New and Notable Books for September – Tim Challies

I received this Challies.com note at the beginning of this month, but it is certainly not too late to call attention to the “new and notable” Christian books pastor/author/reviewer Tim Challies highlights for September.

I give his first three and let you follow the link below to the others on this list. Looks like many of these are worth pursuing if they interest you. And, yes, I have not forgotten my promise to return to the newly published review books I have received this summer also. Stay tuned!

Friend-ish: Reclaiming Real Friendship in a Culture of Confusion by Kelly Needham. “Bible teacher Kelly Needham debunks our world’s constricted, small view of friendship and casts a richer, more life-giving, biblical vision for friendship as God meant it to be. As the family unit grows more unstable and the average age of marriage increases, a shift is taking place in our culture: for many people, friends now play the role of family. And just as with family relationships, our friendships often don’t turn out quite as we envisioned or hoped, and we wonder, Is there a better way to do this? In Friend-ish, Kelly Needham takes a close look at what Scripture says about friendship. She reveals the distorted view most of us have of it and recasts a glorious vision for a Christian understanding. By teaching us how to recognize symptoms of idolatry and dependency, she equips us to understand and address the problems that arise in friendship–from neediness to discord and even sexual temptation. With hard-fought wisdom, a clear view of Scripture, and been-there perspective, Needham reorients us toward the purposeful, loving relationships we all crave that ultimately bring us closer to God.” (Get it at Amazon)

The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible by New Growth Press. The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible is a new series of study guides intended primarily for small-group use. It has launched with two volumes: Jonah: Grace for Sinners and Saints by Iain Duguid and Ruth: Redemption for the Broken by Jared Wilson. The volumes “can be adapted for one-to-one discipleship, small group, or large group settings. The comprehensive leader’s guides are included in the text, making it an easy-to-follow structure to engage men and women.” I believe they are part of the wider and growing collection of “Gospel-Centered” resources produced by New Growth Press, which also includes two Gospel-Centered Life volumes for teens and young adults: Exodus and Mark. (Jonah (Amazon, WTS) and Ruth (Amazon, WTS))

The Whole Armor of God: How Christ’s Victory Strengthens Us for Spiritual Warfare by Iain Duguid. Speaking of Iain Duguid, here’s another new book with his name on the cover. “The Christian life is a battle. We are in a daily struggle against the world, sin, and Satan. But God didn’t leave us to fend for ourselves. He gave us his own armor–armor that Jesus has already worn on our behalf all the way to the cross. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is now at work inside of us. This book unpacks each of the pieces of spiritual armor Paul describes in Ephesians 6, inviting us to take up the armor each day, all while resting in the finished victory of Christ and the assurance that our strength for the battle comes from him.” (Get it at Amazon or Westminster Books)

Source: 10+ New and Notable Books for September – Tim Challies

Confess Your Literary Sins – A. Bogel

They’ve had the same book sitting on their nightstand for three years and haven’t opened it once.

They’ve never, not ever, read a book over three hundred pages long.

They’ve tried and tried, but they haven’t enjoyed a book written by a woman in years. Or a man. Or a white person. Or someone who doesn’t live in England or the United States. Or Alaska. Or the American South.

They checked a book out of the library four years ago – and still haven’t returned it. They’re afraid to show their face at the library until they pay down their overdue balance, which now equals the cost of a nice dinner out. The library canceled their card because of lost books and overdue fines.

They ordered pizza so they could skip making dinner and finish their book. They ate cereal for dinner so they could finish their book. They forgot to eat dinner because they were finishing their book.

The last time they finished a great story, the book hangover lasted three days. They were so caught up in their book that they let the kids draw on the walls so they could get to the last page. They locked themselves in the bathroom so they could read undisturbed.

They think they might love books too much.

Whatever it may be, they’re sure they’re the only one with this issue.

Reader, whatever secret you’re keeping, it’s time to spill it. I’ll take your confession, but the absolution is unnecessary. These secrets aren’t sins; they’re just secrets. No need to repent. C. S. Lewis once wrote, ‘Friendship.. is born at the moment when one man says to another, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”‘

Reader, you’re not the only one. Keep confessing to your fellow readers; tell them what your reading life is really like. They’ll understand. They may even say, ‘You too?’ And when they do, you’ve found a friend. And the beginnings of a great book club.

Taken from a new summer read I recently picked up at Baker Book House (I love that store – especially the discount shelves – so many treasures!). In I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life, lifetime reader Anne Bogel reflects on the paradoxes of readers and bibliophiles such as herself. The chapters are short and packed with great insights and encouragements about the literary life, with the highs and lows, the tears and triumphs of reading.

The above quotation is taken from her first chapter, “Confess Your Literary Sins” (pp.23-24). Reading it, I hope you get her point in the contrasting reading experiences she describes. Real aren’t they? Recommended for the beach, the campground, and the deck.

Broken Pieces and the God Who Mends Them – Reformation21 *(Updated)

The book Broken Pieces has just been released and, when Westminster Seminary Bookstore had a good sale on it online, I purchased it for the seminary library, believing it would be of use for pastors and counselors who deal with various types of mental illness including schizophrenia.

Little did I know the book’s value and power. I did recognize the importance of the subject, and I did note the author – Simonetta Carr, a Reformed wife , mother, and author of several children’s books for the series “Christian Biographies for Young Readers.” But I had no idea of her intense, personal struggle with this mental illness in her son.

And I am thankful for the fine way in which pastor William Boekestein has called attention to her story of grief and grace in this brief review posted on Reformation21 website recently. I quote a portion of it for you here. And for those who can identify with this aspect of our brokenness, you will find help and hope.

Broken Pieces is one of the most courageous books I have ever read. Simonetta told me, “It hurt me to write it because I was reliving every moment.” I couldn’t have written it. I would have been too scared. But I am so glad Simonetta did. And perhaps now I am a little more ready to follow her lead in sharing some of my grief with other receivers.

One of my wife’s grandmothers had schizophrenia. During the last years of her life she broke off communication with us because we told her how much we loved her house; she thought we were trying to take it. We saw her only one time in the months before her death. She told us not to come. But we showed up at her front door, unannounced, with our charming two-year-old extended toward the door; a peace-offering no grandma could resist. She buckled, and let us in one last time. Schizophrenia made grandma unpredictable. The family genuinely feared that she would leave her entire estate to her dog. More seriously, her children grew up in a home with their mother institutionalized for long stretches. I wish Eva’s husband, children, and grandchildren had been able to read Broken Pieces.

I’m glad I have now. It was a painful crash-course in sympathetic, and persistent love; lessons I know I need to learn for trials that I cannot foresee. More than that, it is a portrait of living faith in a Savior whose grace is tailor-made for this broken world.

Broken Pieces is also surprisingly hopeful. Simonetta didn’t gauge the eternal destiny of her schizophrenic son by placing everything she knew about him on two sides of a scale; one side positive, and the other negative. The tangibly negative experiences would have been too heavy. Instead, she saw her son as entirely in Christ; in life and in death, in body and soul, in clarity and confusion. And Jesus was more than enough to rescue a man who was so deeply broken. Our family saw that too. Grandma’s schizophrenia scared us and her. But God also helped us to hope. After I read her Isaiah 53–being Jewish, this is a text from the “Bible” she was raised with–she responded: “That’s talking about Jesus. I believe in him!” We didn’t expect that response. But why not? We possess a shared history of God’s redemption of desperately lost people. We have received God’s record of mending, the backstory we all need as we share each other’s burdens.

Source: Broken Pieces and the God Who Mends Them – Reformation21

Since this original post, I also received notice of an interview that “Redeemed Reader” did with the author. Find that at this link.

Two New Titles from Reformation Trust

Recently Ligonier sent me two new review books published by its Reformation Trust Publishing.  I make you aware of these for those who may want to read a good book and review it for the Standard Bearer of for this blog.

The first is Good News: The Gospel of Jesus Christ by John MacArthur (2018, hardcover, 148 pp.). The book is currently available for half price at $7.50 at the Reformation Trust website (retail is $15.00).

The publisher gives this description:

Everything the Bible has to say about the gospel is simply an exposition of its central message: Jesus Christ lived and died to save sinners. The gospel is about Him, and it answers Jesus’ key question: “Who do you say that I am?” It is good news.

In Good News: The Gospel of Jesus Christ, Dr. John MacArthur examines the Bible’s revelation of Christ and encourages Christians with the vast implications of all that Christ accomplished for them. This is a book to rekindle love and awe for the Savior.

The chapter headings are as follows:

1. Jesus is the Messiah
2. Jesus is Holy
3. Jesus is the Only Way
4. Jesus is the Redeemer
5. Jesus is Righteous
6. Jesus is the Head of the Church

The second book is a new title from the pen of Steven J. Lawson, The Moment of Truth (2018, hardcover, 238 pp.). This book is also on sale for 50% off at present – $9.50 ($19.00 retail).

The publisher provides this summary of Lawson’s book:

“What is truth?” Pilate turned to Jesus and asked a profound question. It is a question that continues to be debated in our day. But it is one that God has definitively answered in His written Word and ultimately revealed in the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. It has been the duty and privilege of each successive generation of Christians to proclaim the truth of the gospel to a world that desperately needs to hear it.

In this collection of sermons, Dr. Steven J. Lawson speaks into our cultural moment, helping Christians and skeptics alike to answer Pilate’s age-old question.

For an interesting interview with Dr. Lawson about the book and how it came to fruition, visit this Ligonier webpage.

The contents is placed under the following main headings:

1. The Reality of Truth
2. The Rejection of Truth
3. The Reign of Truth

Perhaps we can pull a quote or two from these books in the future. But for now, feel free to contact me if you are interested in either of these titles.

Picture Book Biographies Booklist! – Redeemed Reader

Every so often I like to feature some children’s books (I won’t forget our focus on Newbery classics this year!), and today we turn again to the website “Redeemed Reader” for assistance and inspiration (If you have not yet signed up to receive their weekly email notices, this serves as a friendly reminder.).

Just today, their email called attention to a new book list, this time of picture book biographies! Who doesn’t like those?! As “RR” points out, such books are not just for the very young and early readers; they are for ALL of us. I will happily admit that I am always on the lookout for great children’s picture books – and adult ones. 🙂

The following paragraphs are Redeemed Readers’ introduction to an extensive list of picture books, which, by the way, may also be used toward their 2018 reading challenge (sounds like a great way to get your children involved in that program!).

Picture Book Biographies = Fantastic, Diverse Resources

Picture book biographies are one of the best ways to introduce a person from history. Why? They bring interesting people to life in a short, succinct, satisfying manner.

Illustrations can add tremendously to the information, enabling readers to get a “feel” for the subject.

Additionally, the subjects chosen for picture book biographies are so broad! Presidents and other famous historical figures such as Helen Keller or the Wright Brothers are obvious choices. But picture book biographies also tackle Noah Webster, the inventors of neon paint, the woman who first mapped the ocean, and the man behind the Macy’s Day Parade puppets! No matter what person, topic, or time period, there is sure to be a relevant picture book biography out there.

Picture Book Biographies are Not Just For Kids!

Even teens and grown ups can learn from picture book biographies. For instance, read one of the Shakespeare biographies listed below before tackling Hamlet. Marvel at the man who photographed snowflakes before a series on weather, the seasons, or microscopy. Supplement a history class with a look at a minority figure or a Christian hero that the history textbook might have glossed over; Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library and Simonetta Carr’s biographies are good examples that are certainly robust enough for middle and high school students.  Or take a look at River of Words before diving into William Carlos Williams’s poetry. The possibilities are endless.

And now, if you wish to check out the actual titles – and reviews! – visit the link below. But here’s a picture of one to entice you to do so:

Source: Picture Book Biographies Booklist! – Redeemed Reader

What’s New for Review? (Books, That Is)

On this Tuesday, let’s take a few minutes to review a few books I have received recently for review – books I, in turn, make available to you – for you to review, if you are willing.

First, from Reformation Trust I received last week a copy of Guy P. Waters’ new title The Life and Theology of Paul (2017). Dr. Waters is professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS and has also authored The Acts of the Apostles, How Jesus Runs the Church, and Justification and the New Perspectives on Paul, among others.

The publisher gives this description:

Much of what we know about theology—about justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification—comes directly from the writings of the Apostle Paul. If we removed Paul’s writings from Scripture, our understanding of these truths would be greatly impoverished. Paul’s inspired writings and the story of his life continue to be a precious gift to the church. Dr. Guy Prentiss Waters leads us on a doctrinally enriching and spiritually edifying journey from Paul’s life, conversion, and call to key themes in his theology.

At the link above you will also find a video of a class taught by Dr. Waters on this subject. That will give you a taste of the contents of the book.

Second, I have also received a few new titles from Reformation Heritage Books. One is Theology Made Practical: New Studies on John Calvin and His Legacy, made up of fourteen essays by Joel R. Beeke, David W. Hall, and Michael A.G. Haykin (2017). The publsiher provides this information about the title and its contents:

In Theology Made Practical, Joel R. Beeke, David W. Hall, and Michael A. G. Haykin declare the significance of John Calvin’s life and ideas—particularly his contributions to systematic theology, pastoral theology, and political theology—as well as the influence he had on others through the centuries. With focused studies related to the Trinity, predestination, the Holy Spirit, justification, preaching, missions, principles of government, welfare, and marriage, this book demonstrates how Calvin’s thought has been, and still is, a dynamic wellspring of fruitfulness for numerous areas of the Christian life. More than 450 years since Calvin experienced the beatific vision, his thinking about God and His Word still possesses what our culture passionately longs for—true relevancy.

 

Contents:

Preface

Part 1: Calvin’s Biography

1. The Young Calvin: Preparation for a Life of Ministry—Michael A. G. Haykin

2. Practical Lessons from the Life of Idelette Calvin—Joel R. Beeke

 

Part 2: Calvin’s Systematic Theology

3. “Uttering the Praises of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit”: John Calvin on the Divine Triunity —Michael A. G. Haykin

4. Calvin on Similarities and Differences on Election and Reprobation—Joel R. Beeke

5. Calvin on the Holy Spirit—Joel R. Beeke

6. Explicit and Implicit Appendixes to Calvin’s View of Justification by Faith —David W. Hall

 

Part 3: Calvin’s Pastoral and Political Theology

7. Calvin’s Experiential Preaching—Joel R. Beeke

8. John Calvin and the Missionary Endeavor of the Church—Michael A. G. Haykin

9. Calvin on Principles of Government—David W. Hall

10. Calvin on Welfare: Diaconal Ministry in Geneva—David W. Hall

11. Christian Marriage in the Twenty-First Century: Calvin on the Purpose of Marriage—Michael A. G. Haykin

 

Part 4: Calvin’s Legacy

12.  Calvin’s Circle of Friends: Propelling an Enduring Movement—David W. Hall

13. Calvin as a Calvinist—Joel R. Beeke

14. Calvinism and Revival—Michael A. G. Haykin

 

Afterword

Another title sent me from RHB recently is by Sarah Ivill (wife, mother, author, speaker and member of Christ Presbyterian Church [PCA] in Matthews, NC) and titled The Covenantal Life: Appreciating the Beauty of Theology and Community (2018). The publisher gives us this note about the book and its subjects:

Today, many of us have lost our appreciation of the beauty of covenant theology and covenant community, and this has had dire consequences for us, resulting in misunderstandings of theology and individualism and isolationism in the church. Author Sarah Ivill believes that a key solution to this problem is a robust understanding of covenant theology, which will deepen our knowledge of Scripture and enable us to truly serve our sisters by pointing them to Christ. In The Covenantal Life, the author clearly and concisely sets forth the beauty of covenant theology and covenant community and encourages us to learn sound doctrine so that we can think biblically about the circumstances in our lives—and then help our sisters in Christ to do so as well.

Contents:

Foreword

A Note from Sarah

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One: Appreciating the Beauty of Covenant Theology

1. I Can Think Straight

2. The Best Book Ever

3. All of Grace

4. The Heart of the Matter

5. But God

Part Two: Appreciating the Beauty of Covenant Community

6. A Different Kind of Community

7. From Life Taker to Life Giver

8. Speaking the Truth in Love

9. A Mandate and a Mission

10. The City That Is to Come

As I began to browse this new title briefly, I found the author’s definition of covenant interesting and instructive: “A thorough yet concise definition of covenant is God’s sovereign initiation to have a binding relationship with His people, grounded in His grace and promises, and secured by His own blood (p.5).

If any of these books interest you and you are willing to write a short review for the Standard Bearer, the book is yours. Contact me here or by email. Tolle lege – take up and read!

Living Life Backward – D. Gibson

A book I was given for review last Fall by Crossway is a brief commentary on Ecclesiastes. The title is Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End (176 pp., paperback) by David Gibson, minister of Trinity Church in Aberdeen, Scotland.

The publisher gives this description of the book:

What if it is death that teaches us how to truly live?

Keeping the end in mind shapes how we live our lives in the here and now. Living life backward means taking the one thing in our future that is certain—death—and letting that inform our journey before we get there.

Looking to the book of Ecclesiastes for wisdom, Living Life Backward was written to shake up our expectations and priorities for what it means to live “the good life.” Considering the reality of death helps us pay attention to our limitations as human beings and receive life as a wondrous gift from God—freeing us to live wisely, generously, and faithfully for God’s glory and the good of his world.

In his “Preface” the author acknowledges the difficulty that this “strangest of Old Testament books” presents to the reader of God’s Word. But he also gives us the key to understanding it:

Yet Ecclesiastes also makes a very simple point: life is complex and messy, sometimes brutally so, but there is a straightforward way to look at the mess. The end will put it all right. The end – when we stand before God as our Creator and Judge – will explain everything.

Which leads him to make this application based on that basic message (from which we get the title to the book):

Left to our own devices, we tend to live life forward. One day follows another, and weeks turn into months and months into years. We do not know the future, but we plan and hope and dream of where we will be, and what we would like to be doing, and whom we might be with. We live forward.

Ecclesiastes teaches us to live life backward. It encourages us to take the one thing in the future that is certain – our death – and work backward from that point into all the details and decisions and heartaches of our lives, and to think about them from the perspective of the end. It is the destination that makes sense of the journey. If we know for sure where we are heading, then we can know for sure what we need to do before we get there. Ecclesiastes invites us to let the end sculpt our priorities and goals, our greatest ambitions and our strongest desires.

I want to persuade you that only if you prepare to die can you really learn how to live (p.12).

That seems to me to be a good way to keep the message of this book of the Bible before us, and to let its powerful message shed light on our minds and guide our path in this world.

The book is available for review in the Standard Bearer if you are interested. Given the nature of the book, the review may be brief.

Refresh – “Reset” for Women

You may recall my posts on David Murray’s profitable book for men, Reset (Crossway, 2017). Now, he and his wife Shona have collaborated on a version for women – Refresh: Embracing a Grace-Paced Life in  a World of Demands (Crossway, 2017).

While Dr. David Murray is a pastor (Free Reformed Church) and professor (Puritan Reformed Seminary), his wife is a medical doctor. Being married with busy careers and raising five children together means they know the stresses and strains of life in our do-it-all, burn-out society. But as Reformed Christians, they also know the refreshing, resetting character of God’s sovereign grace in Jesus Christ. And it is about that that they write in this book, this time specifically with our overwhelmed women, wives, mothers, and daughters in view.

Crossway gives this brief introduction to the book on its website:

“I feel so overwhelmed.”

Do you race from one thing to the next, unable to keep up with all the demands of your ever-growing to-do list? Are you overcommitted and overstretched, but don’t know how to slow down when the world just says to speed up? Is there any hope for rest in a world of never-ending demands?

Many women don’t realize they’re running at an unsustainable pace until it hurts them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Drawing on many years of counseling and their own experiences of burnout, wife and husband team Shona and David Murray want to help you slow down to a more grace-paced life—enabling you to avoid the pitfall of burnout, cultivate sustainable habits for the future, and experience the rest of body and soul that God intends for you.

I have received a review copy and would love to see one of our ladies take it and do a short review of it. If you are interested, please contact me here or at my email address.

Perhaps before the book gets taken we can take a further look at it and pull a few choice quotes from it.

The Many Sides of Martin Luther – L. Roper and R. Kolb

In this significant anniversary year of the great Reformation, inaugurated through the work of the German monk Martin Luther, books on this key figure abound.

A recently published one obtained for the seminary library is Lyndal Roper’s Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (Random House, 2017). Lutheran theologian and historian Robert Kolb wrote a brief review of this new title on the Gospel Coalition website, which I reference here today.

While Kolb has good things to say about this fresh study of Luther, he is also not afraid to offer constructive criticism.

He introduces Lyndal’s book this way:

Lyndal Roper—professor of history at Oxford—has written a new biography of Martin Luther titled Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet.

Her goal is neither to “idolize” nor “denigrate” Luther, nor does she “wish to make him consistent.” She aims instead to understand him and the “convulsions” both he and Protestantism in general unleashed (xxx). Roper examines Luther’s relationships with family, mentors, and students; his theological and pastoral concerns; and his sociological context to give readers a fuller picture of the man and his time.

At another point he offers this criticism where the author treats Luther’s manifold relationships, including those with his students:

Further, her treatment of Luther’s students is curiously lopsided. Roper focuses on one student with whom he had severe difficulties, Johann Agricola. Though she doesn’t ignore the theological side of their rupture, she could’ve made clearer how serious Agricola’s confusion of law and gospel was for Luther. She doesn’t counterbalance this story with examples of the warm relationships Luther enjoyed with many students who adored him. The book also could’ve benefited from a more thorough examination of Luther’s complex relationship with Philip Melanchthon.

As we go through this year you are encouraged to find a good biography on Luther to refresh your Reformation history and to strengthen your appreciation for God’s work through frail and faulty but gifted servants such as this staunch German Reformer.

Source: The Many Sides of Martin Luther

New Title: Work and Our Labor in the Lord

One of the recent Crossway publications sent to me for review is Work and Our Labor in the Lord by James M. Hamilton, Jr. (2017, 123 pp.).

Part of a new series, “Short Studies in Biblical Theology,” this title along with the others (so far on Jesus the Son of God and on marriage) are designed “to serve as bite-sized  introductions to major subjects in biblical theology.”

The publisher gives this as a brief description:

About Work and Our Labor in the Lord

“You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.”
—Psalm 128:2

Work has been a part of God’s good creation since before the fall—created to reflect his image and glory to the world. What are we to make of this when work today is all too often characterized by unwanted toil, pain, and futility? In this book, pastor, professor, and biblical scholar James Hamilton explores how work fits into the big story of the Bible, revealing the glory that God intended when he gave man work to do, the ruin that came as a result of the fall, and the redemption yet to come, offering hope for flourishing in the midst of fallen futility.

The author, professor of biblical theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY) and preaching pastor at Kenwood Baptist Church, covers the following topics according to the table of contents:

Introduction

1. Creation: Work in the Very Good Garden
2. Work after the Fall: Fallen, Futile, Flourishing
3. Redemption: Work Now That Christ Has Risen
4. Restoration: Work in the New Heavens and the New Earth

In his “Introduction” Hamilton states the following:

How did the biblical authors view work? To answer this question we need to understand the place of work in biblical theology. Biblical theology, in my view, is the attempt to understand and embrace the interpretive perspective of the biblical authors. To attempt to understand the interpretive perspective of the biblical authors is to attempt to understand their worldview. …Understanding the worldview of the biblical authors requires the ability to see the ways they intended their statements to be read against a wider understanding of the history of redemption….

Because this is a biblical theological study of the topic of work, the structure of the canon will play a less explicit role. For our purposes here, the following questions will help us to seek the interpretive perspective of the biblical authors on the topic of work:

• What part did work play in the big story of the world through which the biblical authors interpreted their lives?
• What propositional truths about work did they understand to flow out of and back into that big story?
• Do the biblical authors understand work to symbolize something beyond mere labor? [11-12]

If this is a book you would be interested in reading and reviewing for the Standard Bearer, let me know. Otherwise, I will reference it here a few times this year.