Book Reviews

I have found a “kindred spirit” in Karl Graustein. To see the beauty, privilege and blessing of growing up in the church yet also see the subtle and sometimes obvious dangers of being raised in the “community of the saints” is a strong balance that every pastor, youth worker, parent, adolescent and child needs to have. Karl Graustein sends a vital message to people of every generation to not take for granted the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in giving us the church.

What strikes me about this work is that it is the first I know of its kind. Written to Christian students to remind them of the glorious privilege of being “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” (Eph. 2:19) and also point out many of the challenges of growing up in a place where salvation and the Lordship of Christ Jesus is taken so seriously. The fact that this book has been written from a very strong reformed perspective is an added blessing and a cause of rejoicing in my soul. What the Lord has led Karl Graustein to write the Lord has also led me to share in similar ways for several years. I am thrilled that Karl has put into print what so many, many students in reformed families need to hear (as well as parents, youth workers, teachers and pastors).

Graustein states the purpose of this book in the opening chapter: “This book is for individuals who have grown up in Christian homes who want to take their faith to the next level. It is for young adults who realize their responsibility to take a hold of their personal relationship with God. It is a book that describes the unique perspective and tendencies of church kids. It is filled with warnings as well as practical suggestions for growth in godliness.” The book is set up in three sections that first show some of the dangers in growing up in the church, such as having a very small view of our sins as well as a small view of our Redeemer. Also taking for granted all that Christ is for us and having a shallow appreciation for Him are also examined.

The second section stresses the solid importance of thinking biblically and continuing to think and learn from a biblical perspective. As Graustein says, “We’ll realize that thinking biblically is the first step toward living biblically.” The final section of the book is very proactive in showing how to properly respond to the truths of God’s Word and what we are to do as His “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” (1 Peter 2:9) A strong emphasis is made on joyfully and passionately practicing the spiritual disciplines and living to please and honor Christ in our lives in response to His awesome grace and mercy powerfully shown in our lives.

I highly recommend this book for students as well as parents, teachers, pastors and youth workers. It is something that has needed to be in print for a long time. I thank the Lord that He has led Karl Graustein to write it.

I do not know of another book I could recommend as a great book for young readers, an unmatched teaching tool for children’s Bible teachers, and the perfect family devotional book all in one. Grandpa’s Box is all of these and is the best children’s book I have read in years.

An elementary-aged reader will have a difficult time putting this book down. Each of Grandpa’s stories is a “war story” symbolized by some small object from his box. In the first chapter Grandpa tells his grandchildren, Marc and Amy, that he is in the middle of a war. “It’s a great and terrible war I’m in. It’s not the kind in which people shoot and stab and blow each other up. Oh, no, it’s much more serious than that…But the great thing about this war is that even though it’s so hard and long and even though the enemy is very powerful, the war is already won.” From Genesis 3 through Revelations, each chapter is a biblically accurate revelation of God in Christ Jesus our conquering King.

I train Sunday school teachers and I will recommend this book to every one of them. The teaching of the Word in the context of spiritual warfare is important as we point the next generation to Christ. Starr Meade never compromises any of the biblical context and is faithful in every chapter to tell the story of redemption. She understands that the Bible is a revelation of God, not a book of stories directing us to some moral or principle for living.

As in her first book, Training Hearts, Teaching Minds, Meade provides a wonderful family devotion guide based on the Shorter Catechism. This book should be read in a family setting, also, so that parents can discuss what each story shows us about God. P&R Publishing’s website (www.prpbooks.com/grandpasbox) has a few discussion questions for each chapter to aid in this book’s use as a family devotional. I own this book. I will use it often as a teacher, but I anticipate wearing off the covers as I read it to my grandchildren.

We try to select worthwhile books to review and recommend to our readers. We do that with awareness that while there are many good books and one cannot read them all, there are special books that we believe deserve special attention and have a unique role to fulfill. Walt Muller’s Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture is one of those books. It is a book like Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey that plays a unique role in our mission to make kingdom disciples.

I have used Total Truth as a companion to my book, Making Kingdom Disciples, a New Framework, in several seminary classes. Now this will be a third required reading with Mueller’s book. It is outstanding at representing solidly Reformed kingdom theology, with all the covenant ramifications, plus an up-to-date understanding of the rising generation. He demonstrates the importance of understanding the youth culture in order to communicate in a sensible and life-oriented manner.

Engaging The Soul of Youth Culture is not just another book on pop culture, but it is a book with solidly biblical and theological principles that enables Mueller to demonstrate an understanding of his target audience. One of his targets is the parents of teenagers. He writes to help them understand their children and the postmodern culture in which they are engulfed. He also writes for youth workers who work with parents in discipling their covenant children. He also writes for Christian educators who have regular contact with students in churches and schools. Mueller might include preachers and pastors in the Christian educators category but in case he doesn’t, this a book for every pastor to read, even if his ministry is only to senior citizens.

Mueller and I agree that the kind of discipleship that is needed with the rising generation is transformational discipleship, which results in a kingdom lifestyle. We also agree that with the rising interest in spirituality among the young people, we must not necessarily equate that with true spirituality in the Christian sense but we must take advantage of that interest and seek to communicate the truth of the life changing Gospel of Christ. Most adults do not have a clue as to what is going on just under the surface in the life of most teens. Teens have questions and many are clumsily trying to voice those questions, but either we are not listening or we are not answering their questions. Mueller’s plea is that the church and home must start listening to the young generation if we are committed to advancing the kingdom and reaching them with the truth.

Quoting the late Francis Schaeffer, Mueller writes, “If we try to talk to our young people before listening to their reality, we will only beat the air.” And the tragedy is that most adults are not aware that they are not listening.

How can we help our youth find meaning to life and know how to address their unmet needs? Mueller concurs that the rising generation is finding it more and more difficult to make sense out of their world and where they fit into it.

Because the church and home are often failing to fill the instructional void in their lives, the media is stepping in a taking up the challenge. Unfortunately that message is often destructive and contrary to God’s reality.

Mueller doesn’t pull any punches in this book. For example, he doesn’t hesitate to say that “In effect popular culture gives them (youth) purpose. Because it has listened to them, the young are returning the favor.” The media is providing them “maps of reality” but not a reality that correlates to God’s. There are numerous studies that indicate that young people are expressing their “religious interests, dreams, fears, hopes, and desires through popular culture.” He says, “Once we know the reality of the young people, we can communicate the gospel in ways that can be heard and understood.”

If I have not convinced you that you should read this book, I’ll conclude with this statement from the author: “The church faces a moment of unprecedented opportunity. The youth culture is calling. If we fail to listen and faithfully respond, we’re effectively telling them we don’t care or we have nothing to say.” The challenge is to listen before we speak so that when we speak, they will listen.

Readers of Equip for Ministry have read our reviews on several other books contained in this 10-volume series. Books such as Pocket Dictionary of Ethics, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics and Pocket Philosophy of Religion have all been part of the series. In each of the books, we find good, solid reference material, easily accessible and easy to read. This volume is no exception. This may be the most important book in the series for Christians to read and study.

Olson and English begin with reminding us of the story of Christian theology. They define theology as “the church’s reflection on the salvation brought by Christ and on the gospel of that salvation proclaimed and explained by the first century apostles.” This reliance on the teaching of the apostles left Christianity unprepared for the era after their death. As the authors explained, no longer would people be able to turn to the apostles to settle disputes; therefore, the next generation was forced to reflect on Jesus’ and the apostles’ teaching on their own. That really marked the beginning of Christian theology, or the development of it.

Some the great theological truths that we take for granted were not always easily understood by early Christians. So many doctrines, from the Trinity, to the person and work of Christ, to the role of the church councils and labors in developing these truths in a way that demonstrated biblical faithfulness but also awareness of the context out of which they were developed need to be understood.

As we have addressed some of the old heresies and their modern day aberrations various articles in Equip for Ministry, we have attempted to remind us all of the importance of knowing church history. So many things like Gnosticism and ancient Paganism have expressed themselves in slightly different garb in the twentieth century and unless we have an understanding of how the early church dealt with them, we will fall into their traps. Someone has said that the failure of the church to stand firm in the faith and fall for heretical or near heretical teachings is simply church history repeating itself.

As I read through this volume, I was reminded anew of what went into developing our Christian theology. I was reminded that while God has shown his truth to us in his Word and given us the Holy Spirit to enable us to understand, it took many Christians in the early church much energy and effort to formulate the Bible’s teaching in clear theological language that separated it from the world’s philosophies. Much of this had to be done without the sixty-six books of the Bible being easily accessible.

For example, recently in our worship service we recited the Nicene Creed. We have done so many times, but having read this book the day before, I wondered if we really know and appreciate this creed. Are we really aware of the process that took place to formulate this creed? Do we know what we are really affirming with these words and what we are declaring? While being patterned after the Apostles’ Creed, the oldest of the creeds, are we aware of how the Nicene Creed was formulated to denounce the Arian heresy, which had twisted Scripture to teach that Christ was actually subordinate to God the Father and was God in a different way than was the Father? I also thought are we, as a congregation, aware as to why the creed says that Christ was “begotten, not made?”

Olson and English have written a concise book dealing with the History of Theology, and they have written in such a practical manner, highlighting the major developments down through church history, that there is no excuse for Christians not taking the time to read and understand what they profess to believe when they confess their faith using creeds and confessions of our history. Not only does this concise view of the development of the church’s theology help us to see how God has worked through his church in its seeking to understand and articulate the biblical faith, but how that unfolding process has brought us to where we are today.

The authors wrote about the five dramatic acts of church history, ending with today. As they conclude, they remind us that while the story is not yet over and the final curtain fallen, the next act may cause Western Christianity to play a lesser role as non-Western Christians emerge through that part of the world. What will Christianity look like and how will theology take shape during the twenty-first century? Only God knows, but as long as he leaves us here, we are part of that story and we need to know what is transpiring.

Read this book. Study it! Use it in the church’s educational program. It will not only enrich, but bring a depth to our understanding and appreciation for biblically developed theology and the context out of which it was born. (This little book is a sequel to A. M. Renwick’s The Story of the Church first written in 1958 and revised in 1985.)

As a young Christian I purchased a copy of Halley’s Bible Handbook. While I had some problems with some of its theology, I found it to be a very helpful volume for summarizing the books of the Bible. It was said that it contained more biblical information than any other book of its size and was translated into many different languages. Ryken’s Bible Handbook will soon become a standard tool for all preachers, teachers, and students of the Bible, just as Halley’s Bible Handbook.

Ryken’s Bible Handbook contains maps, charts and many illustrations. Also, key doctrines, overviews and main themes are highlighted throughout. J. I. Packer writes, “This is truly an educational treasure trove.” All who aim to be discerning biblical Christians will appreciate it enormously. Two of the authors, Leland Ryken and James Wilhoit are faculty members at Wheaton College. Philip Ryken, the third author and son of Leland, is pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church, PCA, in Philadelphia.

In this handbook each book of the Bible is outlined with information such as: implied purposes, author’s perspectives, implied audience, what unifies the book, special features of each particular book, challenges facing the reader or teacher of the book and how to meet that challenge. I was particularly impressed with the key verses and key doctrines contained in each book. For example, 2 Chronicles key doctrines: the sovereignty of God, the justice of God, human responsibility, sin, providence, history, worship, and prayer.

Ryken’s Bible Handbook also contains great maps clearly printed in color and easy to read. There is also a one-year Bible reading plan that offers a workable procedure for reading the Word. With great sensitivity to the readers, they include tips for reading each particular book. One of the important tasks in studying and teaching the Bible is to know where each part relates to the whole and how they fit together. They have given us rich insights to that end.

I recommend that pastors, teachers, Bible students and families have this book at their disposal. If there has ever been a time when we need to address Bible illiteracy, it is today. Also with today’s postmodern influence on culture, we need to see the grand story of the Gospel of the Kingdom and how the various parts contribute to the whole with all of their uniqueness, mystery, and diversity.

Isaiah: God Saves Sinners, by Raymond Ortlund, Jr., a PCA teaching elder, is also a helpful resource to preachers, teachers, and Bible students. This commentary is part of a series edited by R. Kent Hughes.

I chose both commentaries for this issue to underscore a common thread. While Genesis is the basic and absolutely essential book for understanding how God the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer relates to his creation, laying the theological foundation for the Christian faith and life, Isaiah is viewed by many as one of the most theologically significant books in the Old Testament. Ortlund’s makes a point to underscore that unity of vision of God throughout the sixty-six books.

According to Ortlund, Isaiah’s aim is to show us more of God and more of ourselves than we have ever seen. Ortlund writes, “God saves sinners. We don’t believe that. We bank our happiness on other things. But God says to us, ‘I’m better than you think. You’re worse than you think. Let’s get together.'” While demonstrating good exegesis, this book like others in the series is designed to help the preacher know how to effectively and faithfully set forth the message of Isaiah. Ortlund mentions his gratitude to J. Alec Motyer and John N. Oswalt for their help in exegeting Isaiah. I would agree and add to that list, E. J. Young’s classic set as well.

The opening passage in chapter 1 will give you a preview of other rich words in this volume: “We can know, because God has spoken. Into our troubled world, God has spoken to us from ‘the borders of another world.’ Our needs go deeper than the remedies on sale in the marketplace of ideas today. Whether you are a believer or an unbeliever, wouldn’t you agree that the ‘solution of the riddle of life in space and time lies outside space and time?’ …Surprisingly, his message is good news for bad people like us. Will you listen to him thoughtfully, patiently?”

There are so many rich passages in this commentary that it is impossible to mention them all. One of my favorite passages is Isaiah 60, the Old Testament version of Revelation 21. Ortlund entitles that chapter, “Revival and World Renewal.” It is the new Jerusalem and the climax and consummation of all history. I especially appreciated his handling of that rich chapter and its various themes. One last passage that again reflects the importance of this commentary, “God himself came down into this world and suffered Hell out of love for us, to save us from our folly. It’s time for us to humble ourselves. It’s time to change the subject in our minds from blaming God for ruining the world to owning our real moral guilt before him, so that we can receive his saving love in Christ.” Need I say more to encourage you to have access to this commentary and use it in your studying, preaching, and teaching? It is powerful!