Book Reviews

Book Review – Reformed

Reformed: What it Means, Why it Matters is a concise, entry-level introduction to the distinctives of Reformed Christianity. It is intended to be a guide for inquirers who are seeking direction for which church to attend, for new Christians who are surveying the different traditions within Christianity and anyone else who has questions about the Reformed faith. In just four chapters and 71 pages, Robert De Moor seeks to introduce these Reformed distinctives. Unfortunately, the book takes a misstep right …

Book Review – The Roman Catholic Controversy

“More than at any time in the past, Roman Catholics and evangelicals are working together. They are standing shoulder to shoulder against social evils. They are joining across denominational boundaries in renewal movements. And many evangelicals are finding the history, tradition and grandeur of the Roman Catholic Church appealing.” While these words, taken from the back cover of The Roman Catholic Controversy were written nearly ten years ago, they are as true today as a decade ago. In the past …

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Book Review – Work Excellence

From the time we are mere children we face the question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” The desire and ability to work are deeply ingrained within us, but perhaps they are subjects we do not often pause to consider in a Scriptural perspective. Work Excellence is a light treatment of the subject(112 pages), but one that is valuable. It is conversational in tone and each chapter concludes with questions for reflection and a brief …

Book Review – A Life With Purpose

Considering the wild popularity of Rick Warren, as pastor, author and leader within Evangelicalism, we know surprisingly little about the man. It would seem that he has deliberately withheld information about himself, which of course, fits the theme of his bestseller The Purpose Driven Life which is, “it’s not about you.” A Life With Purpose, subtitled “Reverend Rick Warren – The Most Inspiring Pastor of Our Time” is, as far as I know, the first published biography of Warren. It …

Book Review – Dining With The Devil

Dining With the Devil is an interesting read, especially in light of the fact that the author, Os Guinness, is describing the very difficulties the church is facing today, even though this book was written over twelve years ago. It is difficult to know if his voice was prophetic or if very little has changed since the early nineties. I suspect both are true. The book is subtitled “The Megachurch Movement Flirts with Modernity.” We hear much more about postmodernity …

Book Review – Biblical Authority

The authority of Scripture is, as this book indicates, a critical issue for the body of Christ. Much of the ground that was gained during the Protestant Reformation has been lost in the past few decades. There has been a dramatic shift among Protestants away from biblical authority. James Draper and Kenneth Keathley, both Southern Baptists, have seen this fight up close and personally from within the Southern Baptist Convention, so are well-versed in the arguments and in what is …

Book Review – Fool’s Gold

All that glitters is not gold. This is a lesson many thousands of men learned in the 19th century when they stormed California seeking their fortunes. While there was treasure to be found, as evidenced by the wealth many gained from their mining ventures, there was also what came to be known as fool’s gold. While this looked like gold, it was in reality valueless iron pyrite. For a miner to be successful he had to learn to discern the …

Book Review – With Reverence And Awe

Reformed Christians are increasingly divided over how they ought to worship God. For many Reformed believers, this is an issue of great urgency. D.G. Hart and John R. Muether wrote With Reverence And Awe (Returning to the Basics of Reformed Worship) to address this topic. They call the book a primer on worship, “a brief overview of how Reformed theology informs the way we think about, put together, and participate in the worship service. Our aim is to help church …

Book Review – Pursuing God

Pursuing God – A Seeker’s Guide is a book for those who are drawn to God and yearn to understand more about Him. Intended as a tool for evangelism, it is written in a warn and conversational style. Over sixty pages, author Jim Elliff, president of Christian Communicators Worldwide, leads the reader through the all-important questions and answers in what is a clear and biblical presentation of the gospel. I took me only a couple of pages to realize that …

Book Review – Blog

A couple of weeks ago I was browsing through my pastor’s library and remarking on the number of people who lay claim to “the next Reformation.” Over twenty years ago, Robert Schuller told us it would be a Reformation of self-esteem and more recently his protégé Rick Warren that it will be one of purpose. Other books tell us the next Reformation will involve breaking the church body into small groups, essentially giving the church back to the people in …