As par the course, I've gotten a late start on book reading/reviewing in 2015. Taking three classes and being stymied by coursework and course reading has greatly slowed my progress thus far. But never fear; I feel a resurgence coming on strong so stand by for much more to come!
In Colossians 3:1, the Apostle Paul encourages believers to seek heavenly things when he says, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." Some Evangelical Christians have taken this perhaps a little too far with a genre of books that is becoming increasingly popular to both Christians and Non-Christians alike: the ascension-into-heaven genre. Pastor Todd Burpo, for example, is making millions off of his child's claims that he went to heaven, first penning a book, "Heaven is for Real" and, more recently, a feature film. Even more recent, last week the publishing company "Tyndale House" (who publishes Christian fiction and non-fiction alike) pulled the book "The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven." Kevin Malarky wrote the book, after his son (who is now a quadriplegic after a tragic car accident) visited heaven. After a story leaked from the boys mother that both she and her son protested against the facts of the book, Tyndale pulled it from their shelves. There are others: 90 Minutes in Heaven, 23 Minutes in Hell, To Heaven and Back, among other. Clearly American is consumed with the afterlife. According to a poll in 2013, over 74 percent of Americans believe in Heaven. But this is the problem with this simple 'belief" and these stories: are they real? As you can see, the subtitles for most of these books include a sentence that says, "a true story."
If you know me at all, you will know that Dr. John MacArthur has heavily impacted my life, and I often attribute my salvation to his ministry. In this book, he delves into these miraculous occurrences and debunks these accounts by expounding on what the Bible tells us Heaven will be like and then compares this to the model that these writers have described. It is no small wonder that after reading this book, these accounts of Heaven are superficial, dangerous, confused, and little Biblical support.
While I don't want to regurgitate all the problems of these books, I want to stress an interesting point that Dr. MacArthur makes: very few people in the Bible see Heaven. When God does give man a glimpse into Heaven, the notion isn't one of irreverence as most of these books portray. I haven't read any of them personally, but from reading snippets, one can see that most people treat Jesus as their "buddy" and God is in the form of some kind of man or light. The picture of Heaven in the Bible when men do see in it is one of extreme reverence and even fear. For example, Issaiah glimpses into Heaven in chapter 6 of the book of the Bible with the same name, and after seeing the glory of God, he says,
"And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
None of the characters in these books ever has a reaction like this, and yet this happens also to the Apostle John when he sees Heaven in Revelation. The point is that Heaven is often a place that people trivialize and fail to see what the Bible actually says about it. Even when you say the word "Heaven" out of it's context ("That [insert whatever] was so heavenly), we often times use it to describe the most wonderful thing we can imagine. And while that is what Heaven will be like, it will not be full of things that make us happy in this life.
No, Heaven will be much more grand for the Christian. Not only will we be in new, glorified bodies, but we will do nothing wrong, have no evil thoughts: indeed, we will be perfect. What is even more awesome than this, is that we will be with God, the creator of the world where there won't even need to be a sun because of His glorious light. And we will, for eternity, glorify Him.
There is a lot more to it than that, but if there's anything that Dr. MacArthur brought to my attention, it was that people like the Apostle Paul were Heaven minded. As he says in the Epistle to the Philippians, he longs to be in Heaven! The Heaven of the Bible will not be a boring place or a place where all our selfish desires are fulfilled, but it will be a place where the truest desires of the Christians heart will be fulfilled. As the Westminster Catechism puts it, "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." That will become a reality in Heaven someday.
I strongly recommend this book for both Christians and Non-Christians who desire to know what the real Heaven will be like.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
2 - Here I Stand: A LIfe of Martin Luther, Ronald Bainton, 336 pages
When I first became a Christian, I remember being recommended a book by Tom Nelson of Denton Bible Church called, "What Did Christianity Ever Do For Us?" by Jonathan Hill. In this book, one topic he speaks of is the legendary Martin Luther. This vignette (that I will share with you later) swept me smitten into loving the man of Martin Luther. Not only was he a great man, but if it were not for him, it is very possible the nation of America and it's mighty ideals may not even have ever been.
So I read this book on Martin Luther. Luther was born into a Catholic family (as all people in Europe did in those days) and his father was a miner. They prayed to God, Mary, and St. Anne, a saint who was thought to protect the miners. Luther's life changed one day as he strolled through a meadow on a cloudy day. At the time, he was going to school to become a lawyer. But after a fierce thunderstorm (for some reason, Luther was deathly afraid of thunder), he made a pact with God that if he survived, he would dedicate his life to the service of the church. He did indeed survive and to the chagrin of his father, he became a monk in the Augustinian Cloister.
While a monk, Luther had two awakenings: the first had to do with the excesses of what the monastic life had become after a trip to Rome. He saw the debauchery of the monkery and was astounded by the superficial nature of what had become of the monastic life. The second awakening he had was to the idolatry of indulgences.
At the end of the Medieval times, the Catholic Church believed (see: fabricated) the idea of purgatory. This was a place one went to after he died to make penance for unforgiven sins. After awhile here, that person would then ascend into heaven based on the severity of the crimes in your life. the indulgences were twofold: 1) They were items that were from the times of Christ like strands of hair or the bones of Peter. One could see these items and have his time in purgatory reduced. 2) They were payments made to the church to reclaim a lost soul from purgatory.
Luther received a doctorate degree in theology and soon became a professor at a seminary in Wittenberg, Germany. There, he encountered a scoundrel named John Tetzel. This man sold indulgences, and is said to have come up with the rhyme, "when a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs." This enraged Luther, who had recently studied the book of Romans and believed that the only way to heaven was through justification by faith. As a result, on the eve of "All Saints Day," Luther posted the famous 95 theses' that changed the world.
He was summoned by the Pope to Wurms to stand before a Diet where he they wanted him to renounce his theology and his books. Failing to do so, Luther spoke these words:
"Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me, Amen!"
So I read this book on Martin Luther. Luther was born into a Catholic family (as all people in Europe did in those days) and his father was a miner. They prayed to God, Mary, and St. Anne, a saint who was thought to protect the miners. Luther's life changed one day as he strolled through a meadow on a cloudy day. At the time, he was going to school to become a lawyer. But after a fierce thunderstorm (for some reason, Luther was deathly afraid of thunder), he made a pact with God that if he survived, he would dedicate his life to the service of the church. He did indeed survive and to the chagrin of his father, he became a monk in the Augustinian Cloister.
While a monk, Luther had two awakenings: the first had to do with the excesses of what the monastic life had become after a trip to Rome. He saw the debauchery of the monkery and was astounded by the superficial nature of what had become of the monastic life. The second awakening he had was to the idolatry of indulgences.
At the end of the Medieval times, the Catholic Church believed (see: fabricated) the idea of purgatory. This was a place one went to after he died to make penance for unforgiven sins. After awhile here, that person would then ascend into heaven based on the severity of the crimes in your life. the indulgences were twofold: 1) They were items that were from the times of Christ like strands of hair or the bones of Peter. One could see these items and have his time in purgatory reduced. 2) They were payments made to the church to reclaim a lost soul from purgatory.
Luther received a doctorate degree in theology and soon became a professor at a seminary in Wittenberg, Germany. There, he encountered a scoundrel named John Tetzel. This man sold indulgences, and is said to have come up with the rhyme, "when a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs." This enraged Luther, who had recently studied the book of Romans and believed that the only way to heaven was through justification by faith. As a result, on the eve of "All Saints Day," Luther posted the famous 95 theses' that changed the world.
He was summoned by the Pope to Wurms to stand before a Diet where he they wanted him to renounce his theology and his books. Failing to do so, Luther spoke these words:
"Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me, Amen!"
It is said that the words that form the title of this book, "here I stand," Luther did not actually say. But I don't care; it makes the story much more interesting!
From this started a revolution that would change the world. The Protestant Reformation is one of the most important events in recent history, if not the most important, particularly for Christians. But, more of this discussion to come: I am finishing up a book on the Reformation as we speak!
Much more could be said about this great man Luther, but I think this is enough for now. If you would like to know more, you'll just have to pick the book up yourself!
Edit: I almost forgot to write what Jonathan Hill said about Luther. Well, check this out: the other quirk about the Medieval Church was they only had the Bible in Latin. It was forbidden to read or translate in anything else (even though the original is in Greek in Hebrew.. Awkward..). Well, Luther thought this to be very wrong since God spoke through the Bible and thus everyone should have the ability to read it. So he translated the Bible into German. This translation proved to be the basis of the German language that is spoken and written in Germany today. Pretty cool!
Edit: I almost forgot to write what Jonathan Hill said about Luther. Well, check this out: the other quirk about the Medieval Church was they only had the Bible in Latin. It was forbidden to read or translate in anything else (even though the original is in Greek in Hebrew.. Awkward..). Well, Luther thought this to be very wrong since God spoke through the Bible and thus everyone should have the ability to read it. So he translated the Bible into German. This translation proved to be the basis of the German language that is spoken and written in Germany today. Pretty cool!
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
1 - Culture Shift: The Battle for the Moral Heart of America, Albert Mohler, 208 pages
Well, the start of the new year has begun, and I am getting a head start on reading. As of this writing, I've already read 3 books with another half-way completed! The first book of the year is a man I discovered just about a year ago and has come to be one of my most favorite authors, bloggers, and theologians: Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Seminary.
Dr. Mohler (or "Al" as I like to call him) has a daily podcast, Monday through Friday, that looks at a few news headlines and comments on them from a Christian worldview called, "the Briefing." This is an incredible resource and only takes about 20 minutes of your time. I typically listen to it in the morning when I'm getting ready for work or driving somewhere. I highly recommend Christians download just a few: you will be hooked!
The book, "Cultural Shift" reads a lot like a daily edition of "the Briefing." The message that is coherent through the book is the massive departure of Christianity from our culture. Early on, Dr. Mohler talks about how a few individuals would like to secularize politics, meaning that every political decision that is made must be from the lens that is without a religious background. This of course, as he states, is absurd. It is impossible to have a stance on controversial issues like abortion without a worldview that works in tandem with your religious beliefs (or lack thereof).
Dr. Mohler's book is less like a conventional book and more like a series of essays on many various issues that plague our culture as "controversial" but that also demonstrate the massive shift in political and social thought away from a Christian worldview and into that same secular agenda. For example, one of the most interesting "essays" was on our youth: Dr. Mohler cites many professionals who believe that Americans make weak 18 year olds, but strong 30 year olds. He uses bloated GPA scores form colleges to affirm that parents today are interfering with so much in their childrens lives that they are part of the problem in the weakness of tomorrows leaders: kid gets a "C" in math class, parents are on the phone the next day with the college professor, telling him he must have made a mistake, for example. He talks about how important it is for children to make mistakes, get hurt, learn from doing. The departure from this conventional wisdom, (where parents used to sit on park benches, now they are playing with their kids to ensure they will not injure themselves) he says, makes weak 18 year olds and in a lot of ways, I agree with that. The reason why we make great 30 year olds is because once children or young adults are outside of their parents influence, they do make mistakes in our dog-eat-dog, capitalist society; not only do they make mistakes, but they learn from them.
This is just one example (with way more citations and way more eloquent) of the various issues Dr. Mohler looks at: it speaks to the vast hole we are digging ourselves into as a culture and how that culture has shifted away from God so much, that is crumbling from the inside. With all the statistics and arguments Dr. Mohler makes, it's hard to disagree with him. I highly recommend this book!
Dr. Mohler (or "Al" as I like to call him) has a daily podcast, Monday through Friday, that looks at a few news headlines and comments on them from a Christian worldview called, "the Briefing." This is an incredible resource and only takes about 20 minutes of your time. I typically listen to it in the morning when I'm getting ready for work or driving somewhere. I highly recommend Christians download just a few: you will be hooked!
The book, "Cultural Shift" reads a lot like a daily edition of "the Briefing." The message that is coherent through the book is the massive departure of Christianity from our culture. Early on, Dr. Mohler talks about how a few individuals would like to secularize politics, meaning that every political decision that is made must be from the lens that is without a religious background. This of course, as he states, is absurd. It is impossible to have a stance on controversial issues like abortion without a worldview that works in tandem with your religious beliefs (or lack thereof).
Dr. Mohler's book is less like a conventional book and more like a series of essays on many various issues that plague our culture as "controversial" but that also demonstrate the massive shift in political and social thought away from a Christian worldview and into that same secular agenda. For example, one of the most interesting "essays" was on our youth: Dr. Mohler cites many professionals who believe that Americans make weak 18 year olds, but strong 30 year olds. He uses bloated GPA scores form colleges to affirm that parents today are interfering with so much in their childrens lives that they are part of the problem in the weakness of tomorrows leaders: kid gets a "C" in math class, parents are on the phone the next day with the college professor, telling him he must have made a mistake, for example. He talks about how important it is for children to make mistakes, get hurt, learn from doing. The departure from this conventional wisdom, (where parents used to sit on park benches, now they are playing with their kids to ensure they will not injure themselves) he says, makes weak 18 year olds and in a lot of ways, I agree with that. The reason why we make great 30 year olds is because once children or young adults are outside of their parents influence, they do make mistakes in our dog-eat-dog, capitalist society; not only do they make mistakes, but they learn from them.
This is just one example (with way more citations and way more eloquent) of the various issues Dr. Mohler looks at: it speaks to the vast hole we are digging ourselves into as a culture and how that culture has shifted away from God so much, that is crumbling from the inside. With all the statistics and arguments Dr. Mohler makes, it's hard to disagree with him. I highly recommend this book!
Friday, January 2, 2015
End of the Year Review
Well the end of the year has come and I have fallen just two books short of my goal! Either way, this was an eye opening experience no doubt. This year I read over 20,000 pages, mixed books of both fiction and nonfiction, gotten better at reading, immersed myself in interesting topics and books, and expanded my already rather large (considering I am only 25) library. I also fell only 11 or so book reviews short of my goal and I hope to remedy this next year as well. The following is my list of books read this year:
1) Cross of Christ
2) Washington
3) Strange Fire
4) When We Were a Consuming Fire
5) Starship Troopers
6) Mao
7) Refugee
8) The Story of Christianity II
9) Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
10) Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers
11) The Courage to be Protestant
12) Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
13) Total Truth
14) The Japanese and Christianity
15) First to Fight
16) Strange Glory
17) Black Hawk Down
18) Rainbow 6
19) Why We're not Emergent
19) The Last Stand of Fox Company
20) Without Remorse
21) John Macarthur: Minister of the Flock
22) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
24) I heard my Country Calling
25) Animal Farm
26) 1984
27) Fight Club
28) Mission at Nuremberg
29) Lion At the Gate
30) A Good Spy
31) Those Who Are Dead and Those Who Are Dying
32) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
33 ) Daniel Commentary
34 ) Titan: John D. Rockefeller
35 ) The Automobile
36 ) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
37)- American Sniper
38)- No Easy Day
39)_ Level Zero Heroes
40)- A Christmas Carol
41) The Giver
42) The Aviators
43) American History
44) Debt of Honor
45)- The Hobbit
46)- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
47)- My Men Are My Heroes
48)- The Last Battle
49)- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
50)- Saving Leonardo
51) S. - done
Altbough I say I fell two books short, this is not exactly true. Some of the books I read (including books for school and others I did not put on my list or forgot about) I have not included here. So suffice it to say that this is a monumental accomplishment in my short life that I am pretty proud about. My goal for this next year is to start completely over and I hope to read at least 60 books this year!
Thanks for everyone who took time to read my blog on book reviews. The most popular was ironically also my first: the Strange Fire book review by John MacArthur with over 51 views. The second most seen was the book, The Cross of Christ by John Stott with over 30 views. Altogether, over 890 views have been recorded on this blog. That is fantastic! I never thought I would even see 100 views so thank you again for reading! A happy New Year to all!
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