Book Reviews

Book Review – Surprising Insights From The Unchurched

Thom Rainer is president of Rainer Group Church Consulting as well as founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. As such, we would expect him to have many interesting insights into church growth. He does not disappoint. In Surprising Insights From The Unchurched Rainer presents the results of a fascinating study he performed over two years. He decided that perhaps the best way of learning what principles of …

Book Review – Robert E. Lee: The Christian

  In writing Robert E. Lee: The Christian, William J. Johnson sifted through hundreds of letters written to and from Lee as well as accounts written of him, seeking to find evidence of this Civil War general’s faith. Having found evidence, the author concludes that Lee’s correspondance “reveals him as a man who lived in the presence of God; who looked to God continually for guidance and strength; whose mind and heart were saturated with faith and trust in God.” …

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Book Review – Rethinking The Church

  Rethinking The Church explores the nature of the church with a view to making the necessary changes that will ensure that the church remains relevant to our culture. The author proceeds from the foundation that much of what we do and see in today’s churches is derived from 17th to 19th century culture, and as such has lost much of its relevance to our postmodern society. We need to critically examine our churches to discern to the world today …

Book Review – The Case For Christ

The Case For Christ should be required reading for all Christians. A bold statement, I know, but it truly is an incredible book. I certainly would not say it is the best book I’ve ever read, nor the most profound. But what this book does, and does very well, is set forth in a clear and unequivocal manner, the evidence that Christ existed and that He was exactly who and what He said He was. The book follows journalist Lee …

Book Review – Charismatic Chaos

  Before I begin a review of Charismatic Chaos it is only fair to point out that I have really come to appreciate John MacArthur Jr. I cannot think of many contemporary authors whose beliefs and theology line up so closely with my own. So having been challenged to discern what the Bible says about speaking in tongues, signs and wonders and other marks of the charismatic movement, it only made sense that I would read Charismatic Chaos. Though written …

Book Review – How To Study Your Bible

Just a few months ago I came to the sudden and perhaps not-so-startling realization that although I have been reading the Bible for more than twenty years I had never really been taught how to study it. I have been told of the importance of spending time each day reading God’s Word, meditating on it and even memorizing it, but I do not ever recall being taught how to systematically study it. After explaining this predicament to a friend of …

Book Review – Who You Are When No One’s Looking

From the time we are young children we are taught to behave ourselves in public. We quickly learn what behaviour is and is not acceptable when the eyes of our families and friends are on us. But who we are in public is not an accurate guage of our character. Our true character is shown when we are alone and no one is looking. It is at these times that we display our true colours. In Who You Are When …

Book Review – The Upside Down Church

Before I began to read The Upside Down Church I had already decided I was not going to like it. I’m not sure if it was the picture of Greg Laurie sitting on his Harley that turned me off (to my shame) or if it was that I had just read The Purpose Driven Church and I didn’t much want to hear another theory on church growth. My first two minutes of reading only confirmed my irrational preconceptions. Laurie begins …

Book Review – The Purpose Driven Church

There is little doubt that many modern churches are failing to grow and flourish. New churches are planted only to wither and die while established churches are stagnant, growing only from within. Rick Warren, pastor and founder of one of America’s largest churches, Saddleback Valley Community Church, wrote The Purpose Driven Church to address the failures of today’s churches. The book outlines the principles he used to establish his church and seeks to apply these principles to all churches, whether …

Book Review – The Battle For The Beginning

  John MacArthur wrote Battle For The Beginning primarily to address the world’s origins from a Biblical viewpoint. The book is aimed at a Christian audience and is not so much a defense of creationism as it is a defense of a literal six-day creation. This is not a book that primarily focuses on convincing unbelieving evolutionists of creationism, but rather it focuses on convincing Christians who believe that in some form of evolution (such as old-earth creationism or the …