Book Reviews

From the moment I began reading Susan Hunt’s newest book, Prayers of the Bible: Equipping Women to Call on God in Truth, I knew I was in for an adventure that would take me closer to my Holy God. From the Scriptural prayers chosen, to the topics they represent, to the quotes of honored authors, to the depth of Susan’s understanding of the whole Gospel, I have come to a greater knowledge of basic biblical principles and have learned how to communicate them with more clarity.

Susan Hunt’s books have always challenged me to grow deeper in my understanding of who I am as a woman of God. They can be read and reread with new freshness each reading. In this book, Susan has succinctly communicated with clarity the biblical principles she has been teaching for years and in doing so has created a book that teaches the core of these principles.

The leader’s study guide is easy to use with plenty of Scripture and a lesson plan and handout for each chapter making her book perfect for mentoring other women. There are 12 chapters in the book. But the joy of this book is entering the prayers of our Lord and his saints and grasping the privilege we have of coming with praise and scriptural requests before a gracious and loving Father who is also our Almighty God.

Reviewed by Sandy Currin
Women’s Advisory Sub-Committee

Timothy George said of The Sky Is Not Falling and Chuck Colson, “Chuck Colson has a prophetic word for today’s church. He shares it here with conviction, compassion, and rare wisdom.” God has placed Christians here on a mission and it looks as though the mission has been aborted. The culture has been engulfed by everything that appears to oppose biblical Christianity. Christians are to know the Word, know the world, and growing out of that knowledge, know how to combat the forces that are taking our culture downward.Colson has a unique ability to do both these things and to speak with a voice that definitely has a prophetic tone that is missing in most of evangelical Christianity today.In this easy but challenging read, Colson helps us to understand what we are up against and what these forces look like that are causing the sun to set on our western civilization as we have known it, and that includes Christianity.

One example from the book highlights what the book focuses on. “Christianity is a belief system that is, as Paul tells Festur, ‘true and reasonable.’ I can’t think of a more critical time for pastors, scholars, and laypeople to be grounded in a biblical worldview and to defend it clearly to those hungering for the truth. But are we prepared for the challenge? … 90 percent, according to one survey-have no understanding of worldview. How are we going to contend with competing philosophies if we’re not even rooted in our own truth system?” (Page 24)

Colson demonstrates what is happening to the effectiveness of Christian influence when we are putting experience above reason and image over words. It is apparent we are not equipped for moral discourse or how to combat postmodern thinking. Today, if it feels right and looks right, it must be right, whether in fact it is or is not. Colson writes that “the gospel is not a matter of soothing feelings or rewarding experiences (although it may produce both). It is the Truth that postmodernists can stake their lives on” (Page 27).

The chapter “Bringing Sanity to Moral Confusion” will set the stage for the six-part series mentioned below. The biggest bankruptcy in America today is not economic but moral and spiritual and Colson shows us why. Living by the untruth that the ends justify the means is continuing to take its toll in our society. Using the analogy by theologian Michael Novak in the 90’s that Western liberal democracy is like a three legged stool which if any one of the legs is removed the stool falls. The three are, according to Novak, political freedom, economic freedom and moral responsibility. You get the point!

This is not a doom and gloom book because Colson believes that all hope is not lost for America, and we concur. At present, if we are alert and equipped, we can understand the issues and get involved in every area of life, seeking to be salt and light. And if the church is fulfilling its role in discipling the people, we can hope to see the influence return.The challenge to the church is to disciple its people who have the mission to see their kingdom role in the world. The church must teach the Word with a sense of prophetic urgency and accuracy. It must help the people understand the world and then train the people to move into every area of life making a kingdom difference.Colson refers to Calvin’s emphasis in Book Three of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, that the Truth has to be carried into the mind and heart and then applied. But to get to the application we cannot bypass the learning process.

One last selling point for this book: Colson underscores one of our frequent themes at CEP, that Christians must learn to be bi-lingual. We must speak the Christian language to one another but then know how to speak that same truth in the language of the people we seek to reach. Often, using the Christian language, as though we were speaking to our Christian family members, is not the most effective way to communicate with those presently outside the family. This book will help. It is not difficult to read but it is filled with solid challenging and engaging content.

While it is not necessary to read the above book before using the six-part video series, for which there is a leader’s guide and questions for discussion, it would set the stage. The six-part DVD Doing the Right Thing, is effective for Sunday school groups, high school and above, it can be used in a men’s gathering, or women’s study. Or you can work through it on your own. The series is focused around the moral and ethical challenges that we face today. Moral relativism, if it feels good, do it, or whatever is true for you may not be for me, or there are no absolutes upon which to develop morals, values, and ethical decisions are the things that are effectively dealt with in this series.The format is straight forward. It is narrated by Fox News analyst Britt Hume, along with Chuck Colson and Robert George of Princeton. Five panelists and an audience of college students move through topics ranging from ethics in the public life, to ethics in the market place, to bio-ethics, and knowing the right things to do etc.

Colson was right when he said that we are in an ethical mess and generally not because we are bad people, but because we do not always understand the cultural forces impacting our lives. While the Bible is being preached and taught in our type of churches, the people are not always connecting the dots; hence the church has to go the extra mile and disciple the people with the discerning ability to recognize, understand, and know how to stand in the faith against those forces.

The aim of the series is worldview oriented because it is aimed at examining this moral and ethical mess and coming to grips with what we can and must do in attempting to set things right, according to God’s Truth. Examples of discussion questions will help you to see the import of this series. For example: If moral truth is knowable, why do we have so much disagreement about it in our society and across cultures? Or, when Paul says that governments are “God’s servants to do good,” what does he mean by good? In what ways did government fail to uphold this idea of “good” during the recent economic crisis?

The series is well developed and helps the participant think concretely about today and our role and responsibility in today’s world, plus how Christianity, God’s Truth, is our answer and guide through this mess.

Do you think about living forever? How many decisions did you make this week with this perspective in mind? I venture to say very few, if any, because either the here and now overwhelm us or we do not believe there is life after death; therefore, we don’t think about forever. The tyranny of the urgent has become our lifestyle. Seeking solutions to problems beyond our control, coping with a sudden crisis, or trying to maintain an ideal lifestyle has become a nightmare due largely to our mindset that life exists only for this present life. Therefore, we are driven to cram everything into our remaining years and we live without hope.

Our “earthly” world and life view truncates that for which we are wired: forever. We think only of this earthly span of our lives, and do not think, believe, live, or plan for our lives after death. Why? Because somewhere, “forever” faded from our philosophy of life, and we have become obsessed with what the author called a “destination mentality” instead of a “preparation mentality.” The “destination mentality” is that this present life is all there is and we have to do it all now. As Tripp points out, forever has been stolen and we struggle to live without this vital perspective.

Forever: Why You Can’t Live Without It brings us back to a “preparation mentality,” the reality of what forever means in God’s perspective. We were not created to live without it and doing so is like putting a puzzle together and always finding a piece missing so the puzzle can never be completed. Life without forever is not God’s plan. “He responds to us with eternity in view, and he will not quit until this time of preparation has given way to the final destination.” We were created to live forever and the present is preparatory for the future.

Forever is a book that impacts your approach to life, marriage, circumstances, etc., everything that touches your life in terms of eternity. It encourages the reader to examine expectations in relationships. It is a very practical book simply because of the way Tripp writes and how he brings the perspective of eternity into how we live day to day. Along with what was accomplished on the cross, Jesus gave us forever through grace. An empty tomb assures us that we will live with Jesus forever and Tripp reminds us, “…Jesus not only gave us a future, but he also restored our ability to live as we were designed, with eternity in view.”

Life is hard. As Christians we are called into battle fighting against the evil one attempting to derail us from living with forever in mind. Where is the joy we so desperately want? The author reminds us that deep-seated joy is foreverjoy, eternal joy; vertical joy; it does not evaporate in the face of hardship. “Eternity assures us that every dark thing will be defeated. Eternity celebrates the truth that God will win. Eternity shocks us with the certainty that death will someday die along with all of the pain and suffering that are attached to it. Eternity tells us that God will dry our last tears.”

If you are searching for help living in a broken world with broken people, this is a book you definitely should read. The author invites you “…to step off the treadmill of your busy life and consider what life looks like when viewed through the lens of forever.”

For one wanting to understand more about the history of salvation, how it is accomplished and applied, and for those struggling between the Lutheran view and the Calvinistic view of the subject, this book appears in good timing. I think the statement on the book’s cover sums it up, “Union with Christ is the central truth of the whole biblical teaching about salvation. The entirety of our relationship with God can be summed up in this doctrine.” It continues, “Yet when people ask what this union actually is, we flounder.”

Robert Letham uses Scripture, theology, and church history (fathers) to develop this topic and he does so in a way that enables us to have a clearer understanding of how and why God made us to be united with him. Though the atoning work of Christ is the heart of the gospel and other things are merely parts and applications, we need to understand that salvation stems from our union with Christ. Our justification, our adoption, our sanctification result from our union with Christ.

Years ago, I came to appreciate this doctrine in studying John Murray’s Redemption, Accomplished, and Applied. Murray said, and Letham reminds us of his words, “nothing is more central or basic than union and communion with Christ.” He quotes Lane Tipton, theology professor at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, “there are no benefits of the gospel apart from union with Christ.” Sadly, Letham is correct when he says that not much is heard about “union with Christ” from today’s pulpits, and that is a pity because it is so central and basic to salvation.

Some following a more Lutheran view of salvation maintain that union with Christ is the result of our being justified by faith; however the Calvinistic focus maintained that our justification by faith is grounded in our union with Christ. Letham leads us through those kinds of issues in this book. It is technical, yet very readable. Letham develops the teaching that Paul sets forth in Romans 6, that “our union with Christ is the foundational basis for sanctification and the dynamic force that empowers it.”

In the chapter, “Union with Christ and Transformation,” Letham sets forth what he calls ten theses. The first of the ten is enough to whet your appetite to read and study the others-The union we enjoy with Christ is more real and more fundamental than the union we have with members of our own bodies. In these theses, Letham opens up topics such as the Word and Sacraments, important topics especially in today’s liturgical malaise. He concludes with the reminder that our union with Christ will continue “in unbroken and unsullied fulfillment.”

You will not regret reading and studying this book. It will be a good reference for you as you think about, teach, and preach about salvation and our relationship to the Triune God.

Here is a bookevery ruling and teaching elder will want to have. I must confess as I read, it brought back memories when we were forming the first three years of our PCA existence. I chaired the Constitutional Documents Committee and worked very closely with Morton Smith in developing the Book of Church Order for the PCA. Along with Frank Barker, Don Patterson and John Barnes, that was actually a four-year process and I had to present each part to the General Assembly and allow discussion and questions before it was finally adopted. Morton Smith and I spent hours upon hours dealing with the very things Guy Waters writes about in this book.

Waters deals clearly and effectively, as well as biblically and theologically, with numerous issues that we had to work through back in 1973-1976. He refers to the PC BCO throughout this book. I am so glad that he is teaching a polity course at Reformed Theological Seminary with this material. It answers and documents so many issues that are constantly coming before our church. I will be careful not to get nostalgic with this review.

Waters explains the two different schools of thought regarding church government and why Presbyterians, and particularly the PCA has chosen the latter-jure humano (by human right) and jure divino (by divine right). He writes, “by jure divino we mean that the fundamental principles of Apostolic church government have been retained, and are legitimately applied in the circumstances and under the conditions which are peculiar to our own age and country (page 43).

From there he sets forth the principles of that government and polity but then helps us to understand how the application of those principles may vary from circumstance to circumstance just as the Westminster Confession of Faith 1:6 maintains, “and there are some circumstances concerning worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.”

He deals with topics such as the number of offices in which he prefers the two office view, referring to the PCA position. (We actually called it the two and one half office view, practically speaking, but for parity sake we concurred in the beginning that the office of elder is one office with two functions, ruling and teaching). Waters also clearly points out the second major office, that of deacon, is a perpetual office and should be part of the churches structure. Growing out of that he explains the role of women, as it relates to teaching and serving the needs of the church –which underscores the PCA’s position on male officers for both elders and deacons.

You will appreciate Waters’ section on the theology of the church with some emphasis on the kingdom but also explaining the difference between ecclesiastical government and civil government. What he highlights fits nicely with our understanding of the spiritual mission of the church which is to make kingdom disciples who then in turn move into the broader kingdom to have a positive Christian witness and influence, a position which protects the church’s spiritual mission concept and the peoples’ responsibility of each member to live everyday as kingdom people, claiming and giving to God glory in whatever we do.

Finally, I appreciate, as you will also, Waters’ emphasis that church government is a topic that cannot be separated from kingdom discipleship. Operating on the jure divino concept we cannot ignore this part of God’s revealed will regarding the subject. He further points to why this should be viewed as part of the church’s discipleship training. If you are an officer, you need to constantly think about your responsibility as formal leaders in God’s church. If you are not an officer, you need to pray for those in authority in the church. And last, as you have the privilege of electing men to these perpetual offices, you need to know God’s qualifications and pray specifically that he will raise up godly men who excel in these character and skills traits.

If I were a pastor at this moment, I would have our leadersread this book by Gary Gilley and the book by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert included in this review section and as I read those two books along with the session, I would personally read Al Baker’s book mentioned in this section as well. Why these books? Because the church is not doing too well today, at least the “institutional church” as we know it. The sad thing is that while many of the leaders are concerned and are frantically trying to fix the leak before the water supply dries up, they are often using the wrong materials which further complicate the problem.

The truth is that God placed the church, the heart of his kingdom, here with a purpose, design, and assignment. He did not intend to let the world determine those things. The church is his body, his bride, his people. He created the church to be among other things but especially, “the ground and pillar of truth.” What makes that so difficult today is we are living at a time when the concept of truth is not very clear because the emphasis is not on God but man. This means that truth, if there is such a thing, is man’s to determine. This is how it tends to play out with no absolute measure or standard whereby general agreement regarding truth can be achieved.

Though we are living in an age often referred to as one of cultural relevance yet there seems to be an innate awareness of standards. Even those claiming that things are relative and may differ for different people in different circumstances, yet, there is an awareness that things such as murder, human injustice, insensitivity to peoples’ needs are wrong.

How often the god of this world, Satan, has blinded the eyes not only of the unbelievers but believers as well to God’s truth. The truth as it relates to this book’s topic is not about gimmicks, circuses, raffles, entertainment, and the like run by the church. The truth is about proclaiming God’s truth as he has revealed it in his book, the Bible.

The author has identified several areas in his attempt to call the church back to its reason for being, namely to proclaim, witness to, and teach the Word of God in a manner that lives will be transformed by the power of the Gospel.

A couple of examples will illustrate the point. Gilley refers to the seeker sensitive approach to how the church goes about its mission. Of course that refers to making your church have curb appeal in order to attract people. Now, no one of course would want the opposite but this tends to happen with this method of church ministry. How it is done, plays to the world’s agenda with truth either taking a back seat or for all practical purposes, or exiting the scene. He uses the most famous church in the U. S., the Willow Creek Church, who has used this model only to finally conclude that they have really failed in discipling the people. Their own surveys have shown that the thousands of people in their flock know very little about the Bible, doctrine, etc.

Then there are those who have bought into the pragmatic method of doing what works to grow the church. “If it works, it must be of God.” As long as the people are coming and filling the pews or chairs, it must be working. The problem with this approach to the church’s mission and ministry is that looks to the standard of pragmaticism vs. looking to Scripture. It looks good so it must be right.

Some churches are allowing themselves to be invaded by the spirit of paganism, generally not intentionally but without discernment. Many of the church’s methods of ministry reflect things characterized not by the Word of God but by pagan practices. This might be called by some, the “name it and claim it” mantra. Gilley refers to a book entitled The Secret by Rhonda Bryne, a book that has tremendously impacted Oprah Winfrey and her eclectic religious leanings, which teaches the “law of attraction.” If you think it, it will be. New Age spirituality is no stranger to the churches using Eastern mystical practices. This can often infiltrate through, art, music, silence, even people. You heard it! Get in touch with your feelings. Be real and authentic. It is all about experience. Eventually, God is quietly dismissed from the scene but when God leaves, so does his lampstand.

In the section in this book entitled “The Way Back,” Gilley calls the church to return to the Word of God, proclaiming, teaching, witnessing to, and living God’s word because that is God’s method carrying out the church’s mission. However following God’s method requires proclaiming and teaching about sin, death, and hell. It requires an ongoing awareness of the need for repentance and changing the way we think about life and reality. The church must help its people develop a deeper understanding, appreciation, application of God’s Word and this cannot be done using the world’s agenda, or accommodating the church’s life to the life the world around it. There is and should be even more, a concern that many people who are professing faith in Christ have no experience of conviction for sin and the need to repent. The whole truth of the Gospel is not being taught and we must remember that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”

This Little Church Had None is a call for the church to return to God’s agenda and assignment in preaching and teaching the truth in a life transforming way. It appears that many Christians today are not challenged nor taught that without holiness of life, no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14), and if they are, it is generally a half truth, “O that is something God does. We do no have to do it.”We need this book’s challenge and reminder! It is Gilley’s third book in the series mentioned in earlier edition of Equip to Disciple, This Little Church Went to Market and This Little Church Stayed Home.