Taking God At His Word - A Book Review

I've been on an unplanned hiatus from my blog for a few months while I was wrapping up doctoral work.  Now that it's over, I have had more time to pick up some books I was wanting to read.  Recently, I received an advanced digital copy of Kevin DeYoung's newest book, Taking God At His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough and What that Means for You and Me.  I was excited to get an advanced copy of the book since DeYoung is one of my favorite new authors.  I have read most of his books so far and found each of them to be solid theologically and exegetically and very practical for the average Christian to read.  DeYoung does a good job mixing in current cultural events, humor, and practical advice into his books.  I recently heard DeYoung speak at Together for the Gospel '14 and his talk was basically out of a couple of chapters of the book.

DeYoung's book is a very important work in an area that is widely overlooked in evangelicalism right now.  The lingering question in the culture and still creeping into the church is "Is the Bible really God's word and does it have any practical relevancy to today's times?"  In my own denomination, the fight for the authority, inerrancy, and sufficiency of Scripture was fought many years ago.  While this question was answered on a national level in the denomination, I don't think the practical implications of it have filtered down into the pews.  While we were busy for many years touting the "inerrancy of Scripture", we were not doing a good job equipping our people on how to better know, understand, and do God's word.

DeYoung's book is a helpful step in that direction.  He does a great job showing that if the Bible is the written record of the words of Almighty God, then how should that affect the way we think, feel, and do what it says.  He also shows with an acrostic the most important attributes of God's word - Sufficiency, Clarity, Authority, and Necessity (SCAN).  DeYoung shows how Jesus not only believed that the Old Testament was the authoritative word of God, but that the words He spoke were also the words of God and these words were tied into his person and plan.  We have a superior word and a superior Savior whose authority backs those words.  Look at this quote from the book:

"Scripture is enough because the work of Christ is enough. They stand or fall together. The Son's redemption and the Son's revelation must both be sufficient. As as such, there is nothing more to be done and nothing more to be known for our salvation and for our Christian walk than what we see and know about Christ and through Christ in his Spirit's book." 

DeYoung takes care in each chapter of the book to bring giant theological truths about God's word down to not only see the doctrines clearer, but also to see the practical implications that these doctrines have on our walk with God, our trust in Scripture, our faithfulness to the gospel, and much more.  The final chapter of the book is a fitting end as it calls the reader to consider the power of God's word in their own personal life as well as it's ability to conform us to Christlikeness and it's practicality for everyday matters.

DeYoung's book is a helpful addition to a subject that has been assumed but not advanced properly in evangelicalism.  We need to recover a beautiful trust and devotion to God's word.  We need to separate it as "the" Word amidst a sea of words that we look to every day.  Most of us have multiple copies of God's word not only on our bookshelves, but on our laptops, tablets, and smartphones.  While we have so many copies of God's word, we have so little conformity to Christ's character.  We must develop a trust and urgency to love God's word again.  Get this book and fall in love with your Bible.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Crossway Books for review and publication on this blog. I was not required to write a positive review of the book or its author. 

Crazy Busy - A Book Review

How ironic is it that it took me over three weeks from when I finished a book called "Crazy Busy" until I actually wrote a book review of it on my blog. Probably sounds like the book didn't have much of an impact on me, huh? Perhaps. However, this is a great book packed with sound, biblical advice on a topic that most everyone I know struggles with.  I appreciate the writings of Kevin DeYoung.  He mixes together a sound grasp on biblical theology with direct application to the problems most people in our culture face. In doing so, he really helps Christians tackle issues from a Scriptural perspective rather than doling out recycled platitudes or giving personal opinion and self-help advice with a token Bible verse attached. He also mixes into his writing a quick wit and practical humor which keeps the average Christian reader more engaged on the subject.

Crazy Busy delivers exactly what the subtitle suggests: a (mercifully) short book about a (really) big problem.  DeYoung's book is 10 chapters spread out over 118 pages. This means that he moves through topics pretty fast, but still provides a lot of depth. He doesn't spend tons of pages on stringing out all the biblical exegesis he has done, but the way he deals with topics shows that he has indeed done a solid job of textual hermanuetics.  The bulk of the chapters deals with seven diagnoses of the spiritual reasons why some believers are potentially allowing themselves to overcommit, commit to the wrong things, not learn how to say "no", or running themselves ragged.

Personally, I found in each of these seven diagnoses something I was guilty of.  However, the beauty of Kevin's book is that his purpose is not to make us feel guilty about our busyness.  His purpose is to point out the spiritual reasons and implications of our busyness and then point us back to our grounding in the gospel and our identity in Christ. DeYoung doesn't just say, "Stop doing this", but he continually takes us back to what Scripture says to show us that a proper understanding of the gospel is the fuel for our busyness problems and that we often struggle with busyness because we have allowed ourselves to base our identity on something other than the gospel.

This is a great book that I would highly recommend to all Christians.  It would be a great read during some of your time off during the Christmas season. It might be better for some of you to read it before you start stressing out about the busyness of Christmas shopping. If you think you are too busy to read a book, that's all the more reason why you should get it. My small group and I are going to be working through it starting in January.

Here's a video of Kevin DeYoung talking about the book:
Busyness is Bad for You: A brief word from Kevin about the dangers of busyness from Crossway on Vimeo.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Crossway Books for review and publication on this blog. I was not required to write a positive review of the book or its author. 

Clear Winter Nights - A Book Review

The older I get and the longer I am a Christian, the more I value reading and the importance of a good book.  I try to read a variety of books in order to be balanced.  One area that I like to read is good fiction.  Some pastors and Christians only read books on ministry, theology, and the Christian life. They view fiction as a waste of time. Some Christians only read fictional books, but never venture into good books on theology or the gospel because they see it as above their heads.  So, I was intrigued to see that Trevin Wax had recently written a fictional work that also was designed to teach deeper theological truths.  So, I was excited to pick up a copy of Clear Winter Nights: A Journey Into Truth, Doubt, and What Comes After.  The book subtitles itself as "Theology in Story" and that is a very apt description.  I appreciate Trevin's gift of writing and his understanding of the gospel and its importance.  Trevin serves as the managing editor of LifeWay's new curriculum "The Gospel Project".

While Clear Winter Nights is a fictional work, it makes an important contribution to the current trend of gospel-centered writings that have been offered in recent years.  It's the story of a young man named Chris and the week that he spends with his elderly grandfather who is a retired pastor. The reader walks with Chris as he is going through a crisis of belief brought on by several factors: the challenges of his liberal religious professors, the recent ending of his engagement to the woman he loves, his grandmother's death, and the recent news that his earthly father wasn't the man that he thought.  These events have left Chris jaded, confused, angry, and resentful.  When his grandfather experiences his own health crisis, Chris steps in to help by staying with him a few days. As they reconnect, Chris' grandfather brings the depth of the gospel and the word of God to Chris' struggles.  He forces Chris to wrestle with questions and truths he had once blindly accepted, but has recently abandoned. This is the process of sanctification and growth.  It's the struggle of a young man actually learning to own his faith through trials and doubt. The author does a fantastic job helping the reader to see that faith is not just a personal belief in something. Ultimately it's a search for the truth, and truth is found in a person, Jesus Christ.

Clear Winter Nights is the kind of book that every Christian can read and appreciate.  The story is short - a mere 147 pages - but laced with important gospel truths. The storyline is very relevant and believable. The struggles of the lead character are relevant to many who have grown up in the Christian church but have struggles reconciling what they have been taught with an increasingly secularized culture that has abandoned objective truth for a more personal, subjective experience.  I commend Trevin for what he has brought to the table and highly recommend you read Clear Winter Nights and pass it on to your friends who may be struggling with doubt.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multinomah for review and publication on this blog. I was not required to write a positive review of this book or its authors. 

The Pastor's Justification - A Book Review

Jared Wilson is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. He has a solid grasp on the gospel and a gifted writing style that keeps the gospel from becoming rote and academic.  I was very excited to receive a copy of his book, The Pastor's Justification: Applying the Work of Christ in your Life and Ministry.  This may be one of the most important books to my personal ministry that I have read in a long time. Jared does a masterful job of bringing together the calling to ministry and the daily implications of the gospel that we pastors, we are stewards of that same gospel, so often forget.

Ministry is an exhaustive exercise of trying to prove your worth and calling by trying to convince others, who are also fallen, sinful creations, to live the gospel. Every time we as pastors get together, we ask about the same metrics: "How many do you run in Sunday School?", "How many did you have in worship Sunday?", and "How many have you baptized this year?"  When you add to this equation that 85% of churches in America, including mine, are plateaued or declining, then you come out with a mix of pastors that are stressed about numerical success, depressed about their current ministry context, looking for greener fields somewhere else, or questioning their own calling.  The statistics about the spiritual health of pastors and ministers are frightening:

• Each month, about 1,500 ministers leave ministry altogether either by moral failure, ministry burnout, or forced termination.
• About 70% of pastors are fighting depression of some sort
• 50% of ministers say they would probably leave the ministry if they could find another job that would pay them what they are currently making.

This is why Jared Wilson's book is of fundamental importance and a clarion call in a desperate time.  Jared is a pastor who lives in the trenches of ministry every day.  He also has a profound ability to bring practical application of the gospel to everyday life. He shows us exactly what Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 that the gospel is not just something that has saved us, but that it is "the gospel in which you stand and by which you are being saved" presently.  Perhaps the desperate and tragic state of our churches is due to the fact that our pastors are not preaching the gospel to themselves everyday.  Perhaps our obsession with numerical success has blinded us to the fact that we are perfectly accepted by our Heavenly Father because of Christ's righteousness no matter how many people didn't show up last Sunday.  Perhaps the biggest reason there is a fundamental ignorance of the gospel in thew pews of our churches is because there is a fundamental ignorance of neglect of the gospel in the pulpit.  The issue of gospel application to the minister's calling and work is of fundamental importance and Jared does a masterful job of showing this in The Pastor's Justification. He shows how the gospel makes pastors holy, confident, watchful, free, humble, and justified. He also shows how the issues of faith, grace, Christ, God's word, and God's glory apply to the daily and weekly grind of ministry.

As I began reading this book, my first thought was, "I wish this book had been given me when I was in seminary."  I think that every person who seeks to minister in Christ's church should pick up a copy, absorb it, digest it, and master it.  This isn't a book you will fully comprehend in one reading.  The truths of this book will take years to digest and apply.  If you are a pastor, youth minister, worship leader, children's minister, lay minister, or just a concerned church member, you should definitely read this book.

Faithmapping - A Book Review

Several months ago, I received a copy of Daniel Montgomery and Mike Cosper's new book Faithmapping: A Gospel Atlas for Your Spiritual Journey. These guys work at Sojourn Church in Louisville, KY.  I had been watching this book for a few months and planning on buying it, so I was very honored to get a free copy of it to review.

Faithmapping is one of the best books on understanding the gospel and its practical implications in the daily lives of believers I have read.  It has a solid theological foundation, but it is very practical and easy to read.  One of the strengths of this book is that I can give it to a relatively new Christian and know that they not only can read it and understand it, but that it will ground them in some much needed and often over-looked theological truths.

The authors of the book do a very good job of presenting what is called a "triperspectival" approach to the gospel.  The gospel is a brilliant, multifaceted gem.  Every angle that you look at it shows you another brilliant truth.  Sometimes, authors trying to write about the gospel will focus on one specific aspect to the neglect of others and in the process may give an unbalanced understanding that only this one thing is the key to understanding "the gospel".  Montgomery and Cosper do a good job of presenting three "perspectives" that are equally vital in our understanding of the gospel - the gospel as the kingdom of God, the gospel as seen in the cross, and the gospel as shown in the grace of God.  One of the most important parts of Faithmapping is that they define what the gospel looks like in each individual aspect and then they show why we most not elevate one aspect to the neglect of the others.  This balanced approach is refreshing and invigorating as you read this book.

The authors also do an excellent job of showing how; once we come to a balanced, biblical approach to the gospel, this same gospel has practical affects on the way we worship as individuals and as a faith community.  It affects our understanding of the church as a faith "family" of adopted sons and daughters of God.  It affects our mentality of serving and being served and motivates us to take up the towel and serve others.  It affects us as growing disciples of Jesus Christ who are also responsible to make other disciples.  Finally, it affects our witness to the world in both words and actions that are compatible with the gospel.

I have read a lot of books already this year, but I would put Faithmapping in the top three I have read so far.  I believe many people in the church can benefit greatly from picking up a copy of this work and applying it to their lives.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Crossway book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

New Book Review - "A Cross Shaped Gospel"

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Bryan Loritts speak at the Advance13 conference. I left his message challenged deeply to see on a deeper level how gospel reconciliation should also lead more to racial reconciliation.  Bryan leads Fellowship Memphis, which is a multiethnic congregation in the racially divided city of Memphis.  This is a church that has found ways to bridge the racial divide in the deep South.  They have also committed to making a major difference in the city of Memphis for Christ.

A Cross Shaped Gospel is a timely and well presented read.  Bryan Loritts shows a profound understanding of the gospel for his age. He is the son of a very faithful pastor and has served in many capacities across a spectrum of churches.  The premise of this book is that the center of the gospel is the cross of Jesus Christ. In it's horizontal dimension, the gospel reconciles us to God. But in it's vertical dimension, the cross also calls us to reconciliation with our "neighbor", whether they be of a different race, political persuasion, or socio-economic status.  Bryan calls all believers to start with the gospel and then allow the implications of the gospel to lead them as they live in harmony with their fellow man.  Bryan's chapter on "Donkeys and Elephants" is spot on and has much to say to both sides of the political divide.  Also, his chapter on race reconcilation, "The Gospel and O.J. Simpson" shows the maturation of someone who has been affected by racial discrimination, but has learned that in Christ, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

This book is a very important book for all in the church to wrestle with. The issues Bryan Loritts addresses have long been buried in the church as we rest in a gospel that gets me to heaven but doesn't call me to cross the street or to the other side of the tracks.  The issues that divide us personally are more of the reason we are losing credibility with the culture than the issues that divide us theologically.  If Loritts is right, we cannot give an accurate gospel without stressing both the horizontal and the vertical implications.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Moody Pressroom bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Risk Is Right - A Book Review

A couple of months ago, I received a copy of a small book by John Piper to review called Risk Is Right. It is actually an excerpt from a book he previously released called Don't Waste Your Life.  This small little book is jam-packed with inspiration and challenge that we as followers of Jesus Christ have become too preoccupied with the illusions of security and safety.  The fact of the matter is that we unconsciously risk our lives every day when we take our cars out of the driveway or order food off of a menu.  The question is not, "Will we risk?", but,  "Will we consciously risk our lives, finances, and security in order to bring glory to God?"

This small little book is an excellent resource.  It is solidly biblical.  It is very practical.  It is an easy book to give to a young teenager, college student, or to a guy who "doesn't read very much."  It is only 51 pages so it's not intimidating.  However, the resounding message from it is that God has called us to abandon the illusion of security and live boldly and courageously for Him and His gospel.  This is not a call to "reckless living", but a call to be willing to risk, knowing that our God rewards those who risk greatly for Him.

At the end of your life, do you really want to stand before God with a large, furnished house, some money left to your kids, an empty membership on a church roll, but with nothing of spiritual value stored up in heaven simply because you were too afraid to risk what is really not yours anyway?  Get this book.  You'll be glad you did!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Crossway book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Dangerous Calling - A Book Review

Paul David Tripp has written a book that I firmly believe should be in the hands of every pastor in America.  From the first pages of this book, Tripp drew me into the deep, dark world that is my own duplicitous heart.  Very few people outside of ministry understand the danger that exists for pastors and ministers about having a public, ministerial persona and a private, personal persona at home that is actually more of who we are.  To be honest, most everyone struggles to a certain extent with the real person in private and the public person they want everyone to see.  However, for ministers, this duplicity has very drastic effects on both our personal walk with God and our ability to accurately give to others the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tripp's book, Dangerous Calling, is painful to read. There were many times that I wondered to myself how the author had access to so many of the private thoughts and actions that I am embarrassed that anyone would know about.  I believe that I have been much more aware and diligent to avoid this ministerial duplicity recently, but it is not a problem that goes away easily.  Like some, I have learned some hard lessons from seeing very good friends of mine that are no longer in ministry because they fell victim to "doing ministry" as a professional but were not accurately walking with Christ or allowing their lives to be dramatically impacted by the continual truths of the gospel that we are all still in the midst of our own sanctification, that we desperately need to depend on grace and not our skills, that we have a tendency to check out and escape into mindless activities that blind us to the gospel.  Tripp lays the gauntlet down in the first chapter with a powerful discussion of his own personal downfall and why he got there.  The second chapter follows with nine "signs that a pastor has lost his way" that every minister should read.  The rest of the book flows from these premises over and over.

One area of concern that I had is that Tripp seems to be very hard on seminaries and religious education institutions.  As someone who attended a seminary, I see many of his points.  He argues that professors need to be people who model for their students gospel dependency and see the opportunities they have to "pastor" these future pastors.  Instead, many seminaries create and foster a performance-based culture, keep relationships at a surface level, and actually create a perfect environment where this duplicity between the public minister and the private person can incubate.  I know from personal experience because I lived that life as a seminary student in the early 90's.  I don't think ultimately this is a fault of the seminary as much as it is the product of a religious culture that has dominated the church for decades.  Many of these professors that Tripp criticizes are just fostering a Christian culture they grew up in.  However, I do appreciate that Tripp calls seminaries out to reevaluate what they are doing.

Another weakness of the book is that is sometimes seems repetitive on certain key points.  The reader starts a new chapter reading a gut-wrenching story but then reads three points that sound a lot like what the author wrote two chapters ago.  However, I think that is just Tripp's way of reinforcing over and again that there are certain fundamentals that we as ministers need to preach to ourselves every day.

I personally wish I could give a copy of this book to every pastor and minister that I know and make them read and discuss it.  I wish that every young pastor and seminary student in his 20's would read this book very carefully as a warning and decide to implement the author's suggestions.  If so, maybe the landscape of the church 20 years from now would actually be much more gospel-centered because pastors are actually ministering from the gospel instead of just throwing it around like a buzzword.

Get this book if you have been called by God to lead in the church.  It will be painful.  It will be awkward.  But, it will be rewarding.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Crossway book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Grace by Max Lucado - Book Review

Every time I read a Max Lucado book, I put it down and realize that I love God more than I did when I picked it up.  My first Max Lucado book was as a college student when I saw a copy of "Six Hours, One Friday" at New Life Bookstores in Columbus, MS.  It was probably one of the first books I ever read cover-to-cover.  It changed my spiritual life and started me on a journey to love reading great books.  I own and have read every one of Max's books since.

Grace - More than We Deserve, Greater than We Imagine may be the best book Max has written to date.  Lucado dives into the subject of grace with the reckless abandon and vivid color that only he can bring.  It's apparent on every chapter that the subject of grace has captured Max's heart.  This isn't surprising to anyone who has read his previous works.  He has extensively treated the subject of grace in every book he's written.  However, in this one, he takes it to another level.  Early on in the book, Max does a masterful job of describing "The God Who Stoops."  He shows how God doesn't bring us up to his level or badger us because we can't get to him in our own righteousness.  Instead, God stoops.  He shows how Jesus stooped in John 8 before giving the Pharisees some "shut-up" juice and showing a morally loose woman how good grace really is.

My favorite chapter was the one entitled "Wet Feet" where he talks about Jesus showing grace in the washing of the disciples feet.  I could almost feel the cool water against my own feet as I read it.  It was a wonderful reminder that my Lord has left and example for me to follow and that just as he washed each one of the feet of those who would let him down, I am called to wash the feet of those who let me down as well.  Grace isn't just a great gift that I receive, it is a privileged calling I am called to give as well.

If your soul is dry and needs to drink deeply of the living water, I would suggest you go buy this book. It's a spiritual oasis in the desert.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley - A Book Review

A couple of months ago I saw a tweet where someone could get a preview of Andy Stanley's new book "Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend" for review.  It was on a website called NetGalley.  Naturally a book nerd and one who loves free stuff, I went to check it out and signed up.  It was delivered to me in a digital format for my Kindle which was a little different.  However, I was very excited to read and review it.  I have followed Andy Stanley's ministry and journey at North Point most of my time in ministry.  Stanley is one of the most engaging and effective communicators I have ever heard.  He has been given a very strong platform to teach leadership lessons for church leaders.  I have been to North Point at least a dozen times for conferences or worship experiences.  I have heard Andy speak at Catalyst and the DRIVE Conference.  I follow his leadership podcasts.  I have 12 of Andy's book on my shelf and have read almost all of them.  So, I went into the book with an expectation that I would probably be familiar with much of what was in it.  I was.  But, there was much in there I could learn from too.

The first section of the book that traces Andy's story at First Baptist, Atlanta with his dad through the starting of North Point is worth the price of the book.  Growing up in the shadow of a gifted and revered father was surely no easy task for Stanley.  When he went into ministry, he had great gifts and great expectations on him.  I knew some of Andy's story through following his parent's divorce and conversations I had with people in Atlanta who I knew.  But Andy does a great job peeling back the curtain to show that the starting of North Point was in many ways a defining moment and a divine opportunity.

I know that many of my pastor friends in the more Reformed/doctrinal preaching camp do not have a lot of appreciation for Andy Stanley.  In many ways, Andy comes across very dependent on corporate models of leadership.  His big church and his big platform make him a target of criticism.  Some of the criticism probably has some legs to it.  Much of it doesn't though.  There will be many things in this book that will make the "gospel-centered/missional church" crowd uncomfortable and argumentative.  I found myself writing several notes in my Kindle arguing some of Andy's points.  I went into the book knowing that the evidence is there for North Point being "wide" but I wanted Andy to show my some of the "deep".  Personally,  I didn't find a lot of testimony of depth.   I think that Andy narrowly defines the gospel as the preaching of Christ's death to get lost people converted.  I don't think Andy communicates in the book an appreciation that the gospel and not slick methods are what produces true conversion and sanctification.  Not surprisingly, I think Andy communicates a very man-centered understanding of evangelism.  At times when reading the book, I had the impression that Andy believes that the conversion is too deeply dependent upon what we do rather than how God is drawing that person and invites us into the process.  Much of what Andy communicates is formulaic and fosters the impression that if you use their formula or tweak it to work in your context, you will get the same results.  He also implies in some of the book that numerical growth, especially the kind of explosive growth they have seen, is the leading indicator of spiritual health.  I don't think Andy appreciates the complexities that exist for small-church pastors who reside in overly-churched areas on the rural South where growth is slow and tedious.

Having said all that, I found many strengths in the book.  One is that reading it gave me a sense of hope that my church can and should be doing much more to reach the unchurched in my area.  I like that Andy says that too often we create the "church" for "churched" people and forget that many don't come to our church precisely because we have unwittingly communicated that we don't want them.  I was forced to think about some of the language I use when I preach.  I was forced to remember not to assume that everyone in my congregation knows the background to the Bible stories like I do.  Another strength is his challenge to church leaders to lead through the necessary change no matter how hard it is.  It's far easier and more safe to keep those inside happy because they pay the bills and ultimately our salary.  However, when we decide to start reaching the outsiders, we will upset some of the insiders.  I appreciate that North Point and Andy take very seriously the challenge of reaching the lost and unchurched and their numbers show that much of their growth is reaching those who didn't go to church rather than pulling in sheep from another congregation.

Deep and Wide is a book that is worth reading, highlighting, and dialoguing with.  You likely won't agree with everything Stanley writes, nor should you.  He anticipates that point and even issues some arguments in the book.  However, I think every church leader can find some leadership nuggets and some programmatic challenges worth talking about in the book.  It would be a great book to read as a staff.

Men of Sunday - A Book Review

I recently received a copy of a new book called Men of Sunday: How Faith Guides the Players, Coaches, and Wives of the NFL.  I picked out this book primarily because I love sports and books about Christian athletes.  I always love hearing the stories and finding out about the faith of some of sports greatest athletes.  This book focuses on a number of current and former NFL players and the growing acceptance in most NFL locker rooms to athletes who are outspoken about their Christian faith.

Many of the names in this book will be very familiar to most sports fans - Tim Tebow, Tony Dungy, Ray Lewis, Trent Dilfer, LaDanian Tomlinson, Aaron Rodgers, and Mike Singletary.  The author, Curtis Eichelberger, describes at the beginning of the book how the National Football league has become a place where the Christian faith is much more accepted and prevalent than in years past.  He shows how a large number of the NFL's most successful athletes are men who are strong in the Christian faith.  However, he also avoids the campy suggestion that these men are successful because they are Christians and that somehow God gives Christian players more success than non-Christians.  Instead, he shows how the Christian faith drives many players to excel at the sport, to work hard to the glory of God, and to stay humble in spite of their success or failures.  He also shows how these Christian players handle many tough topics such as being a husband and father, overcoming injury and adversity, dealing with the violent nature of the game, avoiding the multitude of temptations they face, and dealing with the nature of sudden transitions.

This book is a quick read which makes it a very good book for most men.  It deals with subjects that are very relevant to all men, whether they are athletes or not.  Most men will receive a great deal of encouragement from reading about how some of these men that they admire for their great athletic ability deal with issues that are common to all men.  At times is reads like a manhood manual.  It is filled with great advice and brings many practical scriptures to light.  I have already thought of about 5 men I can pass this book onto that would benefit greatly from it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Ring Makes All the Difference - A Book Review

I believe one of the most important topics that the church has been silent on for far too long is the topic of cohabitation (i.e. "living together", "shacking up").  It has gone from something that was becoming more commonplace but still very "taboo" in my early 20's, to completely socially accepted and seen as a preferable, if not perfectly valid, substitute for marriage.  Because our culture has completely lost any and all understanding of gender differences, gender roles, and a cohesive and biblical definition of marriage, we are facing a continual onslaught on the union of marriage.  What God's word defines as a very unique union, given and blessed by God, called "marriage" is seen as completely Victorian and old-fashioned today.  Relational unions in our culture are now defined by the preferences of the individual and pragmatism or "whatever works for you" reigns.

Into this picture, enter the book The Ring Makes All the Difference by Glenn Stanton.  Stanton makes a strong and compelling case, based on years of sociological data compiled at many of our countries leading schools, that there is a strong difference between the relational quality of people who are married and those who choose to live together.  The statistics and data given in this book are deep and hard to ignore.  This is not a "religious" book based on "religious" statistics.  Much of Stanton's data come from secular sociologists who have compiled data for over 20 years about relational quality, lifestyle practices, and relational satisfaction between those who have chosen the path of cohabitation versus those who have chosen marriage.  Not all marriages studied were necessarily those of Christians.  The results are not surprising, but overwhelming support that the marriage commitment makes a considerable difference for the better over cohabitation.

This book is a must read for pastors.  This book is a must read for older teenagers and college students. This book is a must read if you have a person in your life that is either in a situation of cohabitation or is considering it.  While some might think that the book has an overly "Christian" slant, it does not.  While Stanton is a believer and does work for Focus on the Family, he saves his biblical argument until the end of the book after presenting a virtual mountain of secular data that support his thesis.  It's time for the church to awaken and address this issue, and this book is a great way to do it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Moody Publishers, through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

"Viral" by Leonard Sweet - A Book Review

A couple of months ago I received a copy of Leonard Sweet's new book Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival.  I am not an avid reader of all of Sweet's books, but because I am active on Facebook and Twitter, this title intrigued me.  Sweet is a professor at Drew University and one of the leading thinkers on issues related to the church and the culture.  He is extremely intelligent and also a major influence on many in the more postmodern and emerging streams of the church.

Sweet is notorious in his books for basing the themes of the materials around acronyms and this book is no different.  The entire book is a discussion of what Sweet calls the "TGIF" world, which stands for Twitter, Google, iPhone, and Facebook.  This is because these are the major cultural forces in today's social network culture.  Sweet does a masterful job in the opening pages showing how "the times are a' changing".  He does so by describing that currently we are in the merging of two different cultures - what he calls the Guttenbergers and the Googlers.  The Guttenburgers are those who have grown up in an era that was more modern and heavily influenced by words - the printing press era of Johanes Guttenberg.  The Googlers, on the other hand, have grown up primarily in the internet age and the information revolution.  It is really a fascinating read.

Then, in the successive chapters, Sweet describes how each of these four entities are shaping the world we live in.  More importantly, he describes how church leaders and Christians should interpret these events and use them to engage the culture better and spark a real spiritual revival.  Far from seeing "the days gone by" as the best days, Sweet shows how the church is poised to step in and offer the gospel in new and powerful ways.  While I don't agree with much of Sweet's underlying theological positions, I do appreciate his optimism regarding the power of social media.

This book has many strengths.  For people like me who have one foot in both worlds, we can better appreciate many of the cultural changes going on around us through reading Viral.  It helps to shed a great deal of light on sociological areas that many in the church never take the time to research and understand.  This book is written with a great deal of optimism which is a refreshment in a church culture that spends most of our time bemoaning the times and wishing we could go back to the good ol' days.  Theologically, the book is very weak.  Sweet has very little use for traditional methods of preaching and doctrinal silos. There is an amorphous understanding of salvation and the gospel in his writings.  There are few answers given on a practical level as to how established churches can better use social networking to advance the gospel.  Overall, however, the book is an enjoyable and informative read.  It would benefit a lot of pastors who are functionally illiterate about the power of social networking to reach a world that embraced these entities many years ago.  Like many things in the Christian world, we came to the social networking party a few years too late. 

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Father Hunger - A Book Review

Recently I received a copy of the book Father Hunger: Why God Calls Men to Love and Lead their Families.  I was looking forward to this book because I thought it was an update to a book I read with the same title by Robert McGee many years ago.  However, when I received the book, I soon noticed that it was a completely different book on the same important topic.  When I first read through the Table of Contents, I thought it wouldn't be a boring read.  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  It is written along the same vein as another good book on manhood I recently read, The Masculine Mandate by Richard Phillips.

This book is a solidly biblical treatment about a major crisis in our culture - a generation that is growing up with no idea of what biblical fatherhood means.  Not only does the author, Doug Wilson, show the usual father crises - absentee fathers, disconnected fathers, etc.  He also shows that there is a disturbing dearth of understanding the biblical role and mandate of fathers.  Wilson's treatment of the biblical role of a father will sound extremely strange to many who would read it. In a culture where being a father is little more than simply engaging in the act of procreation, the concepts and responsibilities outlined by Wilson will be foreign, radical, even oppressive to some.  However, they are deeply true.  The Christ-follower who reads this book from a desire to see God honored will resonate with the truths while at the same time finding them sorely lacking in his or her own life.

Wilson shows how this absence of biblically functioning fathers affects all institutions and areas of society - churches, families, crime, education, and many others.  He uses many examples from Scripture about fathers who understood their role on a deeply personal and biblical level.  He shows how our rejection of God's word as a strong basis in our society has led to a radical realtering of families, the roles of men and women, the moral and spiritiual development of our children, and many other areas.  I found as I was reading this book a great deal of personal sadness.  Our culture is now suffering from many successive generations that have been starving of Father Hunger and it leaves me wondering if things can ever really change.  I pray by God's grace they will. 

Men, this book is hard and painful to read.  It is deep, but it is necessary.  If you are starving from your own personal father issues and want to change the future of yourself and your family, get this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Real Marriage (A Book Review)

I was excited about my latest book to get my hands on and review.  It's Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together by Mark and Grace Driscoll.  I have read several of Driscoll's book and appreciate both his commitment to biblical theology and his stand on biblical issues and preaching in a very pagan culture in Seattle.  Sometimes I think I like Driscoll because he has a platform to say some things that I am thinking but that my involvement in conservative, Bible-belt, Christianity doesn't always allow me to say.  Driscoll definitely has an edge to him that has gotten him on opposite sides with other Christian leaders I admire.  He speaks sometimes with an abrasiveness and has been known to throw curse words in his sermons (although I think he has tempered that after his conversation with John Piper).  Nevertheless, Driscoll's theology is usually sound and his advice is usually very practical.  That is why I was interested to see how he would tackle the subject of marriage.  Some have praised Driscoll's book and some have criticized how he handled some sensitive subjects of marriage. (Tim Challies did a fair review of it here.)

Real Marriage is an appropriate title.  In this book, Mark and Grace try to get very honest and candid.  They deal with some very difficult subjects and questions that many books on marriage don't deal with or do so very lightly.  Some have asked if this is the kind of book you want your children to read about marriage.  My answer is "Probably not when they are teenagers, but they aren't thinking marriage anyway."  However, I wouldn't have a problem recommending this book to a 20-something who was looking at marriage.  It is frank and raw, but I think many young couples are looking for that.  I appreciate the Driscoll's honesty about all the flaws that were in their marriage for many years.  I appreciate Grace's vulnerabilty to talk about her abuse and how it affected her marriage and her understanding of the gospel.  I think the Driscoll's chapter on "Sex: god, gross, or gift?" is a very helpful look at a subject that is rampantly destroying our culture and many marriages. 

One of the most helpful parts of the book is the premise that the Driscoll's have that marriage should be about building a friendship.  This is an area that isn't covered in most books on marriage and consequently many people go through their marriages as "partners" in raising kids and splitting money, but not as friends.  Many times we marry someone we feel like is almost a best-friend and then we don't spend time working on that friendship once the wedding cake is gone and the bird seed is swept up. 

The chapter that raises the most eyebrows and concerns is called "Can We _____?" and covers questions that the Driscoll's get often on sex and marriage.  I wouldn't agree with all their conclusions.  I don't think everyone will.  However, there is much more in this book that is very profitable outside of that chapter.  It's written in a style that is raw and will be received well by many people.  It's a readable and doable book.  It's an honest book.  It's one that I would be happy to recommend to most people (probably with a caveat at first). 


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Jesus Mission (Book Review)

Last month I received a copy of the book The Jesus Mission by Steven Scott to read and review.  Personally, I was a little skeptical before I read it.  I had never heard of Steven Scott before.  His bio in the dust jacket talks about how he "learned the laws of success by studying the book of Proverbs" and lists his successful business ventures.  The book says that Jesus has "4 missions He assigned you."  At first glance, I thought this was going to be another Joel Osteen or Prayer of Jabez "secret to personal success" type book.  I was wrong. 

Steven Scott writes from a very strong theological and biblical background.  His writing reflects someone who has deeply studied Scripture and has invested a lot of time in personal study of God's word.  This is no "pull out a verse and then show how God has promised to bless you" type book.  The author makes no apologies for the power of God's word and its necessity in the life of a follower of Jesus.  He does a solid treatment of describing salvation and what it truly means to be "born again".  He challenges modern-day Christianity that teaches people to rely on past experience, walking an aisle, being baptized, etc. as the basis for proof of salvation.  He does and excellent job of challenging readers to "count the cost" of following Jesus. 

Every chapter in this book is loaded with advice that is directly from the pages of Scripture and a solid exegesis of those passages.  By his own admission, the author spent two years reading and organizing all of Jesus' statements in Scripture into 1900 commands and teachings.  He then categorized them into 225 topics and wrote a book about it.  He uses those Scriptures that he has immersed himself in as a spiritual compass.  The reader is invited in to discover what God wants and in doing so finds himself challenged to reject easy, passive religion and embrace the cost of following Jesus and being obedient to his teachings and commands. 

I would highly recommend this book for personal study, for a Sunday School class, for new Christians, and for those who are looking for something with some substance in a Christian book marketplace that is full of self-help pablum.  Put this book on your reading list this year!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Where Has Oprah Taken Us? - A Book Review

Recently I received a copy of Stephen Mansfield's new book "Where Has Oprah Taken Us? The Religious Influence of the World's Most Famous Woman."  I was excited about the opportunity to read this book.  For a long time, I have been very concerned about the deep influence that Oprah has had in our culture and her dangerous spiritual beliefs.  I was not a regular watcher of Oprah's show.  However, the few times I did watch it, I could see why she was so popular.  She has an engaging personality that draws you in.  She is a rags-to-riches story.  She is not afraid to tell you about her baggage and how she's working through it.  At the same time, she has made no apologies for her religious beliefs.  She has stated more than once that she thinks it's arrogant for Christians to believe that Jesus is the only way to God.  She has held some very troubling New Age religious beliefs under a veil of the appearance of Christianity.

Mansfield's book is a timely read.  It will probably trouble many who call themselves Christians who have given Oprah a pass for a long time.  However, Mansfield is very fair in his portrayal and crituque of Oprah and her religious beliefs.  He praises her for her benevolent work around the world.  He vividly paints a good picture of the painful situation that Oprah was raised in.  He has done his homework both on Oprah's biographical past and on the troubling religious transformation she went through before her audience's eyes.  He has shown how, through shifting cultural influences and timing, Oprah rose from media personnel to someone who has had religious influence in our culture that closely resembles that of Billy Graham, the Pope, and Rick Warren.  It's a telling and troubling fact that someone who holds no formal religious study has in many ways become a religious guru for millions of people, especially women.

While painting a detailed expression of Oprah's widely diverse religious influences, Mansfield also does a good job bringing solid, biblical truth to counteract those beliefs.  He leads the reader to understand the implications of Oprah's beliefs on society and how those same beliefs diverge from Scripture and orthodox Christian teaching.  He also asks serious questions that force the reader to see beyond the surface of Oprah's beliefs into the deeper ramifications.  In each chapter he also has an aside where he interjects his own personal beliefs and critique.  In doing so, he keeps most of his opinions out of the regular material and maintains the fair, impartial, and helpful reporting of an author of his stature.

I would highly recommend this read to most Christians, especially laypeople.  There are millions of people in the church who have been poisoned by Oprah's deadly religious mix and need to step back and see through a biblical lens what she really believes.  This is not a character assassination on Oprah - far from it.  It is a book that shows the powerful and helpful influence she has had while questioning the religious dogma she has espoused for the last two decades.  If you're an Oprah fan, give this book a fair reading and see where you may have been influenced.  If you are not an Oprah fan, read it and equip yourself to have an honest, helpful dialogue with those who are.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Why God Won't Go Away - Book Review

The "New Atheism" characterized by the writings of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens has put the debate about God in a new arena during the last decade.  Men such as Dawkins have taken the dialogue to a much more aggressive level by comparing Christianity with radical Islam.  Into this mix, theologian and preacher Alister McGrath launches the book, "Why God Won't Go Away".  McGrath is a former athiest who now holds the chair of theology at King's College in London.  He occasionally holds debates with Hitchens, Dawkins, and Daniel Dennett about atheism and the existence of God.  If you have ever had the privilege of hearing McGrath speak, you are struck by both his incredible intellect as well as his ability to make complicated truths more easily understandable.

Overall, I was impressed with McGrath's book.  I have not read much of Dawkins or Hitchens.  In my current ministry context, I am not actively dialoging with people who have been influenced by the new athiests.  However, I have been watching these issues gaining more attention in the media.  Dawkins and Hitchens books have been phenominal best-sellers.  They take the attack on belief in God to a whole new level.  They are extremely intellectual and their ideas are progressing rapidly in the academic world.  McGrath's background and careful analysis of the issues make him a great ally for the Christian side of the debate.  This book is a great introduction to the personalities, history, and overview of some of the issues that the New Atheism brings to the table.  McGrath does and excellent job of pointing out some of the flaws in the arguements of the New Atheists without being offensive or demeaning.  He also does an excellent job showing that a belief in faith and deity does not mean that someone has to commit intellectual suicide with regard to reason and science.  This book packs a lot into a smaller, easy-to-read format.  Do not pick up this book thinking that it will provide a comprehensive answer that will equip you to win a debate with an atheist.  However, for the pastor and normal church member who wants to see what New Atheism is and how to deal with it, this book is a great start.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Enemies of the Heart - A Book Review

Recently I received a copy of Andy Stanley's new book Enemies of the Heart to review.  This is an updated release of a previous book by Stanley called "It Came From Within".  While I had never read the previous release, I had used the DVD of Andy's sermons on this subject in my small group a couple of years ago.  This was one of the most helpful series of sermons I had ever seen.  Stanley's premise of the book is helping Christians to break free from four deadly emotions that we can inadvertently give control to our lives over.  These four emotions are guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy.  Stanley does an awesome job in this book showing the dangerous effects of these four emotions on the human heart and how destructive they can be to our relationships.

Andy Stanley is a masterful communicator and it shows in this book.  It was developed from a power series of sermons he did on these topics several years ago.  He writes with the heart of a pastor and the wisdom of someone who has walked through these four emotions with a lot of people.  As you read through this book, you can relate to the stories that Stanley shows about the deadly effects of harboring these four emotions.  Stanley also provides very solid, practical advice on a cure.  He shows how each of these emotions can be cured by intentional decisions on our part to release ourselves from their power.  The book is supported throughout by a smattering of Scriptures.  One of the weaknesses of the book is that it is not strong in biblical exposition.  I wish that Andy would do a better job of pointing readers to the sufficiency of God's word and the wealth of wisdom it provides for each of these areas.  There are times where the book reads a little too much like a Christian "self-help" book, something that there is far too much of in the Christian retailing market.  However, while the book has some Scriptural weakness, none of the principles that Stanley suggests are unbiblical.  He draws much of his information from Scriptural principles and years of experience walking through these subjects as a pastor.  As I read this book I found myself several times wishing I had this advice much earlier in my life.  I also had a mental list of at least a dozen people I know that would benefit from reading this book right now.  At the end of the day, Enemies of the Heart is a great book of practical advice that should be followed up by a diet of God's word to help solidify its principles into the new heart of salvation.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

"Don't Call It a Comeback" - A Book Review

Ever since the birth of our newest addition Josh 5 months ago, my energy level and reading have been limited.  I still have way too many books that I want to read than I have time for, but I am really feeling the pinch now.  One of the authors I have enjoyed reading recently is Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan.  Kevin is a sharp young leader with a deep theological base.  Last year, I was browsing the racks at Lifeway and saw the book "Don't Call It a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day".  I was intrigued by the title and saw that Kevin had served as the editor.  I bought it and added it to my "Hope to read one day" list.  A few months ago, I threw it in the bag and started reading it one night at my son's baseball practice.  I quickly found it to be one of the most helpful and necessary books I have read in a while. 

Here is the premise of the book.  Kevin and a 17 other pastors and church leaders each contribute a chapter to the book.  Each of these guys are young evangelicals who are solidly committed to sound theology, biblical exposition, and helping transform churches into relevant missional communities.  The idea that birthed the book was an attempt by younger evangelicals to understand and define what the evangelical community looks like historically and what they believe about important topics like the person of Christ, Scripture, the gospel, justification, sanctification, the kingdom of God, social justice, homosexuality, and gender confusion.  The authors identify and admit that there is much confusion in the church today about what constitutes the "evangelical" movement.  The term has become a political identification that has lost grips with the theological roots that bonded the movement together for many years. 

I am 42 years old and have been a Christ-follower for almost 25 years.  I am a graduate of a conservative Baptist seminary.  I have almost 20 years of ministry in church-related vocation.  However, I admit that before reading this book, I had a very blurred picture whenever I heard the term "evangelical".  I believe that my generation and the ones succeeding it have lost all identification with the evangelical movement.  As a matter of fact, in some younger circles the term is avoided for fear that you will have to cover your face and shout "Unclean! Unclean!"  As I read each of these chapters I was encouraged greatly that the theological truths that I hold so dearly are affirmed in a larger circle and are being embraced by men much younger than I.  I am extremely pleased to see a return to biblical fidelity, theological accuracy, and missional relevance in the "younger evangelicals" today.  I am excited that the prophecies a few years ago that spelled "doom" for this next generation have not come to pass.  I believe that God is raising a generation of God-glorifying, gospel-saturated, and missionally-focused leaders that will change the course of much of the evangelical landscape in the next 20 years. 

If you are under 40, I believe this book is a must-read.  If you are a 20-something who has come out of your "youth group" mentality and are now looking for some substance to believe in regarding God, the Bible, and contemporary issues, you need this book!