A La Carte (6/19)

How to Read a Book - “Reading a book seems like a pretty straightforward task, doesn't it? And in some cases, it is. If you're reading purely for entertainment or leisure, it certainly can be that easy. There's another kind of reading, though, in which we at least attempt to glean something of value from the book in our hands (whether in paper or tablet form). In that instance, you might be surprised to learn that it's not as simple as opening the book and reading the words.” 

Coming Clean - Coming Clean is a new, free e-book from Covenant Eyes that may be helpful to those who are engaged in the battle against pornography.

Cruciform Sale - Reformation Heritage Books is having a sale on all of the Cruciform Press titles they carry. 

Fundamentally at Odds - In a long and interesting article, Matthew Franck explains how same-sex marriage will prove incompatible with religious freedom. “Should the truth about marriage—that it unites men and women so that children will have fathers and mothers—be defied by the laws of the land, we cannot expect the religious freedom of those who believe in that ancient truth to be respected under the new dominion of falsehood.”

Going Public - This looks like an interesting series from TGC: “We asked three moms of school-age children to share their families’ perspectives on education. … All three share mutual respect for each other as parents trying to raise children with intentionality, in the fear and admonition of the Lord. In this series, you will see their perspectives on how and why they chose to educate their children through public school, private school, or homeschooling.”

Is It Ever Okay to Lie? - Jesse Johnson provides a clear perspective on this question.

Depend on it, my hearer, you never will go to heaven unless you are prepared to worship Jesus Christ as God. —C.H. Spurgeon

New & Notable Book Reviews

I love reading books, but I also love reading reviews of books. Reviews allow me to discover books I haven't heard of, they teach me to think wisely, they allow me to better prioritize the books I am considering reading, and they sometimes provide a helpful second opinion on books I have already read. For all of those reasons I publish occasional round-ups of reviews written by other writers. Here are a few notable links I’ve collected recently:

Saving EutychusSaving Eutychus: How To Preach God's Word And Keep People Awake by Gary Millar and Phil Campbell. Reviewed by Mez McConnell. McConnell has a somewhat lighthearted but very positive review of this book, one I have also read, reviewed and recommended. "So my Assistant Pastor bought this for my last week with the quip: 'Saw this and immediately thought of you.' He wasn't laughing so much as I pushed him out of the nearest window when he wasn't looking. First off, great title or what! I immediately liked the look of it just from that. If a book can hook you on the title alone then the publisher has done a great job. The downside of a tagline that promises to show us 'how to preach God's word and keep people awake' is that these guys better be good! Failure to deliver would be an epic fail. Based on the real life biblical account of Acts 20, this book is only 8 chapters long and contains two helpful appendices at the end (obviously)." (Learn more and shop at Amazon or Westminster Books)

Weakness is the Way by J.I. Packer. Reviewed by Gloria Furman. "Even just the title of this book flies my heart straight to Jesus, kindling afresh my desire to see him as he is. I'm reminded each day that only God's strength can sustain and empower me for service, yet I'm tempted to desire worldly strength. JI Packer's new book, Weakness is the Way: Life with Christ Our Strength, emboldens those beset with weaknesses with the truth that our human frailty becomes real spiritual strength in and through Christ alone. Teaching from passages in 2 Corinthians, Packer describes 'life with Christ our strength.' In typical Packer fashion, this book draws the reader through the scriptural defense of an idea and hurls you into your daily mundane with a glorious picture of who God is." (Learn more and shop at Amazon or Westminster Books)

Talk About GodWhat We Talk About When We Talk About God by Rob Bell. Reviewed by Michael Kruger. "Bell’s book ... functions a lot like the Apple vs. Microsoft commercial that was popular a number of years ago. Microsoft was represented by an out of shape, poorly dressed geek, while Apple was represented by a thin, hip, well-dressed urbanite. In effect, Bell is arguing that God is not like Microsoft. He is more like Apple. God is relevant. He can keep up with the times. Unfortunately, being an apologist for the faith does not always lead one to uphold the faith.  Indeed, there is a long history of folks who have sought to defend Christianity from critical attacks by simply changing the problematic portions of the faith. In other words, apologetics is not always about defending what we believe, but is sometimes about modifying what we believe.  Apologetics is sometimes about giving Christianity an extreme makeover."

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Not By Sight

Not By SightSometimes I read a book and can later point to a page or a chapter and a specific idea I drew from it. When I later write a review of these books I can usually point to that idea and say, “Here is what I learned; here is what the author taught me.” I love those books and in many ways can chart my spiritual growth through them. But these are not the only books that are valuable to me. There are also the books that that evoke wonder or worship even when I cannot later go back and point to that specific truth that resonated in my mind and heart. Such is the case with Jon Bloom’s Not By Sight.

Not By Sight is a book about walking by faith. It is a fresh look at familiar old stories drawn mostly from the New Testament but occasionally from the Old as well. Bloom says, “The purpose of this little book is to imaginatively reflect on the real experiences of real people in the Bible in order to help you grasp and live what it means to ‘trust in the LORD with all your heart, and … not lean on your own understanding’ (Prov. 3:5). Its goal is to help you believe in Jesus while living in a very confusing and painful world.”

In thirty-five short chapters he goes to stories like Jesus calming the storm-tossed seas, Joseph receiving the news of his fiancee’s pregnancy, the leper being healed, the disabled woman made to stand straight, and he tells them again. Sometimes he speculates a little bit, wondering how Pilate and his wife received the news that the innocent man who had been condemned was now alive again or what it was like for Andrew to live in the shadow of his brother Simon Peter. He tells of David’s regret over his affair with Bathsheba and Joseph’s prayer and praise during those long years locked away in an Egyptian prison. And always he looks for faith. When he spots that faith he calls on the reader to identify with it and to emulate it.

Chapters seventeen and eighteen were highlights for me. Though sequential they are unrelated except for the common thread of faith. One tells of the humility of the Apostle Paul. This was a humility he was forced to learn when he prayed not once, not twice, but three times to have the Lord remove that thorn from his flesh, only to learn that it was to be a continual reminder to him to trust in the Lord. This thorn in the flesh, this messenger of Satan, was actually a gift of God. Will I have faith to see the weaknesses God has assigned to me as blessings? Or will I resent them? The second tells of a leper who wanted what only God could give—deliverance from his disfiguring disease. He asked and he received. Do I have the faith, the confidence, to ask God for the things he wishes for me to ask him? How might he display his power to me or through me if only I would ask?

This is a book to savor, and I read far too quickly. I enjoyed it so much I just couldn’t help it! I couldn’t read it as slowly as it deserves, and for that reason will need to read again. It is a book I will ask my son to read this summer along with his devotions; he, at thirteen, will be able to read and understand it and will certainly benefit from it. It is a book you should consider reading as well; I have every confidence that you will enjoy it too.

Not By Sight is available at Amazon and Westminster Books.

A La Carte (6/18)

There are a few Kindle deals that may interest you. Nancy Pearcey’s Total Truth ($4.99); John MacArthur’s The Second Coming ($4.99); Norman Geisler’s I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist ($4.99); Mark Dever’s Nine Marks of a Healthy Church ($4.99); Bob Kauflin’s Worship Matters ($4.99); ESV Study Bible ($4.99); The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis: Volume 1 ($0.99), Volume 3 ($0.99).

The Incredible Disappearing Evangelist - Smithsonian magazine tells an interesting story from days gone by. “Aimee Semple McPherson, evangelist, faith-healer, founder of the Foursquare Gospel Church and builder of the Angelus Temple, was believed to have disappeared during a swim on May 18, 1926. In the hours that followed, rescuers were sparing no effort to find her.”

My Dad’s Challenge - I enjoyed reading of the challenge Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ father gave her many years ago. “The scene is indelibly etched in my memory. I was 19 years old. My family was on a mission trip in Haiti—my parents' (and my) favorite type of family ‘vacation.’ We were worshiping in a small Haitian church, sitting on hard wood benches. In the middle of the service, my dad leaned over to me and whispered…”

Excommunicating the Why - Marvin Olasky writes about Eli Reimer and how the best parts of his story got left on the cutting room floor.

When Body and Soul Must Part - Here are some poignant reflections on the reality that at some point every body and soul must part.

The Church Hurt Me - Thabiti Anyabwile (I always feel the dilemma of whether I really need to include his last name; it’s not like there are tons of other Thabiti’s out there in the Christian blogosphere) writes to and about those people who say, “The church hurt me.”

The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary. —William Temple

Satisfied Only With Utter Destruction

There is much debate and much concern today about redefining marriage. Where it hasn’t happened already, it seems very nearly inevitable that the definition will soon be expanded to include homosexual unions. And once marriage has been redefined away from the union of one man to one woman, it seems almost impossible not to see it also expand to include polygamous relationships. Already books and media and reality television are attempting to convince us of the goodness, normalcy and health of polygamy; this is just the advance guard the portends a coming all-out attack.

Of course this is not the first attack on marriage in human history. Marriage has always been a battleground. No-fault divorce is taken for granted today, but was a massive, double-barrelled attack on marriage. Before 1968 in Canada, and beginning in 1970 in the United States, couples no longer had to prove adultery or unusual cruelty in order to divorce a spouse; now they could simply separate for a time or cite “irreconcilable differences.” What is considered normal and unremarkable today represented an incredible affront to marriage in its time.

Marriage is under attack. Those of us who look to the Bible for guidance in interpreting life, the world, and the course of human history, see the hand of Satan behind all of this. He is the sworn enemy of God and, therefore, the sworn enemy of anything good—especially something so very good as marriage. He is a master strategist and a master tactician and knows how to get his way.

While we acknowledge his hand in all of this, we need to be careful not to assume that his plan is simply to redefine marriage. Satan always aims for the utmost. He always aims at the furthest possible extent of any sin. He is willing to claim small victories on the slow march to his final goal. John Owen says it of sin but it applies equally to Satan: “Every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin of that kind. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression, every thought of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its head.”

If this is true, and I believe it is, Satan’s plan is not to redefine marriage but to destroy it. He hates marriage because he hates God and marriage is a godly thing. It was created by God to glorify God and to provide an ongoing glimpse of Christ’s relationship with his church. It strengthens families, strengthens society, provides the most natural context for spiritual growth and discipleship. It is inherently, intrinsically, all the way good. So why shouldn’t Satan wish to destroy it?

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A La Carte (6/17)

Here are a couple of Kindle deals: Saved Without a Doubt by John MacArthur ($2.99); What Does the Lord Require? by Walter Kaiser Jr. ($3.99); Manhood Restored by Eric Mason ($0.99); What Every Man Wishes His Father Had Told Him by Byron Yawn ($2.51) (I linked it last week, but the price has fallen some more).

The Power of Stories - I enjoyed this interview with Mark Gilbert. He wrote a book titled Stepping out in Faith which is a compilation of stories from people who have left the Roman Catholic church as they've sought to follow Jesus.

An Exceptional Dad - This is a good one: “I don't want to be a good dad—I want to be a great dad. But the longer I live and more ministry I do, the more I have come to realize there are precious few examples of grace in action when it comes to fatherhood. So on this Father's Day, I wanted to take a moment, heed Paul's exhortation (Eph. 6:1), and honor my own father, Greg.”

Sovereign Mistakes - “The following is a conversation that recently took place in my daughter's middle school group. And I think it does a good job highlighting three mistakes that we often make when we talk about the sovereignty of God and how it relates to sin and suffering in the world.”

The New Evangelization - The Washington Post writes about Catholic evangelizing. “While such personal sharing has long been the province of, well, evangelical Protestants (among others, including Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses), it means a paradigm shift for Catholics, whose spiritual lives have been largely centered inside the parish.”

Roots and Wings - Roots and Wings is a documentary about Indelible Grace; it’s now free to watch online for a limited time. Also, for just a couple of weeks they are giving away their live album via NoiseTrade.

There is mercy for a sinner, but there is no mercy for the man who will not own himself a sinner. —C.H. Spurgeon

Hymn Stories: Jesus, Lover of My Soul

I have written previously about Charles Wesley and his talented and prolific hymn writing. I also mentioned earlier in this series his involvement in bringing us “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.” But I haven’t yet said anything about how he got into hymn writing.

Both Charles and his brother John—two of Susanna Wesley’s 19 children—were zealous for ministry when they finished their studies at Oxford University. Both were soon ordained as clergymen in the Church of England; and in 1735, both sailed to the new colony of Georgia, John as a missionary and Charles as a secretary to General Oglethorpe, who was then governor of the colony.

On that trip they encountered a group of Christians from Germany called Moravians, whose constant singing awakened in John an appreciation for what spiritual songs can do for the Christian life. It wasn’t until 1738, however, after returning to England, that both brothers were truly born again, at which point their ministry took on a whole new character and energy.

John and Charles became itinerant preachers and began organizing meetings that would be called “Methodist societies” (and which would eventually become the Methodist Church). At the start, John would occasionally write hymns, but preaching and leading the new movement eventually took all of his time. Charles, on the other hand, almost immediately discovered a love and ability for writing verse which he would continue for the rest of his life.

He was naturally a poet, and now the writing of religious verse became to him nothing less than a passion. … Every experience of his own, every scene and occasion of the Methodist revival, became the inspiration of a new hymn. He wrote his first within a day or two of his conversion. He dictated his last to his wife from his deathbed, “in age and feebleness extreme.” (Benson)

There is no particular occasion linked to the writing of the hymn “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.” We know from the heading in its original publication (“In Temptation”) that it was apparently meant to be a help in fighting sin. Whether it was written during a time of temptation in Charles’ own life, though, we cannot say.

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Fly From It! Subdue It! Destroy It!

One of Satan’s favorite devices in deceiving people and leading them astray is to camouflage sins as virtues and to convince us that our sins are actually very small. Thomas Brooks provides a powerful response in Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices. Don’t tune it out just because it’s from a Puritan author. Read it and you will be blessed.

Even those very sins that Satan paints, and puts new names and colors upon, cost the best blood, the noblest blood, the life-blood, the heart-blood of the Lord Jesus. That Christ should come from the eternal bosom of his Father to a region of sorrow and death!

That God should be manifested in the flesh, the Creator made a creature; that he who was clothed with glory should be wrapped with rags of flesh; he who filled heaven and earth with his glory should be cradled in a manger; that the almighty God should flee from weak man—the God of Israel into Egypt; that the God of the law should be subject to the law, the God of the circumcision circumcised, the God who made the heavens working at Joseph’s homely trade; that he who binds the devils in chains should be tempted; that he, whose is the world, and the fullness thereof, should hunger and thirst; that the God of strength should be weary, the Judge of all flesh condemned, the God of life put to death; that he who is one with his Father should cry out of misery, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”; that he who had the keys of hell and death at his belt should lie imprisoned in the sepulcher of another, having in his lifetime nowhere to lay his head, nor after death to lay his body…

…That that head, before which the angels do cast down their crowns, should be crowned with thorns, and those eyes, purer than the sun, put out by the darkness of death; those ears, which hear nothing but hallelujahs of saints and angels, to hear the blasphemies of the multitude; that face, which was fairer than the sons of men, to be spit on by those beastly wretched Jews; that mouth and tongue, which spoke as never man spoke, accused for blasphemy; those hands, which freely swayed the scepter of heaven, nailed to the cross; those feet, “like unto fine brass,” nailed to the cross for man’s sins; each sense pained with a spear and nails; his smell, with stinking odor, being crucified on Golgotha, the place of skulls; his taste, with vinegar and gall; his hearing, with reproaches, and sight of his mother and disciples bemoaning him; his soul, comfortless and forsaken.

And all this for those very sins that Satan paints and puts fine colors upon! Oh! how should the consideration of this stir up the soul against sin, and work the soul to fly from it, and to use all holy means whereby sin may be subdued and destroyed!

Free Stuff Fridays

Free Stuff Fridays
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by Revive Our Hearts, which is, of course, the teaching ministry of Nancy Leigh DeMoss. They’ve put together five prize packages, each of which consists of a whole stack of excellent books. Each of this week’s five winners will receive:

  • A Quiet PlaceRevive Our Hearts Trilogy (Holiness, Surrender, and Brokenness)
  • The Quiet Place: Daily Devotional Readings
  • Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy
  • Choosing Forgiveness: Your Journey to Freedom 
  • Seeking Him: Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival

Of all of these, The Quiet Place may be the one that is of most interest to many of you. It is a collection of excellent daily devotionals written specifically for women. “Nancy Leigh DeMoss adapts the core themes of her teaching into a format her fans can enjoy daily—366 portions of rich Bible study and practical applications.”

Giveaway Rules: You may enter one time. As soon as the winners have been chosen, all names and addresses will be immediately and permanently erased. Winners will be notified by email. The giveaway closes Saturday at noon.

A La Carte (6/14)

7 Ways Fathers Provoke Their Children - “The Bible tells fathers to do two things: bring children up in the ways of the Lord and do not provoke them. How can a father avoid provoking his child?” Here are 7 ways dads may provoke their children.

F-35 - Here’s an interesting article on the long-awaited, much-delayed future of American air power. “After a decade of administrative problems, cost overruns and technical glitches, the F-35 is still not ready for action.”

I Don’t Wait Anymore - This is a poignant article. “When I was 16, I got a purity ring. And when I was 25, I took it off. I didn't tell anyone I was doing it -- it wasn't a statement or an emotional thing. I just slipped it off my finger that day and, before tucking it away in a box, ran my finger around the words on the familiar gold band. ‘True Love Waits.’ Waits. What's it ‘waiting’ for, anyway?”

Living With Less. A Lot Less - This writer’s ideologies may differ from mine, but the point of his article is illuminating. “Somehow this stuff ended up running my life, or a lot of it; the things I consumed ended up consuming me. My circumstances are unusual (not everyone gets an Internet windfall before turning 30), but my relationship with material things isn't.”

Pretty Boy Preachers - “Spurgeon feared no man. Constrained only by the bounds of God's Word, Spurgeon said what he liked, when he liked, how he liked. The problem with Spurgeon was not that men misunderstood his meaning. The problem was that men understood him completely.”

You Won’t Finish this Article - One glance at statistics software is enough to tell me that few of you read all the way to the end of my articles. Slate explains why we do this.

Adversity hath slain her thousand, but prosperity her ten thousand. —Thomas Brooks