A (Short) Easter Encouragement

What a strange and different Easter Sunday. If we’re celebrating today, we are doing so household by household, “together” by virtue of streamed services and chatting electronically. Thank God for these means of connection that can compensate for some aspects of not being together in person! But even the clearest live-stream or the most fun zoom hangout cannot compare with being and celebrating together in person.

In strange times like these, we might be tempted to celebrate Easter a little less enthusiastically, with more disappointment than joy. I know I am tempted to do so myself. But my encouragement to my own heart and to yours as well is that an Easter like this one has the potential to be one where the hope of a Savior who conquered sin, disease, pain, sorrow, and death is all the more real to us. As we become more aware of the power of these things to steal our joy, to strike at those we love, and to leave us bereft of the things we would normally take comfort in, would that we run all the more enthusiastically to the one who has overcome them!

As we become more aware of the darkness that surrounds us in the world, would we cling all the more tightly to the Light that shines in the darkness and is not overcome.

He is risen! He is really, truly, and actually risen. Would we still find joy in that today in the midst of all we face.

“Rise, heart; Thy Lord is risen.”

—George Herbert, “Easter”

Book Review: “Worship Essentials” by Mike Harland

Photo by Jefferson Santos on Unsplash

How can a worship leader in today’s worship music landscape lead effectively and in a Christ-like manner? The past few decades have been characterized as the “worship wars,” as older styles of worship (think hymns, organs, and hymnals) and their proponents clashed with advocates of newer styles (think guitars, projectors, drums, and…*grimace* fog machines). Is there a set of core principles, convictions, and best practices that a worship leader can focus on in their pursuit to lead their teams and their churches in worshiping the Lord?

In “Worship Essentials,” Mike Harland argues that yes, there is.

With a mix of principles from Scripture, observations, and lessons learned over the past few decades of worship ministry experience, Harland contends that we can move past “worship wars” if we focus on telling the biblical story, ensuring our ultimate goal is producing mature disciples, engaging the church body effectively in our worship, and aspiring towards excellence and purpose.

As a minister of music myself, I found Harland’s advice and concerns to be encouraging, helpful, humble, and challenging. Harland exhorts the music leaders in a church to lead their teams well, partner with the preaching pastor in planning and leading the worship services (as worship is more than just the music we sing), focus on producing disciples in the pews, desegregate “traditional” and “contemporary” services, aim for excellence without distracting from God’s glory, and more!

After finishing the book, I was left with helpful theological, musical, practical, and spiritual applications. It’s by no means a perfect book—for instance, it was a tad too conversational in tone at points for me and it seemed like he repeated himself in a few different places unintentionally—but I was edified and would encourage anyone looking for resources to help them shepherd those whom God has entrusted to them to lead in this area to make their way through “Worship Essentials.”

4 stars out of 5

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Mike Harland. Worship Essentials. B&H Publishing Group, 2018. 176 pp. Paperback. $16.99.

Thanks to B&H Bloggers for the review copy, which I received for free in exchange for an impartial review!

Review: CSB Christ Chronological

The four Gospels all cover the period of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. However, they do so at different paces and with different emphases. Sometimes they cover the same story: the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus’ crucifixion are in all four Gospels, for instance. But sometimes they don’t contain what the other Gospels cover or include details that the other Gospel writers did not incorporate into their account.

It is possible to study these differences by comparing the four Gospels as they are included in our New Testament: flipping back and forth from book to book and locating the corresponding passages. But ever since the Tatian’s Diatessaron in the 2nd century, people have produced Gospel harmonies where individuals attempt to arrange the contents of the Gospels in chronological order and put passages that cover the same events side-by-side for easy comparison.

The CSB Christ Chronological is one of the latest of these Gospel harmonies to be produced. How does it fare as a tool to study the Gospel accounts of the life of Christ chronologically?

The CSB Christ Chronological is a beautiful book. It is well designed and colorful without being garish or flashy. It is simple and straightforward and clearly identifies the portion of Jesus’ life in each section, the references from each Gospel quoted, and the different excerpts themselves.

The above picture includes an example of a section of Jesus’ life included in all four Gospels: Jesus’ baptism. Note the references in the upper right corner to where it is found in each Gospel and how the accounts are all placed together. You can immediately make several observations comparing the accounts: Matthew and John have the longest accounts of this episode, all three Synoptic Gospels end with a version of “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased,” etc.

For visual clarity, each Gospel is assigned a different color for its text, which is displayed at the bottom of each page for reference.

Additionally, some sections have introductions that discuss how the various Gospel accounts do or do not align with each other as well as the reasons behind this or possible harmonizations.

When an account appears only in one Gospel, that section is inserted on its own. Note how the multiple accounts that are side-by-side at the top of the above page then shift to John 5 all by itself. The same goes for when a story, miracle, or teaching is found in only two or three of the Gospels.

So the CSB Christ Chronological is beautiful, designed well, has great colors, helps you make immediate comparisons between different sections of the Gospels…is anything missing?

Unfortunately, yes.

This resource lacks a Scripture index or even numbers for each individual section that align with other Gospel harmonies to reference. This initially might not seem like that big of an issue, but it drastically reduces the usefulness of the CSB Christ Chronological as a study tool.

Say, for instance, that I am interested in the story of Jesus healing two blind men and how the Gospels each do or don’t address it. How am I to find it in this book?

I might know that the reference for this episode in Mark is Mark 10:46-52. But that doesn’t help me that much without an index recording which page(s) Mark 10 is on in this book. I can manually skim through the book searching for it. But because this is a Gospel harmony and not all the Gospel writers arranged things strictly chronologically in their Gospels, I might run into some problems. For example, page 38 has the story of the faith of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10) but then page 39 has Jesus’ answer to the question from John the Baptist (Matthew 11:1-19; Luke 7:18-35). It isn’t until page 48 that the harmony returns to Matthew 8 with the story of Jesus stilling the storm, found in Luke 8. The editors of the book have followed Luke’s chronology and assumed Matthew arranged his account more thematically than chronologically from Matthew 8 to Matthew 11 but have not given the reader a tool to follow what they are doing (e.g. an index).

Should a future edition of this book include a Scripture index, episode numbers, or some other way to quickly find a specific Gospel reference, this would be an excellent resource to aid in the study of the Gospels. However, without any sort of tool like this, the CSB Christ Chronological is much less useful and more suited to reading beginning to end devotionally than for study.

3 stars out of 5

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CSB Christ Chronological. Holman Bible Publishers, 2017. 144 pp. Hardcover. $19.99.

Thanks to B&H Bloggers for the review copy, which I received for free in exchange for an impartial review!

Old Testament Background to Biblical Righteousness and Justice

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A little over a month ago I wrote a thread on Twitter that argued that you can’t bifurcate the ideas of “righteousness” and “justice” in the New Testament. Here’s the first tweet, which served as an introduction to the (short) discussion:

Arguing δικαιοσύνη can only mean “righteousness” and not “justice” reveals a basic lack of familiarity with the language Paul, Matthew, James, Luke, and others wrote in and illustrates how crucial it can be to be able to read the Bible in other languages besides English. 1/10

— Josh-BOO!-a Ray 👻🎃 (@joshuaray) September 8, 2018

I won’t reproduce the entire argument here, but to summarize: where in English justice and righteousness are two distinct concepts, Koine Greek has one word that can be used for both: δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosune).

English translates dikaiosune as both righteousness and justice. However, Latin, Spanish, and German (for starters) translate dikaiosune as iustitia, justicia, and Gerechtigkeit, respectively. Look up each of these words and what is the primary definition? Justice.

You simply cannot read Luther’s translation of the New Testament, the Vulgate, or any other version in these languages and be led to the conclusion, “I should separate the categories of righteousness and justice in my head.”

My big takeaways for the thread were 1) When you see ‘righteousness’ in an English Bible, that doesn’t automatically exclude the idea of ‘justice’ and 2) reading Scripture in more than one language can help us avoid blind spots in our understanding of the text.

Now why do I bring this up? Because an aspect of this conversation that I neglected to address in the Twitter thread is the relationship between righteousness and justice in the Old Testament. Paul, Matthew, James, Luke and the other authors of the New Testament were intimately familiar with the language of the Old Testament and it deeply formed the ways they thought about concepts like righteousness and justice as well as the ways they wrote about them and even the vocabulary that they used to do it.

I was finishing Jonathan Leeman’s How the Nations Rage a few days ago and came across a discussion of this very issue that I want to quote and briefly discuss in order to give further context to this idea:

Almost half the time you see the word justice in the Old Testament the word righteousness is next to it, as when the psalmist said to God, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne” (Ps. 89:14). The two words together are what grammarians call a hendiadys—two words connected by an “and” that explain each other and together mean something bigger, like nice and cozy. The biblical ideas of justice and righteousness are locked together and are mutually defining, even when they don’t appear together.

How The Nations Rage, 211-212

It’s not just a New Testament phenomenon: throughout the entirety of the Bible, we are meant to have mentions of ‘righteousness’ lead us to think immediately of ‘justice’ and to be unable to envision an instance of justice that is not rooted in God’s righteousness. This is the way that the Old Testament treated the concepts and it’s the foundation that the authors of the New Testament drew on when they—under the divine inspiration of the Spirit—authored the books of the New Testament.

If it is truly biblical, our righteousness should not and cannot be divorced from doing justice in this world. And we as believers should find it impossible to act justly without the righteousness that comes from God in Christ. May our righteousness lead to our lights shining before others so they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16) and may our good works flow from the saving and transforming grace that is the free, unmerited gift of a righteous God (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Book Review: Exalting Jesus in John

I previously reviewed another commentary in the “Christ-Centered Exposition” series: Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Kings. Here is what I said then to introduce the commentary series:

“A good commentary can be an invaluable aid to pastors, students, professors, and Christians in general. But not every commentary is equally suited for every task. Some excel in giving background information, others focus on the technical details of text criticism or the original languages, and others are more application-focused. Choosing the right type of commentary for the right task is a critical first step!

The Christ-Centered Exposition series is edited by David Platt, Daniel Akin, and Tony Merida. They have four goals for this commentary series, which they list in the introduction. 1) They seek to display exegetical accuracy. What the Bible says is what they want to say. 2) This series has pastors in view. It is designed to aid in sermon prep and drawing out the themes and applications from the text, not to be academic in nature. 3) They want the series to be known for helpful illustrations and theologically driven applications. And 4) they want to exalt Jesus from every book in the Bible.”

This volume of the commentary series is divided into over fifty sections, some of which cover a few verses (e.g. 14:1-3) and others which cover whole chapters (e.g. chapter 7). Each of these sections contains unit-by-unit analysis of the verses it covers and uses the CSB (Christian Standard Bible) translation. Additionally, the sections are full of example illustrations, introductions, applications, and so on. While it is by no means necessary to go at this pace, each section has enough material to fill an entire sermon (at this pace, you could take over a year to preach through John’s Gospel!).

Each chapter of the commentary begins with a “Main Idea” summary that encapsulates the theme or main point of the unit of Scripture. Then comes an outline of the section that will be covered and an exposition of each section of the passage according to the outline. At the very end of each chapter are questions for discussion and reflection.

You might wonder if a volume in this series is necessary for each of the Gospels. “Is it that hard to exalt Jesus and point to him when you are preaching a passage that is explicitly about him?” “Isn’t this sort of series more useful for the Old Testament?” My answer is that a volume like this is CRITICAL. I have sat through too many sermons that begin with a passage from the Gospels but jump off the passage like a diving board into current events, “hilarious” stories, or confusing theological polemics to think that it is impossible to preach from the Gospels and yet miss the point entirely. Volumes like these are powerful examples and reminders of how to keep the main thing the main thing by preaching “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).

My conclusion for this volume mirrors my thoughts of the previous volume that I reviewed: this commentary specifically and the series in general do exactly what they aim to do and do it well. If you’re looking for a verse-by-verse analysis that goes into great detail about the historical/socio-rhetorical background or parses every single Hebrew word and explains them you won’t find that here. But if you’re looking for a resource to help you teach and preach the Bible more and more Christocentrically, this is the series for you! I recommend this book and series to all pastors and Bible-teachers looking for an accessible yet robust commentary that takes the Bible seriously and makes much of Jesus.

5 stars out of 5

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Matt Carter and Josh Wredberg, Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in John. Nashville, B&H Publishing, 2017. 415 pp. Paperback. $14.99.

Thanks to Holman Reference and B&H Bloggers for the review copy, which I received for free in exchange for an impartial review!

Book Review: “Forgiveness and Justice”

During seminary, the topic of forgiveness (both divine and interpersonal) was one to which I devoted a lot of time and study. So I was excited to see a new publication treating the subject from Kregel Publications.

In Forgiveness and Justice, Dr. Bryan Maier addresses the subject from the perspective of a professor, minister, and counselor. Of those three areas, the counseling focus and background come through most strongly. While there is engagement with the Biblical text, the book is not primarily academic. While there are clear applications to the use of these ideas in the context of a church body, it is not the main focus of the book. It is the counseling arena that informs the main ideas of the book and that receives the most attention.

Of particular note is Maier’s treatment of how the Imprecatory Psalms impact our idea of forgiveness. For instance, he discusses how and what we ask victims of abuse to do as they consider their situations and whether there can be any forgiveness there.

I found the book to be interesting and yet not what I expected. If I had come to it knowing more about its approach (more counseling than academic or pastoral) I feel that I would have benefited more from it.

Dr. Maier does a good job breaking down the idea of forgiveness, questioning what it is and is not, and forming a detailed definition that will give the reader much to consider. His expertise and experience with the topic are clear, and the book is written clearly and succinctly. I enjoyed it despite it not being exactly what I thought it might be.

3.5 stars out of 5

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Dr. Bryan Maier. Forgiveness and Justice. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2017. 230 pp. $16.99.

Thanks to Kregel Publications  for the review copy, which I received for free in exchange for an impartial review!

Book Review: “The Mentoring Church”

If you read the literature, you’ll quickly find that churches are supposed to be (or CAN be) a wide variety of things. Churches are supposed to be Purpose-Driven, Simple, Center, etc. But one thing that I had not seen before was the idea of a mentoring church. So Phil Newton’s book from Kregel Publications caught my eye.

What does the book contribute to the conversation about churches and mentorship?

Top 7 Favorite Books I Read in 2017

Another year draws to a close and—as I did in 2014 and 2015 (but somehow not 2016!)—I’ve selected the Top 7 books that I read in 2017.

As the title suggests, these are not books published in 2017 but rather my favorites that I read this year. They are presented in no particular order and are a mix of fiction, essays, biography, and sci-fi/fantasy.

1. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis

Though Lewis wrote close to 3/4 a century ago, society has continued ever further down the track that Lewis diagnoses and dissects in these pages and his thoughts are perhaps even more relevant.

Lewis defends objective truth and natural law—or ‘Tao’ as he terms it—against those who would try to ignore or disprove or subvert it. He ponders the final result of man’s conquest of Nature and cautions against blindly following the idea of progress until we progress so far that we lose ourselves in the process.

Left me with much to ponder and wrestle with, as well as much to thank Lewis for. One I will definitely return to often!

2. Silence by Shūsaku Endō

A deep meditation on what makes true faith, the challenges and dangers of contextualization of the gospel message, suffering and persecution, and coming to terms with past failures. A challenging, striking, and thought-provoking read.

 

 

 

3. The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton 

Chesterton combats common misconceptions and errors in his popular-level sketch of the outline of history. He shows how man is unique among the universe (and the other animals) and also how Christ is unique among men. I love his observation that to believe that there is no Creator or higher power requires believing in three miraculous occurrences: the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the origin of man.  Really appreciate his perspective on history and how things are often the opposite of how they are presented by the skeptic of the church.

4. The Fellowship by Philip and Carol Zaleski

A marvelous portrait of The Inklings that is as much a book of literary criticism as it is biography. Lewis and Tolkien receive—of course—the most attention, but I was surprised by how interesting Barfield and Williams’ lives, beliefs, and careers were as well.

This is a must-read for any serious fan of Lewis and/or Tolkien! A true tour de force that deftly manages to give equal attention to these extraordinary men and their literary subcreations which have gone on to transform our world. If you’re anything like me, you will finish this book with a list of ten or so works either written by these authors or that deeply influenced them to add to your list of books to (re)read this year.

5. Recapturing the Wonder by Mike Cosper

If Charles Taylor is right and we live in a “disenchanted” age, and if James K.A. Smith is correct that “you are what you love,” then how does our approach to living the Christian life change? What is different about our day-to-day experience as followers of Jesus? How do we practice the spiritual disciplines in our modern, secular world?

Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World is Mike Cosper’s attempt to “lift the veil a little bit on how the world has shaped us, how we’ve learned to see things through the lenses of disenchantment” (162). If that sounds interesting to you, head over to my full review.

6. The Stand by Stephen King

This year was the year that I finally read some of Stephen King’s works. Yes, somehow I had managed to avoid the master of horror/fiction until recently, but I finally gave in and read a handful of his books. I’m through six of the seven Dark Tower books, read The Eyes of The Dragon, and slogged through Insomnia (ironically a snooze-fest), but found The Stand to be the best of the bunch.

Two groups of survivors of a worldwide cataclysm band together: one around a spiritual and mysterious old woman and the other around an enigmatic and dangerous man known as The Walkin’ Dude. Their struggle for survival becomes a clash between Good and Evil as they all attempt to forge new lives in the ruins of what came before.

Incidentally, if that reminds any of you of the TV show Lost, there’s a reason: this book was one of the major inspirations for the show!

7. Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb

Fool’s Fate is the conclusion to the second trilogy to star FitzChivalry Farseer and The Fool. Hobb has built a fascinating world that is both enjoyable and unique. Fool’s Fate functions as a marvelous capstone to both this second trilogy and the story that has carried on from the first trilogy. Hobb’s works are much more in the Tolkien/Robert Jordan/T. H. White school of fantasy than the George R.R. Martin/grim and gruesome/Joe Abercrombie syle. If you’re interested in a new fantasy series, then start at the beginning with Assassin’s Apprentice.

 

What about you? What were the highlights of your reading this year? Any on this list that you read too? Or any that now have piqued your interest?

Book Review: “She Reads Truth Bible”

For several years now I have seen many of my female friends share posts on Instagram, Twitter, and/or Facebook about a Bible reading plan and online community called She Reads Truth. It always seemed like these friends were encouraged by participating in this community and I was always glad to see people excited to get into God’s word.

More recently, I have been excited by all the new Bibles Holman Bible Publishers have been putting out. I previously reviewed the CSB Reader’s Bible and loved it, so when I saw that there was an opportunity to check out a new Holman Bible Publishers release and that the Bible was a collaboration with She Reads Truth, I knew that I had to take the opportunity.

So what is the verdict on the She Reads Truth Bible? What makes it unique and is it worth investigating for yourself? Let’s take a look together at this recent release from Holman.

The Gospel of Stranger Things

Since Stranger Things season 2 was released this weekend, here’s a satirical view on preaching and using cultural analogies: