Book Reviews

This book may be one that a person would be tempted to pass over due to the subject matter. I would recommend that one not be so quick to dismiss this as just another book on counseling and psychology. It is a book filled with hope and encouragement, whether you have experienced discouragement because of certain situations in life, or you know someone who has or is battling severe depression.

In the introduction, Dr. Welch writes that the path ahead is a partnership between the “whys” and the “how-tos.” The “why” questions are religious in nature and are about God and the basic questions of life. To ignore them and focus on the “how” questions might lead to temporary mental relief, but your heart will still be famished.

As he writes about the technical diagnosis of depression as often being a chemical imbalance he urges the reader to not buy into a medical explanation too quickly. The reason being that if a depressed person assumes their problem is fundamentally medical they will not see any usefulness in looking at their relationships or basic beliefs about God.

He also warns against just assuming that depression is only rooted in spiritual causes. He points out that strong faith can coexist with emotional highs, lows and everything in between. “It is a myth that faith is always smiling.”

In part one of the book he writes that depression is suffering. He discusses some of the causes, but he always keeps us coming back to the Scriptures and God. “But all suffering is intended to train us to fix our eyes on the true God. Therefore, depression, regardless of the causes, is a time to answer the deepest and most important of all questions: Whom will I trust? Whom will I worship?” He goes on to introduce the reader to God who is sovereign, powerful and good. The exhortation is to cry out to the Lord, to battle with the enemy Satan, and to persevere in the fight.

In part two, “Listening to Depression,” he discusses in more detail the reasons for depression, but I think a key chapter is thirteen, “The Heart of Depression.” Here he writes about what comes out of a person, such as autonomy, indulging his/her desires, and wanting more, none of which changes one’s depression. You will also be ministered to, and challenged by the other chapters on fear, anger, dashed hopes, failure and shame, guilt and legalism, and death.

“Other Help and Advise” is the third section of the book and deals with medical treatments, and how families and friends can help those depressed. There are good practical suggestions throughout this section, and expectations to learn and be used by God.

Part four is entitled “Hope and Joy: Thinking God’s Thoughts.” Dr. Welch ends the book with great encouragement as he writes, “While our culture elevates riches and health, hope is one of the most coveted spiritual possessions. You get it by asking for it and by practicing it. You practice it by remembering and meditating on God’s story….Joy is not the opposite of suffering…Instead, joy can actually be a companion to suffering.” In the end get the message of Jesus’ words “I love you.”

Welch has written with compassion, gentleness, and has kept a Christ-centered focus on how to handle depression. He has saturated the book with Scripture, and therefore it is recommended for your reading.

This book is the latest in over 14 other books by Philip Graham Ryken, pastor of Tenth Presbyterian. He is becoming known not only as an effective preacher but also clear, cogent, and effective writer. This book deserves to be read and circulated among Christians today who are not living in a friendly nor safe world, spiritually speaking. Never has it been more important for Christians to understand that Christianity relates to all of life. As the sovereign and triune God, He does speak to us everywhere.

If there is one thing that is needed today, it is for Christians to understand that Christianity provides a coherent, unified, and satisfying worldview. The tragedy of not having that perspective is taking its toll in all of life.

Ryken builds this book around occasional talks given at Tenth Presbyterian. He states, “The world is a complicated place, so like the original talks, this book addresses a wide variety of issues. However, there is a coherent perspective that unifies the book and runs through all its chapters.”

The topics are loosely gathered into ten parts. These include: love, marriage and family, sports and leisure, science and technology, social issues, politics, feasts and festivals, the Bible, church history and Christianity today. The topics, fifty in all, are usually only three or four pages in length.

In this diversity of topics, Ryken shows that God is concerned about all areas of life. One example deals with the concept of intelligent design. Ryken states that intelligent design may be a useful tool for Christian apologetics because not only are we to understand the implications of intelligent design, we have a responsibility to challenge those who believe otherwise. We need to know how to talk sensibly about the subject.

Another example is the topic of the human genome. Ryken rightly maintains that it really takes theologians who know that we are more than a genetic code to understand who we are. It takes knowing that we are made in God’s image and likeness to know who we are, which means that we must know who God is.

Ryken discusses the TV psychologist guru, Dr. Phil, and talks about the wrong emphasis of encouraging us to look inwardly for all the answers needed to solve life’s problems. There are good brief articles on Bible translations in which he explains why he favors the English Standard Version, as we do.

You will appreciate this book and find it helpful not only for yourself, but for your family and friends who need to be challenged to develop a coherently biblically reformed world and life view.

Crossway Books has done us a favor in reprinting this outstanding and important book in preparation for the recent celebration in St. Louis, of the 50th anniversary of L’Abri’s ministry and one of America’s most influential evangelical thinkers, the late Francis A. Schaeffer. Our readers are not strangers to Schaeffer. We refer to him often in Equip.

Of his more than twenty books, this is one of the most important ones because he paints a big picture of the history of Western thought and culture. Schaeffer not only demonstrates his unusual grasp and understanding of Western civilization and thought, he uses that knowledge to set forth the practical truth of the Christian faith clearly and effectively. Revell Publishers first published How Should We Then Live with accompanying leader’s and study guides. It was also made into a film and is available through the Christian Education and Publications video library.

In the publisher’s foreword, Lane Dennis summarizes my sentiments when he writes, “Schaeffer’s thesis was that if we are to understand (as stated in the title) ‘how we should then live’ today, then we must understand the cultural and intellectual forces that brought us to this day.” Schaeffer thus begins his penetrating analysis with the fall of Rome, followed by the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment, while focusing in the twentieth century primarily on the influence of art, music, literature, and film. As kingdom disciples, we must not only understand the Word, we must understand the world, if we are to communicate the truth to our generation.

Because this book was written thirty years ago it did not reflect some of the latest understanding of postmodern philosophy. Schaeffer demonstrated himself, however, as a bridge person who understood the shortcomings of modernism and how it was leading western culture toward the path of postmodernism. He had an ability, as a cultural apologist, to demonstrate how a post-Christian mind impacted the arts, music, drama, the media, as well as theology. This made his ministry uniquely applicable to his 20th century audience. It also paved the way for us as we moved into the 21st century.

In chapter after chapter you will find underscored the importance of understanding Christianity as a total life system or as Nancy Pearcey has written, “total truth.” In his closing remarks, Schaeffer wrote, “This book is written in the hope that this generation may turn from the greatest of wickedness, the placing of any created thing in the place of the Creator, and that this generation may get its feet out of the paths death and may live.” Those same words can be said of the rising generations today, as well.

While Schaeffer demonstrated time and again that Christian thinking was on the wane, at the same time he challenged his generation to develop a Christian mind that thinks from a Christian perspective about all things. He stood on biblical truth as he wrote and taught these truths. His key text was Ezekiel 33:1-11, 19 and especially verse 10. Like Ezekiel of old, Schaeffer, in his prophet-like style, challenged the readers to be watchmen, knowing how they should live.

If you have not read or studied this book, by all means do so. I have enjoyed working through it with colleagues and small group study. It would be a good textbook to include in any curriculum.

This truly is an encyclopedia of practical ideas for women’s ministry leaders. What intrigued me the most about the title was “for the 21^st Century.” I thought it would be interesting to see what those outside this office would think a 21^st century women’s ministry would look. Contributors to this book were from Vineyard churches, a Christian church, an Evangelical Free church, and a Lutheran church.

The book does contain some great and practical ideas. There are nine sections. Section one is entitled Fellowship and Fun-

“…The church is to be built on relationships and community. The Bible says more than once that we are the body of Christ-we are all connected.” “One of your jobs as a women’s ministry director is to help women build deep lasting ties with other women in the church…learn to bear one another’s burdens and to love one another with Christ’s love…” “Help every woman in your church discover how we are mysteriously and wonderfully interconnected and interdependent.”

This section has some great ideas for welcoming, icebreakers, and fellowship.

Section two is about serving others.

“The Bible never calls for us to be spectators, or worse, to be needy creatures who continually enjoy being served without ever returning the favor by serving others. In fact, the Bible makes it quite clear that each Christian has been given a gift and is expected to use that gift for the benefit of the body.”

There are great service ideas from haircuts for those in jail or shelters to helping those in the congregation with home projects.

Section three covers spiritual growth.

“It’s also helpful for women to spend time with other women who know and love Jesus. In every church, there are women who are wise and spiritually mature. These women are great examples to others. Spiritually mature women can encourage others, inspire others, instruct others, counsel others, and gently rebuke others where needed.”

This section includes a mentoring program, ten-minute devotions to be used in a group (some good, some shallow, some out of context), and fifteen group prayer ideas (that I personally found hokey).

On Bible studies they state, “Bible studies are the core of every women’s ministry.” The Bible studies included in the manual are open-ended questions with no theological guidance for the leader.

Section five is called “Girls Movie Night Out.” This section has more than 25 movie choices with discussion questions. For more formal gatherings, section six tackles celebrations and special events. “There are several events in this section that are designed to celebrate family relationships or a special time in someone’s life” There are some great ideas for special events that include teens in celebrating with each other.

The chapter on outreach not only gives some clever outreach program ideas, but it offers help in practice sharing Christ. Before an outreach event, a few meetings are planned to help women practice sharing their faith.

Many women’s ministries offer retreats.

“Retreats are wonderful opportunities for women to get away from their everyday responsibilities and to rest, have fun, and spend some concentrated time learning about God”

Here you will find basic retreat planning information, suggested schedules, discussion group ideas, and themes.

But, back to my interest in what others thought a 21^st century women’s ministry would look like in structure. The “Leader Helps” segment is full of information about purpose statements, building leadership teams, team communication, job descriptions, surveys, and financial forms. I chuckled to myself, because it was like reading our old WIC Manual…very similar actually. We are ahead of the game! Others think the 21^st Century does want structure.

Until we can produce our own comprehensive manual, I would recommend this as a resource to those who could wisely use the ideas through our reformed/covenantal grid.

We place a great deal of emphasis, and rightly so, on studying Scripture in its original context and moving from there to our present context. That becomes an integral part to preaching and teaching from the Scriptures. It helps shed light on what God is saying, to that first audience and to us today. Hymn singing can also be viewed in that same light.

Many of the great hymns have a rich background. I have always tried, where possible, to let people know something of the background of either the hymn or the writer, or both. We are admonished to sing with understanding. With today’s emphasis on singing choruses and other contemporary music, we may be keeping God’s covenant people, including the children, from a rich heritage and experience in singing the great hymns.

I recall when I first heard about the circumstance that led George Matheson to write the hymn “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go,” the hymn was even further endeared to my mind and heart, knowing how though all others forsake me, God will never let me go. That story is in this book. And there are 149 other familiar hymns and stories that can be used in worship, sermon illustrations, Bible teaching in general, and with family devotions. “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” “Amazing Grace,” “O God Our Help In Ages Past,” “Like a River Glorious,” and many others are rich in biblical truth and made real and edifying to us as we learn something about the writers and their situations. For example: your heart will fill with both joy and tears as you read about Frances Havergal, who wrote “Like a River Glorious,” and see what that meant to her has she died trying to sing about God.

I recently wrote a book on the topic of Making Kingdom Disciples and concluded that the kingdom is a missing framework in that process. With that in mind, I was eager to read this book on the kingdom. I read an early manuscript version with much interest and enthusiasm.

In my studies and research on this topic, I have become more aware of the confusion on the subject of the kingdom of God. In some cases I have found complete neglect of the topic where it is obvious that it should be foremost. After all, what was it that Jesus came to preach and do? He preached the Kingdom and brought it in. Still, much confusion has existed about this kingdom, ranging from historic dispensationalism, to liberalism, and even to evangelical and reformed theology.

To do Moore’s book justice and to highlight its strengths and weaknesses would take far more space that we have in Equip for Ministry. However I will give a brief overview and end with a strong commendation, particularly to pastors and teachers. First, in Christendom, there is a wide range of teaching regarding the kingdom, from those who believe there is really no connection between the church and the kingdom, to those who believe the church and the kingdom are synonymous, to those who think that the kingdom has already come and those who believe that it is yet to come.

There are several strengths to Moore’s work. First, is the history of the church’s development since the 1900s, which represents an important time, especially for the evangelical church. Second, there are 120 pages of footnotes and bibliography. I did not enjoy however, having to turn to the back of the book so often to read the notes, but I did appreciate their inclusion. Third, Moore dealt clearly and fairly with the concept of the “inaugurated kingdom” (George Eldon Ladd) which means that it came with the coming of Jesus but not yet. The phrase is “already, but not yet.” Moore opens up that study in a most helpful way. Fourth, he does a credible job of showing the role of Carl F. H. Henry, who wrote an icebreaking book, The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism, which began to challenge American evangelicals to see the Kingdom in a broader light with a broader Kingdom focus, as it relates to crafting a theology of sociopolitical engagement.

In my book, I attempt to summarize where the Church and the Kingdom are alike, but where the Kingdom has a broader assignment while the Church’s role is more focused, having been assigned the task of making Kingdom disciples in such a manner as to live out their faith in all areas of life. Moore is helpful is demonstrating the concept of taking our Christian faith into the marketplace, the sociopolitical arena, and serving Christ the King of the Kingdom in all of life.

I also appreciated Moore’s development of how traditional dispensationalism and what he calls “traditional reformed covenantal evangelicalism” have modified their positions over the years and brought them a bit closer together. He calls the two “progressive dispensationalists” and “modified covenantalists,” whom he represents with men such as Geerhardus Vos, Edmund Clowney, Vern Poythress, Richard Gaffin, and of course John R. Murray in the reformed camp.

My biggest concern, which does not cast a dark shadow on this excellent book, was how he handles what he calls the traditional covenantalists and the modified reformed covenantalists. He seems to think that the difference deals with the eschatological position being somewhat modified. It also has to do with, according to Moore, how the two comings of Christ are so intermingled. He quotes Vern Poythress of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

“This growing commitment among Reformed theologians to an explicitly eschatological understanding of the present reign of Christ may be seen in the reconsideration, led chiefly by Gaffin, of the eschatological meaning of the resurrection of Jesus.”

This basically underscores the “already, not yet” nature of the kingdom.

Though the concept of the Kingdom is broader than Moore’s following statement, he helps us understand the important developments on the Kingdom topic.

“The evangelical consensus on the Kingdom of God provides a first step in establishing a coherent theological foundation for social and political engagement in the public square.”

If we understand the reformed covenantal understanding of the Kingdom, we will better understand the Church’s spiritual role in equipping people to live as Kingdom disciples. For example, to quote Moore,

“…the biblical truth that the Kingdom is not just about personal salvation, or “spirituality,” but is also about the vocation of the believing community, the worldview of the church, and the salvation of the cosmos,” page 177.

This is a good book to help us understand where both liberalism and dispensationalism went awry and how the reformed covenantalists stand in the gap and keep the balance while respecting the role of the church today.

To bring this back full circle, Moore correctly states that the move toward a Kingdom theology answers the problems raised by Henry in his book Uneasy Conscious of Modern Fundamentalism, a book which, by the way, is still in print and available from the CE&P bookstore. You will appreciate this book and it will help you expand your understanding of the Church and the Kingdom of God.