The Hardest Sermons You'll Ever Have to Preach, By Dr. Bryan Chapell

Dr. Bryan Chapell has put together a wonderful collection of essays from well known established Pastors who often are called upon to preach the tough sermons at funerals that have devastated a family, a church or a community. How do we as faithful Pastors respond in such times of crisis? How do we write and preach sermons that will be tools in the Redeemer's Hands to bring comfort and care, show empathy and compassion, and yet preach the Gospel in all situations? 

The books is broken down into five sections, they are; 

Part One: Preaching in Response to Tragedy 
Part Two: Preaching after the loss of a child 
Part Three: Preaching funerals with Especially Difficult Causes or Circumstances 
Part Four: Preaching funerals for Public figures 
Part Five: Preaching after Suicide 

Then there are three Appendixes to help the pastor deal with putting together these sermons and helping families to cope with the stresses they are facing. 

Within the Five Categories listed above there are twenty-five chapters written by people such as John Piper, Bryan Chapell, Tim Keller, Michael Horton and others. The combined wisdom of these men and the years they have spent in preparing and teaching these difficult sermons gives them a unique perspective and they provide us with guidance that is difficult to find almost anywhere. 

If you Shepherd a Flock of any type you will eventually be faced with a difficult crisis. I'm convinced that this will be the first reference book that you will reach for when you sit down to start writing that sermon that you desire to bring hope and healing to your congregation. 

I want to thank Dr. Chapell for putting this together and believe he has given a very valuable gift to the Body of Christ. 

Enjoy!

The Hardest Thing to Do, by Penelope Wilcock

First of all I want to thank Crossway Books for sending me an advance copy of this book to read and review.  I am grateful to them for this and was profoundly blessed by Penelope Wilcock's latest novel.

The Hardest Thing to Do is the fourth book in "The Hawk and the Dove" series.  It follows one week after book three has left off.  The St. Alcuin monastery is awaiting their new Abbott, Father John who will be replacing the recently departed Abbott Peregrine.  So, this is a story of transition.  It is a time for the monastery to welcome a new leader, to have some new beginnings, to celebrate the previous ministry of a faithful Abbott and to ask God's blessing on the new ministry of the new Abbott.

St. Alcuin is know for it's grace, mercy and peace that it bestows on any visitor that happens to need a place to stay.  It is also a loving community that is faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and loves the people of the areas surrounding their monastery.  It is a vibrant place with a great new group of young men who have entered the monastery and are learning the ways of the Monks.

But not only is this going to be a time of transition for the monastery but it will be a time of learning for them as well.  While they have done a great job of growing in Christ they are still needing to learn.  This shows itself in that when they hear the news that St. Dunstan's has burned down many of the Monks are grateful that those at this spiteful monastery have died and will cause no more trouble.  This takes Abbott John by surprise.  They should not be joyful over the death of other Monks or the lost of a monastery.  But it is true that that community treated others very poorly and took advantage of the people who lived around the monastery.  Also their Abbot Prior William was no friend to Abbott Peregrine and actually abused him verbally on many occasions.  So, good riddance to him.

But then the news comes that there is a traveler at their door who is seeking assylum.  It turns out to be Abbott William, the man that many at St. Alcuin's dispise.  He is seeking refuge in their monastery as no other monastery or community will give him refuge.  His hands and arms are badly burned and need tending to and he just needs a quiet place to live.

The turmoil this request will invoke is amazing.  Immediately Abbott John finds himself at odds with the majority of Monks in his monastery.  He wants to be loving and provide a place for William to heal and to also grow.  But the others want nothing to do with him (almost all the others, there are three who agree with John).

This sets up the novel to weave the story of how a group of Monks will have to come to terms with their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and their belief in grace, mercy, peace and love.  How will it be lived out?  How will they respond?  How will the Lord reach each of them and help them on their journey?  Oh, and what will happen with the hated Abbott William?

Wilcock does a wonderful job of weaving the story, building each of the characters and addressing so many of the hurts that many of us carry with us.  She will show how forgiveness and love can overcome bitterness and hatred.  If you have ever thought of being involved in Peacemaking Ministry this book will give you a great example of what is involved and how it is a difficult ministry but highly rewarding.

I completely enjoyed this book and found myself underlining so many nuggets of truth that I forgot that I was reading a novel and not reading a true story about the loving work of Jesus Christ.  I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did and learn as much as I did about what our response to difficult circumstances ought to me.

Thank you Penelope for this wonderful work of love.

Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl

I was reading a counseling book on the "Search for Meaning" and in the introduction Dr. Gary Collins stated, 'For a number of years Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning was required reading for all incoming freshmen at a Christian Liberal Arts college where I taught.' The statistics showed that students who read this book upon entering college did better in their academic life because it helped prepare them to understand what their true desire in life was. 

So, before I finished that book I purchased this book and read it. I was amazed at all of the lessons that are taught, all of the theories that made sense and the purpose that it gives towards the work of a counselor that was so practical. 

The first half of the book talks about Fankl's time spent in a Nazi prison camp. He talked about how there was only a 1 in 28 chance that the prisoner would survive the camp. Most either died from disease or malnutrition or they were sent to the ovens where they died. Many more died by their own hand. Their lack of hope for a future drove them to suicide. 

Frankl took his observations of human nature and the experience in the war camps to think through the best way to provide counseling for people who are stressed, anxious, depressed, etc. The counseling he came up with is called 'Logotherapy.' He states that "Logo" is a Greek word which denotes, "meaning," and therapy is the method used to help people learn to deal with their neuroses. 

So, 'Logotherapy' focuses on the future, that is to say, on the meanings to be fulfilled by the patient in his future. In other words, what is the meaning of life for the individual that is being counseled. As a counselor you must remember that the meaning of life for each of your patients will differ. There is not one easy answer that works for everyone. Each person is different. One of Frankl's favorite quotes is from Nietzche and it is, "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." The point of that statement is that people can endure any suffering, any disease, any hard life lesson if they know that they have a reason to live for. 

This is why a patient with cancer may beat all the odds, in other words, he is told he has only two months to live, but because he desires to see his child graduate from college he might actually live for 9 more months until that accomplishment is fulfilled and then the person takes a turn for the worse and dies. There was meaning for life, so life was lived. 

The second half of Fankl's book expresses his thoughts on why Man's Search For Meaning is so powerful and so necessary for each person. The subject is not fully discussed, this is a summary of his overall therapy method and learning. But it gives you a great introduction to what he believes is a good therapy format. 

After reading through this short book I can see why Dr. Collins and others felt that this was a good book for college freshman to read. The statistics gathered by George Barna were that upon entering college when asked what they hoped to accomplish, students answered 84% of the time that they wanted to find the meaning for their lives. The other 16% stated they wanted to gain a degree to earn more money and satisfy their desires. 

So, let's help our students and others learn more about the meaning for their lives. From a Pastor's point of view I was amazed at how well Viktor Frankl's thoughts weave right into Holy Scripture and are so pertinent. 

I think all serious students will gain much insight from this short work. 

Enjoy!

Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?, by C. John Collins

Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?

By, C. John Collins

The subtitle for this book gives us a quick glimpse as to why this book was written.  It states, “Who they were and why you should care!”  There has been a real controversy lately that revolves around the aspect that Adam and Eve were not real people but instead are figurative / symbolic of humankind.

Should it matter to us whether they were real or symbolic?  YES!  There are very solid reasons why it is important that Adam and Eve were real historical people whom God created as the first man and woman.

The book of Genesis reads as though they are real people, not just figurative.  God gives them life and they have personality.  God gives them instruction and they learn from walking in the garden with God.  God gives them free will and they take that free will and abuse the privilege by eating of the fruit that was forbidden.

Bottom line, they sinned!  Through their sin all mankind to follow will enter this life in a state of fallen sinfulness. 

Maybe the best way to help you understand this books intent is to quote the beginning of Chapter 6, “Conclusions.”  C. John Collins states, “What I think I have shown;  I do not claim to have solved every problem or to have dealt with every possible objection.  But I trust I have shown why the traditional understanding of Adam and Eve as our first parents who brought sin into human experience is worthy of our confidence and adherence.  It does justice to specific Biblical texts, and suits the Biblical story line, with its notions of representation and covenantal inclusion; it also provides a meaningful explanation for everyday experience.  It is the view articulated or presupposed in Genesis, in Paul, and, above all, in the Gospel presentation of Jesus.  The alternatives are less satisfactory, and possibly even disastrous, on all these counts.”

Collins accomplished that conclusion in the text of the book.  His chapters headings are as follows;

Chapter 1, Introduction

Chapter 2, The Shape of the Biblical Story

Chapter 3, Particular texts that speak of Adam and Eve

Chapter 4, Human Uniqueness and Dignity

Chapter 5, Can Science Help us pinpoint “Adam and Eve?”

Chapter 6, Conclusions

Collins takes a good bit of time taking about the book of Genesis.  He then traces the references to Adam and Eve through the Old Testament.  He follows that by addressing how the Apostle Paul viewed Adam and Eve in his epistles and also had Jesus referred to Adam and Eve through his teachings as shown in the Gospels.

Further there is some reference to Adam and Eve drawn from Revelation to give us kind of the bookends of the Bible.  Genesis starts with Adam and Eve and Revelation sums up why God had to do what He did to bring mankind back to a place where the sin of Adam and Eve has been dealt with and man can now live a life free of sin.

Chapter 5, Can Science Help us pinpoint “Adam and Eve” starts out by referring to the crux of debate that has happened.  That crux is that scientist believe that human DNA “points to a population of several thousand people from whom all humans have descended, not just two.”

Collins will work through that discussion and draw on the material he has laid out in the first four chapters of his book to express why he doesn’t believe that is an appropriate belief.

If you are going to deal with any people who question the reality of Adam and Eve or who question that the Bible really addresses them as historical accurate figures rather than just symbolic figures used for the sake of story, then you need to read this book.

C. John Collins does a good job of giving us well thought out logical material to help us lead our ‘skeptic’ friends to further understand their Bibles and see the true storyline that God has woven through history and that He shows us in His Word.

Enjoy!