remember God falls short

Annie Downs, in her latest book, Remember God (B&H Publishers, 2018) tackles a question that many Christians struggle with on a regular basis: Why isn’t God answering my prayers? Oh, she may phrase it a little differently: Is God kind?, but we all know what she means. I pray, I talk with God, to God, listen to God, but my prayers aren’t answered. 

If God is so kind, good, and loving, how could He let me go on like this? I understand her question, I feel her pain, and I’ve been there myself. As have most of us.

I appreciated her insights into the question, I was glad that she has been able to come to grips with the reality that God is not a benevolent fairy godmother that grants her every wish. I was glad to read that even when it seems like God isn’t answering our prayers that often he is waiting for us to see things through his eyes, or that he is asking us to wait upon His perfect plan, and His perfect timing. Sometimes He is asking us to find peace in what we have rather than in what we think we should be getting.

Having said that, I had a difficult time reading the book. Not because the theology was off, not because I found her logic to be faulty, or her answers incorrect, but because the style of writing just doesn’t appeal to me. I could have been reading someone’s journal, and in fact page 149 starts with “this opening section is an actual excerpt from my journal during that season.’  Although I appreciate it when authors personalize their writing with some life events, having the focus be the life event, with a nod towards how that applies to the thesis, just doesn’t interest me.

In short, I guess I’m not part of the target audience for this book.

I received a copy of the book for being a part of the publisher’s bloggers’ program. I was not required to write a positive review.

3/5

Running from Mercy

If you ever went to Sunday school, you’ve probably heard the story of Jonah and the big fish. And if you’re a fan of Veggie Tales, for sure you’ve heard of it. But, as is often the case, when we try to simplify things for children, a lot gets left out, and all too frequently we don’t make time as adults to go back and read the biblical account. And so we miss out on an awful lot.

                Anthony Carter has taken the account, rather than the story, and fleshed out what it means to be exposed to the God of Second Chances.  Running from Mercy: Jonah and the Surprising Story of God's Unstoppable Grace ( B&H Publishing, 2018)  reminds us that we are Jonah, and God is pursuing us, just as he did the Jonah of the Old Testament.  As Carter puts it: “The Bible is the story of God's gracious pursuit of rebels. It’s the story line of the Bible, It’s the message of Jonah.” 

And when God chases after us, we need to remember that He has an endless supply of resources available. He even orchestrated a divine appointment between Jonah and that giant sea creature. Perhaps some things happen by chance, but chances are God is involved, and we learn that regardless of how far we try to run, how hard we try to hide, God is relentless in his pursuit of us. If the gospel is not changing us, then it’s probably because we’re listening to a changed gospel. (p 106)

My favorite takeaway from this book is that mercy doesn’t run after the righteous, rather mercy runs to sinners (p 162). I am Jonah, and I love seeing where God is at work in my life, continuing to reach down in pursuit of me, regardless of the running that I try to do.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my thoughts about the book. I was not required to write a positive review.

4/5         

Moments til midnight: If I only had a few hours to live

As I was reading this book, I was transported back in time about a half a century-give or take a few years. We all read the books in English class about important people, and then had to write an essay on what we would do if we found out we had only one day to live. Or what we would do if we were to be left sightless in 24 hours, or even what would we listen too if we were only going to have our hearing for another day or week.  Thinking back, I probably could have come up with something much more profound.

                Moments til Midnight: The Final Thoughts of a Wandering Pilgrim by Brent Crowe ((B&H, 2018) asks the reader to look at the last hours of the Apostle Paul, imprisoned because of his faith in Jesus, and his desire to share the good news of the Messiah throughout the known world.  But Paul’s essay on “what would you do with only hours to live?” is so much more complex than anything I thought of 50 years ago.

                Paul is well known for his comments on running the race set before him, and finishing well. And here we have some possible musings that the apostle might have made as he waited for his executioner to bring him from his cell one final time. Musings about the race that he had run, what he might have done differently, what he was proud of, what distressed him. And then Crowe adds snippets of information about the race that others are running, or have run.

                And reading about Paul’s essay on life, or the way that other people are running their races asks me to pull out the paper and pencil in order to rewrite my essay on what I would do if I knew I only had a few hours left to live.

                As a member of the publisher’s bloggers’ program, I received a copy of this book and was asked to write an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review.

                4/5

Basics for Believers: 5 simple things to remember

D.A. Carson is a prolific writer, and a good one. He is also one of the founders of The Gospel Coalition, the group which has re-issued his book Basics for Believers; the Core of Christian Faith and Life (A Study of Philippians). (Baker Books, 1996; repackaged 2018).

                 I was skeptical at first that this small book—only about 150 pages—could even begin to cover the basics, but Carson has done a remarkable job of simplifying the list of things believers need to know. And he came at the task from an unlikely perspective.  I often have people read John’s gospel to learn about Jesus as God, or perhaps chapters 5-7 of the Gospel of Matthew, or James’ letter to see how Christians should act. But Carson turned to the book of Philippians, a joy-filled letter written by the Apostle Paul while he was in prison, to point out five important things for believers to focus on.

               

             Starting with chapter one of Philippians (verses 1-26), we see that we should “put the gospel first”.  In everything: no exceptions, no excuses. Much easier said than done!

                

              Using Phil 1:27 to 2:18, Carson shows why the believer should stay focused on the Cross, and with the death of Jesus as the standard, how we test our outlook on life and death. It’s certainly a different perspective than most people are used to.

              

            We can’t do it alone, and every believer is not called to reinvent the wheel. Based on Phil 2:19-thru 3:21, Carson says that we should emulate worthy Christian leaders.  This piece of advice seems simple at first, but think about it. Who gets to decide who those leaders are? We’re left to find the people who are living a Christ-like life, and to follow and emulate them. And sometimes we get confused!

                And lastly, based on the 4^th and final chapter of this letter, we are reminded to never give up the Christian Walk. Paul, even from prison continued with his ministry of sharing the Gospel throughout the empire. He didn’t give up, and neither should we.

          

                  As a member of their bloggers’ team, I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

                4/5

Little kids will love this one!

At this time of year we often think of Christmas carols, and among the most popular is of course, “Silent Night”.  But what if it wasn’t really all that silent?  When we go to church on Sunday morning, we know that we’re supposed to, at least at certain times of the service, be quiet.  But Jesus wasn’t born in a church—he was born in a stable; stables have animals, and animals make noise.

            In a delightful story The Silent  Noisy Night  (B&H Kids, 2018) Jill Roman Lord asks us to imagine what it would be like if it weren’t really a silent night, but because of animals, angels, shepherds, and even the townspeople  all celebrating the birth of a baby, it was instead quite a noisy evening.

            To help the imagination of your ‘littles’, there are wonderful, colorful illustrations by Kelly Breemer.

            This is one of the most fun Christmas books for 2-4 years old that I remember seeing.  I’m donating my copy to the children’s’ shelter at our local Rescue Mission.

            I received a copy of the book in exchange for a review, I was not required to write a positive review, but was instead asked for honest feedback. 

5/5

Fascinating Insight into the teachings of Jesus

Some things are classic and deserve a second look.  Two books by D.A. Carson were originally published separately in 1978 and 1987. Now The Gospel Coalition, in 2018, has decided to repackage the two books, and the result is Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World: A Study of Matthew 5-10. Two Books in One. (Baker Books 2018)

            If you’ve spent much time in church, you’ve heard about the Sermon on the Mount, and probably heard more than one sermon based on one of the many shorter passages found within this larger one. It’s here that Matthew relates Jesus’s teachings on a wide variety of subjects including marriage, divorce, hypocrisy, Christian disciplines such as prayer and fasting, and how to treat others. But either the sermon is one that covers chapters 5, 6, and 7; or it’s a series so long that by the time you get to the end of chapter 7 you’ve forgotten everything you heard about chapters 5 and 6, as well as most of the beginning of chapter 7.  That’s what makes this book such a valuable resource. It’s neatly packaged and available for the reader to go back and refresh his memory about all the Kingdom attributes of which Jesus was speaking.

            

            And then comes the confrontation with the world. Two thousand years ago ‘religious people’ didn’t like being confronted with their sin. Today not many of us like it all that much either. Jesus’s teachings made him at once very popular with a certain group, but also very unpopular with another group of people. And this second group tended to be the powerful and influential folks in that society.

            

           It’s in the Confrontation that we are expected to recognize Jesus’s authority, and his authenticity. Carson talks about Jesus’s mission before going on to expound on how trustworthy and compassionate Jesus is, and then recaps how the very things that draw people to Jesus are also the things that tend to divide people.

           

              What was it the disciples said? “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" (John 6:60, NIV)

            

            Carson, theologian that he is, may go a little deeper than the average reader is willing to dig, but the book is well worth the read for those that have the patience and willingness to be confronted with what Jesus has said about the Kingdom of Heaven

          I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a part of their bloggers program. There was no expectation that I would post only a positive review.

good advice for all males

For some time now I’ve heard that we live in a ‘fatherless generation’.  Boys are growing up with no male father figure, or at least no positive male role models. And then we wonder why boys grow physically and chronologically, but so many, well into their adult years, remain boys. When you’re not taught a specific way to do things, you learn piece by piece, and often those pieces become a jumbled mess.

All that to say that when I saw the title The Five Marks of a Man: Finding Your Path to Courageous Manhood by Brian Tome (Baker Books, 2018) I was intrigued. Nor was I disappointed when I got to read the book.   

Tome keeps it simple (in fact he even suggests that if you don’t like reading, you can get the main points by reading the introduction and then the first chapter of each of 5 sections). That may be the case, but my advice is to suck it up, learn to be a man, and read the whole book.  The chapters a short enough that you could read one or two a day over morning coffee.

Five marks: 1) men have a vision, 2) Men take a minority position, 3) men are team players, 4) men work, and 5) Men are protectors.

In short chapters, each with a title like “Boys are shortsighted. Men play the long game.” Or “Boys want to fit in. Men aren’t afraid to stand out.”, the author treats us to some ideas about the differences between men and boys—that is mature or immature males. He includes some personal anecdotal material that makes this the book that men, and boys, can relate to. He writes in an engaging style, and hits hard when it comes to the need for boys to grow up and become men.

Every ‘man’ who reads the book will immediately understand. The ‘boys’ will have to think a little longer about what Tome is saying. Many men will be glad they had someone to teach them these important lessons, while others will wish that they had had someone in their lives early on who was willing to invest in them, and help them avoid a lot of costly mistakes. Hopefully the men who read this book will be convicted of the need to invest in the life of one of those many immature males

I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a part of their bloggers program. I was asked to provide an honest review, and there was no obligation to write a positive review.

4.5/5