Book Review: Twelve Unlikely Heroes by John MacArthur

In his latest release, Twelve Unlikely Heroes, John MacArthur examines the lives of some great figures from Scripture. He highlights the ways God chooses to act for his glory by taking ordinary, flawed human beings and using them in magnificent ways to accomplish His purposes.

The message is a moving one. It is very possible (even common) that one may look to characters such as these and focus too heavily on them so as to make an idol of men. The other common problem is that we despair in looking at the accomplishments of which they’ve been a part and determine that there is no hope for us to be used by God. In looking at the lives of OT and NT characters alike, MacArthur looks to find the God-honoring middle ground. He leads the reader in a careful and honest look at these men and women, noting their flaws and imperfections as well as their faithfulness. And above all of this, he points out the way God positioned them and used them for His glory. JMac brings to bear his considerable gifts as an expositor of the Word as he mines the depths of key passages, revealing beautiful elements that are right there to be read, but are often overlooked.

In a time where we tend to make heroes of any celebrity, athlete or cool cat around and press until “hero” has next to no meaning, it is refreshing to see what God identifies as a hero. 

Book Review: The Jesus We Missed by Patrick Henry Reardon

Who is Jesus? It has been said that this is the biggest question facing Christianity today. Attacks on the person and historicity of Jesus are nothing new; they’ve been weathered for centuries. It seems that the arguments swing like a pendulum – denying His deity or his humanity alternately.

Reardon noted a perceived emphasis on the deity of Christ to the neglect of His humanity. It is to this setting that he writes his book, The Jesus We Missed. He works his way through key events in Jesus’ life highlighting the role that His humanity played in each. Predictably the pericope from Luke regarding Jesus sitting in the temple talking with the teachers is among those considered, especially the phrase that Jesus “grew in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:52). Reardon also discusses Jesus’ baptism, early ministry, relationships, prayer life and death and resurrection, all the while digging into the effect of His humanity upon the various circumstances.

While he brings some intriguing points to consider, it feels like Reardon may push a bit far at times. He goes so far as to deny that Jesus was omniscient in His earthly incarnation. When Scripture speaks of Him knowing what is in the hearts of men or telling His disciples how to locate the room to share the Passover, (according to Reardon) it is through a special and temporary dispensation of knowledge from the Father.

I believe that throughout his study and writing, Reardon was keenly and reverentially aware of the Biblical teaching as evidenced in the creeds of the early church regarding the person of Christ. The council at Chalcedon said that He has two distinct natures. These two natures exist perfectly within the person of Christ “without confusing the two natures, without transmuting one nature into the other, without dividing them into two separate categories … the distinctiveness of each nature is not nullified by the union.” While, as I said, I believe that Reardon believes and affirms this, his book seems to drift a bit toward over-emphasizing the humanity.

If you are looking for one great book on the person of Christ, this is not the one for you. If, however, you are looking for a read that may challenge your beliefs and encourage you to think anew about some aspects of Christ’s person, this may be one to consider.

Pancakes and Lessons

Lately we've been hearing "I just want to do things my own way" a lot. Today I came up with an idea for demonstrating why we don't always let the kids do things their own way. It's Saturday, so pancakes for breakfast sounded like a great plan. (They were, in fact, pretty great.) I made a large batch of regular pancakes, and then a single one from a new recipe ... "my own way."
Starting with flour, I added some ricotta cheese (for the creamy texture), a little apple cider vinegar (to thin it out), a generous dash of salt and pepper as well as little oregano and cumin. Hot off the griddle we served that beauty up, making sure to explain the difference between the one I did "my own way" and the ones which I submitted myself to the recipe and followed directions.
I had the first bite, then each of the kids took a bite from this special little pancake ... pretty awful. Throughout the rest of breakfast, the kids were careful to ask for the "follow the directions pancakes." Lesson (hopefully) landed.

Book Review: Job - Word Biblical Commentary 18B by David Clines

Professor David Clines, Emeritus Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield completes his massive commentary on Job with this tome.  In the volume, Clines examines Job 38-42, Yahweh’s response to Job and Job’s replies.  He brings his expertise in Hebrew literature to bear as he illuminates this last portion of text and the format of the Word Biblical Commentary series provides him the space to explore some difficult sections and deal with them thoroughly. 

As with other volumes from the series, the text is divided into appropriate sections of study.  Each section opens with a specific bibliography that is followed by the author’s personal translation of the original language. Subsequent to the bibliography and translation, are two sections in which the author deals with specific textual notes and issues of form and structure. These can be a bit technical but it is great for experiencing the intricacies of the Hebrew text.  After spending some time specifically with the language and writing style, Clines moves into the Comment section. Here is where you find the running verse-by-verse commentary on Job.  Yet, to his credit, Clines does not immediately move into verse-by-verse but rather deals with the section in smaller subsections to help the reader see the movement of the passage.  Finally, comes the Explanation section where Clines sums up the work he’s been doing.  If you find yourself pressed for time, this is a great place to start – you’ll get the flow of what he’s saying and it may alert you to things you’d like to go back and study further.

The sections Clines identifies here (in agreement with almost every other commentator on Job) are: 1) Yahweh’s first speech, 2) Job’s response, 3) Yahweh’s second speech, 4) Job’s response, 5) Epilogue.  He argues (in his previous volume, Job 21-37, and mentioned in this volume) for a rearranged order of the speeches prior to this section.  He argues that Elihu’s speech in chapters 32-37 should originally came before Job’s final speech in 29-31 (p. 1088), so that when the LORD asks “Who is this…” it is in reference to Job’s demand for answers.  Reading along as Clines analyzes the speech-response pattern of the book is delightful.  One almost cannot help but be filled with greater reverence for our incredibly powerful and very personal God.

Fully the last half of this volume is an extensive bibliography of possibly every written work on the book of Job as well as specific items addressed within it.  Clines analyzes literature from the patristic fathers all the way up to the 21^st century.  He also includes works on Job in music, dance and drama.  It’s an incredible list.

WBC is a technical commentary series and Clines certainly rises to those expectations.  He does a great job of mining the riches of the language and presenting the gems of his work.  He cites Biblical and extra-biblical literature in defense of his linguistic work.  But he also does a nice job of (as my professor says) putting some of the cookies on the bottom shelf.  It wouldn’t be the first choice of commentary for a lay-person, but they would not come away from it empty-handed.

Book Review: 100 Read & Sing Devotions by Stephen Elkins

It is said, you must know something really well to explain it really simply.  Now, while not everything can be explained simply, I believe this holds quite a bit of truth.  That has been a bit of a convicting challenge to me lately.  As I study Scripture and theology more and more, I’m excited about the things I am learning.  But when faced with the question of how I explain this to my children, I admit, I’m a bit stumped.  That’s why I’m excited to see tools for helping children grasp some of these concepts (which, quite frankly, sometimes mommies and daddies are still struggling to grasp). 

100 Read & Sing Devotions by Stephen Elkins is one such tool we’ve recently discovered.  As you may astutely surmise, there are 100 short devotionals with colorful illustration and a corresponding song on one of the two CDs that come with the book.  Often the write up will give a quick (one or two paragraph) summary of a Bible story.  Other times it uses some type of object lesson to teach a theological or moral truth.  There’s a Bible verse (often ripped out of context … but I’ll let that go for now), a prayer that’s just a couple of lines and the reference to the song for that day.

Speaking of the songs, let’s turn our attention to the CD.  It’s what you might expect here - Sunday school type songs sung by little children.  It’s the type of CD that makes parents shudder on long car trips.  However, the truer review comes when I walk into the living room to see my daughter dancing around with a huge smile beaming on her face.  Or when I hear my son singing these songs and realize that some of them are teaching him Bible verses.  That’s worth a little “ow, my ears.”

All said, this is not the greatest spiritual tool for children, but I’ve certainly seen worse.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

God's Faithfulness through Medical Trials

It’s kind of humorous when a new doctor asks us for our children’s medical history at our first visit; it’s quite extensive.  Here’s a brief rundown.

Caleb was born March 1, 2004 with a large omphalocele that ruptured during delivery thereby making it a giant omphalocele. What is an omphalocele you ask? It is an abdominal wall defect where some abdominal organs develop outside of the body in a sac. Usually it’s taken care of with immediate surgery, but Caleb had other issues to factor in. He was also born with two heart defects, small lungs and the possibility of having a genetic disorder that increases his risk of cancer significantly.  Since he was born breathing on his own (not expected in his circumstance) they wanted to postpone surgery and wrapped the sac in bandages instead.  After 5 weeks, we left the NICU to take our baby home with dressing changes twice a day, oxygen to help him breathe easier, an apnea monitor and a feeding tube that went through his nose to his stomach and a plan to wait 2-3 years to perform reparation surgery.  God had other plans.  While at a routine check up with the surgeon, Caleb’s sac ruptured right there on the doctor’s table.  We thought our 13-week-old baby was dying right in front of us.  Within 30 minutes he was in the Operating Room for the first of 8 surgeries, 5 of them in the next 2 weeks, to repair his tummy.  That next 5 weeks included serious shock, organ failure, a lot of doctors shaking their heads and much love and support from our church family.  When we left the hospital the second time as a family, it was with our 3 month old needing a feeding tube, oxygen, a central line to give him medicine straight to his heart and more dressing changes and methadone to wean him from heavy dose narcotics.

Since then Caleb has had 3 surgeries to repair his tummy, many ultrasounds to check for tumors as well as many tests on his heart to make sure the issues are not causing problems.  Today he looks like a normal boy (unless he lets you see his tummy). He was diagnosed with ADHD and an anxiety disorder about a year and a half ago. While there are no studies on what large doses or narcotics do to a baby’s development when exposed post-natal, we can’t help but wonder if the behavior issues are caused by his addiction. He still requires to be seen by a surgeon.

That’s our oldest. 

Our youngest, Josiah, was born with bilateral clubbed feet (his legs were straight but the feet turned in at the ankles – his toes were pointed right at each other).  While we began a long series of  treatments to correct this (and correct it, they did – you should see him run), we noticed that he was eating poorly and wouldn’t keep much down.  We checked with several specialists.  During an ultrasound, they found gall stones in our 3-month-old baby.  They also noticed that something wasn’t right with his kidneys.  Josiah has horseshoe kidneys; essentially the two kidneys are fused together as one.  There was also an obstruction at the UPJ – the point where the urethra leads out from the kidney which was causing some hydronephrosis.  This is particularly dangerous for Josiah because of the horseshoe kidneys.  On someone with normal kidneys, if one fails, they can live with the other – in Josiah’s case, if one side fails, the other will soon follow.  He’s had 4 surgeries in his almost 3 years including the removal of his gall bladder and 2 recently on the kidney.  He still sees a nephrologist and urologist; he requires ultrasounds every 3-6 months to monitor kidney function and check for cancer (he has a 62% chance of developing kidney cancer) as well as a more invasive MAG-3 scan this fall.

Some may say that our kids have probably had more than their share of medical trials.  Yet God has always been faithful to provide the support to bear us up under such circumstances.  We know He is sovereignly in control – He has never failed us and never will.

Book Review: Has God Spoken? by Hank Hanegraaff

In Has God Spoken?, Hank Hanegraaff, “the Bible Answer Man” turns his attention toward the attacks on the reliability of Scripture.  He does so through catchy (if sometimes forced) alliteration and acronym-filled arguments while sprinkling in the occasional pop culture reference, possibly to lighten the mood from what he fears may be getting too academic (though I obviously can’t predict his reasoning).

Hanegraaff opens the book by stating the problem of popular attacks on Biblical inerrancy, specifically citing Barak (Obama), Bart (Ehrman) and Bill (Maher) among a “procession of political pundits, professors, and public personalities” that call into question its reliability.  (I told you he liked alliteration.)

Having established the attacks, Hanegraaff proceeds to answer some key questions while providing evidence, utilizing the tool of acronyms for memory purposes.  He offers MAPS to follow in this debate - Manuscripts, Archeology, Prophecy and Scripture.  These main headings he breaks down further.  I’ll discuss them briefly.

Manuscript COPIES – Copyist practices, Oral culture, Papyrus and parchments, Internal evidence, External evidence and Science of textual criticism.  In this section, Hanegraaff offers a look into the stringent practices of historical copyists of Scripture while examining the impressive precision of oral tradition in cultures that thrived upon it.  He also points out the many pieces of manuscripts and early dates of them while marveling at the harmony within Scripture and historians’ support of what Scripture says. 

Archeologist’s SPADE – Steles and stones, Pools and fools, Assyrian archeology, Dead Sea Scrolls and Epic of Gilgamesh.  Hanegraaff points out that other religious writings, the Book of Mormon for instance, make many claims about places and events that simply cannot be backed up archeologically.  The Bible stands in stark contrast.  Many of its places have been excavated and archeology is time and again revealing that Scripture is accurate in what it says.

Prophetic STARS – Succession of nations, Typological prophecy, Abomination of desolation, Resurrection prophecy, Superstar ABCs.  Pointing to various prophecies and their fulfillments, Hanegraaff highlights the impressive track record of Scripture.  From the notable progression of national powers offered in the book of Daniel to specific prophecies regarding the Messiah, he lays out events that could not happen simply by coincidence.

Scriptural LIGHTS – Literal principle, Illumination principle, Grammatical principle, Historical principle, Typology principle and Synergy principle.  Having used Manuscript Copies, Archeologist’s Spade and Prophetic Stars to illuminate the reliability of Scripture, Hanegraaff focuses this last chapter on ways in which one may read and study Scripture well – interpreting it accurately and applying it faithfully.

For a layman, this book is a good starting point.  It will bolster your assurance in the reliability of Scripture, offering sound reason for believing the truth that is found in the pages of your Bible.  However, it falls short in what seems to be Hanegraaff’s main claim, to provide a sound, academic defense of inerrancy.  Before you stone me as a heretic, let me explain.  He repeatedly alludes to Bart Ehrman, a notable professor who writes and teaches against the accuracy of Scripture.  Hanegraaff also uses some very technical terms for textual criticism, terms which he uses incorrectly and which are very familiar to Ehrman (and any other textual critic regardless of whether they side for or against inerrancy).  If Hanegraaff were to enter into an academic debate with Ehrman using the material he presents here, he’d be torn to shreds.  That said, if you’re looking for an academic discussion, this is not the book you’ll choose, for the casual reader concerned about the reliability of their Bible, this is  a great place to start.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255