fruits and vegetables." (pg. 122)

Getting Over Nutritionism

The very first point that Pollan makes in this final section is that we need an escape from the Western diet. This won't be any easy escape, but it's well worth the effort and change that is required.

"In order to eat well we need to invest more time, effort, and resources in providing for our sustenance...A hallmark of the Western diet is food that is fast, cheap, and easy. Americans spend less than 10 percent of their income on food; they also spend less than a half hour a day preparing meals and little more than an hour enjoying them." (pg. 145)

It is in this final section that Pollan explains in more detail the subtitle of the book (Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants). This is his prescription for how to fix the problem that he spends the first two-thirds of the book addressing. And under each of these subsections he gives "commandments" on how to do what he is calling you to do.

Eat Food

• Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food
• Avoid food products containg ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number, or that include high-fructose corn syrup
• Avoid food products that make health claims
• Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle
• Get out of the supermarket whenever possible (i.e. go to local farmers' markets)

Mostly Plants: What to Eat

• Eat mostly plants, especially leaves
• Regard non-traditional foods with skepticism

(there are many more points under this subsection that would require some explaining, but essentially it can be summed up in this quote)

"There are literally scores of studies demonstrating that a diet rich in vegetables and fruits reduces the risk of dying from all the Western diseases. In countries where people eat a pound or more of fruits and vegetables a day, the rate of cancer is half what is in the United States." (pg. 164)

Not Too Much: How to Eat

• Pay more, eat less
• Eat meals
• Do all your eating at a table
• Try not to eat alone
• Consult your gut
• Eat slowly (this point and the one above it go hand in hand...eat slow and when you feel full--stop!)
• Cook, and if you can, plant a garden

"For the majority of Americans, spending more for better food is less a matter of ability than priority. We spend a smaller percentage of our income on food than any other industrialized society; surely if we decided that the quality of our food mattered, we could afford to spend a few more dollars on it a week--and eat a little less of it. Is it just a coincidence that as the portion of our income spent on food has declined, spending on health care has soared?" (pg. 187)

So, that is essentially the main points of In Defense of Food. This book has really changed my thinking on a lot of things and has changed the food that I buy for our house. There is something to be said about stopping and thinking about what you are putting into your body. And then when you do buy the good stuff to put into it, stopping and enjoying the flavor and savoring each bite. Try it...it will really change the way you view food!

Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

Well, a while back I finished N.T. Wright's book on eschatology. You can find a much better review of this book by Tom Schreiner here. But, I will give my thoughts briefly.

N.T. Wright is a brilliant New Testament scholar. The material I have read by him has always presented me with hefty ideas that I enjoy wrestling with. As a historian who has mastered the ancient cultures in which early Christianity was birthed, the product of his studies of the New Testament often reveal the many ways that Western Christians have misread Scripture. Therefore, in many ways Wright is very helpful. He helps me think outside of my 21st century Americanized box. And when it came to reading this book, it was no different.

Here's why:

The thrust of Wright's book is that many contemporary Christians think wrongly about their future heavenly hope. Namely, it is commonplace for believers to promote the idea that our final heavenly destination is an otherworldly, immaterial state that exists away from "this evil earth." Much Christian preaching, songwriting, and literature tends to leave one with the impression that the great hope that Christians await is to be done with this earth and dwell somewhere in the sky in a bodiless, phantom-like existence. Wright argues convincingly that our great hope is finalized not by us leaving the earth and going to heaven, but by heaven coming to us in a renewed heavens and earth. Yes, in the intermediate state we do go to be with the Lord, but this is only a temporary provision until the full consummation occurs. The final hope of believers is resurrection, with Jesus as our great Pioneer who is "the firstborn from among the dead" (Col. 1:18). We will receive new physical bodies that will dwell for eternity on a renewed physical earth. Easter, not Christmas, is clearly the holiday that Christians should put the most effort into.

Wright argues that the theme that colors the entire Bible is creation/recreation. Thus, Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is primarily the inauguration of the new creation. So, we are to make much of Jesus' resurrection (Easter) because of the everyday implications it has for having a renewed life. Wright emphasizes that when Scripture says that when a man is in Christ he is "a new creation" (or, according to Wright's translation, "If a man is in Christ, behold, new creation," p.228), it means that he is and should live as a small glimpse of what is to come in the final resurrection. On the first Easter, Jesus was the first glimpse of the new creation. This is why Jesus' resurrection is the anchor for our hope of salvation--if Jesus has been raised, we can be confident that we will be raised too.

In addition, Wright takes issue with a lot of contemporary theology that denigrates the implications to a thorough resurrection/new creation eschatology. He challenges fundamentalists who simplistically view evangelism as a decision-centered effort that reduces the gospel merely to a "go to heaven when you die" message. Wright argues that the gospel is much more global than we often make it out to be, requiring Christians to take involvement in social reform more seriously. (Schreiner (see link above) has some good thoughts about this idea in his review.) Also, he strongly expresses his irritation with rapture theology, mostly arguing that it demeans a Christian's concern for this world. Ultimately, he traces most rapture theology to a cousin of Gnosticism (ultimately a product of Platonic dualism) that promotes a disdain for the physical world. I'll let you read his full arguments that are found throughout his work, but that's the gist of it.

Concerns:

Well, writing a section on my concerns in this book is actually a joy, especially with N.T. Wright. I do disagree with Wright on some issues, and some of his ideas are just straight-up far fetched. But, reading people who are not like minded has a refining effect. Plus, he is usually honest as he writes, and gives the reader a heads up that he is giving a rare, controversial, or altogether new perspective or interpretation on a topic. He is well reasoned and I enjoy wrestling with his ideas; some have helped me to think outside of my box, others have just annoyed me. Either way, there are some things here that you should be on guard for. (I refer you Schreiner's review for a better treatment of these issues.) First, in writing a book on hope, heaven, gospel, and salvation, Wright hardly mentions sin. He does mention it, but he leaves it out of the discussion for the most part. His negligence makes you wonder what role individual salvation from personal sin plays in the gospel. He makes you think that it's too simplistic to go around telling people that they need to be saved from sin. So, head's up. Second, his view of hell is altogether...well, he even admits that he is crafting his own view of hell. Namely, humans were created to fulfill their humanness by imaging God for His glory. Sin, or not imaging God properly, is above all dehumanizing. Thus, the ultimate destination for those who die in unbelief is to experience the full extent of dehumanization. Wright does this by trying to wed annihilationism and universalism--it's bizarre, which he admits, but you'll have to read it to see how it unfolds. Finally, he advocates praying to saints, though not in a mediatorial way. Yeah, he can keep that one. There are other minor things that strike me as "eh?", but those are the main ones.

Quotes:

"[The resurrection] is not an absurd event within the old world, but the symbol and starting point of the new world. The claim advanced in Christianity is of that magnitude: Jesus of Nazareth ushers in not simply a new religious possibility, not simply a new ethic or a new way of salvation, but a new creation" (67).

"Take away the stories of Jesus' birth, and you lose only two chapters of Matthew and two of Luke. Take away the resurrection, and you lose the entire New Testament and most of the second-century fathers as well" (43).

"[With] Easter, God's new creation is launched upon a surprised world, pointing ahead to the renewal, the redemption, the rebirth of the entire creation. Hands up, those who have heard the message that every act of love, every deed done in Christ and by the Spirit, every work of true creativity--doing justice, make peace, healing families, resisting temptation, seeking and winning true freedom--is an earthly event in a long history of things that implement Jesus' own resurrection and anticipate the final new creation and act as a signpost of home, pointing back to the first and on to the second. . . . I thought so. Thank you" (294-95).

Because of Wright's book, I have gained a higher view of baptism, the new creation, the celebration of Easter, a reason to kill sin in my life, and ultimately, my own resurrection in light of Jesus' resurrection. Though discernment is required at times, I benefited from this book. Check it out.

Peace.
Thoughts? Questions?

Dear Timothy: Letters on Pastoral Ministry

"Dear Timothy" (Founders Press, 384 pp) is a collection of letters written by experienced pastors to a young man named Timothy, a 26 year old man who has been pastoring for 6 months, married for 4 years with a 2 year old son and another on the way. There are a total of 20 chapters reflecting the collective wisdom of 480 years of pastoral experience. Here are the contents:

1. Establish Priorities - Tom Ascol

2. Watch Your Life - Conrad Mbewe

3. Love Your Family - Tedd Tripp $$

4. Love Your Flock - Ted Christman

5. Memorize Scripture - Andy Davis $

6. Pray Always - Martin Holdt

7. Cultivate Humility - C. J. Mahaney $

8. Be Courageous - Bill Ascol

9. Do the Work of an Evangelist - Mark Dever $

10. Do Personal Work - Fred Malone

11.Watch Your Doctrine - Raymond Perrons

12. Keep Studying - Ligon Duncan $$

13. Learn from the Puritans I - Joel Beeke $

14. Learn from the Puritans II - Joel Beeke

15. Preach the Word - Roger Ellsworth

16.Worship in Spirit and Truth - Terry Johnson

17. Train Other Men - Steve Martin

18. Care for the Nations - Phil Newton

19. Don't Neglect Revival - Ray Ortlund, Jr.

20. Find a Place to Settle - Geoff Thomas

Recommended Reading

---I highly recommend this book to pastors and especially future or young pastors. It will encourage, challenge, teach, overwhelm, and whet your appetite for pastoral ministry. These men have a high and well-rounded view of the pastorate. I have put a $ by the chapters that were particularly good. This volume is filled with Puritan gems (too many to include). I was also struck by how many of the chapters mentioned D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I need to become more familiar with this man! After each chapter, the older pastor recommends a few important books to Timothy pertaining to the topic his letter addressed, which most who read this blog will appreciate;)

Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists

Chance? Coincidence? Providence. I just happened to pull up this blog tonight, ready to compose a review of the most recent book that I have read, and behold, Eron reviewed a book that deals with somewhat the same topic. While my review may not satisfy your tastes as much as Plev's, I hope I can do the blog justice. 

Since I first saw this book in the "Coming Soon" section of Monergismbooks, I pretty much knew that I wanted to read it. Mainly out of curiosity, I wanted to see what the author had to say about young people "discovering" reformed theology. Since coming to the doctrines of grace, even though I know there are many Christians who believe the same way, it seems as if there are just a small number of people who hold to the same view of scripture.

Collin Hansen, the author of the book, does a great job in traveling across the nation, visiting with young people and seasoned people alike at conferences, in their offices, at Starbucks, etc. Essentially, his purpose is to try and find out why there is such a resurgence among young people yearning for doctrine in the place of easy-believism. 

The Places We Will Go

Hansen hits all of the major hotbeds for reformed theology, both in the present age and in times past. He visits with young people attending a Passion conference in Atlanta. He makes the journey to Louivsille, twice, to attend T4G and NA. He is invited to Piper's personal home for supper. He travels back to Yale to see where Edwards taught and where reformed theology is still preached. He hits up Driscoll in Seattle and Sovereign Grace in Maryland. There aren't many more places that he could go in order to flesh out the reason that youngsters are yearning for some meat. 

The Peope You Will Meet

As the author travels to each destination, he is constantly in conversation (I feel all emergent writing that! =D) with those who have come to the doctrines of grace, and even some who do not agree with them. At each place the author reveals some reason why young people are wanting scriptural teaching. Some he talks to come from a church background, but yet were never taught Scripture. Others come from a drug/criminal background and truly understand what it means to be saved by a sovereign God. And he visits those who were taught liberal doctrine in seminary, but the Lord lead them into a biblical view of Himself.

Why The Resurgence?

Overall, it seems to me that young people are tired of being spoon-fed Christianity. They are tired of having the Gospel presented as a set of rules. The theatrics of "religion" are not as relevant as some leaders would like to believe. A desire to know the transcendent God is bringing people, young and old alike, to a high and right view of God and a low view of man which is really at the root of reformed doctrine.

Who You Won't Meet...Directly

There were only a couple of complaints about this book that I could find. One being Hansen is not able to talk to more conservative leaders of the resurgence. There is no direct interview with MacArthur or Sproul or Dever. I would have liked to see him delve deeper into those who are influenced by their teaching, which leads to my next "complaint": Where are the interviews with those who are drawn to traditional worship?

I know this is knit-picking, but I firmly believe that there are those young people who are drawn to traditional, conservative worship, I being one of them. I love old hymns. I love the deepness and richness of the doctrine found within them. I love their view of God and man. I prefer traditional, and I think that there are a number of people who feel the same way. I felt like the book is missing something because of this. The author leaves you with the impression that a transcendent God can only be found in praise music, which is not the case.

My Thoughts

Would I recommend this book to others? Yes. I think it provides important insight into why young people are drawn to "old doctrine" and true study of scripture. Would I like to see more in terms of what I mentioned above? Of course. We all have our preferences. I am just "old fashioned."

Why We're Not Emergent: (By Two Guys Who Should Be)

First of all, you can check the official website here. And, you can read a good review by Phil Johnson at Pyromaniac, here. Phil Johnson has highlighted much of what I wanted to highlight about this book--the same quotes and everything! Nevertheless, I will briefly give my two cents on this helpful work.

What Is This Book For?
Basically, DeYoung and Kluck are young, Reformed, and convinced that you don't have to jump on the emergent bandwagon to save Christianity. I agree. There is so much in this book that it would be difficult to summarize it briefly. I will just say that they cover all the bases. From the vague notion of spiritual "journeying" to the disdain for dogmatic propositions, I think this work puts its finger square on the defining issues that characterize the EC. If you've ever tried to have an opinion about what the EC does, you've realized that it's hard and frustrating. Interacting with those who are full-blown emergent can get opinionated and emotional very quickly. One usually winds up chasing provocative wording rather than actually grasping the substance of what the EC is about. Yet, for a movement that is known for its ambiguity and anti-dogmatism, Kluck and DeYoung do an exceptional job hitting the nail on the head.

Quotes
Check out quotes from Pyromaniac (link above). But, I will say that these guys bring it. They are quotable often, and word their thoughts in a piercing kind of way. You'll definitely want to memorize some of their statements and keep them handy as you think through issues with the EC. They are right on and very helpful.

My Recommendation
I would recommend this book to all who are interested in a good, biblical, Reformed argument against some of the more dangerous corners of the EC. These guys are gifted writers and posses the ability to articulate their position with clarity and biblical conviction. They are quotable on almost every page. It is clear that they have done their research. They have read most all of the major books by most all of the major authors of the EC, and have spent time in emergent churches. I have found that when it comes to reading McClaren, Bell, and others, you have to really spend time reading them charitably and listening to what they are trying to say. Otherwise, you will read them, but you won't read them. You'll wind up wasting your time chasing after their provocative wording yet all the while thinking you have something to say about the EC. I think this work is trustworthy and offers critiques that one can feel safe making their own. The approach is humble, but firm and intellectual. Go out and getcha one.

Further Thoughts
Now, I and my wife joyfully attend an Acts29 (emerging, though not emergent) church here in Louisville. (I am a HUGE Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler fan.) Though our church is on the more conservative, Reformed end of the emerging church spectrum, there are many similarities that our church shares with those of the less conservative end (i.e., an emphasis on community, cultural engagement, etc.). We have learned a ton and have been sanctified tremendously. We feel that our church has done a work in us that is unique and honoring to Christ. The EC is primarily a reactionary movement against some of the dead-traditionalism that indeed exists in evangelicalism. There are those who stand guilty of over-correcting, while others stand guilty of not taking such reactions seriously. The EC should be called out for where they endanger the Christian faith, but I am of the opinion that they should be heard out and sometimes heeded. The key is balance and discernment. This book can help you think through all that.

Thoughts? Comments?
Peace.
EP

Aaaaaaaand We're Back: Wanting to Be Her: Body Image Secrets Victoria Won't Tell You

I wasn't even looking for this book when I found it. I was supposed to be doing research for a paper for a theology class when this book caught my eye. Turns out, this accidental read had a more profound effect on me than the book I got for my paper.

I have thing for beauty--the topic that is. Knowing where we get our standards of beauty, how beauty (or a lack thereof) affects day to day living (and it does!), and gaining insight on how to uphold healthy and biblical notions of beauty have become a topic of interest to me. I now notice articles, talk shows, news segments, and books that speak on the subject of beauty. Basically, our culture is obsessed with having perfect looks. As a result, countless females loath their bodies and starve themselves while self-centered, lust-filled boys encourage them by having supermodel standards, holding off on relationships (or getting into tons of them) until they score that perfect-10 babe. And let's just be honest, the Christian scene isn't all so different from the culture in this respect. So...

What is This Book For?

Michelle Graham is writing to help girls have a biblical view of their bodies in light of Scripture's standard of beauty. She writes from experience and is very apt to make the challenges she does. From the back cover:

In this book Michelle Graham reveals how we have fallen into the trap of viewing our bodies through the lens of culture rather than through the eyes of God.

And that, I would say, is done well. She has a good grasp of our culture, and she argues from a sound theological framework that isn't afraid to call out sin and idolatry. She exposes the heart's lean toward finding satisfaction and affirmation in things other than God. In the end, females are challenged to evaluate their beauty in light of their intimacy with Christ, knowing that external appearance is only part of the package. Her use of Scripture is good, though there are some interpretations that I wouldn't have forced (For example, that Eve's "desire for her husband" [Gen. 3:16] meant that she would "hunger for acceptance from men" [p. 94]. Eh, not so much.). Otherwise, she is right on most of the time.

Key Chapters and Quotes:

Chapter 1: The Lie We Buy: Beauty and Culture

"How have you been affected by the lie that your body must fit a certain standard in order to be accepted? Check all the following statements that apply to you:

-I am critical of my body

-When I look in the mirror, I first notice the parts of my body that I think are inadequate

-When I see images of "beautiful women" in the media, I compare myself to them.

-As I get dressed and ready in the morning, I consider what others will think of my appearance.

-I weigh myself frequently and am emotionally affected by the results.

-The thought of being seen without makeup or hair done is scary to me.

-When others compliment my appearance, I have a hard time believing it's true.

-When I eat in front of people, I wonder what they are thinking about me.

-I tend to wear clothes that are baggy to hide my figure or tight clothes to show off my body in hopes of receiving attention.

-If money were no object, I would have plastic surgery in a heartbeat.

-I have often thought that becoming more beautiful would be the solution to some of life's challenges--my desires for romantic relationships, career success, popularity among friends or self esteem. (p.24)

"When we understand the gift of our God-made body, we will respond. . . with contentment and without embarrassment. We will take care of our body well by eating healthy foods and giving it the exercise of an active lifestyle. We;ll keep ourselves clean and enjoy pampering our body, without crossing the line onto body obsessions or comparing ourselves to other women." (p. 37)

Chapter 3: When Beauty Becomes a Beast: Beauty and Consequences

"There was an unspoken equation that I learned as a single woman: my chance of getting married correlates directly with my physical attractiveness." (p. 50)

Chapter 4: Who's the Fairest of Them All?: Beauty and Ethnicity

**This was probably the best chapter in the book. Basically, we are ethnocentric when it comes to beauty. Just read the whole chapter. But, here's a quote:

"The more European one's features, the more beautiful one is considered to be." (p. 62).

Chapter 6: Can I Still Keep My Favorite Lipstick? Beauty and Balance

"I would suggest that a desire for plastic surgery is rooted in body obsession." (p. 106).

"The less modest our clothing, the more we invite others to fill in the blanks and complete the picture of our naked body." (p. 112).

My Recommendation:

I highly recommend this book. It is an easy read and it keeps you engaged--I read almost half the book in one sitting! This would be a fantastic study for women to do. I would also recommend it to guys who are interested in how our culture of non-beauty influences our views of women and choosing a mate. It was beneficial to "listen in" on a girl-to-girl conversation. I gained some good insight into the minds of females as they battle with their bodies. After I read this I wanted to start being more careful to encourage my wife and help her combat the false views of beauty that she is bombarded with day to day. Overall, I would rate this book at 4/5 stars. Whether guy or girl, you should consider Amazoning this one.

Thoughts? Comments?

Peace

Praise Her in the Gates

So, I've read a few books lately, but have not added them to the Booked Blog.  No reason why, so I'm going to try and play catch up. 

It's been a while back, but I read Praise Her in the Gates, The Calling of Christian Motherhood, by Nancy Wilson (wife of Douglas Wilson).   It was a small book, easy read.  I'm not very good at summaries of books, but I'll give it a shot.

The book begins by laying out the misconceptions and biblical truths about conception, pregnancy and childbirth.  What God desires from these things and how our minds should be trained to think on these things.  It is also encouraging for those who are unable to have children or who have miscarriages.  God doesn't give us the why; we must trust in His kindness, goodness and His Sovereignty-- knowing that He works all things for our good and His glory.

The book then goes into very practical applications of what living out Proverbs 31:31 looks like:

Chapter 4: When the kids are sick

Overreacting vs. Under reacting

A time for teaching cheerfulness and patience

Teaching our kids to trust God in our illnesses

Chapter 5: Loving the Kids- Dinnertime, Bedtime and Holidays

Loving children when they aren't lovable

"You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

You shall be blessed and it shall be well with you.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;

Your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. " Psalm 118:2-4

Hospitality

Table time-- a foreshadowing of the fellowship we will have in heaven

Reading around the table and at bedtime

Fluffy pillows and warm comforters

Chapter 6: Manners: Church Behavior, Friends, Family

Love for one another, protection of each other's names and reputations, sensitivity to needs of brothers

Church manners: 

Worship and fellowship

Trained and taught all week long

Sitting together as a family

Creative ways to keep the little ones quiet and the older ones paying attention

Courtesy is  a Christian characteristic

Chapter 7: Respecting Sons

Bring them up in their full stature both physically and spiritually

Treat them in a way that their soul prospers

Teach them to be providers

His need for respect from mothers and sisters

Not taking sides between Dad and son

Teach respect by respecting husband

Praise your husband to your son

Praise your sons achievements and accomplishments

Give him responsibilities and fully expect him to fulfill them

Good behavior receives respect and honor from parents

Courtesy-- do not humiliate or point out flaws in public

Do not expect male piety to look like female piety

Chapter 8: Loving Daughters

A critical spirit is destructive

Teach them about meekness, submission, respect, courtesy and holiness

They need love and security

Dads should fulfill the need for male approval

Teach them to control their emotions--not to use them to manipulate

Teach them to be home-centered

Model and teach biblical femininity

Chapter 9: Setting Standards: God's Rules and House Rules

"Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds." Prov. 27:23

Take care of business at home first, before you get involved in other Christian affairs

Our children are our disciples

Godly discipline is focused on a long-term goal, not a short-term goal to make life easier

Be consistent

Chapter 10: The Importance of Education

Parents are responsible for the godly education of their children

Chapter 11: The Pleasant Home

A pleasant home should be full of joy and beauty-- the beauty of holiness

Perform duties cheerfully and patiently

Tidy, well-managed home

Chapter 12: The Domestic Arts

See domesticity as a duty and calling, not an option

Childrearing, cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening and decorating

Chapter 13: Letting Them Go

Train them to leave productive, godly lives on their own

As you can tell from the titles alone, it will be a book I will soon be picking up to reference.

Laura

Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Rienvention of the American Grown-up by Christopher Noxon

What are the necessary, non-negotiable changes one must undergo to be considered a responsible, functioning adult? Everyone (including Christopher Noxon) agrees that no one should stay a naive, temper-tantrum throwing, un-potty trained child forever. Most people can detect immaturity in someone quite quickly and will display various levels of irritation based on the age appropriate stages that many intuitively expect from all people. But are these age appropriate expectations universal for every time, age, and society? Are there re-definable aspects of adulthood that people must embrace as simply a part of constantly changing cultures? In light of the Industrial Revolution, the explosion of technology, the absence of economic hardship, and the increase in life expectancy among American adults, is there a legitimate (and therefore, acceptable) challenge to the modern definition of the term "adult?" Good question. In Rejuvenile, (a term coined and used by Noxon himself to describe those who have life interests of those younger than themselves) one is forced to wrestle with these tough issues as one cannot deny the ubiquitous emergence of new, non-traditional adult norms. For Christians, this area must be addressed. We must know how the Bible defines "adult," and what we are to expect from our young brothers and sisters in regards to true aging and maturity. Pastors must recognize that confusion about issues of gender, sexuality, and adulthood abound in our secular culture, and the average church attender is no exception to being subtly influenced by this confusion.

Noxon, who is not writing from a Christian worldview, writes:

Evidences of the presence and influence of rejuveniles is all around. The Cartoon Network boasts bigger overall ratings among viewers aged eighteen to thirty-four than CNN, Fox News, or any cable news channel. Half of the visitors to Disney World are childless adults, making the Magic Kingdom the number-one adult vacation destination in the world. Department stores stock fuzzy pajamas with attached feet in adult sizes. . . . The Entertainment Software Association reports that the average age of video game players is twenty nine, up from eighteen in 1990. (3)

Also, from the back cover:

Once upon a time, boys and girls grew up and set aside childish things. Nowadays, moms and dads skateboard alongside their kids, captains of industry pose for Business Week holding Super Soakers, and young people delay marriage and childbirth longer than ever--in part to keep family obligations from interfering from their fun.

Noxon also makes a distinction between "childlike and childish" (223), with the former being the acceptable alternative to traditional adulthood. For him, even amidst a lifestyle characterized by late night hours of video gaming, moving back in with parents after college, and remaining deliberately single or childless, one may still be considered an adult. He argues that because they are able to maintain complex relationships and display responsibility (even if it is to manage a mass tournaments of adult dodge ball), rejuveniles are qualified adults who have indeed grown up, just not in the way our parents and grandparents did. In his most defining statement, he writes:

[Rejuveniles] might not be married, they might not have kids, they might build their life around values older people find self-serving, but they're still adults--they're just a different sort, less mature in some ways, but, it must be said, far more in others. Yes, they're less self-sufficient, but they're also more self-aware. Yes, they're less dependable, but they're also more adaptable. And yes, their crisscrossing career paths can look like proof of indecisiveness or all-around flakiness. But these same qualities can also be seen as evidence of an open and adventurous spirit, one that would rather explore and experiment that settle down, stick to it, and hope for the best. (162-163)

As I read this book I thought of a lot of people by name, many of whom are Christians. Whenever I get that cringe feeling in my soul when I hear of directionless believers spending their money selfishly and who are celebrating a whimsical, "adventurous" life, should I just pass it off as a cultural difference? Should I just come to terms with the fact that my age appropriate expectations are a relative product of the place I was raised? Or, are there certain mindsets and behaviors that we can truly urge young adults to change their minds about? There is nothing intrinsically childish about taking a lengthy trip to another country or playing video games, but defined by the individual in context, they can be.

I do think we can say that adulthood universally boils down to two non-negotiable characteristics: Gospel-marriage (for those who are not called to gospel celibacy) and Gospel-parenthood. Now, I realize that being married, per se, and having children, per se, does not make one an adult any more than being unmarried makes one childish. But, there is a clear Scriptural distinction between childhood and adulthood (e.g., 1 Cor. 13:11) and, it is sinful to not grow out of the former. Thus, it is crucial to recognize the things that keep one in childhood and prevent one from becoming a respectable adult in the eyes of Jesus.

Noxon is right when he points out that the widespread presence things like divorce and the ability to travel anywhere in the world at a relatively cheap price all contribute to the molding of a culture. He is quite helpful for my thinking on some of the things he says. I think there are some changes taking place in our minds regarding what it means to grow up, and not all are sinful. But, in the end, I think adulthood belongs to and is defined by God. There are non-negotiables, namely, marriage and parenthood, and the reality of selfishness is not something to be taken lightly, especially for Christians. Youth pastors need to know how their young people are growing up, and they need to have an understanding of what promotes true maturity and what keeps it from flourishing.

I enjoyed this book. Blake, I know you will get to it soon. I can't wait to talk about it with you.

Peace. Comments? Questions? Differing viewpoints?

(Sculpture found at Rednose Studios)

Mohler's Booked Blog

Dang it! Mohler just started a book blog for reviews and such. Not only will this put The Booked Blog out of business, but it will also make us look like children given that he will post about 7 posts a week. Thanks a lot Al.


You can find his new blog here. If anything, you know where he got his inspiration... ; )


Peace.

Why Small Groups?: Together Toward Maturity

You can find this book in full-text at Google here.

Why Small Groups?: Together Toward Maturity is edited by C.J. Mahaney and includes a compilation of articles on small groups from many seasoned pastors across the nation. This book is primarily geared toward equipping leaders to lead small groups, but is certainly beneficial for those who want deepen their current small group involvement. Also, those who are still considering or questioning the small-group (aka, home-group, care-group, family-group, etc.) rout and it's biblical foundations will find no better Scripture-centered discussion of small-groups than here.

Main Thesis

Small groups provide an environment that cultivates biblical fellowship and sanctification. Biblically, the Christian faith is designed to thrive in a community setting. Though fellowship certainly occurs in many ways and at many times, small-groups are a way to ensure consistent, long-term, gospel-focused meetings between members of a local church. In most churches going to Sunday School and hearing a sermon in "Big Church" (even if they are sound, expository studies) is an inadequate means of sanctification. Small groups are not bible studies. They are geared to create a climate that allows for Christians to meet with the intention of walking together in faith. From serving one another to serving with one another; from rebuking sin to applying the weekly sermon; from praying together for a lost parent to accountability for one's private struggles; from grieving together over the loss of a sibling or parent to celebrating the arrival of a new baby; from providing a meal for one who is sick to sharpening spiritual gifts; from personality conflicts to biblical reconciliation--small groups get people into real community and challenge those who would otherwise only relate to their Christian friends on a superficial level. Fellowship is essential to the Christian life. Talking doctrine once a quarter over a styrofoam plate of fried chicken, green bean casserole, and rolls does not create the type of fellowship envisioned in Acts 2. Small groups are a way to become skilled at experiencing true fellowship with those of your local church.

Quotes

"Genuine fellowship isn't practical in a crowd of 200 or 2,000. That's why I feel so strongly that churches must create small groups where Christians can develop intimate relationships, where they can 'know and be known.' A church following a biblical model will not just 'have' small groups. It will not merely 'offer' small groups. Rather, it will be built with small groups." (Mahaney, 3)

"Opportunities to fall in love, get married, procreate, pursue a career, go bungee jumping, play baseball, or go to school are all open to humanity in general. But only Christians can experience fellowship. For this reason alone, this unique quality of Christian existence should be exceedingly precious to us." (Loftness, 19-20)

"Small groups provide an excellent context in which to pursue many of the vital goals of church life that are difficult, if not impossible, to pursue on Sunday mornings." (Mullery, 47)

"Small groups can provide excellent opportunities for us to die to excessive love of comfort by embracing the changes and challenges God brings our way." (Butler, 77)

"The most important decision one will ever make is whether he or she will be devoted to Jesus Christ. And devotion to Jesus Christ cannot be effectively implemented without a devotion to the local church." (Harvey, 92)

"[It] is absolutely essential to realize that [para-church] ministries exist largely because local churches have fallen short of their biblical mandate. Truly, para-church ministries are evidence of the unpaid debt of the local church." (Harvey, 103)

"I find no New Testament examples of ministries that operated independently of local churches." (Harvey, 104)

Overall Conclusion

Anyone who is leading a small group needs to read this. There are crucial chapters on small group leadership filled with wisdom and insight on how to maintain a healthy small group. This was a great read. It's easy to read and can be read in one day. Check it out.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions?
EP

Next post: Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up by Christopher Noxon. Get a preview here.)

Living the Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney

Well, over the weekend I read Mahaney's Living the Cross Centered Life. It was a refreshing and enriching read. I won't post a detailed review of it, but I will give you some quotes and main points.

Basically, the work of Christ on the cross is something we should never move away from. The cross does not function merely to get one into heaven, but it serves as an anchor that sustains the entire Christian life. The realities that flow from the cross are the foundation for every Christian act henceforth. This book reflects on the gravity of sin, the fierceness of God's wrath, the justice of God, the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, the love of God, and reconciliation that occurs as Christians are justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ. From there, Christians are to no longer fear the condemnation of God. They are to live a life of joy knowing that God has welcomed them into fellowship by the work of His Son. As moods come and go, the work of Christ remains the same. As those who have been purchased by His blood, we are to always remember from where we have been rescued and never depart from the mercy and grace God has shown us in making us His own.

Quotes:

"Never be content with your current grasp of the gospel. The gospel is life-permeating, world-altering, universe-changing truth. It has more facets than any diamond. We will never exhaust it's depths" (142).

"How easily we fall into the trap of assuming that we remain justified only so long as there are grounds in our character for justification" (111). (Quote from Sinclair Ferguson)

"Nothing in all creation is more steeped in the miraculous than the fact of your forgiveness and mine" (95)

"A cross-centered life is made up of cross-centered days" (132).

This book is short and sweet, but dense and challenging. It would do anyone good to grab a copy and soak it in. Praise the Lord for sending us the Christ.

Peace.
Comments? Thoughts? Questions?

We Now Return to Your Regularly Scheduled Blog...

Well, the semester at Southern has officially ended, and with some free time and an accumulated book list ready to go, the Booked Blog is currently back on track. I'll try to get a post up soon. For now, here are some books that I read this semester that I would recommend.

The Work of Christ, by Robert Letham was an enjoyable read. Letham is very clear and makes many good points concerning the work of Christ.

"All things--education, politics, business, sports, the arts, family, life, economic conditions such as inflation and unemployment, scientific inquiry, the legal system and so on--are to be seen from the perspective of the creation mediatorship of Jesus Christ. This presents us not just one way of looking at the world. Since he made it, to view the universe from any other perspective will result in distortion." (209)

The Nature of the Atonement, a very helpful read for me. Southern's own Dr. Tom Schreiner contributes the essay arguing for penal substitutionary atonement.

This book is helpful for anyone who wants to define what they believe about the work of Christ.




The Cross of Christ is a must read for...well, everyone. Seriously, no one who is serious about studying the work of Christ can go without this one. What a work it is. Though a beast of a work, COC is pastoral and easy to read. Stott is a gifted writer with much insight into the cross. Go getcha one.






Evangelical Ethics tackles a wealth of topics and critical issues that the church faces today. Ranging from contraceptives and cloning, to euthanasia and environmentalism, J. Davis offers great discussion on the most current issues that every congregation must face sooner or later. With up to date research and statistics, Davis informs and equips the Christian with a sufficient knowledge to take a stand on some complicated issues that abound in our day. Readable and informative.



Aight. Who's next?

Peace.
EP

Family Driven Faith

All summer long and now into the fall, I have been increasingly disappointed in my lack of a book review on this blog. It is not that I do not have the time, nor do I think I lack the mental capacity to complete a book, but simply due to the fact that I like starting as many books that I can and then leaving them unfinished on the bookshelf. After many months of delay, and some encouragement by my wife, I completed Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham.

Christian Instruction
As Christians, there is an ever-increasing need for instruction and guidance in the area of rearing a family in a God-centered home. Voddie Baucham attempts in this book to equip his readers with the tools and instruction they need to rear children in an anti-family, anti-Christian world.

There is Work to be Done
The statistics show that we as Christians, and especially as Christian parents, have our work cut out for us. Recent studies show that between 70 and 88 percent of "Christian teens" are leaving the church by their second year in college. A failure rate of around 80 percent is staggering! While many in the church may attempt to blame pastors, youth pastors, children ministries, or even nurseries, the responsibility for preparing, disciplining, and discipling children lies squarely on the shoulders of parents.

This book provides readers with insight into how seriously Dr. Baucham approaches the task of giving his children a home that is focused on glorifying God first and foremost.

Cultivating a Biblical Worldview
One of the main components of preparing our children is to give them a proper worldview. This word is being tossed around a lot lately, but what it boils down to is that we act upon what we believe. How you react to different things in the world is based upon your system of beliefs. As parents, we are responsible for giving our children a Christian worldview, one that is based upon scripture. Reading this book has convicted me of my own shortcomings when it comes to "always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." (1 Peter 3:15) If I or my wife or my children have a conversation with someone who wants to know the biblical, theological, and philosophical foundations upon which we make ethical decisions, we must be prepared.

We are Accountable
Our children must be surrounded by a God-glorifying home. It is not enough for us to merely worship at church, but it is something that is essential to the Christian home. How are they to learn by simply attending church for 2-3 hours every week? How can one be expected to defend their faith, or even share their faith with others if they are not immersed in a home that is God-centered? Christians, and especially Christian men, must be leading their family. We will be held accountable for what we have done with our families, and it is a responsibility that we should take lightly. One day we will answer to God and God alone for what we have or have not done.

Be Prepared
After reading this book, I have come to realize that the blessing of being a parent does not come easily. We must be prepared. We cannot put off our responsibility onto someone else's shoulders because ultimately, we will be responsible.

Is it worth reading? Most definitely. Will you have a new outlook on homeschooling, family worship, and the importance of the church in the life of your family? You should.

Biblical Womanhood in the Home

This is my first contribution to the booked blog. I recently finished this book entitled, "Biblical Womanhood in the Home" edited Nancy Leigh DeMoss with the following contributors: herself, Barbara Hughes, Susan Hunt, Mary A. Kassian, Carolyn Mahaney, Dorothy Kelley Patterson and P. Bunny Wilson. Some of which may or may not ring a bell.

The books aim was to bring the focus back to what women are called to. The joy and fulfillment found in being a Biblical Woman is being destroyed by the world and its expectations and definitions of what a woman should be and look like.

Here was the overview:

I. The Glory of Womanhood as created by God
II. The Challange of Biblical Womanhood in a Fallen World.
III. The Freedom of Women as Helpers.
IV. The Joy of Women as Bearers and Nurturers of Life

One of the authors used Mary as a Biblical example of what a goldy woman should look like. I had never really heard or thought about some of the points she brought out:

Mary was an ordinary woman.

• She was not from a wealthy faimly; Jesus gave her significance.

Mary was a pure woman.

• He chose to plant the seed of His Son in a pure vessel.

Mary was an undeserving woman.

• She marveled at God's grace in choosing her.

Mary was a chosen woman.

• Chosen by God for a task of eternal significance.

Mary was a Spirit-filled woman.

• Enabled by the Holy Spirit.

Mary was an available woman.

• Her response, "May it be to me as you have said."

Mary was a believing woman.

• She took God at His Word.

Mary was a praising woman.

• In response, "My sould glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

Mary was a woman of the Word.

• The Word was hidden in her heart; her prayer quoted in the OT dozen of times.

Mary was a reflective woman.

• After His birth, "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

Mary was a humble woman.

• She was about making Him known, not her.

Mary was a trusting woman.

• She did not push her husband to believe, but trusted God to speak to him and work in his heart.
  

Mary was a submissive woman.

• Embraced the will of God; let her husband lead (protect from Herod).

Mary was an influential woman.

• Wedding feast--directed others to Him; teaching her own children.
  

Mary was a praying woman.

• Woman of prayer, as seen in Scripture.

Mary was a devoted woman.

• Followed Jesus throughout his ministry--all the way to the cross.

Mary was a loved woman.

• He made sure His mother would be cared for.

Mary was a wounded woman.

• "A sword will pierce your own soul too," She gave up her son as well.

Another section focused not a godly, biblical woman as an example or inspiration for Christian women; but the foolish woman in Proverbs 7 to show what women of the world today look like and how we should contrast that.

Anyway, the book hit home some great points and great encouragement. These were only a few things I pulled out. Here are a few Scriptures to ponder on:

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears her down." Proverbs 14:1

"It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Gen. 2:18

"Your beauty...should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is teh way the holy women of the past who put their hope in Gd used to make themselves beautiful." 1 Pet. 3:3-5

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at h ome, to be hind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Titus 2:3-5

"A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life...
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband alos, and he praises her:
'Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.;
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."
Prov. 31:10-12,26-31

Encouraging, yet challenging.

BB Summer Review

Well, folks, the Booked Blog turned out to be very utilized indeed! Thanks for all who contributed this summer. Books from all different genres were read: theological, philosophical, historical, cultural, educational, etc. That means a lot of self-education was going on over the summer--good!

(Overall, around 40 books were read and reviewed--that's a lot of sitting!)

However, out of the 10 contributors only 6 contributed. Hmm. Should we trim the roster? Since seminary is back in full swing I wouldn't expect many new posts here until around December (at least from the main contributors). So, non-seminary contributors, it's your time to shine. Just grab a book, devote to one chapter every 2 days or so, and before you know it, bam! a book is finished and your reflections on it are often crystallized when you explain it to someone else (i.e., a review on the BB!). Do it, if not for the BB, for yourself!

Nevertheless, it's been real for now.

Suggestions? Contributor Requests? Contributor Resignations?

Peace!
EP

Revelation and Reason

Revelation and Reason: New Essays in Reformed Apologetics (360 pp) is a collection of essays edited by Scott Oliphint and Lane Tipton, two profs from Westminster Philly. This is an outstanding resource. Here are the contents:

----Part 1 Reformed Apologetics: Exegetical Considerations
1. Some Epistemological Reflections on I Cor. 2:6-13-Richard B. Gaffin
2. Resurrection, Proof, and Presuppositionalism: Acts 17:30-31-Lane G. Tipton
3. The Irrationality of Unbelief: An Exegetical Study-K. Scott Oliphint
4. The Case for Calvinistic Hermeneutics-Moises Silva
5. Paul’s Christological Interpretation of Creation and Presuppositional Apologetics-Lane G. Tipton
----Part 2 Reformed Apologetics: Theological Foundations
6. Divine Aseity and Apologetics-John M. Frame
7. Consistently Reformed: The Inheritance and Legacy of Van Til’s Apologetic-Michael S. Horton
8. A Confessional Apologetic-Thom Notaro
9. Theologia Naturalis: A Reformed Tradition-Jeffrey K. Jue
10. The Eschatological Implications of Genesis 2:15 for Apologetics-Bill Dennison
----Part 3 Reformed Apologetics: Methodological Implications
11. The Old-New Reformed Epistemology-K. Scott Oliphint
12. The Fate of Apologetics in an Age of Normal Nihilism-Michael Payne
13. Turn! Turn! Turn! Reformed Apologetics and the Cultural Dimension-William Edgar
14. Van Til and Transcendental Argument-Don Collett
APPENDIX - Cornelius Van Til and the Reformation of Christian Apologetics-K. Scott Oliphint.

----This is a fairly technical book. It is great, but I would only recommend it to those with a little background in Reformed apologetics. It is in some ways, simply more exegetical, theological, historical, and methodological ammunition to support Van Til's presuppostional method of apologetics. My favorite parts of the books were chapters 2, 5, and 10 where the contributors combined the insights of Cornelius Van Til and Geerhardus Vos, two of my favorite theologians.

----This is my last contribution to the booked blog. It has been fun and hopefully fruitful. I wanted to review a few more(one on new covenant theology, living Christianly in this world, and biblical theology), but time is gone. I would recommend all three though. Enjoy the Fall. Learn.

Rob Bell: SEX GOD

Well, let me take this opportunity to exhort many of my fellow Christians to take the time to occasionally read those with whom we don't see eye to eye. Many people will miss out on the depth and insight of this book simply because it is written by Rob Bell. Although I would surely differ from him on some important issues and might not recommend all of his material, I will refer to this book again and again for pastoral reminders of the Gospel-centered wonders of human sexuality.

Here's why:

What is This Book For?
The subtitle of this book is Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality. Basically, Rob Bell discusses what a lot of churches and pastors won't: Sex and God. Many don't even think the two words should even be mentioned in the same sentence, much less have any connections. That fact about sex is that God created it and it brings Him glory. Sex doesn't make God blush. God intentionally designed sex, with all of its biological and emotional pleasures, to create a special connection between a married man and woman, which in turn points to a special connection between God and His people. Thus, sexuality is never an end in itself. When the divine design of sexuality is misunderstood or misused (like in fornication or homosexuality), the soul satisfying intention is also lost. In reality, only Christians can understand what sex is truly about. Unfortunately, sex is often considered taboo in church or Christian discussions. Yet, humans were created as sexual creatures. To partake of sex outside of its marital design is destructive and will wrench the soul of true sexual satisfaction; yet to reserve any discussion of sex for only married people can likewise have adverse affects. There should be a healthy balance of sexuality in the lives of people of all ages, namely, acknowledging that God is for sex and has created humans to be sexual, yet to explain that God has wisely designed that sex is to have its fullest Gospel expression in Christian marriage. Rob Bell's overall emphasis in this book is that sexuality was created by God to ultimately be a spiritual act that serves as an image of Him with His people. Very good. Rob Bell talks about sex to Christians, and he does well.

Key Chapters and Quotes

"You can't talk about sexuality without talking about how we were made. And that will inevitably lead you to who made us. At some point you have to talk about God" (15).

Chapter 3: Angels and Animals
These two words describe the extremes that people go to when it comes to sexuality. "Angels " are those who abstain totally from acknowledging sexuality in any form until marriage. His idea comes from Matt. 22:30 that basically mentions that in heaven there will be no more marriage or sexuality. "Animals" are those who indulge in sex and are lead along unhindered by sexual impulses. Good chapter with good discussion.

Chapter 6: Worth Dying For
This is Rob Bell's chapter on leadership and submission. This is maybe one of my favorite chapters. Basically he wraps up leadership and submission by saying both husband and wife are to submit to each other (though the husband as head) with the mindset of Christ's selfless death, hence the phrase, "worth dying for." This chapter is partly geared toward women. He challenges them to not give themselves away (or to fill the void of wanting to be loved) to a man who will not treat them as if they were worth dying for. Good.

"The husband's waiting for the wife to submit is actually a failure to lead" (117).

From chapter nine, Whoopee Forever:

"If you are single, and you've been sent messages or it's been hinted at or even said to your face that you are somehow missing something, that you [as unmarried] aren't good enough, that you don't fit-that's not true. It's not just that you're fine single. The premise of the Scriptures is that you are able to serve God in ways that those who aren't married can't. The tilt is for being single, not away from it" (164).

There are more things to quote, but they are connect to larger ideas apart from which would just seem dumb. Read the book.

Concerns

My main concern obviously revolves around the things he says that are questionable. One should definitely be ready to spit out some bones here and there. Bell speaks a lot by asking questions, which is somewhat indicative of an attitude of uncertainty in truth. There were times where I saw how my thinking drastically differs from his. For instance, he would say that sex equals marriage, and that, say, a cohabiting couple might be married in God's sight (137, notice the uncertain approach). I don't agree. For one, Jesus didn't recognize the woman at the well (John 4:18) as having a husband even when she was living with a man (and most likely having sex). Also, if God viewed sex as creating a marriage then the Bible would not speak of fornication, only adultery. Things like that. I think Bell is inclusive in his view of denominations, considering things like the Protestant ordinance of the Lord's Supper to be the same thing as a Roman Catholic Mass (28). Then there is the fact that he presents God's love as God taking "a giant risk" (97) and making Himself vulnerable to heartbreak by creating people. He stresses that God lets us make the move when it comes to loving Him, and would never "override our freedom" by His power (98). All the 5 points of Calvinism in me cringe at such a human view of God's love. Those are a few examples. But, I think any discerning reader may see through these issues, for they don't necessarily undermine is whole point.

My Recommendation

Rob Bell is very gifted, clear, readable, and pastoral. I enjoyed reading this book. His writing style is very, well, bloggish (if that makes sense). He writes his book as if he were writing a blog, that is, with very simple expressions that model a casual conversation. A whole paragraph might be the word, "Yes." It will keep your attention and you will get through a chapter in no time. Yet, I am not sure that I would recommend it to all indiscriminately. There are things that I would want someone to have strong convictions about first before picking this up. This book is definitely useful and should be considered, but I would have people begin their notion of Christian sexuality by first Googling the word "sex" with the name "C.J. Mahaney" or "John Piper."

Ok, well, that is probably the last book for me this summer. School starts Monday. I will have a summary of this summer's activity on the Booked Blog in a few days. Keep it locked.

Peace.
EP

Persuasions

I really enjoy reading Douglas Wilson. I agree whole-heartedly with him 80% of the time. Unfortunately that other 20% of disagreement is on the doctrine of justification, a notion that is bound up with the very heart of the gospel as evangelicals have formulated it since the time of the Reformation. This book is great though.

It is a fictional account between Evangelist and several objectors to the Christian faith. Evangelist is on his way to the City and along the way tries to warn and persuade people who are heading to the Abyss. Wilson is a great writer, very witty, sharp, and satirical at times. Wilson is also a Van Tilian presuppositionalist. This book is all example with no theory. It is a very refreshing and easy read. Here is the table of contents:

The Road
Randy--Immorality
John--Antinomianism
Janice--Feminism
Jack--Agnosticism
Rev. Howe--Empty Scholarship
Mark--Atheism
Robert--Election
Jim and Sarah--Marriage
Dorothy--Hypocrisy in the Church
Bill--Salvation and Sanctification
Miriam--Pantheism
Paul--Evolution
Michael--Roman Catholicism

Shopping for Time

This 94 page book is an easy read, so there's no excuses, ladies. I finished in 2 settings, one being a long Sunday afternoon on the couch. :) It will be most helpful to those who have not spent much time on the Mahaney's website (www.girltalk.blogs.com), because much of the material is covered there. However, it is a terrific reminder to all of us with more details then you'll get on the blog.

AND, if you live in Louisville, you can order it from the Book Nook at $9. Get out, right!?! We love the Book Nook!

Okay, here's the idea. God has called us to many things concering our time - make the best of it, redeem it, use it, etc. Biblical wisdom on our stewardship of our days on earth is plentiful. The Mahaney gals make an analogy of shopping. We gals are savvy shoppers. I didn't know how much fun it would be to work on getting nutritious and yummy meals on the table for increasingly LESS money by learning savvy shopping tricks. Yet, we cruise along life spending our time on this or that without planning, thinking, or considering carefully the best "bargains", if you will. With this analogy of shopping carefully for time, the Mahaney gals maintain the regular Sovereign Grace Ministries' balance between rich theology and precious practical living tips.

Some of it is just plain funny. Dustin and I get a huge kick out of some of their advice for the first tip (Rise Early).

Be prepared to feel absolutely miserable for about ten to fifteen minutes. But the misery soon turns into pure gladness as you experience the delight of meeting with God and reap the benefits the rest of the day. Fifteen minutes of misery is certainly worth fifteen-plus hours of peace and productivity.

So with school rolling around shortly and our newly reinstated "rising early" goals, Dustin and I are beginning a new night routine. It's funny. To us, anyway. We'll say our good nights and include, "Hey babe, you ready?" "Huh?" "Are you ready to feel awful in the morning? Man, we're going to hate it. We're going to curse our alarm clock and feel like crud. Terrific!" "Can't wait. Good night." It goes something like that anyway.

On a different note, this book gets at your motives. Of course, it hits on the things I always need to hear. For this topic, WHO am I trying to please with how I spend my time? Myself? My co-workers? My house guests? My LORD is the only answer that is sufficient.

"Only God gets His to-do list done," was the loving reminder that C.J. gave his gals awhile back. I love it. One of my church friends has the entire quote written on a note card in her kitchen.

Each chapter contains tips about the why's and how's of being savvy shoppers of time. It's geared towards women, but I think this one would be a good read for the guys, too. Dustin and I just love the Sovereign Grace Books. They are so helpful to marriages, families, etc.

I don't want to ruin the book for you, but another neat part was when they talk about interruptions as sovereign deliveries (based on a Lewis quote.

What about you? When was the last time you had a visitor when you were trying to finish your reading for seminary? When was the last time you got stuck in traffic that made you late and annoyed? When did you map out your to-do list only to have circumstances change everything? WHO caused these things to "interrupt" your plans? That's right. Your Maker and Sustainer.

Those are just a few of my favorite sections, although I loved everything they said about taking the time to plan out your year, your week, your day, your relationships, etc. There are a million needs out there and we women want to tackle them all. But we can't and we shouldn't. What things should we choose based on what season we are in as women? If you don't know, go grab this book.

And don't forget the most important tip in the book: sit still.

A much more thorough review can be found here. I've kept this short for the sake of time. :)

Buy it here.

Read an interview with the Mahaney gals here, here and here.

Philosophy & The Christian Faith

The author writes that the aim of this book is to make a survey of the main thinkers and intellectual movements of western thought of the past thousand years, with a view to showing how they affect Christian belief" (9). He writes, "There are many people who have heard of such names as Kant, Hume, Aquinas, and Kierkegaard and keep coming across terms like empiricism, rationalism, Existentialism and Logical Positivism, and who want to know what they mean and how they affect Christianity" (10). This is the book for those people. He divides the book into 4 sections:
1. Medieval Philosophy
2. From the Reformation to the Age of Enlightenment
3. The Nineteenth-Century Ferment
4. Philosophy and Faith in the Twentieth Century
-----In just over 300 pages, Brown covers a lot of ground. This is a great intro to philosophical theology, or for a general overview of the history of philosophy.
Quotes:
-----"to go through life putting off thought about ultimate questions is to miss the whole point of human life." 30
----"As we saw when we were looking at theological trends in the nineteenth century, Evangelicals made great contributions to evangelism and even to biblical scholarship; but they contributed little or nothing to the philosophical defence of their faith. For many, scholarship had a largely negative value. It was useful to defend the faith against hostile criticism. Few Evangelicals seem to have considered the philosophical implications of a faith based upon God's revelation of himself and their significance for apologetics." 245

Stepping Heavenward

Be sure and check out my husband's new post below.

UPDATE: Don't take my word about how great this book is. Go here (Girl Talk Review) and here (my sweet friend's review).

For starters, Stepping Heavenward is a book for the ladies and this blog has more male readers/writers. :)

Stepping Heavenward is a historical fiction that is a quaint and wonderful read for women. Elizabeth Prentiss (author of the hymn, "More Love to Thee, O Christ") tells the story of one woman's life beginning with her first journal entry on her 16th birthday (1831). It takes you nearly to the woman's death through all of her journal entries. You will laugh. You will cry. :) The gal is feisty, reminding me of a Christian version of Anne in Anne of Green Gables. She struggles with controlling her thoughts, temper, moods, but you see her mature in inner beauty as she journeys through life from a single gal to courtship, from marriage to motherhood. The book is rich with theology and you especially catch a glimpse of a mother's heart for her husband and children through the most devastating of trials while keeping a firm faith in the steadfast promises of God. At times, she wrestles with assurance of salvation and you see a very honest depiction of her soul's turmoil. You learn some tips about mothering on the way. Readers will also feel as if they have been let in on valuable secrets that this mother shares from her wisdom towards the end of her journey looking back. "If only I had known this..." statements become your precious knowledge for the taking, except you got to learn from just reading about the trial instead of participating in it. Does that make sense?

I've heard that some gals don't like this book because the main character is so incredibly moody and up and down. I find it humorous and telling though, an honest expression of what many of us gals deal with in taming our wild emotions and passions as we grow in maturity, ever so slowly it seems.

There are many quotes I could share, but I will just choose one. This is one example of what you might read that provides insight or keen observation, although the entire book doesn't read this way. Some of it is just plain humorous.

"People ask me how it happens that my children are all so promptly obedient and so happy. As if it chanced that some parents have such children or chanced that some have not! I am afraid it is only too true, as someone has remarked, that 'this is the age of obedient parents!' What then will be the future of their children? How can they yield to God who have never been taught to yield to human authority?"

Elizabeth Elliot has a blurb on the back that also encourages men to read it who want to better understand the wives they live with. However, I know Dustin strives to understand me, but I'm doubting he'll be plopping down on the couch to read this book any time soon and that's fine with me (although I did read him several good quotes from it)! Enjoy, ladies. :)

The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis

The Narnian by Alan Jacobs is, in Jacobs's own words, "almost a biography in the usual sense of the word." The 'almost' is important because the book isn't filled to the brim with dates and events, nor is it completely chronological. Rather, The Narnian details "the life of a mind, the story of an imagination." That story is one of the most fascinating things I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Jacobs is, like myself, an admitted Lewis fan, but it does not come through in his writing as one might think it would. He does not portray Lewis as some sort of super-Christian, nor does he shy away from the unpleasant and undesirable details of Lewis's life. The picture Jacobs paints seems to be a well-rounded and balanced one (I use the phrase 'seems to be' because The Narnian is the only Lewis biography I have read).

I struggled with how to present the contents of the book in a way that did justice to all of Lewis's life and, in the end, decided it was impossible. How could I sum up a man's life in a few words? The task took Jacobs 314 pages, and he left out a great deal of information. Therefore, instead of trying to summarize the book, I am going to offer up a couple of its more interesting and thought provoking passages.

When asked to provide Macmillan with a biographical sketch of himself in 1944, Lewis wrote the following:

I was a younger son, and we lost my mother when I was a child. That meant very long days alone when my father was at work and my brother at boarding school. Alone in a big house full of books. I suppose that fixed my literary bent. I drew a lot, but soon began to write more. . . . I wrote the books I should have liked to read if only I could have got them. That's always been my reason for writing. People don't write the books I want, so I have to do it for myself. . . I loathed school. . . . I gave up Christianity at about fourteen. Came back to it when getting on for thirty. An almost purely philosophical conversion. I didn't want to. I'm not the religious type. I want to be left alone, to feel I'm my own master: but since the facts seemed to be the opposite I had to give in. My happiest hours are spent with three or four old friends in old clothes tramping together and putting up in small pubs---or else sitting up till the small hours in someone's college rooms talking nonsense, poetry, theology, metaphysics over beer, tea, and pipes. There's no sound I like more than adult male laughter. (p. xviii-xix)

And, in concluding a talk on apologetics, Lewis said:

I have found nothing is more dangerous to one's own faith than the work of an apologist. No doctrine of the faith seems to me so spectral, so unreal as one that I have just successfully defended in a public debate. For a moment, you see, it has seemed to rest on oneself: as a result, when you go away from that debate, it seems no stronger than that weak pillar. That is why we apologists take our lives in our hands and can be saved only by falling back continually from the web of our own arguments . . . into the Reality---from Christian apologetics into Christ Himself. [emphasis added] (p. 229)

Like I said earlier, the book was a fascinating read. I would recommend The Narnian to anyone interested in learning more about C. S. Lewis.

When the Kings Come Marching In

I have only read two of his books, but I like Richard Mouw. 'When the Kings Come Marching In: Isaiah and the New Jerusalem' is an interesting book. In it, Mouw basically walks the reader through Is. 60, which is filled with new earth imagery. He discusses the relevant data concerning the new heavens and new earth, and what bearing it has for us here and now, particularly as it pertains to culture. He shows the importance of culture, and our role in redeeming it. Heaven is one of the most misunderstood truths among evangelicals, which is crazy, considering the importance of it. This book is a joy to read and will help correct any Platonic notions of heaven that have influenced Christian doctrine.

----Quotes:

----"God intended from the beginning that human beings would 'fill the earth' with the processes, patterns, and products of cultural formation. And this intention has in no way been canceled by human sin. God will redeem and transform that which is presently perverted and distorted by human disobedience to his will." (11)

----If we think of the future life as a disembodied existence in an ethereal realm--which is not, I have suggested, our ultimate goal--then it is difficult to think of our present cultural affairs as in any sense a positive preparation for heavenly existence. but if we think of the future life in terms of inhabiting a Heavenly City, we have grounds for looking for some patterns of continuity between our present lives as people immersed in cultural contexts and the life to come. The Bible, I think, encourages us to think in these terms." (19)

----"Jesus shed his blood to rescue the creation from the curse of sin. And the cleansing blood of Christ must reach not only into the hearts and lives of individuals, but into every corner of the creation which the curse has affected." (110)

Total Truth by Nancy Pearcy, Part 1

world·view (wûrld'vyōō')
n. In both senses also called Weltanschauung.

1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.
2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group. (Dictionary.com)
   

Well, there is no easy way to do justice to the weight of this work by Nancy Pearcy. In fact, I'm gonna have to post in two parts. This post will consist of "What is This Book For?" and "My Recommendation." Part 2 will be the "Quotes" section and "Key Chapters and Summaries." So, let's move on.

This book is one of those books that you wish you could just memorize and have with you always ready to go. Unfortunately, the book is right under 400 pages and thus, the only real option is to just read all or parts of it again and again. After you read this you just want to walk into a secular university and go straight to the Dean of Philosophy's office and prove to them that they can't live out their worldview, and then leave. Okay, well, it at least makes you want to buy them a copy to read. Here's why:

What is This Book For?
Let's start with the title: Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From It's Cultural Captivity. The concept behind "Total Truth" is that the truths of Christianity are not to be contained as strictly private beliefs only to be kept for personal meaning and fulfillment. Instead, Christianity is itself a worldview that interprets all of reality. To put it another way, Christianity is a lens by which all areas of life (work, music, art, business, ethics, science, food, sex, math, etc.) are to be explained, namely, through the Biblical themes of Creation, Fall, and Redemption. Unfortunately, in the minds of unbelievers and believers alike, Christianity has become neutered to a secondary voice that only is sought for things like personal spiritual inspiration or a moral benediction for secular events. Even for Christians, Christian truth is not a starting point when it comes to life, it is the afterthought that follows what all the experts have found to be true in their secular study. To put it another way, for example, even the most committed Christian is educated in college under the assumption that he or she is learning science, business, art, or music under what is commonly accepted by all as the plain, unbiased facts of life that exist separate from any underlying worldview. The truth: There is no such thing as unbiased facts of life! Every so-called "fact" actually fits into larger worldview schemes that are all anti-Christian. Every Algebra I problem taught to the college freshman has an agenda attached to it, whether the professor is aware of it or not. (Either mathematics is the study of how a purposeless world has come to be ordered by chance, or a rational God subjected the universe to particular logical patterns that have come to be studied under the umbrella called "math.") Yet, the truth of the matter is, even computer programming can be seen in a Christian worldview through the lens of Creation, Fall, Redemption. Thus, it is the duty of the Christian to not reserve his or her belief in the Lord Jesus Christ for church or family, but to extend it as an overarching worldview that binds and interprets every facet of existence--Christianity is not just personal, spiritual, church, or family truth, it is total truth.

The idea of Liberating Christianity from It's Cultural Captivity simply means that in America, the secular mindset is that "science" rules the day. (In most cases, when people say "science" they usually really mean "scientism," which is more a philosophy than true science.) Whatever is not considered hard fact is really a non-necessity in terms of reality. Things such as values, morals, and religion are reduced to personal (un-scientific) wishes upon how things are or should be, and are stripped of their influence beyond the individual. Pearcy surveys world history to show how this fact/value dichotomy has solidified in our day. Christians are called to liberate Christianity from the realm of private knowledge and present it as the only consistent interpretation of reality.

Overall, Christianity is a worldview that interprets all worldviews. There is only one true interpretation of reality, and that is the one that is in accord with God's revelation found in Scripture. Only God's revelation to us explains life as it is, and any worldview that is contrary will always be guilty of inconsistencies and contradictions. Only the Christian worldview, interpreting the world through the lens of Creation, Fall, and Redemption, can make sense of all the facts found in the universe. The Darwinist cannot live out their worldview. The Nihilist cannot live out their worldview. The Hindu cannot live out their worldview. And on and on.

Pearcy, drawing heavily on Francis Schaeffer and presuppositional apologetics, discusses the current cultural issues such as the ubiquity and influence of Darwinism, the influence of feminism, and the anti-intellectualism of evangelicalism, and traces through history how we came to be where we are with Christianity embedded deeply in it's cultural captivity. Pearcy's strategy is to equip Christians to take a Christian worldview into the public sphere, presenting it as objective (total) truth, and using it to show how other worldviews are inconsistent and are thus, self-defeating. Dang.

My Recommendation
This book is a beast. I probably would only recommend it to those who already have a grasp on some basic Christian history, philosophy, and worldview discussion and terminology. I have somewhat of a decent grasp on these issues and it still required me to have an alert mind. Although Pearcy is a great writer, and she is careful to be understood by not being overly academic, the various discussions require detailed development and are thus complex. I feel confident that the average person can stay with her for the whole 400 pages, but the moment you check out mentally is the moment you will get buried--there can be no skimming or reading late at night. The average chapter is about 25 pages, but it took me about an hour or more to read each. However, I would recommend that if any feel the need to identify and combat the secular "isms" of the day with a Christian worldview--which is speedily becoming a pressing need for all Christians--then this is a book to read at some point. Don't let size intimidate you.

Next episode:
Quotes
Key Chapters and Summaries


Till then, cultivate a Christian worldview.
Peace.

Plowing in Hope

Due to time, this won't be much of a review. David Hegeman has written an interesting book called 'Plowing in Hope: Toward a Biblical Theology of Culture.' Noting that the Bible begins with a garden and ends with a city, Hegeman walks through the Scripture showing the importance of culture, and our role in it. It is his prayer that " this book will help the bride of Jesus Christ recover her vital call to rule, fill, work, and preserve the earth as a high and indispensable priority. Culture-making is not optional; it is a command which from the very beginning has never been revoked" (23). This book is helpful for anyone desiring to know what the Scripture says concerning culture.

----Quotes:

----This is the goal of the culturative enterprise. We rule as vice-regents of the Creator, bringing the whole earth under human subjection so that we in turn may present the creation to God. Our rule of the earth has its ultimate fulfillment in Christ's perfect rule." 43

----"We are redeemed so that we may work! The human race is brought back to a state of righteousness so that we might return to our Edenic calling to develop ('work') the earth into a glorious garden-city and finally take possession of our long-awaited inheritance." 71

Coming Soon:

This bad boy (or, really, girl) is where I've been the past week and a half. It'll be up by Wednesday for sure, maybe sooner! It's a bruiser: 396 pages of text and I've got only about 100 pages left. (But, with marginal notes and underlining it takes me about an hour to read 20 pages!)

See you then.
Peace.

Creation Regained

Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview (143 pp & first published in 85') is a great intro to worldview studies, and in particular Neo-Calvinism (Kuyper et al). It is a great read. I would recommend reading this one, then beelinin' it to Pearcey's book, which Plevan will review this summer, hopefully! Most Christians are ignorant of the fact that Scripture calls us to commitment to Christ in more aspects than our private faith. Christ's Lordship is much more comprehensive than your thirty minutes before work. As Kuyper famously put it, there is not a square inch of planet Earth over which Christ does not say, Mine! This has implications for how we live our life, how we engage culture, how we work, and how we think about virtually everything.

----Here are the contents:

I. What is a Worldview

II. Creation

III. Fall

IV. Redemption

V. Discerning Structure and Direction

Conclusion

Post-Script: Worldview between Story and Mission

----Wolters lays out the basic biblical worldview, examining creation, fall, and redemption. In the chapter on Redemption, there is a section called 'Salvation as Restoration' which is worth the price of the book! Christ comes as the Last Adam to restore our humanity and return us to the original state, the way it was supposed to be. The new humanity is to be about renewal. We are to renew and reform all aspects of life in obedience to Christ (societal, cultural, political, and personal). In chapter 5, Wolters analyzes the following themes as test cases on how to apply our worldview: aggression, spiritual gits, sexuality, and dance.

----The Post-Script was written by Michael Goheen, and was excellent. It was basically a chapter on Biblical Theology and Mission, following the missional ecclesiology of Newbigin. We are in the era of witness, between the two comings. In the overlapping of the ages, the new humanity is to be about being Christ's ambassadors. In many ways, this chapter is this book, chopped down to 24 pages. I highly recommend this one to all believers.

Answering the Call

This book will make a pro-choice person become both pro-choice and pro-active. It will challenge a pastor and His church to become more active in the pro-life movement, and shame those who overlook abortion as just another issue instead of murder. About three weeks ago I helped my dad on a little demolition job (construction) for a Crisis Pregnancy Center that was beginning in Leander, Tx. That experience, plus recently listening to some Piper sermons on abortion have raised my interest level quite a bit. Piper highly recommends this book and you can purchase it on Amazon.com for $0.01. That's right, a penny. In "Answering the Call: Saving Innocent Lives, One Woman at a Time" John Ensor does an amazing job portraying the Church's need to get involved in saving the innocent lives and speaking out for those who cannot speak for themselves(Prove. 3:18). Obviously we are taking about babies who may be aborted. The parents of these babies are our neighbors and we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Ensor does an amazing job portraying God's love for the innocent, especially innocent children, God's call on believers to act in love and cherish and defend life since God is the author, giver and creator of life. Ensor says that to remain quiet on the subject of abortion is to condone it and further condemn those who are under the guilt of previous abortions. With a message of hope, that God will forgive all whom come to Him, Ensor displays that abortion is the greatest moral evil of our time and that it must be confronted by the church. The scriptural mandate for protection of pre-born babies is clear and Ensor lays it out beautifully. He also gives the historical background of God's people constantly fighting for the lives of the innocent who cannot speak for themselves. There is truly nothing new under the sun, abortion, infanticide, exposure and abandonment have existed since sin plagued the world. And God's people, who are faithful to Him and His word, have always rigorously opposed it. ATC also gives a vast amount of resources for those interested in possibly starting their own Pregnancy Crisis Center or for those who just want to volunteer their time and serrvices. The affects of this book will no doubt prod me towards activity in the pro-life war on abortion, it will enhance the ministry of a church that I am serving in the future, and it currently gives me great pain and empathy for those who have had an abortion and a desire to offer them a message of hope.

One Quote - this quote comes from the chapter that demonstrates abortions remarkable parallel to the war against slavery:

"If we follow the law of love, one day, as a nation, we will look back on abortion the way we currently look back on slavery. As we courageously speak up and wisely direct God's people toward compassionate intervention, we should go forward recalling the timeless words of William Wilberforce: Never, never will we desist till we...extinguish every trace of this bloody traffic, of which our posterity, looking back to the history of these enlightened times, will scarce believe that it has been suffered to exist so long a disgrace and dishonor to this country (pg. 116)"

Read this book. Read it while you are alone so that if you do get emotional, your heart will be fully affected by the grotesqueness of abortion. I am shamed at my former lack of interest and flat out ignorance.

The Book on Leadership

The Book on Leadership by John MacArthur was a solid read. I had to get past the title of the book because it seemed a little over the top. I could just see some guy who hates MacArthur holding up a bible and saying, "Excuse me, but I think THIS is the book on leadership!!" But other than that, it was amazing.
The entire book is a character study of Paul with insights into other biblical characters as opportunity presented itself. The book is split into 4 sections.
1) Paul in Chains: Leadership in Action
2) Paul in Corinth: Leadership Under Fire
3) An Approved Workman: Leadership Held to a Biblical Standard
4) Epilogue

1) "Paul in Chains" is a look at Paul's trip to Ceasarea from Rome because of Paul's appeal to Ceasar (Acts 27). This shows how Paul rose to a position of leadership from his imprisoned state at the bottom of the ship, rowing with other slaves and prisoners. Throughout all the trials he endured and the shipwreck, Paul proved himself to be a leader.
2) "Paul in Corinth" is a look at how Paul served the Corinthians and cared for them in the midst of their doubting his apostleship under the guidance of false prophets. This demonstrated a leaders ability to be gentle or firm depending on the circumstances and what they require.
3) "An Approved Workman" demonstrates that the chief attributes needed in a leader are discipline, self-control and integrity (all of those are interdependent on one another). This was my favorite part of the entire book. More on that later.
4) "Epilogue" puts forth the different people that will be in a leaders life. Some will come alongside to serve, some will come alongside to learn and be equipped, then be sent out, and some will betray you after you have poured into their lives.

Chapter 10, "How Not to be Disqualified" was by far my favorite chapter. It spoke of self-discipline and training your body. I felt like I was sitting in a room with John Macarthur as I read this chapter. He gave some practical helps for self discipline and I will share those with ya.
-Get organized - organize everything from your desk to your time throughout the day. Make a plan and follow it.
-Use time wisely - Simply put, a leader doesn't waste time. "See then that you walk circumspectantly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Eph. 5:15-16
-Find ways to be edified rather than merely entertained - "Devote yourself specially in your leisure time to to the task of cultivating humility, repentance, holiness, and fear of God."
-Pay attention to small things - don't overlook what seem like mundane tasks. See it and get it done.
-Accept extra responsibility - in other words, don't hesitate to volunteer if something needs to be done.
-Once you start something, finish it
-Keep your commitments
-Tell yourself no from time to time - "Gain control of your own appetites by denying yourself pleasures you are otherwise entitled to (ice-cream anyone?)

This book has shaped the way I view life; no kidding. Mac is sweetly pastoral as he writes this and I immensely enjoyed it. I found myself recognizing the values mentioned throughout the book in many other people, including myself (not prideful, just identifying what gifts the Lord has given me). One of the things that really hit home was the need for a leader to recognize that he is a leader and that he has been called. If you aren't confident in your calling from God and in your role as a leader, you will never fulfill what you are called to.

I absolutely loved the way that MacArthur pulled all of the leadership qualities directly from the life of Paul. I feel like I know Paul better, the New Testament better, and I feel like I am more equipped to be a leader in a church after reading this book. This book really enables you to get into the life of Paul. You can almost feel his pain and understand what he was going through. Mac really helps by filling in the gaps of Paul's life that the NT doesn't contain. It is truly an engaging book and of course it is saturated with scripture. As you read, you know that you are learning from the life of MacArthur, and all that he has endured as a leader and a pastor. If you think that the Lord is calling you to a leadership position anywhere in life, this book is for you.

Reasons (for Faith)

K. Scott Oliphint's book 'Reasons (for Faith): Philosophy in the Service of Theology' (363 pp) is a difficult read. That and the fact that Scott is unaware that I don't know Latin, are my only two negatives.

--The book is broken up into 4 Parts and 16 chapters:

1. Introduction and Survey

2. Epistemology

3. Metaphysics

4. Implication and Application

--This is basically an addition to philosophy of religion. It serves as an 'offensive' apologetic, laying out the philosophy the Bible presents. This being the case, it is close to theology, but Oliphint is very conversant with the major philosophers. In the preface he writes, "Thus my goals are (1) to set forth a theological structure, for epistemology and metaphysics, that shows the relevance of Reformed thought, centrally set forth in Van Til's works, to current discussions in philosophy and philosophy of religion (natural theology); (2) to demonstrate that Reformed though has already broached virtually every discussion now in play in philosophy of religion; and (3) to interact with (at least some of) the main proponents in philosophy of religion.

--What was great about this book is that Oliphint is not your normal philosopher of religion. He is first and foremost a Reformed theologian. Scripture, not reason, is his ultimate commitment. Philosophy is the handmaid to Theology. Reason is ministerial, not magisterial (following Turretin). He argues for a dual metaphysic (creature/Creator), and a covenantal epistemology (Revelation). Parts of this book are tough to wade through. Maybe I should take some philosophy electives and come back to this one in a few years.

Looking At Philosophy

Donald Palmer's book 'Looking At Philosophy: The Unbearable Heaviness of Philosophy Made Lighter' (402 pp) is a very helpful intro to the history of Western thought. This book is hard to review because of its comprehensive scope. The author has a good sense of humor, which makes the book easy to get through. He is a good teacher, making some of the somewhat abstract ideas in philosophy understandable, while not dumbing it down too much. This book is filled with drawings to help illustrate (usually in a very sarcastic manner) the truths being taught. The only downside is that Palmer is pretty antagonistic towards Christianity. Instead of a review, I would just commend the study of philosophy (and theology) to all, but pastors in particular. Those practically minded who chide the abstract-minded should be careful that they don't cut the very rope they are walking on. Ideas have consequences. Just as theology informs methodology, so theory informs practice. While the average person in the pew may have never read Derrida, Foucault, or Rorty, they do watch shows such as Oprah and are much more influenced by these thinkers than they realize. It is good to be aware of where ideas come from.

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making

Last night (Wed), I finished this book and was sort of sad that it came to an end. Let me tell you why:

What is this Book For?

This book is a great reminder that all relationships, ranging from co-worker to spouse, are God-ordained and used by the Lord to bring out in us His perfect will for our hearts and character. Let me discuss this by using the book's very own subtitle:

A Mess

We all struggle with relationships. Whether it be a relationship with a roommate or with a boss. The reason why we struggle with relationships is 1) we are sinners, and 2) other people are sinners. There is no such thing as a perfectly sanctified relationship--and if we actually have something close to one, it's probably because it is only superficial. The best relationships are those that get past trivial acquaintance and stir up who we really are (marriage, anyone?). At some point we all wish someone thought, acted, or lived like us; we tend to be the center of all our relationships. Because we all naturally drift toward our own interests in our relationships we often find ourselves in conflict with people over idiosyncrasies (small peculiarities that tend to annoy us) and things that would promote our own comforts, preferences, and schedules. Yeah. A show of hands, anyone? The worst thing about relationships, they are not an option! Thus, the next point. (You can put your hand down now.)

Worth Making

The best and worst thing about relationships: God designed us to live our lives in community! Relationships are not something we can throw away without doing damage to who we were created to be. To resist relationships is to become subhuman. So, in the great sovereignty of God, He has ordained all of our relationships to reveal who we are so that we can identify the areas in our character that need the most work. To put it another way, superficial acquaintances are not really that helpful when it comes to character development. The problem: We all tend to go after the easy-to-manage, low stress, relationships with people who are like minded and similarly gifted. Show of hands? By doing this we retard our sanctification. Relationships are a mess worth making because through relationships we are trained to become less self centered and more Christ-like. The application: 1) Understand that any meaningful relationship is going to take work, 2) intentionally go after hard relationships, and 3) be thankful for the [God-ordained] annoying people at work, the spouse who you love but just can't seem to keep peace with, the boss who is egotistical, the parent who wants to run your married life, the sibling who is grown but still acts like a teenager, etc. God is sovereign. You can only see your relationships in this way if you are a Calvinist...or close to being one... ;)

Quotes

"We would prefer that God would just change the relationship, but he won't be content until the relationship changes us too. This is how God created relationships to function. What happens in the messiness of relationships is that our hearts are revealed, our weaknesses are exposed, and we start coming to the end of ourselves. Only when this happens do we reach out for the help that God alone can provide" (12).

"You can't take the Gospel seriously and not take your relationships seriously" (45).

"God chooses to surround us with people who are different from us because he knows it will promote his purpose" (47).

"Each of us has tried to be the Holy Spirit in another person's life, trying to work spiritual changes that only God can accomplish" (54).

"What do you think God typically uses to regain our affection? Ironically, he uses other people! That is one of the blessings of conflict. He uses the difficult seasons in our relationships to allow us to see what we typically live for besides him" (84).

In reference to serving those with whom we have difficult relationships:

"If our relationships are going to produce Christlike character in us and if Christian community is going to flourish, it is going to take lots of people who relish being demoted in the eyes of the world."

Criticism

The only criticism I have is that there were many missed opportunities to use scripture in support of a statement or idea. Overall, this book is great! However, there was not one verse from Proverbs quoted, and there were many places that one could have been used.

My Recommendation

This will be a book that I refer back to again and again. I think it is a must read for ministers who will find that church is one big heap of people with relationship problems. I think the average person will see themselves in what is described. The authors use great examples, and they do so a lot (this is probably the greatest strength). Readable. Enjoyable. Practical.



Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

(You can put your hands down now.)
Peace.

The Church - One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic

The Church - One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic by Richard D. Phillips, Philip G. Ryken, and Mark E. Dever was a great read. The book itself was derived from sermons given at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformation Theology, in April 2003. It is based on the 4 adjectives used to describe the church in the Nicene Creed (AD 381). It is a short book (145) but very enjoyabel and encouraging to read if you see a future in the church. This blog is really long so if you are not up to reading it, at least read the quote at the end.

Richard D. Phillips starts of the book with an explanation of Matt. 16:13-20. His overall thrust is that Christ is going to build His church on the profession of the word concerning Himself (Gospel), and no matter what the gates of hell will not prevail against her. The word concerning Christ is explained to be found in the word of God alone, based on the apostolic description of who Christ is and the message concerning Him. Then Richard does a wonderful job esplaining that the church will sometimes be defensive it it's efforts to keep the gates of hell from prevailing against it; but at other times, the church will be offensive in their efforts to keep the gates of hell from prevailing (2 Cor. 10:3-6).

Chapter 2, "One Church" by Richard D. Phillips, was extremely encouraging. It was an appeal to the realization that the Church is ONE (Eph. 4:1-6). We are unified in Christ to the fullest extent that we could ever realize; we are ONE. Whether you are a methodist, baptist, any denomination; if you stand firmly upon the Christ we know from the scriptures and believe in His work, than you are a member of the one true church. In doing this, he shows that denominations are not such a bad thing; in fact, they are a good thing. Denominations don't compromise the unity of the church because the church is one. Rather, denominations allow people to stand firm in their doctrinal beliefs, worshiping with likeminded brethren, without the constant arguments about non-salvific doctrinal viewpoints. Throughout the chapter Phillips described the boundaries that we must set in order to discern Christian unity. The gospel is the key here. You must maintain an orthodox view of the gospel if you want to be in the one true Church. Any other docrine that is disagreed upon is not one to break unity. Denominations do good things to define who people are in the one true church.

Chapter 3, "A Holy Church" by Philip G. Ryken, was an insightful look at the righteousness of Christ credited to the Church as a whole. She is Holy in the sight of God because He views her through the lens of Christ. BUT, if you look around at the church today, you don't see a holy church. This is another example of the already, not yet tension that is evident elswhere in the Word of God. Ryken takes a good look at 1 Cor. 6:11 "washed, sanctified, justified." As a church we were one thing and now we are another. The emphasis was on the fact that this holiness comes by faith through grace, right now it is a process, but in the future we will be glorified with Christ. This left me with hope. As a preacher in the make, I know I will need to think on this often as I try to shepherd a flock of God toward pastures of holiness.

Chapter 4, "A Catholic Church" by Mark. E. Dever, introduced the most thought provoking information in the entire book (Gal.3:26-29) This use of the word "catholic" has to denominational strings attatched to it. In the context of the Nicene Creed the word "Catholic" meant whole, entire, complete, general, universal. So the church's catholicity means that the church is not confined to any one place, time or people. Dever does a great job giving the historical background of the word "catholic." Historically the term "catholic church" developed a grew to mean several things. The "Catholic Church" originally meant that it extends to every land and people regardless of class or race. It then developed to mean what we would call "orthodox" today. It was a term used for exclusion and definition of the true church; like "evangelical" and "cult" today. Ultimately it means that the church extends through all time to all people who stand upon the true Christ of the scriptures.
With an exegetical look at Gal. 3:26-29, Dever shows that the Catholicity of the church helps us combat 4 things. 1) Contra Provincialism (narrow mindedness). This is referring to the phrase you hear so often, "but we've always done it that way." Maybe so, but that doesn't mean that we must do it that way or that your way is the most biblical. We must have a comprehensive view of the church throughout all time to examine how we are to conduct ourselves in the present age. 2) Contra Sectarianism - denominations and distinctives should never become ultimate. 3) Contra Racism - every person regardless of race or heritage is welcome to the church. 4) Contra Churches becoming Parachurches - This argues against churches becoming consumed with one focus group (college kids, elderly, widows or orphans), and calls for a balanced approach to ministry, evengelizing all people regardless of distinctions.
"The Church's catholicity is rooted in and bounded by the gospel's catholicity. Anytime, anywhere, anyone can be forgiven his or her sins by faith alone in the one and only Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the true catholic doctrine of the true catholic church(pg. 92)."

Chapter 5, "An Apostolic Church" by Philip G. Ryken, was an appeal to the five sola's of the reformation. He defended all five sola's from the apostolic teaching arguing that this is what the apostles taught and that we should continue to teach them today. The apostolic teachings of the church can be summed by saying that the church comes into existence by grace through faith in Christ alone, understood from the scriptures alone, for the glory of God alone. Ryken also showed that the apostolic teachings are the foundation for the church today. But Christ is the conerstone; even more important than the foundation because it keeps the foundation square. So the apostles were commisioned by Christ, Christ sent His Helper (Holy Spirit) to lead the Apostles into all truth, which the Church is built upon.

Chapter 6, "Christ and His Church" by Richard D. Phillips. Ahhhh, this was a good chapter. An exegetical look at Eph. 1:20-23 that gives great hope and satisfaction. First, with a view to Christ's exaltion to the right hand of God which displays God's satisfaction with Christ's work; we know that Christ is exalted in dignity and dominion. He reigns at His Father's right hand, far above all rule and authority. Secondly, Christ is exalted for the church, His body. Christ, who rules at the Father's right hand, does not rule over us, but in us. And Christ who is greatly exalted is given to us as a gift. And what a gift that is!!! Third, the Church as the fullness of Christ. " There cannot be a Redeemer without a redeemed, a Shepherd without sheep, a Bridegroom without a bride, a living Head without a body. He is her fullness as the Lord of life and grace; she is His fullness since by means of the glory He has put upon her He will hereafter be magnified (A.W. Pink, pg. 130)." Fourthly, God cares about the beauty of His bride, and will promote holiness in her and preserve her till the end.

This book offers a good foundation for understanding the Church, where she came from and where she is going. At first I was a bit worried that this book would focus on the creed more than the scriptures but I was wrong. Each chapter had an exegetical view of the Nicene creed as well as a historical view. This book is extremely balance and offers a wonderful explanation of the essentials for Christ's church.

I'll leave you with one loooong quote:
"There is therefore no greater privelege than membership in the church. There is no greater calling than the Christian's calling to offer his gift's and talents, time and money to the work of the church. A Christian who gives all his energy to his job, or uses his or her talents only for personal gain, or spends his money all on himself, neglecting the the work of the church, which will last forever, is simply a fool. Such a person does not recognize that the church is the body, the temple, the bride of Him who is exalted on high. In the end it is what Christ has done through the church that will matter most, will most shine in glory, and will have been most worth the offering of our lives. Therefore a Christian who is not involved in a church's ministry, who does not pray regularly for the work of the church, who is taking but never giving to the church, should seriously ask if he really understands what this life is all about, if she really sees this Christ who is exalted, and if so, what kind of response is appropriate to that faith. (Phillips, pg. 128-9)"

Preaching and Biblical Theology

Ed Clowney's book 'Preaching and Biblical Theology' is a classic. It was first published in 1961. Clowney recently passed away (2005) and was Professor Emeritus of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he served for 30 years, 16 of them having been as president. Clowney unashamedly stands on the shoulders of Geerhardus Vos, writing, "The preacher who takes up Vos's Biblical Theology for the first time enters a rich new world, a world which lifts up his heart because he is a preacher. Biblical Theology, truly conceived, is a labor of worship" (18-19). Here is the Table of Contents:

I. What is Biblical Theology?

II. Biblical Theology and the Authority of Preaching

III. Biblical Theology and the Character of Preaching

IV. Biblical Theology and the Content of Preaching

Chapter 1 lays out what Biblical Theology is, isn't and what it involves. Chapter 2 interacts with Dodd, Bultmann, and Barth, and sets forth a brief theology of Scripture. Chapter 3 is about the importance of Biblical Theology, and noting the time and place in which we preach. This section has some good insights on preaching to edify and evangelize.

Clowney has a high view of Scripture, and a high view of preaching, writing, "It is an act of worship. Our preaching often lacks the punctuation of the exclamation point of praise. Unlike the Scriptures, our sermons are so centered on men that they neglect to bless God. The doxologies that burst from Paul in the midst o his expositions never trouble our placid pools of prose (73). . . . Most important of all, biblical theology serves to center preaching on its essential message: Jesus Christ. . . . He who would preach the Word must preach Christ" (74). He also has some helpful exhortations on the usefulness of preaching moralistically from the OT (cf. James 5.11, 5.17, 1 Cor 10.11). He closes the chapter with some examples from OT biblical texts.

He finishes the book focusing on the text in its historical period and broader biblical-theological context, the text in God's total revelation, and some points about symbolism, typology, and several examples.

Overall this is a good book for preachers, although it is a bit outdated. Dennis Johnson's new one, may serve the same end, but may be a better resource. Also see Clowney's 'Preaching Christ in All of Scripture' which is a book of redemptive-historical sermons.

Quotes:

"On all sides it is recognized that any who would take the New Testament seriously must be confronted by eschatology. . . . Preaching that has lost urgency and passion reveals a loss of the eschatological perspective of the New Testament. . . . He is not aware that he ministers in the time of the ascended Christ, the time of the fulfillment of all the prophets in his saving rule" (67).

"Once the necessity and the fruitfulness of the method is recognized, however, no worthy workman in the Word can refuse the effort it requires. He is called as a scribe of the kingdom to bring forth treasures new and old, and any labor that issues in a fuller preaching of Christ has its reward" (112)

"Yes, to Jesus we come, for with richness of figurative language, wealth of ethical insight, and depth of redemptive-historical grasp we are brought by the Scriptures to Jesus. God spoke in diverse manners has spoken in a Son. What focus in brought to our preaching in this approach" (121).

The God Pleaser

It has been interesting talking to people about what I learned from Priolo's book. More people seem to struggle with this than I thought. However, there are those of us who have such a deep-rooted addiction to fear of man, worrying about the rejection of friends, how we appear, what others think, pleasing people that our perspectives are sorely out of whack. This book is for us. I think that, for the most part, this sin starts out quite innocently (James 1:14-15). Approval addicts start off with love for God that leads to love for man. So, they love people. They love the Great Commission. They love their family and friends. They love their co-workers and the lost. However, if they get headed down the dangerous slippery slope of pleasing people inordinately (beyond or against the commands of Scripture) this is where danger begins. This is a danger to avoid for pastors, moms, dads, friends, siblings, employees, PEOPLE!!

Part 2 of Priolo's timely book provides Bible-saturated hope, strategies, put off-put on principles, etc. Furthermore, he contrasts the God pleaser and how he thinks, lives, reacts to the life of the man pleaser.

He begins the last half with a beautiful Gospel presenetation. Apart from being a Christian, you can NOT please God. I recommend that chapter to any and all who keep trying to be good and please God in their own strength. From there, Priolo walks the readers through a change of mind that must occur. Your desire, the aim of your life, must be to please God (including the God-given commands to please people) and glorify Him.

Priolo gives tons of advice for people pleasers. This includes studying Scriptures carefully to understand exactly what it takes to please God.

Unlike the people-pleaser, who spends his time studying the interests, aversions, words, inflections, and body language of people, this man invests his time studying those things that please God. This means that he spends plenty of time in the Word and plenty of time getting the Word into his heart.

Sanctifying this inner man, who no one but the Lord sees, is the ambition of the God-fearing Christian.

He provides several lists of thoughts or motives the People-Pleaser has compared to the thoughts of a God-Pleaser in various situations.
I'll give a few examples.
People Pleaser - "Will I embarass myself?"/God Pleaser - "Will I sin against God?"
People Pleaser - "Am I as _____ as she?"/God Pleaser - "Am I as godly as Christ?"
People Pleaser - "I wonder what he'll think of me."/God Pleaser - "I wonder what his needs are."
People Pleaser - "I've got to learn how to stop putting my foot in my mouth."/God Pleaser - "What is it in my heart that tempts me to say such foolish things?" and "What can I say that will edify others or bring glory to God?"

(The God Pleaser) doesn't allow the thought of unpleasant consequences to keep him or paralyze him from loving God and loving others.

At the end of the book, Priolo offers a worksheet dubbed "The Heart Journal" which basically helps you if you recognize a people-pleasing thought you have. You walk through 5 questions about it that probe at the real issues, what the Bible says about that sin, and how to handle the temptation next time.

Ironically, Challies was reading this book at the same time I was and has 2 great posts on it here and here. He even posts a great chart from the book!

Priolo devotes an entire chapter (Ch. 10 - What Are You Wearing?) to clothing yourself with humility, since the love of man's approval is rooted in the sin of pride.

I loved the steps and example conversation he gave in this chapter for seeking forgiveness biblically. This is so important in any relationship and the whole book is worth getting for this, found on pg. 173.

He also provides specific ways to esteem others better than yourself.

This book biblically covers issues such as your conscience, daily warlike mentality with sin, leaving your reputation to God, getting your priorities straight, trials, overvaluing friendships, etc.

I just want to leave you with a few of my favorite quotes.

Behind closed doors, he worships God, thanking Him for who He is and for all He has done. He confesses his sin to God, and repents of it. He agonizes in intercessory prayer. He gives of his money and material possessions in secret (if not anonymously). When he fasts, he does so in such a way that no one will know what he's up to. He prepares his heart for worship before he goes to church. He reads and studies the Bible regularly. He meditates on Scripture. He cooperates with the Holy Spirit in the sanctification process. He cares for his soul and for the souls of those for whom he is responsible. And if anyone tries to pressure him into additional public service, he will not accept it if, in his heart, he knows it will keep him from fulfilling his private obligations. Moreover, he behaves in an upright way when he is in his own home. His attitude is, 'I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart' (Ps. 101:2b). He flees temptation, resists the devil, and controls his temper and his appetites when no one is around just as he does when people are looking.

By keeping your heart filled with thanksgiving and your mind focused on worshipping God, you will gradually weaken the grip that people-pleasing has on you.

And finally... a helpful quote for a danger of people pleasing I hadn't considered lately. This one may be good for church leaders to keep in mind...

Another danger of overvaluing friendships has to do with doctrinal purity. Our churches are full of cowardly Christians who will not objectively study the Scriptures because they are afraid they might change their views and consequently face rejection from their family, friends, and church leaders.

I didn't know where to start and I don't know where to end. Just trust me. It's been really helpful so far. Now, by God's grace, the application begins... I definitely recommend it. If it isn't too stereotypical, I want to especially recommend this to the ladies. We are so relational. That is good. But we worry, fear, apologize, fret, compare, gossip, don't we? Much of that is rooted in THIS sin making THIS a very helpful tool either for ourselves or as a counseling resource.

N.T. Wright: The Challenge of Jesus

[We'll, it's been a while since I've posted a review. I've been lapped by Blake now like 5 times. I'll catch him though. I've had other things on my plate. Nevertheless...]

Let's start with a quote or two from this book, with more to come.:

"If we really believe in any sense in the incarnation of the Word, we are bound to take seriously the flesh that the Word became. And since that flesh was first-century Jewish flesh, we should rejoice in any and every advance in our understanding of first-century Judaism and seek to apply those insights to our reading of the Gospels" (26).

And,

"It takes certain courage, of course, to be prepared to read familiar texts in new ways. It is abundantly worth it. What you lose in terms of your regular readings will be more than made up for in what you will gain" (28).

What Is This Book For?

To combat people's fear of the historical Jesus. Because of the Jesus Seminar, The DaVinci Code, and various secular television documentaries and "discoveries" all having to do with "the Historical Jesus," many Christians are for the most part suspicious, intimidated, and down right scared of looking into to past to discover what Jesus might have actually been like. N.T. Wright submits, as in the above quote, that Christians have nothing to fear about good historical investigation that is faithful to Scripture, but everything to embrace.

This book is a succinct, very clear and readable exploration into the Jewish first-century in which Jesus ministry took place. The thing about such succinct, very clear and readable exploration: It almost changes everything about the way we view Jesus and His words as recored in the Gospels! (This, of course, is what makes people get clammy.) By "changes everything" I don't mean that it changes orthodoxy--it just changes everything but orthodoxy (save, well, justification and how to be saved and all). For the most part, Jesus lived and spoke a little over 2000 years ago. For many this gargantuan time gap makes no difference and the narratives about Jesus are still interpreted as if Jesus was an American and thought and spoke in our contemporary 21st century, western English culture. When we are able to piece together what 1st-century Judaism was like, along with and especially the expectations that the Jews had of the Messiah and the kingdom of God, Jesus' work and ministry take on a much deeper meaning than "believe in Me so in the afterlife you go to heaven and not hell."

In this book one gets a different, deeper, more historical spin on most of the major works and sayings of Jesus: His call to repent, His parables, His miracles, His cleansing of the Temple, His self awareness as God, His death, His resurrection, and His on going work through the Holy Spirit--so, pretty much all of Christianity in a nutshell is expounded on and expanded--not in a way that necessarily changes what we believe as much as deepens what we would already know to be true.

Key Chapters and Quotes

1 - The Challenge of Jesus
The gist of this chapter is to assure Christians that it would be okay for them to pull their heads out of the ostrich hole and look at the historical Jesus.
"I see the historical task...as part of the appropriate activity of knowledge and love, to get to know even better the one whom we claim to know and follow. . . . I believe...that the historical quest for Jesus is a necessary and nonnegotiable aspect of Christian discipleship and that we in our generation have a chance to be renewed in discipleship and mission precisely by means of this quest" (14).

Regarding Jesus' call to "repent and believe": "Jesus was summoning his hearers to give up their whole way of life, their national and social agendas, and to trust him for a different agenda, a different set of goals. This of course included a change of heart, but went far beyond it" (27).

2 - The Challenge of the Kingdom (Or, I would call it, Enter: Biblical Theology)
This chapter is primarily about what Jesus meant when He announced that the kingdom of God was near. It builds off of the previous chapter and discusses what people had in mind concerning the coming of the kingdom of God.
"When [the Jews] longed for the kingdom of God, they were not thinking about how to secure themselves to a place in heaven after they died. The phrase, 'kingdom of God'...does not refer to a place, called 'heaven,' where God's people will go after death. It refers to the rule of heaven, this is, of God, being brought to bear in the present world" (37).

3 - The Challenge of Symbols** (this is a great chapter)
This chapter was great and interprets how many of Jesus actions and sayings serve as symbols to the kingdom (The sabbath, foods, nation and land, the Temple.) This is also a great chapter in Biblical Theology.

4 - The Crucified Messiah
What is the kingdom meaning behind Jesus' crucifixion. Atonement? Yes. But, also a prophetic symbol as well.

5 - Jesus & God
Did Jesus believe that He was the second person of the Trinity? Yes, but no.

6 - The Challenge of Easter
What did Jesus' resurrection mean? A thought provoking answer.

7 - Walking to Emmaus in a Postmodern World**
8 - The Light of the World**

These two great chapters are, I think, worth the book. In these Wright becomes a pastor to the reader and lays out the implication of his findings. He handles the Emmaus text in Luke like a true expositor. These chapters give you that feeling of being in the presence of profundity. I would have loved to been there to hear these preached (they were originally lectures). These chapters can be summarized by the following quote:

"I live in a world where Christian devotion and evangelical piety have been highly suspicious of and sometimes implacably opposed to serious historical work on the New Testament, and vice versa. I believe passionately that this is deeply destructive of the gospel, and I have done my best to preach and to pray as a serious historian and to do my historical work as a serious preacher and pray-er" (192).

My Recommendation

This book had profundity for me on almost every page. This, of course, is because in my mind Jesus is an American wearing a flat-billed fitted NY hat backwards with an Ipod and drinking Starbucks. It is a must read for anyone who would be interested. More of Wright's books will for sure be placed on the wishlist.

Concerns
The primary thing that concerns me revolves around the question of how much history is too much history. What is more, as Blake noted a few posts back about Wright, he is a biblical theologian (a big picture guy), and at times you kinda get the feel that the individual aspects of your faith are drastically reduced. That is, that salvation is primarily corporate, and that the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus were important more for what they meant as historical symbols for Israel rather than what they mean for the guy who's tatted up on the street. Also, I can easily see how Wright's historical emphasis paves the way perfectly for his "New Perspective on Justification."

Wow. That was long. Thanks for reading. Consider it my returning debut.

Peace.

Last Things First

J.V. Fesko is a pastor and Adjunct Professor in Systematic Theology at RTS Atlanta. The sub-title of this book (222 pp) is 'Unlocking Genesis 1-3 with the Christ of Eschatology.' I am growing deeper and deeper in love with eschatology. A wrong tendency among Christians is to narrowly associate eschatology with the last days before Christ returns (rapture, millennium, tribulation, helicopters, etc..). I think the Left Behind series is partly blame for this mistake. I hate those movies. Anyway, the New Testament as a whole is eschatalogical (N.T. Wright is phenomenal on this point!). The entire Old and New Testaments are forward looking. When Christ came to earth, he ushered in new age. Fesko argues that we must read Genesis (and indeed the whole Bible) eschatalogically. Here is the layout of the book:

1. Man in the Image of God

2. The Garden-Temple of Eden

3. The Covenant of Works

4. Shadows and Types of the Second Adam

5. The Work of the Second Adam

6. The Sabbath

7. Conclusion

The thesis of the book is that Genesis 1-3 not about science or world history, but about the failed work of the first Adam, a fact which points the reader to the person and work of the second or eschatalogical Adam. Fesko laments the fact that all too often, studies in Genesis focus on science and how God created, when we should instead be focusing on the entry point of the Last Adam. Throughout the book, he shows the important connections between the first and last Adam. Adam was to function as God's image-bearer as a prophet, priest, and king. He was to be a priest in Eden, which he argues convincingly (following Beale) was a Temple, not a farm. Fesko is a covenant theologian through and through (in the tradition of Vos), taking John Murray to task (or attempts anyway) in chapter 3. Fesko walks through the covenants in the OT in chapter 4 showing the continuity throughout. Chapter 5 was worth the price of the book. Chapter 6 shows that Christ is the fulfillment of the Sabbath, and we find Sabbath rest by resting in him.

Overall this book was helpful. Fesko seems to ignore the Davidic Covenant throughout the book though. I am not sure why, but you just don't read much about it. He considers "the three major covenants" the Noahic, Abrahamic, and Mosaic. Also, I am not a covenant theologian. I think the terms covenant of works, and covenant of grace are unhelpful. I bought the book knowing he would be arguing for the validity of both. I still enjoyed it very much though, despite these disagreements.

Quotes:

"Christ will fulfill the dominion mandate--he will produce offspring that bear his image, the image of God, and fill the new creation to the ends of the earth." 177

"Eschatology, therefore, is not merely the final locus at the end of systematic theology. Rather, it is the lens through which all other loci must be understood." 200

A Gospel Primer

Eron and I each received a copy of this small book from our community group leaders about a month ago. When I finally got around to reading it I was so glad that I did and so encouraged by this short 78 page booklet. "A Gospel Primer- For Christians" is written by Milton Vincent, former faculty at The Master's Seminary, and current Pastor-Teacher of Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church in Riverside, California. On the very first page is the following quote from C.J. Mahaney:

If there is anything in life that we should be passionate about, it's the gospel. And I don't mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel out to be.

(C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, 20-21)

The purpose of the book is summed up in that quote. This book is mainly meant as a tool to help Christians think about and preach the gospel to themselves daily. As Vincent states in the introduction:

This booklet is offered as a handy guide to help Christians experience the gospel more fully by preaching it to themselves each day. It is also offered as a correction to a costly mistake made by Christians who view the gospel as something that has fully served out its purpose the moment they believe in Jesus for salvation.

This booklet is broken into three parts:
Part I- Reasons to Rehearse the Gospel Daily
Part II- A Gospel Narrative- Prose Version
Part III- A Gospel Narrative- Poetic Version

Part I goes through 20 reasons to rehearse the gospel to ourselves each day. Here are some great quotes under a few of these reasons that Vincent covers:

Freedom from Sin's Power
"As long as I am stricken with the guilt of my sins, I will be captive to them, and will keep re-committing the very sins about which I feel most guilty...The gospel, however, always slays sin at this root point and thereby nullifies sin's power over me. The forgiveness of God, made known to me through the gospel, liberates me from sin's power because it liberates me from sin's guilt; and preaching such forgiveness to myself is a practical way of putting the gospel into operation as a nullifier of sin's power in my life."

Resting in Christ's Righteousness
"On my worst days of sin and failure, the gospel encourages me with God's unrelenting grace toward me. On my best days of victory and usefulness, the gospel keeps me relating to God solely on the basis of Jesus' righteousness and not mine."

Perspective in Trials
"The good news about my trials is that God is forcing them to bow to His gospel purposes and do good unto me by improving my character and making me more conformed to the image of Christ."

Cultivating Humility
"Nothing suffocates my pride more than daily reminders regarding the glory of my God, the gravity of my sins, and the crucifixion of God's own Son in my place."

and I could go on and on....

Part II and III are practical ways to rehearse the gospel daily. Part II is a prose version of the gospel. It is a 10 [small] page summary of the gospel that you can read to yourself each day. Part III is a poetic version of the gospel for the same purpose. These are both very helpful and very quick reads because the pages are filled with scripture references on the bottom, and not just the references, but the whole verse written out, so it is all there in front of you. The author even suggests writing one of these versions out on notecards to have with you to read daily wherever you are.

I highly recommend that every Christian pick up a copy of this booklet and use it as a tool to remind ourselves of the gospel and the reasons why we need it each day.

Ordering information and PDF download---HERE

What Saint Paul Really Said

This book is a popular overview of the work that Wright has done on Paul up to his point (97'). Of course, Wright is a well known advocate of the new perspective on Paul. He is a regular whipping boy for many Calvinists. In reading this book, I have found that N.T. Wright is regularly either misunderstood, or misrepresented. This was a fun book to read, as Wright's theology reads like prose, although I do not recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a firm grasp on the doctrine of justification, or who is unaware of the surrounding controversy. Wright is a biblical theologian and historian through and through. He is well-read in the 1st century sources and Second Temple Judaism. He is a big picture guy for sure. Much of Wright's exegesis is insightful and stimulating, but at places one is left scratching his head as to how he is coming to his conclusions (cf. Rom. 7, Phil 3, 2 Cor 5.21). For the many good things that could be said about this book, I will focus on a few negatives. Wright wants to separate the gospel, and the doctrine of justification more that the Apostle does. In fact, Wright redefines the term justification, along with works of the law, and the righteousness of God (he considers Sander's proposal as established). This has obvious implications for the reformation doctrine of sola fide. On imputation, he writes "If we use the language of the law court, it makes no sense whatever to say that the judge imputes, imparts, bequeaths, conveys or otherwise transfers his righteousness to either the plaintiff or the defendant. Righteousness is not an object, a substance or a gas which can be passed across the courtroom." He redefines the righteousness of God as his covenant faithfulness. In my opinion he is unfair to the best of the reformation, and reductionistic at many points. I appreciate Wright's emphasis on Christ's resurrection as thou roughly eschatalogical. Many Calvinists have accused Wright of having ecumenical motives, which seems to me to be unfair. His conclusions are no doubt ecumenical (even calling the doctrine of justification the great ecumenical doctrine), but I truly believe that Wright's honest aim is to be faithful to the text. He just so happens to get fuzzy on the gospel in the meantime, limiting it to 'Jesus is Lord.' He overreacts to Western individualism (even found in Reformed circles) but doesn't do justice to Paul in the meant time. See Richard Gaffin's book "By Faith Not By Sight" for a refutation of such thinking. I think we have much to learn from Bishop Wright, but still think the Reformers had it right.

"As far as Paul was concerned, the most important eschatological event, through which the living God had unveiled (or, if you like, 'apocalypsed') his plan to save the whole cosmos, had occurred when Jesus rose from the dead. He wasn't just living in the last days. He was living in the first days--of a whole new world order." 50

Van Til's Apologetic

Cornelius Van Til is my homeboy. Reading this book has been nothing less than 'epoch-making.' Dr. Van Til's writings are voluminous, spanning 3 feet on a book shelf when combined. Greg Bahnsen has done the church a great service by compiling, and systematically organizing some of Van Til's key writings into about 3 inches of shelf space (764 pp). The book is almost an anthology with running commentary by Bahnsen. Bahnsen usually opens each section with an intro, which is followed by many sections of Van Til's writings pertaining to the relevant topic, with lots of footnotes from Bahnsen analyzing, adding, and answering critics along the way. Van Til can be hard to read in places, as he is very well read, and expects his reader to be familiar with the history of Western philosophy. Bahnsen is very helpful here in the footnotes. The book has 9 chapters:

1. An Introduction to Van Til's Apologetic

2. The Task of Apologetics

3. A Simple Summary and Illustration

4. The Epistemological Side of Apologetics

5. The Apologetical Side of Epistemology

6. The Psychological Complexities of Unbelief

7. The Presuppositional Apologetical Argument

8. Comparisons and Criticisms of Apologetical Methods

9. Concluding Summary: How to Defend the Faith

It is saddening to know that this book has not and probably will not gain much of a hearing outside Presbyterian circles. Van Til really is a brilliant gift to the church and was crucial in the 'Reformation of Christian Apologetics.' One could not ask for a higher view of Scripture. Van Til took the lordship of Christ seriously, especially concerning the realm of knowledge. I plan on doing some posts on presuppositional apologetics on my blog in the future, so I will leave with some quotes:

--The gospel of the self-authenticating God speaking through Christ in Scripture offers man salvation, not only for his life, but for his science and philosophy and theology as well. (571)

--Christianity alone is reasonable for men to hold. It is wholly irrational to hold any other position than that of Christianity. Christianity alone does not slay reason on the altar of ‘chance.’ (730)

--Every Evangelical, as a sincere Christian is at heart a Calvinist. But witnessing is a matter of the head as well as the heart. If the world is to hear a consistent testimony for the Christian faith, it is the Calvinist who must give it. (582)

--So in presuppositional apologetics we seek to “remove the enemy’s foundation” by reducing his worldview to absurdity, thereby rendering the claims that constitute his case against the gospel unintelligible and demonstrating the necessity of the Christian worldview if we are to make sense of argumentation about reasoning about, and interpretation of, any element of human experience. (111)

--It is therefore mandatory that Reformed theologians urge their fellow Protestants everywhere to call upon modern man to interpret his life in terms of the book of God and therefore in terms of the God of the book. (713)

Priolo's Pleasing People, Part 1

Part 1: Our Problem

Here are the chapter titles and some of my favorite/most-needed quotes from Part 1. These don't summarize the chapters by any means; rather, these are just some of the many ones I needed to hear in high school and indeed, to this very day.



1. Characteristics of a People Pleaser

Not only does the people-pleaser love the wrong thing (the approval of man rather than the approval of God), he fears the wrong thing as well - he fears the disapproval of man more than the disapproval of God.

A people-pleaser is not a peacemaker, but rather a peace-lover... A peace-lover is so afraid of conflict that he will avoid it at almost all costs. He is so concerned about "keeping the peace" with his fellow man that he is often willing to forfeit the peace of God that comes from standing up and suffering for the truth.

2. Is It Ever Right to Please People?

In this chapter, Priolo explains that there are biblical commands to please others - parents, spouses, earthly masters, the lost, etc. He makes the distinction that it can become sin when you have an INORDINATE desire for their approval or if you compromise the Bible or the Gospel in order to win it.

3&4. The Dangers of Being a People-Pleaser/More Dangers of Being a People-Pleaser

Rather than looking into the Bible to see what things God wants one to put off and put on, the proud person makes a top priority of correcting things that may displease others, even though such changes matter little to God.

He has allowed saying "yes" to good things to keep him from doing other things that should have been considered more biblically necessary.

5. You Can't Please All of the People Even Some of the Time

Even with all His (Jesus) virtues - His blamelessness, His ability to heal, His love, His goodness... He did not prevent everyone from speaking evil against Him and rejecting Him. Neither did He try to do so. Why, then, should you?

The only hope you and I have of pleasing people is by introducing them to the One who can truly please and satisfy them - the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet even that has one difficulty - especially if you are a people-pleaser: by introducing them to the Savior, you face a greater likelihood of being rejected by them yourself. Are you ashamed of the gospel of Christ?

6. But You Can Please God

In principle, learning to please God instead of man is the single greatest remedy to the problem of pleasing man.

7. Some Points About Pride

If you have anything to be proud of, remember what it is, and that it is not your own, but has been given or lent to you by God, who especially hates pride.

- Richard Baxter

Pride is an insidious thing. Just when you are convinced that you have one of its tentacles under control, another one snakes out to grab you. Oh, it has probably been there all along, but you never saw it before. So off you go to try to bring it under the Spirit's control and in time, by God's grace, you do. Then, just as you're thinking you've got it under control, out wriggles another one. Pride is like a garment with a million secret pockets that you're constantly discovering.

My thoughts so far? It's worse than I thought. It's more dangerous. More deadly. More idolatrous and hypocritical. Deadly to my friendships, marriage, evangelism and even my church.

The final half of this book will be God's gracious remedy. I'd honestly appreciate prayers for me as I read the rest of this book. And... I highly recommend it.

As man's knowledge of God's increases, his sense of distance does not diminish, but actually increases. He stands in even greater awe and wonder at God's mind. He is humbled even more than when he began to learn of Him.

--Greg Bahnsen in 'Van Til's Apologetic'

The Mortification of Sin

This is a must read for all believers. It belongs on every Christian's bookshelf and the principles it offers belong in every believers heart. If you do hurry off to purchase a copy, and you're not accustomed to reading "latinized puritanical english" (as Packer calls it), I suggest that you buy the version that has been "made easy to read." Although, if you read it in it's original form, it will make you slow down and digest what he is saying. No matter what, the fact that Owen wrote it for teen-aged boys is flat out humbling.

Then entire book is based on half of Romans 8:13, "but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." 176 pages dedicated to 1/2 a verse ain't to shabby. It is a most thorough evaluation of the Christian's efforts towards mortification (putting to death the sinful deeds of the flesh) and vivification (putting on the character and traits of Christ).

The overall thrust of the book is that we, as believers, have the Spirit of Christ in us who wages war against the fleshy deeds of the body. It is amazingly balanced in it's approach to practical and doctrinal Christianity. There is too much in it for me to give you an abridged outline so I'll tell you the thing that hit me the hardest.

Owen calls us to deep introspection throughout the entire book. But one of the things that he warns us against is hastily speaking peace to our conscience before the Lord speaks peace to it. So often we run to the cross immediately after we fall under conviction, and that is encouraged, but we do not stay at the cross long enough. We want immediate peace and rest for our conscience, so we don't stay at the foot of the cross long enough to really see the filth of our sin and realize the magnitude of it. The result is that we don't deal with it in it's entirety and we don't feel the weight of it. Thus, we will more rapidly fall into the same sin because the remedy works quickly and we don't feel the weight of our depravity. What does this problem call us to do? Spend more time in thought and reflection on the glorious wrath absorbing death of our Savior, the wrath that we deserve, which he appeased, in our stead, for the sins we commit (if you thought that was a long sentence with lots of commas, just read some Owen).

Every once and a while, Owen would write a short sentence that was loaded with glorious truth. Here are a few:

"the vigour, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depend on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh."

"be killing sin, or it will be killing you."

"Sin always aims at the utmost: every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have it's course, it would go out to the utmost of it's kind." Meaning, a lustful glance, if it could have it's course, would result in adultery, and is a step towards it. That's serious.

'An unmortified lust will drink up the spirit and all the vigour of the soul, and weaken it for all it's duties."

"There is no death of sin, without the death of Christ." AMEN

"All attempts, then, for mortification of any lust, without an interest in Christ, are vain."

Those were just from the first 7 chapters. Read it slowly and enjoy.

The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God

Jay, and D, I don't think ya'll would like this one. In the preface, Frame says, "For many readers, this book will be a reference text. Few will bother to read it all the way through." I guess he said that because the book is rather large (404 pp). I wouldn't recommend only reading parts though. Frame has a fairly sustained argument through the whole book. This book is really a biblical epistemology, or biblical theory of knowledge with lots of info and analysis on theological and apologetical method. Frame brings a robust reformed theology to the issue of knowledge. In part one, Frame focuses on the objects of knowledge (God, law, world, selves, studies), part two with the justification of knowledge (rationalism, empiricism, subjectivism), and part three on the methods of knowledge (use of Scripture, tools of theology-language, logic, history, science, philosophy). Two of the appendices were on evaluating and writing theological writings. I believe that all readers (but especially pastors, theologians, and apologists) will profit from this book. My only critique would be that I am not as convinced as Dr. Frame that the abundance of triads, and perspectivalism is as helpful as he would like it to be.

Quotes:

"Rationalism recognizes a need for criteria, or standards; empiricism a need for objective, publicly knowable facts; and subjectivism a need for our beliefs to meet our own internal criteria. A Christan epistemology will recognize all of those concerns but will differ from the rationalist, empiricist, and subjectivist schools of thought in important ways. Most importantly, the Christan will recognize the lordship of God in the field of knowledge. God is sovereign, and He coordinates law, object, and subject, so that the three cohere; a true account of one will never conflict with a true account of the others." 123

"Our apologetics must be pervaded by a sense of Christ's lordship, and this demands diligent preparation so that we may be able to obey our Lord's Great Commission, being prepared to answer inquirers--not only with proclamation, but with answers and reasons. And it requires boldness so that we may take advantage of the these opportunities." 358

Always Ready

Greg Bahnsen was scholar in residence at the Southern California Center for Christian Studies. He earned his M.Div and ThM simultaneously from Westminster Theological Seminary and did his PhD on epistemology (the theory of knowledge) from USC under Dallas Willard. Bahnsen's mind is razor sharp. He is the foremost representative of Van Tillian presuppositionalism. Sadly, the Lord took him at age 47, due to a heart condition. Always Ready (274 pp) is an excellent introduction to apologetics. An intro philosophy class (particularly with Dr. Wellum) would be quite helpful before reading this one. Bahnsen spends a lot of time on epistemology and the need for a truly Christian theory of knowledge. He writes, "One must be presuppositionally committed to Christ in the world of thought (rather than neutral) and firmly tied down to the faith which he has been taught, or else the persuasive argumentation of secular thought will delude him. Hence the Christian is obligated to presuppose the word of Christ in every area of knowledge; the alternative is delusion" (5)....God's Word (in Scripture) has absolute authority for us and is the final criterion for truth" (24). The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This fact is important for believers today as postmodern epistemology can be detrimental to the gospel. Bahnsen argues persuasively throughout the book, showing the only biblically faithful apologetic is presuppositional. God's authoritative, self-attesting Word must be the starting point for all apologetics. Neutrality is impossible, and immoral. The book also has several very practical (and theoretical) examples of how to show the unbeliever the foolishness of unbelief. Following Van Til, Bahnsen argues transcendentally for the Christian faith, showing the impossibility of the contrary. Christian theism is the precondition for intelligibility. Anti-theism presupposes theism.

Quotes:

"In answering the fool a Christian apologist must aim to demonstrate that unbelief is, in the final analysis, destructive of all knowledge" 57

"Effective apologetics necessarily leads us to challenge and debate the unbeliever at the level of his most basic commitments or assumptions about reality, knowledge, and ethics. Our approach to defending the faith is shallow and ineffective if we think that the unbeliever simply lacks information or needs to be given observational evidence." 120

"The proof that Christianity is true is that if it were not, we would not be able to prove anything." 122

Mohler's Recommendations for Summer Reading

Mohler has just posted a blog on recommended books for summer reading. Let's just say, they are unexpectedly Jay Scott friendly.

Check it out here.


Peace.

Shadow of the Almighty

Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot (249 pp) is about the life of the famous missionary Jim Elliot. The book mostly consists of the many letters and journals of Jim, with organization and details by his wife, Elisabeth. The story of the 5 missionaries is well known today among many evangelicals due to the recent movies, 'Beyond the Gates of Splendor' and 'End of the Spear.' Jim Elliot was, in the words of Kevin Peek, 'intense.' He also seemed to be a fun guy to be around; a characteristic I love to see among Christians. This guy knew how to have a good time. He was also very fiery, which I also like. Above all, Elliot was sold out for Christ. He knew fairly early on that he was to spend his life reaching those who had never heard. The book traces Jim's life from childhood, to high school, to his days at Wheaton, and eventually to Ecuador. For many years, he was certain he could not marry and be distracted by all that is involved with marriage. He obviously changed his mind later. He was also a great writer and his language is filled with Scripture. He took his relationship with the Lord very seriously and the book shows both his low and high points. My only complaint would be that it is slow-going at points since it is so personal, but that is the purpose of the author so I shouldn't complain. Overall I recommend this biography, as it is sure to challenge all who read it.

Quotes

"They [Americans] have the Scriptures, Moses, and the Prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bank books and in the dust on their Bible covers." 132

"Oh that God would shake up some of those married couples around Portland with their prim unconcern for souls and saints, dabbling with building lots, houses, jobs, babies, silverware--while souls starve for what they know! God shall not hold us guiltless, either." 138

"Men unsound in doctrine complicate the issues. Ah, for a place where Scriptures have not been twisted! Lord, send me to Ecuador!" 140

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." 247

The Autobiography of George Muller

Having read a portion of Muller's autobiography over a decade ago, I was left with an indelible memory of its thesis, but I was excited about re-visiting it for details. My soul was served by a second reading.

George Muller was born in 1805. God graciously saved him in his 20's. He describes his conversion in detail in chapters 1 and 2. The remaining chapters of this book include excerpts from his diary where Muller joyfully records God's work in and through his life. The main thrust of his ministry was organizing orphanages in Bristol, England. However, his heart's desire was that God would use his ministry, not only in the lives of the orphans, but as a testimony to the Church of God all over the world. He was deeply and constantly burdened for Christians to have a deeper faith and dependence on God. He humbly sought to be living proof of a life that is dependent on God in prayer for all things.

The chief end for which the institution was established is that the Church would see the hand of God stretched out on our behalf in answer to prayer. Our desire, therefore, is not that we may be without trials of faith, but that the Lord would graciously support us in the trial and that we may not dishonor Him by distrust. (129)

Running an orphanage, and later 3 and 4 orphanages, was no small task for a poor man like Muller. He had NOTHING. Day by day, he prayed about the needs, rarely telling any person about the needs, but relying solely on God. The money would always come in, in small amounts or incredibly large. Sometimes he would wait days, weeks, months or years, but the Lord provided.

There are many things that could be said about this book. Where to start?

Honestly, I found the book uncomfortable at first, because there are echos, if not carefully read in context and taken as a whole, of almost a name it-claim it verbage that sounded strikingly similar to what is taught at many of today's churches. You know Muller is different, but he sounds... the same. Well... KEEP READING! Things become more clear as you see Muller's Gospel-centeredness, his personal disciplines, his awareness of the sovereign grace of God, his love for Christ and the Church, and his evident and sincere humility. I also squirmed at times wondering how on earth he didn't become prideful in his incredible disciplines (hours upon hours of prayer and Scripture reading) or in the circumstantial provisions lavished on his ministry time and time again. He addresses this, too, and his journal reveals glimpses of his humanity and struggles. In both of my hesitations, it was my pride that made me squirm. Faith like Muller's is convicting indeed.

Before you think his life was a cakewalk with money falling from the sky each time he bowed his head in prayer, think again. He faced trial upon trial, but his faith was strenthened afresh with each new trial. He would ascribe glory to God and you would again read of his deep longing for other Christians to walk in the joy of dependence and faith. He talks very practically about care for children, stewardship, Christians in the workplace, giving, missions, Bible distribution, morning meditation, prayer, etc. MUCH is to be gleaned from the reading of this book. Muller also uses many lists, making this an easy read. He prayed with focus and praised the Lord for answers and when answers were supsended. He knew the Bible well and cherished his time with the Lord and with His people.

If we seek, like the people of the world, to increase our possessions, those who are not believers may question whether we believe what we say about our inheritance and our heavenly calling. (141)

Much of what Muller wrote sounded very pastoral, because he wrote with the purpose of people reading his accounts for the strengthening of their faith. In that sense, it was a journal written somewhat like a devotional.

With every fresh trial... a habit of self-dependence is either defeated or encouraged. If we trust in God, we do not trust in ourselves, our fellowmen, circumstances, or in anything else. If we do trust in one or more of these, we do not trust in God.

Are the things of God, the honor of His name, the welfare of His Church, the conversion of sinners, and the profit of your own soul, your chief aim? Or does your business, your family, or your own temporal concerns primarily occupy your attention? Remember that the world will pass away, but the things of God will endure forever. (191)

Finally, I was extremely encouraged by his accounts of spiritual fruit God bestowed upon his ministry. Like the widow persistent in prayer, he faithfully prayed for those children's souls. God heard and answered.

On May 26, 1857, Caroline Bailey, one of the orphans, died. The death of this beloved girl, who had known the Lord for several months, was used by the Lord to answer our daily prayers for the conversion of the orphans. All at once, more than fifty of the girls began to ask questions about heaven, hell, and eternity.

The Great Divorce

C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce is a fascinating story about the "Divorce" of Heaven and Hell. In many ways the book is hard to summarize. Basically, a man (Lewis?) is given a glimpse into the afterlife and finds the words of writer John Milton to be true: "The choice of every lost soul can be expressed in the words 'Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.'"

The story opens with a picture of a dark city (Hell/Purgatory) where people wait in line to board a bus to take them to a world full of light (Heaven). Once they arrive, each of the people finds themselves to be less than a person. They are ghostly figures who cannot even bend the grass of Heaven when they walk. While there, each is approached by a heavenly being (Deceased Christian) who seeks to take them on a journey to the heavenly mountain. Along the journey the ghostly person will be transformed and be able to remain in Heaven. The man wanders around the heavenly place and overhears a number of conversations between the ghostly figures and the heavenly beings. Almost every conversation ends the same way: The ghostly figure, in plain sight of heaven, chooses to return to Hell.

I would highly recommend The Great Divorce to anyone, though with two cautions. First, one should carefully read the preface before starting. There, Lewis makes it clear that the book is not fact, nor is it theology, it is fantasy and should be read as such. Second, don't miss the moral. Sadly, while reading the book, I think that I did exactly the opposite of what Lewis intended for his readers and missed the moral completely. In the ghostly people who were choosing Hell over heaven, I kept seeing people I knew, instead of seeing myself.

Here are a couple of quotes:

If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven; if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell. I believe, to be sure, that any man who reaches Heaven will find that what he has abandoned (even the plucking out of his right eye) has not been lost. . . (Preface, IX)

'[Hell] is closer to such as you than ye think. There have been men before who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God himself. . . as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ. Man! Ye see it in smaller matters. Did you even know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them? Or an organiser of charities that had lost all love for the poor? It is the subtlest of all the snares.' (p. 73-74)

The Letters of Geerhardus Vos

Geerhardus Vos is known as the father of Reformed biblical theology (i.e. the discipline that seeks to do justice to the teaching of the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelation, redemptive history etc). Vos has been very influential to many people, and this is why I wanted to learn a little about the man. When one reads Goldsworthy, Clowney, Ladd, Ridderbos, Gaffin (and virtually all the guys at Westminster Philly), you know you are reading men who are standing on the shoulders of Vos. I am fascinated by these early Princeton and Westminster guys (Hodge, Machen, Warfield, Stonehouse, Murray) and Vos and Van Til in particular. B.B. Warfield regarded Vos as "probably the best exegete Princeton ever had." Unfortunately, Vos was not very well known by anyone. It seems as if he liked it that way. He was born in Holland in 1862, studied under the Hodge brothers at Princeton, and ended up doing his doctorate at the University of Strassburg. His dissertation was an exercise in Arabic textual criticism and the title was "The Struggle and Quarrel between the Umaads and the Hashimites." Don't ask me.

He is known for emphasizing that "eschatology is the mother of theology." He took the chair of biblical theology at Princeton in 1893. He married Catherine in 1894 and had 4 kids. He liked to take walks and write poetry (part of the book contains several of his poems). He went to a rural town called Roaring Branch for 26 consecutive summers. They had a house there, and he had it moved even further out of the rural town and his neighbors never remember talking to the man or his wife. Geerhardus gets an F for missional living. He seems to have been somewhat anti-social towards those he didn't know very well. He retired to Southern Cali in 1932. He died in 1949 and Cornelius Van Til preached from 2 Cor. 5.1. One interesting fact about Vos's life is that he was around and agreed with Machen who left Princeton to found Westminster Seminary to maintain orthodoxy. No one is sure why Vos stayed.

This book will be of little interest to most. The biography was interesting to me but it had quite a bit of info on Presbyterian denomenational controversey. I merely perused most of the letters except for some that were written to Machen, Warfield, and Bavinck. While this book may not ever make it to your shelf, I highly encourage the study of biblical theology, but you may not want to start with Vos. His magnum opus was 'Biblical Theology', with 'The Pauline Eschatology,' 'The Teaching of Jesus Concerning the Kingdom of God and the Church,' 'The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews,' and 'The Self-Disclosure of Jesus' have also been highly influential. If nothing else, you may want to name your first son 'Geerhardus.'

Love That Lasts

When Alicia and I got married, I committed myself to reading at least one marriage book or marriage-related book a year, in order to intentionally stir my mind and cultivate intimacy with Alicia. The book for the first year I chose was 'Love That Lasts: When Marriage Meets Grace' by Gary and Betsy Ricucci. Betsy is CJ Mahaney's sister and Gary is on staff at Covenant Life Church (where Josh Harris is now pastor). This is a very refreshing read. It kindled my love for Alicia and for the ordinance of marriage. They have a very high view of marriage, namely because they have a high view of God, where marriage begins. As with all of the people at Sovereign Grace, these writers are Spirit-filled, Word-centered, and gospel-saturated. They also are complementarians, doing a great job covering roles and responsibilities. Another added benefit, is their understanding of the necessity of the local church in all of life, especially marriage. The chapter on the husband's role is insightful and challenging. The chapter for wives is great too. I am so thankful that as I read the calling of a Godly wife I was not thinking, "Man, Alicia needs to read this," but rather, "Man, she is doing such a great job!" The chapter on conflict is great. These writers have spent some timing learning from the guys at CCEF (Tripp, Powlison). Conflict is inevitable (if there is true intimacy), but the way in which you resolve conflict is vitally important. I was particularly challenged to be very specific and use biblical terms when confessing sin (and no 'but's'). The chapters on romance and sex were great too. Busyness is a type of selfishness, a failure of priority. I would highly recommend this little book to all, single, engaged, and married. Throughout the book, they acknowledge their indebtedness to the Mahaney's and point the reader to this book and this one for further study.

"Nothing is more important to your marriage than your theology" 21

"Nothing is more essential to a marriage, and nothing brings more hope, than applying the gospel of Jesus Christ." 23

"So many couples spend their lives avoiding conflict. They choose a superficial 'peace at any price'--a price much higher than they realize." 113

The Drama of Scripture

"The Drama of Scripture" (213 p.) by Bartholomew and Goheen is an excellent read! I don't know much about Bartholomew but Michael Goheen did his dissertation on the missional ecclesiology of Lesslie Newbigin who is really the father of missional theology and has been very influential to many of the emerging church leaders. This book was designed for an intro course in Biblical Theology. The authors want the reader to become familiar with the storyline of Scripture, and help articulate a biblical worldview to live out as God's sent people. They write, "The Drama of Scripture tells the biblical story of redemption as a unified, coherent narrative of God's ongoing work within his kingdom (11)." They argue for a narrative reading from Genesis to Revelation. It is similar to a popular form of Dempster's "Dominion and Dynasty." Scripture should form our metatnarrative. They use the theme of kingdom to structure the book in 6 acts: Creation, Fall, Redemption Initiated, (Intertestamental Period), Redemption Accomplished, The Mission of the Church, and Redemption Completed.

They basically walk through the storyline of Scripture, with an eye to missional living throughout. I highly recommend this book! The chapter on the intertestamental period was very insightful for setting the background of the Jews and the coming of Christ. I also appreciated the emphasis on inaugurated eschatology, and the emphasis on the cosmic scope of redemption. 5 out of 5.

Quotes:

"Furthermore, the kingdom of God has arrived in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Two great figures stand at the entrances to two worlds: Adam stands at the gate of the old world, Jesus at the gate of the new. Adam's first sin inaugurated the old age and brought sin, death, and condemnation. Now in Jesus a new day of righteousness, life, and justification has come (Romans 5:12-21). If we are 'in Adam', we are part of the old age and under its sway. But if we are 'in Christ', we are part of the age to come and can already experience God's life-giving power" (189)

"If our lives are to be shaped and formed by Scripture, we need to know the biblical story well, to feel it in our bones. To do this, we must also know our own place within it--where we are int the story" (197)

"Salvation is not an escape from creational life into 'spiritual' existence: it is the restoration of God's rule over all of creation and all of human life. Neither is salvation merely the restoration of a personal relationship with God, important as that is. Salvation goes further: it is the restoration of the whole life of humankind and ultimately of the nonhuman creation as well" (199)

For similar theology and outlook, see N.T. Wright's article (they have been greatly influenced by his work), Dempster's book, Robert's book God's Big Picture, their website, and Hoekema's book The Bible and the Future.

History of the Baptists: Democratic Religion

This is the first book I had to read for History of the Baptists with Dr. Shawn Wright--one down, four to go.

This book is written by Dr. Gregory Wills who teaches here at Southern. I "took him" for my Cooperative Program "class" last Fall. I am not sure that I will take him for anything because most of my history classes are done with. Anyway.

What is This Book For?

By the subtitle you can see that the discussion revolves around Baptists in the late 18th to early 2oth centuries. The main focus (from what I could tell) is early Baptist life in regards to church authority manifested primarily through church discipline. The thrust of the book surveys the rise and decline of church discipline in Baptist churches. Now, this is my first time to really get to know my Baptist heritage. For the most part, I'm shady on the whos, whats, hows, and whys of Baptist history. So, I really can't post a great review on this book in terms of its profundity or how it fits into my church history repertoire overall. I probably won't have a working, conversational knowledge about this subject until after my class in a few weeks. But, let me just tell you some pieces of the puzzle I've put together so far:

- Baptists used to be strict! No chess, backgammon, dancing, cards, circuses, or, even for some, baseball! Strict not just for sin, but for doctrine also. Some Baptists would not accept a baptism if it was performed by a "free-will" pastor (106). People were considered heretics if they did not adhere to Baptist doctrine. Yet, they were not strict because they had a "witch hunt" mentality. This is rooted in their view of church authority. Basically, early Baptists thought that the local church's responsibility was to regulate everything in the lives of their members: doctrine, sin, amusements, etc. Thus, they had a higher sensitivity to sin because they felt they had to. This is where things like, "no dancing" comes from in Baptist practice. Dancing involved worldly amusement, and worldly amusement led to worldly thinking, and worldly thinking led to sin, and sin cannot be tolerated in Christ's church. Follow? It was all about what they believed about authority--they were just trying to protect.

- For early Baptists, church discipline was inseparable from Calvinism. Although one may be terribly offended and never returned to the church because of exclusion, Baptists were not shaken from their duty to discipline because they knew it would always prune and grow the elect. An interesting thought for our day.

- Racism was an issue for many early Baptists.

- In time, for some reason having to do with the war, Baptists stopped being as strict. I will learn more about this in class I'm sure. But, they felt the burden of disciplining people for everything. The surrounding culture was somewhat turned off by Baptist's strictness. Many would go to church but avoid membership because they knew how strict Baptists were.

Some of these main points Dr. Wills might shake his head at in disappointment knowing that I probably missed the point of his book. But, at this point those are the things that I remember off the top of my dome.

Quotes:

This quote I found very interesting because it reveals that there is truly nothing new under the sun. The discussion of culture engagement is not a new discussion. Churches faced cultural change in the early 20th century with the emergence of urbanization.

"After the [Civil] war, southern churches would find more to bless in society, and the society would find religion more congenial. The society became more religious as the churches became less hostile to the society." (123)

There are other quotes but they are either too long or have too big of a context to unpack. If you get a chance, read the account of Caroline and Julia on page 16.

My Recommendation:

On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being "don't bother," and 5 being, "a must read"), I would give this book a 2, depending on your itch for Baptist history. If you are in to this subject then it's a 5. The endorsements on the back say this is one of the books to read regarding Baptist history. But, for the lay person who may have other things to figure out first, 2.


Till the next episode...

Peace.

Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

C. S. Lewis' Letters to Malcolm is a collection of letters written to an imaginary (I think) friend, Malcolm. The book was published in 1964 and was the last Lewis wrote before his death in 1963. It contains 22 letters dealing with a variety of topics including prayer, liturgy, God's omniscience, "religion," liberal Christianity, metaphysics, and heaven.

Having only limited exposure to Lewis' work, namely parts of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and The Chronicles of Narnia, it is hard to compare Letters to Malcolm with his other writings. So, I think I'll steer clear of that. The book itself is an interesting read. The subtitle is a bit misleading, as each letter deals with one or more theological topics---at times it is hard to figure out how some of the topics relate to prayer at all. Lewis' intellect (he was brilliant) shines throughout the letters and provides readers with a provocative glimpse into his theology. The letters/chapters dealing specifically with prayer and heaven were by far my favorites.

My experience in reading the book was somewhat like walking and falling into a pit and then getting back out again. I found myself fascinated by, and reading carefully through the first five letters, hurriedly fighting my way through the middle section of the book, and then fascinated by the last four letters. I think part of it was due to my tendency to be far too practically minded, and the rest due to the fact that I know very little of philosophy and metaphysics, not to mention Latin.

As far as a recommendation goes, I like the book, but I don't think Letters to Malcolm is a very good starting place for someone interested in Lewis. It is also not a book for someone looking for practical advice on prayer.

Here are three of my favorite quotes:

...I am often, I believe, praying for others when I should be doing things for them (66).

I have met no people who fully disbelieved in Hell and also had a life-giving belief in Heaven (76).

The truth is, I haven't any language weak enough to depict the weakness of my spiritual life (113).

New Glasses With Which to See...

[Before I post on this book let me say this: I just got my syllabus for History of the Baptists, and let's just say, if I don't start reading for June 11 right now, I'm going to get way behind. So, I'll either post on my reading for that class, or maybe some of you who signed up as contributors would, well, contribute something soon. Ok.]

The name of this post says it all.

I mean, I'll just jump right into my "My Recommendation" portion. AOtD is a must read--a 5! I might just be full of zeal right now, but everyone, especially anyone who regularly watches TV, needs to read this immediately and very slowly. AOtD is readable, yet tremendously thought provoking. Turn off the TV and go get you one.

What is This Book For?

Neil Postman's agenda in AOtD is to argue that television, for the most part, has softly lullabied people's intellects to sleep. In order for TV programs to succeed they must entertain, period. Thus, everything from commercials to news is steeped in entertainment strategies (music, good-looking people, etc.) to evoke emotion and interest. Thus, people don't care why a product is good, but rather if it (or the person accompanying it) looks good. TV content is intentionally fragmented and superficial--if it were otherwise, people would have to "endure" the exposition of some argument. (Did you know that product advertisements used to come in the form of a carefully argued paragraph so people could decide what product to buy?) Television gives the illusion of though provocation and learning, but in reality the information given through media is so fragmented and devoid of sound argument that people tend to know a lot of facts, but very little about facts. This is why people are good at crossword puzzles and 'Trivial Pursuit,' but remain superficial, easily swayed, and contradictory in their thinking; 'superficial' in that although one may know a historical happening, they do not know how it developed or its relevance; 'easily swayed' because people are more image driven than thought driven (This is one major reason why people are suckered by TV evangelists); and 'contradictory' because people are now more accustomed basing their thoughts on sight and feeling rather than reason and logic. Television in it's most common form actually teaches people very little, if anything. This creates a culture that has a small attention span and thinks books are an outdated form of learning.

True thought strengthening takes time primarily through the hard work of reading.

Key Chapters

Chapter 3: "Typographic America." ("Typographic" simply refers to the written word) Basically, early Americans, from peasant girl to doctor, were literate and hungry for the written word. At one point, America boasted of the highest concentration of literate persons in the world.

Chapter 4: "The Typographic Mind." Due to America being so inundated with literate people, most people were thinkers and had a capacity for lengthy written and spoken exposition.

Chapter 8: "Shuffle Off to Bethlehem." This chapter discusses televangelists and how television drastically affects the deliverance and substance of preaching. I don't agree with Postman's theology, but this is a very insightful chapter.

Chapter 10: "Teaching as an Amusing Activity." Possibly one of the most important chapters for teachers and parents as they consider the best way to teach their children. Postman examines and gives a good critique of 'Sesame Street.' Let's just say Elmo is at his best when he is being tickled, not teaching. Very good.

Quotes

I want to leave only one. It's long, but, it was one of my favorites:

It would be a serious mistake to think of Billy Graham or any other television revivalist as a latter-day Jonathan Edwards or Charles Finney. Edwards was one of the most brilliant and creative minds ever produced by America. His contribution to aesthetic theory was almost as important as his contribution to theology. His interests were mostly academic; he spent long hours each day in his study. Hid did not speak to his audiences extemporaneously. He read his sermons, which were tightly knit and closely reasoned expositions of theological doctrine. Audiences may have been moved emotionally by Edwards' language, but they were, first and foremost, required to understand it. . . . Unlike the principle figures in today's "great awakening"--Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, et al.--yesterday's leaders of revivalist movements in America were men of learning, faith in reason, and generous expository gifts. . . . No clearer example of the difference between earlier and modern forms of public discourse can be found than in the contrast between the theological arguments of Jonathan Edwards and those of, say, Jerry Falwell, or Billy Graham, or Oral Roberts. The formidable content of Edwards' theology must inevitably engage the intellect; if there is such a content to the theology of the television evangelists, they have not yet made it known. (p. 54, 56)

You could say that this book is summarized in one sentence: The best use of a TV is to use it's light to read a book.


Thoughts? Comments? Questions?

Peace. Go read.
Contributors it's your time to shine.

Well, Here Goes...

Ok, this book was one of "those books" on my shelf. You know, one of "those books" that when asked you say, "Well, I only read a few chapters of it." Well, I finished it today. It had been a few months since I had stopped reading it, but I still have some remembrance of what it is about. Ok.

What is This Book For?

Whatever Happened to Truth? is a short book consisting of four chapters, each of which are transcribed plenary addresses given at the 56th annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society on Nov. 17-19, 2004 in San Antonio, TX. The four plenary speakers were Andreas Kostenberger, [THE] R. Albert Mohler, Jr., J.P. Moreland (philosopher and co-author of one of my philosophy books this past semester), and Kevin Vanhoozer.

(Let me say this before I give a report on this book: Because this book is comprised of transcribed speeches, it is kind of a choppy read. There tends to be a lot of information packed into a small space. This causes a lot of quick transitions of thought and wording that doesn't make for the best read (the chapters are filled with subtitles every 3-4 paragraphs!). It is harder for me to summarize a transcribed chapter than a chapter that is thought out and written.)

Basically, WHT? is a primer on postmodernism, the truth crisis that our generation faces, and the Christian church's needed response to this crisis. Kostenberger's chapter is entitled, "'What is Truth?' Pilate's Question in it's Johannine and Larger Biblical Context." To make a long exegetical story short, 1) Pilate is not asking Jesus this question to get an answer, but to cut off conversation so that he can get on with dealing with Jesus for the Jew's sake. And 2) Kostenberger answers Pilate's question by affirming that truth is ultimately a Person, not a thing.

Mohler's chapter is called, "Truth and Contemporary Culture." I mean, who better to speak on this than Mohler, right? Although it won't do justice to his profound chapter, Mohler simply discusses how our postmodern culture is in crisis due to it's approach to truth, or rather, it's denial of absolute truth.

Now, J.P. Moreland is a philosopher. Like I said, I read his book this semester, Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult--let's just say in response to the title, it wasn't. Nevertheless, reading Moreland's chapter "Truth, Contemporary Philosophy, and the Postmodern Turn," made me wonder if anyone in the audience was with him after 5 minutes. This chapter was painful. The only reason I understood parts of what he was saying was because I just finished taking Intro to Christian Philosophy this semester. This was one of the chapters that had a new subtitle every page or so because it changes thoughts so rapidly. I really can't do anything report-wise except just tell you to read it for yourself and get what you can from it. All I remember was that 1) reality is what makes a statement true or false, and 2) postmodernism is immoral, somehow.

Vanhoozer's chapter was called, "Lost in Interpretation? Truth, Scripture, and Hermeneutics." This is another subtitle-happy chapter. Basically, by the time I got a third of the way in I realized that I really don't like reading transcribed speeches. However, he did make some good points. His biggest point was that hermeneutics is more than just determining the meaning of a text; the truth of any Biblical text is a means to participate in the "theodramatic history of redemtion" (that's another way of saying, "Scripture helps us become active in God's present, ongoing work [or 'drama'] of salvation in the world.")

My Recommendation

On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being "not recommended," and 5 being "a must read"), I give it a 3. The need to understand postmodernism is great, but I think that need can be met in other places in ways more clear and better written. You'll seriously get lost at times reading this.

Quotes

"Christians cannot dismiss postmodernism as unimportant or irrelevant, for it is shaping the mind of the age, especially at the elite level." Mohler, 57.

"Christianity is meaningless apart from the gospel, which is a meta-narrative (or, worldview), indeed the meta-narrative of meta-narratives." Mohler, 59.

"When truth is denied, therapy remains. The critical epistemological question is shifted from, 'What is true?' to 'What makes me feel good?' What makes me feel authentic, healthy, happy?" Mohler, 61.

"Moreover, we must call attention to the fact that there is an awkwardness and a silliness to must postmodern discourse. Much of it is already dated, and quite frankly, no one is a postmodernist in the emergency room. When it comes to understanding objective truth, no one wants a postmodern heart surgeon. No one wants their CAT scans interpreted according to the particular anti-totalizing impulses of the surgeon." Mohler, 64.

"Our concern here is not so much with those who have embraced postmodernism openly and eagerly in its most extreme forms, but rather with those who have tried to find some means of incorporating its themes, mentality, and worldview into their theological systems." Mohler, 64.

That's a wrap.

Peace

Frame's Apologetics to the Glory of God

Well, tomorrow is my last final, and I must say, I am glad finals are almost over. I love seminary, but not so much studying for exams. But I did open my Christmas presents early a couple of weeks ago and started some pleasure reading. I haven't finalized my list yet, but have a few in mind. I may not post for a while because one is rather large. To the book!

The first one is 'Apologetics to the Glory of God' (247 pp) by John Frame. Frame is professor of systematic theology and philosophy at RTS. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary theologians. He begins the book by making it clear that he is a follower of Cornelius Van Til (presuppositional), but has some questions concerning the consistency of Vant Til's thought in places. He defines apologetics as "the discipline that teaches Christians how to give a reason for their hope" (1). Frame is famous for his 'multiperspectivalism' and is no different in this little book. He distinguishes apologetics as proof, defense, and offense. He also argues biblically that there is no neutrality with the non-Christian (contra classical apologetics). Believers must always presuppose God and his truth in every aspect of our lives. Revelation must govern apologetics. This fact seems obvious enough but you'd be surprised at the way some view apologetics. Frame also establishes the fact that unbelievers know God, but suppress the truth (Rom 1:21). He lists a few different values of apologetics. This is already getting long, so I must skip the details.

In chapter 2, Frame lays out the message of the apologist. He breaks it up into two sections: Christianity as a philosophy, and good news. The section on philosophy was great and stirred me to reread a couple of sections from books I read this year for seminary (Carson's walk through the storyline of Scripture in 'The Gagging of God' (193-278), and Frame's Philosophy of Lordship in 'The Doctrine of God"(185-240)) which are very, very good for gaining a big picture of the Christian worldview. Carson is more redemptive historical while Frame's treatment is more systematic and atemporal. This chapter contained a lot of excellent details about the significance of the Christian worldview, but I cannot take the time to reproduce them here. He basically argues that the Christian worldview is the alternative to the conventional wisdom of the day.

Chapter 3 consists of methodological considerations for the task of apologetics. Here he introduces the reader to the famous transcendental argument (basically arguing that without God, nothing is possible or rational). This method is very helpful, for by using it, the apologist can basically start from anywhere since all facts only make sense with the existence of an absolute personality. Frame parts ways with Van Til here though as he believes it needs supplementation while Van Til thought the TA was sufficient in itself. The point of contact with the non-believer is their knowledge of God. Presuppositional apologetics would not exist without Romans 1.

Chapter 4 is an assessment and reworking of the traditional arguments for God's existence (teleological, moral, cosmological, ontological), with an emphasis on objective moral values. (apologetics as proof).

Chapter 5 continues with proof focusing on proving the gospel. Here Frame lays out Scripture's doctrine of Scripture, with an excursus on modern biblical criticism.

Chapter 6 & 7 are apologetics as defense. These two chapters cover the problem of evil, and are quite helpful. Chapter 6 lays down some groundwork and evaluates several options for answering the problem, and their shortcomings. In Chapter 7, he seeks to answer it by appealing to the greater good argument redefined theocentrically. Frame does allow for a sense of mystery though.

Chapter 8 is apologetics as offense, attacking unbelief, aiming at atheism and idolatry. Both are essentially an attempt to escape responsibility. Frame closes out the book with a chapter called 'Talking to a Stranger' where John and Al have a conversation in a plane in which John uses the presuppositional method to share the gospel with Al. This is obviously the lightest chapter in the book and is helpful in seeing the method fleshed out. There are also two appendices. One reviewing a book by Sproul/Gerstner/Lindsley called 'Classical Apologetics' in which they go after Van Til's method. Turns out, their book is filled with misunderstanding and misrepresentation. The last appendix in a response to Frame from Jay Adams concerning the problem of evil. Adams just appeals to Rom 9.17 and says it is settled. Frame does not think its that easy.

Well, this is no doubt an insufficient review, as I got really tired of typing after the first 5 minutes. I also had much more to write but don't want to have that long of a post or spend that amount of time on these reviews. There is much, much more to this book then you will find here. Overall, I highly recommend it. Frame is clear in all of his writing, and always faithful to Scripture. I plan on doing some more reading on Van Tillian presupp. apologetics this summer, going to a closer disciple and the source himself.

A Discussion of Origins

Well, I thought I would discuss briefly the motivation and goal behind this blog. It seems that everyone is pumped and ready to start reading--I am for sure. I wanted to just give the original thoughts driving this blog into existence.

It all began with a desire to read--obviously. Over the past year I, as well as some close friends, have been exposed to some really smart and godly men and their influential convictions about reading. I picked Mohler's quote as the banner that basically epitomizes the world of voracious readers. Due to the fact that most college graduates don't even read a one book a year (mostly due to not knowing how to read), and that there is this cancer called laziness that promotes the deterioration of the mind, I need to motivate myself to read books. Others share this same conviction. So, in discussion with a friend, we brainstormed on ways to keep us reading outside of mandatory reading for seminary. (Yes, originally this only involved two seminary folks.) Do we want to make for ourselves a kind of syllabus that keeps us on pace and accountable? Do we want to read the same book and meet weekly to talk about it? Do we want to make a blog? Basically, we want to avoid becoming statistics. So, here's how I will use this blog: read a book a week and post on it. However you use it is fine, but that is why I made the blog. I wanted other people to contribute, even if they just tackle one book the whole summer. But, for me and at least one other person, it will be a check for laziness. If only two people turn out to be faithful to this blog it has served its purpose.

I don't want to read books just for the sake of doing so (I think Ecclesiastes 12:12 addresses this.). Although Mohler's library is respectable beyond words, I don't want to read books just so I can have a big library (Proverbs 25:27). I want to read and master the right books, whether that ends up being only 5 or 50,000 books. Library size tends to feed pride for most.

So, just so you know. Picture me as a young kid crouched down with fists tight at the starting line of a school race. Yeah, I want seminary to end, kind of.

Peace

This Is Only A Test...

Well, what do you think? Any suggestions? Name okay? Caption okay? The email I sent to you "prospects" might not have worked. I sent a new one that should. Nevertheless, it seems as though "James" had the most clever idea so far. We'll see how it goes from here.

One more week till summer reading...err, booking begins.

Let's collaborate a little.

Peace.