The new wave of Theologians/Pastors is a Godly, humble group and this book shows us why.
D.A. Carson and John Piper were talking and agreed that it's a great time to be sixty. Why do they think that? Because the generation below them actually wants to be mentored, wants to hear and read the expositions and theology of quite a number of sixty-year-olds.
Why is this a good way to start this book? Because it sheds light on the fact that the church is not headed down the path of destruction but the fact is there are many young Theologians /Pastors out there who want to learn from those a bit older and wiser so that they keep Doctrine/Theology well grounded in truth.
Kevin DeYoung the editor of this book summarizes the desire of the writers in two points. One) they want to introduce young Christians, new Christians, and underdiscipled Christians to the most important articles of our faith and what it looks like to live out this faith in real life. Two) they want to reassert the theological nature of evangelicalism.
They acknowledge there are some inherent dangers in tackling this project, but they are approaching it from a humble/servant attitude and truly have a great hope for the future of the church.
In the first chapter Kevin DeYoung relates being asked by many Pastors, "How do you go about reaching the next generation, what's the secret?" His response, "The secret is, there is no secret. . . . you just have to be like Jesus. . . .if you walk with God and walk with people, you'll reach the next generation." That is profound, yet simple. So much so that many of us will discount it, but don't, that is the truth, so grab hold and work on your relationship with God and others.
Another point that DeYoung expresses is this, "Give up on relevance, and try love. If they see love in you, love for each other, love for the world, and love for them, they will listen. No matter who `they' are." I found this personally affirming as I teach a Sunday night class of young people in their twenties. Although I am approaching sixty they want to learn, they want to hear what I have to say and they affirm to me that it is often because I have just shown them that I love them. Today we can try all the right things to try and relate to the modern culture, but what they really want is to be loved. Christ commanded us to `love others as you love yourself'. We need to remember that.
Jay Harvey's chapter on Justification is absolutely wonderful. He brings four major points to light as well as describes two problems that people express regarding Justification. In his summary he states, "Justification matters because there is nothing more essential in life or in death than what God thinks of us. Ultimately there are two options; God looks upon us either as justified or as condemned. Likewise, we look upon God as either our loving Father or a fearful judge." That is a great summary for his chapter.
The next chapter is by Owen Strachan and deals with Sanctification. He states, "we see that sanctification is progressive, meaning that it unfolds over the course of one's life." He reminds us that Justification is a one-time event that God alone extends to us. But Sanctification is an ongoing process that requires a partnership between God and us. He believes that we all are in a battle today in our desire to obtain personal sanctification. He see's it as threefold. 1) We battle the love of self. 2) We battle the love of sports and trivial things. 3) We battle the love of sex.
I don't have the space here to comment on these three battles, but the way Owen unpacks them are profound. You will find yourself examining your own life to see how you have fallen in regards to each of these areas. This one chapter is well worth the price of the book.
Well, I could go on and on but you would probably get bored.
This book is amazing in that you have eighteen young Theologians/Pastors who are each taking a chapter and expounding on the wonders of our faith. They are each new and fresh, yet old and timeless. That is the wonder of this book.
I promise you that you will enjoy every chapter.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
What is a Healthy Church Member, by Thabiti Anyabwile
Thabiti Anyabwile gives us a great little tool to help each of us who are church members to understand what it is that will help us grow to our full potential in a very healthy manner. Often times we attend church without a clue as to what our responsibility is, what our reason for being there truly is or we think that just because we attend that gives us brownie points towards the ultimate goal of being allowed into heaven.
Thabiti though gives us very practical guidelines to remind us that we are not to sit there and be pew potatoes but we are to be interactive with the process, highly involved and even proactive in our Spiritual life and church experience.
Many of the reviews already posted give you a good outline of the book so I will not repeat that.
What I found the most helpful was the very first chapter on How to be an Expositional Listener. We know that many of our Pastors are Expositional preachers, but we don't know how to listen well to those sermons. Thabiti gives us five benefits of expositional listening that will encourage you about what you can and will receive from a sermon if you learn to listen well.
He then goes on to give six habits of an expositional listener;
1. Meditate on the Sermon Passage during your quiet time the week before the sermon
2. Invest in a good set of commentaries
3. Talk and pray with friends about the sermon after church
4. Listen to and act on the sermon throughout the week
5. Develop the habit of addressing any questions about the text itself
6. Cultivate Humility
Those six items will assure you of learning from the text, learning from the spoken word (the preaching) and growing in your walk with Christ because of the growth that will take place.
Many of the remaining chapters have very similar outlines that give you good habits to strive for that will help you grow in being a Christian as well as help you grow in being a productive Church Member.
This short book is something that will help every member of any church anywhere to learn how to become a productive growing member of the congregation. I would highly recommend that this be a short text that your church incorporate into your new members class to help those new members learn how to become healthy and growing.
Enjoy!
Thabiti though gives us very practical guidelines to remind us that we are not to sit there and be pew potatoes but we are to be interactive with the process, highly involved and even proactive in our Spiritual life and church experience.
Many of the reviews already posted give you a good outline of the book so I will not repeat that.
What I found the most helpful was the very first chapter on How to be an Expositional Listener. We know that many of our Pastors are Expositional preachers, but we don't know how to listen well to those sermons. Thabiti gives us five benefits of expositional listening that will encourage you about what you can and will receive from a sermon if you learn to listen well.
He then goes on to give six habits of an expositional listener;
1. Meditate on the Sermon Passage during your quiet time the week before the sermon
2. Invest in a good set of commentaries
3. Talk and pray with friends about the sermon after church
4. Listen to and act on the sermon throughout the week
5. Develop the habit of addressing any questions about the text itself
6. Cultivate Humility
Those six items will assure you of learning from the text, learning from the spoken word (the preaching) and growing in your walk with Christ because of the growth that will take place.
Many of the remaining chapters have very similar outlines that give you good habits to strive for that will help you grow in being a Christian as well as help you grow in being a productive Church Member.
This short book is something that will help every member of any church anywhere to learn how to become a productive growing member of the congregation. I would highly recommend that this be a short text that your church incorporate into your new members class to help those new members learn how to become healthy and growing.
Enjoy!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Rawhide Down, the near assassination of Ronald Reagan, by Del Quentin Wilber
There are days that you will never forget, such as 9/11. The day that President Reagan was shot is one of those. The picture on the cover of the book speaks a 1,000 words. If it were not for the quick action of Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr our nations history and that of the world would be different. If President Reagan had died we might still have the Berlin Wall.
This book is a historical document that reads like a best selling novel of the highest caliber. Wilber has done his research well and gives a blow by blow account of that fateful day. There are so many heroes that it is hard to focus on just one. The book deals mainly with the medical trauma team that saves the Presidents life.
Little details come to light that shed even more evidence on the calm and thoughtful actions of the medical team. One point that seems minor yet speaks columned is that Dr. Aaron calmly decided to treat Reagan like any other patient and thus he had his usual team of surgeons scrub in, that included Dr. Adelberg, an intern. What's important is that a much more experienced doctor offered to scrub in, but Dr. Aaron turns him down because they have never worked an OR together. Dr. Aaron wants the team he knows and trusts. So, an intern is later holding the beating heart of the most powerful man in the world. Great drama, and true.
The medical side of this thriller will keep you reading. Once I started I couldn't stop. History was made and this account of several hours is fantastic.
Not everyone did well on that day and Wilber doesn't pull any punches. Alexander Haig is treated fairly in this book which means that we see his egotistical flaws completely. Assistant press secretaries also fared poorly without the leadership of their boss, Jim Brady, who was fighting for his own life after being shot in the head. So Wilber gives us the good, the bad and the ugly.
One person who doesn't get enough attention, because that wasn't the purpose of this book is Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy. I remember the video on television showing his reactions. He immediately upon hearingnthe gunshots turned toward the shooter and in front of the President and puffed himself up to be the biggest possible target. Fornhis efforts he was shot in the chest. His actions as much as anyone's saved the life of the president and displayed the training and dedication of Secrect Service Agents to the full.
I can't recommend this book highly enough. I think it should be a must read for high school students.
Enjoy!
This book is a historical document that reads like a best selling novel of the highest caliber. Wilber has done his research well and gives a blow by blow account of that fateful day. There are so many heroes that it is hard to focus on just one. The book deals mainly with the medical trauma team that saves the Presidents life.
Little details come to light that shed even more evidence on the calm and thoughtful actions of the medical team. One point that seems minor yet speaks columned is that Dr. Aaron calmly decided to treat Reagan like any other patient and thus he had his usual team of surgeons scrub in, that included Dr. Adelberg, an intern. What's important is that a much more experienced doctor offered to scrub in, but Dr. Aaron turns him down because they have never worked an OR together. Dr. Aaron wants the team he knows and trusts. So, an intern is later holding the beating heart of the most powerful man in the world. Great drama, and true.
The medical side of this thriller will keep you reading. Once I started I couldn't stop. History was made and this account of several hours is fantastic.
Not everyone did well on that day and Wilber doesn't pull any punches. Alexander Haig is treated fairly in this book which means that we see his egotistical flaws completely. Assistant press secretaries also fared poorly without the leadership of their boss, Jim Brady, who was fighting for his own life after being shot in the head. So Wilber gives us the good, the bad and the ugly.
One person who doesn't get enough attention, because that wasn't the purpose of this book is Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy. I remember the video on television showing his reactions. He immediately upon hearingnthe gunshots turned toward the shooter and in front of the President and puffed himself up to be the biggest possible target. Fornhis efforts he was shot in the chest. His actions as much as anyone's saved the life of the president and displayed the training and dedication of Secrect Service Agents to the full.
I can't recommend this book highly enough. I think it should be a must read for high school students.
Enjoy!
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