SVC Book Reviews

The Sacred Journey, by Charles Foster (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010), 229 pp. ...

Gary Gilley — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:14:00 +0000

This book is part of The Ancient Practices Series, published by Thomas Nelson and edited by Phyllis Tickle. The premise is that pilgrimage is essential to spiritual formation and Foster is seeking to provide answers to three questions:

1. How did anyone ever think that a journey, such as a journey made by a barn swallow, had any religious significance?
2. Was he right?
3. If he was, what should we do with the insight (p. xiii)?

The author attempts to support the view that pilgrims and nomads are superior to city people and civilization in numerous ways:

1. Pilgrimage is what is meant by when Jesus said, “Follow Me” (pp. 25, 212).
2. Distorting biblical concepts, such as claiming Abel was a tramp while Cain was the founder of civilization (p. 37, 42), and Sodom is what happens when man stops wandering (p. 56).
3. Terah, Abram and Lot were hippies (p. 57).
4. God is a camper and a hippie (pp. 49, 150).
5. Relics are important (pp. 111-113).
6. Mythological and ridiculous stories happened on the “sacred journeys” (pp. 163-164; 172-173).
7. Jesus was a vagrant

The Prodigal God, Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller (New York: ...

Gary Gilley — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:10:00 +0000

The Prodigal God has received much notice and praise in the evangelical community. The editors of World Magazine even proclaimed it their “Book of the Year.” The accolades are understandable given Timothy Keller’s helpful apologetic approach (see his Reason for God), his winsome evangelism methods and his ability to turn a phrase, causing some to compare him favorably to C. S. Lewis. Keller is on the mark throughout much of the book. He is correct, for instance, that the story of the prodigal son is about two boys who are lost, not one. Both the rebellious, obviously sinful younger brother and the self-righteous, legalistic older brother were disobedient to their father and needed to repent and “come home” (pp. 10-11, 18, 36). Both brothers wanted their father’s possessions but sadly not their father (pp. 18, 36). Keller rightly points out that everyone is dedicated to a project of self-salvation (p. 44), but just take different approaches. The author understands the gospel message is that of Jesus Christ paying for our sin-debt on the cross (p. 87) to deliver us from

Loving the Way Jesus Loves, by Phil Ryken (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012) 222 pp., paper $14.99

Gary Gilley — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:02:00 +0000

In Loving the Way Jesus Loves Ryken does a fine job describing love as taught in 1 Corinthians 13. The uniqueness of this book is, after dealing with each facet of love as found in the Pauline epistles, Ryken then illustrates it with an episode from the life of Christ as found in the Gospels. The effect is to put shoes on love and watch as it travels about in real life situations.

Ryken devotes one chapter each to twelve descriptions of love as provided by Paul. I particularly appreciated chapter three, “Love Is Not Irritable,” chapter five, “Love’s Holy Joy,” chapter eleven, “Love Forgives,” and the last chapter, “Love Never Fails,” but every chapter has valuable insights. This volume also comes with a helpful study guide for small groups.

There are a handful of questionable comments such as when the author wrote that the new commandment given by Jesus (“That you love one another…” John 13:34) means that love now comes with new power (p. 129); this interpretation cannot be found in the context. But for the most part

Leading with Love,by Alexander Strauch (Littleton, Colorado: Lewis and Roth Publishers, 2006) ...

Gary Gilley — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:53:00 +0000

The title of this book is actually “A Christian Leader’s Guide to Leading With Love” but with few exceptions it is a guide to any believer seeking to walk and serve in love. After demonstrating the indispensable nature of love in Part One (the first three chapters), Strauch dedicates Part Two (chapters 4-9) to an excellent study of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. The author carefully explores the characteristics of love given in this passage. He is both biblically sound and practical, lacing the study with insight from over 30 years of ministry within the church. This section is applicable to anyone, whether in leadership or not. It could also serve as a wonderful tool in counseling, or as an aide in preparation for teaching on love.

Part three (chapters 10-18) is entitled “The Works of a Loving Leader” and is more directly aimed at pastors, elders and others who are in leadership positions in the body of Christ. However any Christian would benefit from what he would read in this section.

Leading with Love is a wonderful resource. It

Golf’s Sacred Journey, by David L. Cook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009) 126 pp., e-book $9.99.

Gary Gilley — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:49:00 +0000

This is a novel about golf with a message about living. The storyline concerns a young pro-golfer wanting desperately to make it to the big leagues (the PGA tour). Thinking he is closing in on his goal, he has a classic meltdown in an important tournament. At the end of his rope, he wanders to the little town of Utopia, Texas, where he meets a former golf coach who mentors him in golf and life. In “Karate Kid” fashion the coach improves the young man’s game through other activities such as fly fishing, tossing washers, piloting a small plane, painting, and by introducing him to a revolutionary new kind of putter. In a week’s time the young golfer’s game is transformed and he wins the biggest tournament of his life.

But the coach also teaches the young pro that there are things in life far more important than golf (p. 98); a relationship with Jesus Christ. Cook weaves the gospel winsomely and appropriately so that many reading this book will relate and take notice. Unfortunately the gospel presented

One Thousand Gifts, A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, by Ann Voskamp (Grand Rapids: ...

Gary Gilley — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:43:00 +0000

Ann Voskamp writes this bestselling book from an educational background in psychology and as a mother of six and farmer’s wife. But her life has been shaped largely by the accidental death of her sister when the author was four (pp. 10-13). Whether this tragedy was the main cause for Voskamp’s other emotional and spiritual problems can’t be determined, but we witness throughout One Thousand Gifts the tortured soul of one trying to find her way in life. She admits to periods of cutting herself, taking medication for depression, fear, anxiety attacks, and agoraphobia (pp. 144-149). As is often the case, such emotional struggles led her to explore psychological theories which show up in her belief that she has rejected herself (p. 205), and in numerous statements such as, “The only way to fight a feeling is with a feeling” (p. 136) and, “It’s impossible to give thanks and simultaneously feel fear” (p. 203).

Voskamp does not find what she is looking for in psychology and medication. She knows what she ultimately needs is found only in God but

Worship: The Ultimate Priority, by John MacArthur (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2012), pp. ...

James Blankenship — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:27:00 +0000

John MacArthur’s new book is a rewrite of his classic from thirty years ago. Though evangelical worship has degenerated further since then, he did not have to change much of the text; no doubt, due to its solid biblical basis to begin with. More importantly, his theme that a believer’s whole life should be an expression of worship is timeless.

In recent decades, the contemporary evangelical church has abandoned the sufficiency of God’s Word with regard to worship and has embraced pragmatism, i.e., whatever works. This has led to surveys of the unchurched instead of surveying the Scriptures, trying to meet “felt needs” of the churched instead of their true spiritual needs, and a priority of entertainment over spiritual edification. What is claimed to be contextualization (a necessity for missionaries in foreign cultures) is nothing more than old-fashioned consumerism in the U.S. It is the opposite of Jesus’ injunction to be in the world but not of it.

MacArthur takes the contemporary evangelical church to task vis-à-vis a biblical view of worship. “A solid, biblical understanding of true worship would

The Liturgical Year, the Spiritual Adventure of the Spiritual Life, by Joan Chittister ...

Gary Gilley — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:09:00 +0000

The Liturgical Year is part of the Ancient Practices Series published by Thomas Nelson, which, according to Phyllis Tickle (the General Editor of the series) involves seven ancient practices that inform all the Abrahamic faiths (p. xviii). This volume is devoted to the liturgical year and the liturgy presented from the framework of the Roman Catholic community (p. xv). This would be expected since the author is a Benedictine nun who believes “the liturgical year is the arena where our life and the life of Jesus intersect” (p. 16). It is the liturgy that binds the faith community together and deepens our understanding of spiritual life (p. xiv).

As Chittister and the Catholic tradition understand it, “The liturgical year is the year that sets out to attune the life of the Christian to the life of Jesus, the Christ. It proposes, year after year, to immerse us over and over again into the sense and substance of the Christian life until, eventually we become what we say we are—followers of Jesus all the way to the heart of God” (p.

Jesus - Safe, Tender, Extreme by Adrian Plass (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) 290 pp., cloth $23.99

Gary Gilley — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:03:00 +0000

Adrian Plass is a Christian author who has written many books detailing his experiences as he navigates through life. His writing is humorous, vulnerable, refreshing and enjoyable. He does not pretend to be a theologian (something he would not want to be anyway, see pp. 142, 145); he is “simply allowed to be a man with a broom, sweeping away the rubbish that prevents others from passing further in and further up, and [he] tends to do this by talking about what Jesus does and doesn’t do in [his] life” (p. 13).

To a certain degree Plass does sweep away some “rubbish,” such as when he deals openly and honestly with his own struggles with depression (p. 79) and doubts (pp. 40-44), when he points us to central truths such as loving and obeying Jesus (p. 139), when he reminds us that spiritual growth is not passive but calls for partnership with Christ (pp. 200, 221-223), and when he challenges believers’ false expectations regarding the Lord that can lead to falling apart when those expectations are not met (pp.

The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn (Lake Mary, Florida: Frontline, 2011), pp. 144, e-book, $10.00.

Gary Gilley — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:14:00 +0000

The Harbinger is one of the hottest selling books today. It is a quasi-fictional story reminiscent of novels such as The Da Vinci Code or The Shack. Each of these books involves mystery and intrigue, and has a serious message that the authors want to convey. Dan Brown, in The Da Vinci Code, wanted to cast doubt on the Christian message and interject the teaching of ancient Gnosticism. The Shack portrays a new-age, unconditionally accepting view of God which promotes universalism. The Harbinger is warning America that God’s judgment is imminent unless the country repents and turns to the Lord and that very soon. The need for repentance and true dedication to Christ in our society is not doubted by most Christians. America, as a whole, has rejected the Lord, ignored His ways, and rebelled against His sovereign rule. That we ultimately reap what we sow is a biblical concept that is not going to be repealed for the United States and Cahn’s basic theme is well worth considering. If the book is read merely as a novel warning our

Real Marriage, the Truth About Sex, Friendship & Life Together

Gary Gilley — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:09:00 +0000

Real Marriage uses the backdrop of the Driscolls’ own marriage, with its numerous struggles, to provide marital advice on a number of topics such as friendship, respect, submission, sin, repentance and forgiveness. These subjects are covered in the first section of the book and for the most-part the authors offer no unique insights. The Driscolls do believe in the headship of the husband and submission of the wife but also believe in mutual submission as a result of their misunderstanding of Ephesians 5:21 (p. 64). They also wrongly teach that providing for the family is man’s curse (p. 52), that 1 Peter 3:7 is about men being better physical fighters than women, and they open the book with an out of context quote of Revelation 21:5 (p. 3). While much of their advice is biblically solid, a good portion is opinion based on either statistics or pop-psychology—for example love languages and stereotypical categories (pp. 42-64), such as naming our troubled past in order to be healed (p. 124), selfishness beginning in childhood (p. 158) rather than part of our fallen

Invitation to Solitude and Silence, Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence, by Ruth Haley ...

Gary Gilley — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:54:00 +0000

Two of the essential spiritual disciplines within the Spiritual Formation Movement are the overlapping ones of solitude and silence. Ruth Haley Barton, who writes extensively on such subjects and is the founder of the Transforming Center which is devoted to spiritual formation through the means of contemplative practices, does a good job in this volume of describing exactly what is meant by silence and solitude by those who teach spiritual formation. On the positive side Barton calls her readers to occasionally slow down, disengage, and rest in the Lord. Coupled with meditation on the Word and prayer this is good counsel to us all, especially in the overly busy, constantly running and production-oriented world in which we live. But she miscues early on by confusing silence with God’s presence, “We are starved for quiet, to hear the sound of sheer silence that is the presence of God Himself” (p. 19). However silence, in and of itself, does not draw anyone closer to the presence of God. In addition, Barton is angling for “a silence like no other [which] suddenly happens.

A Quest for More, Living for Something Bigger Than You, by Paul David Tripp (Greensboro: New ...

Gary Gilley — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:21:00 +0000

If you are familiar with the writings of Paul Tripp, the subject and emphasis of this book will be what you would expect (see my review of Instrument in the Redeemer’s Hands for a fuller understanding of Tripp’s key ideas). Tripp wants to expose his readers’ hearts. He wants us not to be content with everyday lives, even the good things, but to find our satisfaction and life in Christ alone. In this particular volume Tripp frames these two options of living as big kingdom and little kingdom living. In little kingdom living we “constrict our life to the shape of our life” (pp. 22, 30). Tripp insists that it is in the little kingdom that most people live and the little kingdom is inadequate for the life God intends for us. This is why in our hearts we have a constant desire for something more. That quest for more should lead

Ancient Christian Devotional, A Year of Weekly Reading, General Editor: Thomas C. ...

Gary Gilley — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:11:00 +0000

The Ancient Christian Devotional (ACD) is a companion to the massive Ancient Christian Commentary series, both of which are edited by Thomas Oden. The Devotional apparently draws most, if not all, of its material from the commentary, both of which are designed to provide insights into the riches of church history and “help us to read holy writings with ancient eyes” (p. 7). The Devotional offers fifty-two weeks of readings, which follow the liturgical year. The reading for each week is structured around the following elements: theme, opening prayer, reading, Psalm of response, reflection from the church fathers and a closing prayer. The book is well documented and includes an appendix of brief biographical sketches of those quoted in the volume. Most often quoted are Augustine, Chrysostom, Ambrosiaster, Ambrose, Cyril of Alexandria, Bede, Jerome, and Origen.

There are plenty of correct and helpful thoughts in ACD but few that are profound or worth wading through this volume. Unfortunately the reader will also be introduced to the seeds of false teaching that ultimately ripen into full-blown doctrinal error. I will

The Peacemaker, A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflicts, by Ken Sande (Grande Rapids: ...

Gary Gilley — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:12:00 +0000

The Peacemaker Ministries, and its flagship book under review here, is too well known to need much by way of comment by me. Sande has provided the body of Christ a great service by thoroughly presenting the teaching of Scripture on the subject of unity and peacemaking. This is a marvelous source for personal use as well as a tool for counselors who will inevitably deal with conflict. The only drawback I see is that the length of the book may prove overwhelming to some readers. There is a children’s edition that might be used in such a situation.

The book is organized along the guiding principles of Peacemakers, also known as the Peacemakers Pledge (pp. 235-237). These principles are:

• Glorify God (chapters 1-3)
• Get the log out of your eye (chapters 4-6)
• Go and show your brother his fault (chapters 7-9)
• Go and be reconciled (chapters 10-12)

When following these principles still does not produce reconciliation, Sande reminds us that we cannot always be successful in our peacemaking efforts but we can be faithful to obey the Lord (pp.