The Reagan Review

The Man With Books--Guest Blogger Alicia Reagan

2012-02-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to present a guest blog by my wife, Alicia Reagan. We came up with the idea to guest blog for each other recently. She is the one who encouraged me to start this blog. She even designed the template and taught me how to publish a post. She is rather experienced herself having her own popular blog. Her blog has a far larger readership than mine, and I am truthfully thankful for how the Lord is using her.

The original idea for this article was a humorous one on the constantly expanding number of books in our home. What she has given me is not the humorous one we discussed, but one overly kind and generous in a few spots. So please read this with a few gallons of salt and a forbearing spirit as she is obviously blinded by love. Vice that it is, I can't bring myself to find fault.

WhenJimmy and I started dating, he was a manager for Home Federal Bank. I met himin a Sunday School class and was attracted to his genuine love for the Lord.Having been raised in the ministry, I was stuck in the mindset that to love theLord you must be called to preach. Well, Jimmy Reagan blew that theory.

Iwill never forget on one day, he wanted to show me his house that he owned. Wewent to his house and on the “tour” he showed me his second bedroom which hehad converted to an office. There was a desk, a couch and more books than I hadever seen in someone’s home! Wall to wall there were books everywhere! Bookswere stacked all over the floor, along the walls, on the desk, up on the filecabinet and when you opened the closet guess what? Yes -books! I looked atthese books and most of them were about the Bible or about great Christian men.

Iwill never forget that day because it was the day I confirmed in my heart thatI had met a man who truly loved the Word of God and wanted to glean all hecould from it. I used to say to him, “Why do you need all these books? You havethe Bible and that is all you need!” I heard a preacher say that and it soundedreal spiritual. He then replied, “I would never assume to think I knoweverything. I am more than willing to learn from those who have walked beforeme.” It was then I realized that the preacher who had said that maybe wasn’t asspiritual as he might have been lazy.

Imarried that man with the books and I love him for loving them. However, thereare times I did not share his love for his books. When they started overrunningmy home, I did not like them. When they were stored in boxes with no place togo, I felt they were useless. When Itried to have a conversation and he would answer me behind the pages of a book,I was ready to throw them in the trash! He has learned how to keep me happy with his books though and has builtshelves, organized them nicely and put them away when I need his attention. So,his books and I are back on reading terms again.

Ifyou enter our home now, you will find some books in our bedroom in a specificplace, a book shelf in the living room that mostly has my pretty books on itand then you enter his office. You will find wall to wall bookshelves that aredouble stacked and if you ask him about a book, he can immediately reach toshelf number six, second row and give you the fifth book from the left. I don’tknow how he does that! He knows his books! If you dare approach our family roomdownstairs which is also the play room for our children, you will again findbeautiful shelves filled with books that completely wrap our downstairs andthey are carefully organized by topic.

Heis not a collector of books. He is a reader. He reads portions of 40-50 booksto prepare for one sermon and he preaches 3 times a week! When you hear himpreach, you can tell. I can’t even stand to listen to shallow preachinganymore. I know who has studied a portion of Scripture and learned everythingthey could about that portion, or who just picked a topic they want to preachabout and dug around until they found a couple of verses to go with it. I am asermon snob now and I will gladly admit it. It is not my fault though. It isbecause I married the man with books.

Favorite Preachers To Read

2012-02-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

"Who's your favorite authors to read ?" came the question across the table from Pastor Scott Hooks. That question took me off guard, strangely enough, for as much as I love to read, to think about all the books I have read or used, it was hard to reduce that to 2 or 3 names. After an awkward pause, I started naming 5 or 6 names. Guess who they all were? Preachers. Men who had not set out to be authors, but whose sermons made it into print.

Books of sermons should be part of every good family or ministry library. For any Christian they have great devotional value. The only downside to it is that you may decide that some of us pastors really don't know how to preach. For we pastors, reading the best sermons challenges us, shows us what preaching ought to be, and encourages us to work harder. The only downside for us would be that instead of being inspired, we would just steal them. To present another's work as our own is an incredible dishonesty shocking to find in someone speaking for Jesus Christ.

Think of the impact the sermons of Jesus had. Even though the Bible likely only records parts of His sermons (We know this because at times He would spend the whole day teaching and preaching), they are so powerful. The parts of Paul's preaching that we have also make sermon series for us. It wasn't, however, till after the invention of the printing press that lots of sermons made it into print. Not all of them were great, but some are treasures for all time. It was in the 1800s, in my opinion, that we had the golden age of preaching. Praise the Lord, we can read them today.

I want to blog about them individually. I want to tell of Spurgeon, MacLaren, and a few others that you perhaps haven't heard as much about. I may do other book reviews and still have guest blogs coming, but I want to start a series of blogs about preachers and their written sermons that have enriched my life and ministry and makes me want to reach to greater heights in the grand work the Lord has called me to do.

Guest Blogs and More

2012-02-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had our first guest blogger. I have 2 more lined up for the weeks ahead. I have more blogs planned myself, but I love the privilege of having these guests. Within a few weeks I will also be having a drawing for a free book.

I had the opportunity of guest blogging myself on my wife's blog. I was able to write something I had on my heart and loved the opportunity. Here's the link: http://aliciareagan.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/the-woman-i-love-this-is-from-my-hubby/

Plus here's another link to some news that was finally picked up in secular outlets. I'm so glad to see this:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/02/05/ayaan-hirsi-ali-the-global-war-on-christians-in-the-muslim-world.html

Thanks for reading my blog.

Guest Blogger-Kyle Shearin-“The Life of St. Paul” by James Stalker

2012-02-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

I am glad to have as guest blogger my friend, Kyle Shearin. We first met when he and his wife brought a summer singing group from Crown College through our area. He is a sharp, dedicated young man. He teaches at Crown College and is actively involved at Temple Baptist Church. I remember once talking to him as he shared how burdened he was for the Singles Ministry he was leading at Temple Baptist Church. Ironically, it was in that same ministry I met my wife 13 years ago. I gave him the choice of blogging on any book of his choice. His reading has been heavily leaning toward the Apostle Paul of late. He read several on that subject and it turns out an old one was his favorite. Thanks Kyle. Here's what he had to say....

Many are the books that arebeneficial on the life of the Apostle Paul but few are the books that areconsidered “Classics” on the life of Paul. Stalker’s book is not the mostthorough you will find on the topic but it is among the most respected.

Somebooks on Paul leave you thinking that he was not only the “Apostle Paul” butalso the “Savior Paul”. The author walks you through the soaring ministry ofPaul as well as the stumbling ministry of Paul.

Highlight of the Book

Stalker’schapter on the missionary journeys of Paul is second to none. The chronology ofevents brought to life will have you walking the streets with Paul and seeingGod made strong through weakness.

Chapter Titles

His Place in History

His Unconscious Preparationfor His Work

His Conversion

His Gospel

The Work Awaiting the Worker

His Missionary Travels

His Writings and HisCharacter

Picture of a Pauline Church

His Great Controversy

The End (Paul’s End)

Author:

James Stalker was born in Scotland in1848. He graduated from Edinburgh University and New College and served formany years as a pastor in the Free Church in Scotland. His most renowned bookis the “Life of Christ”.

Title- The Life of St. Paul

ISNB – 0-310-44181-1

Est. price - $16.00

A Book For The Pastor Or The Home School Family

2012-02-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Here's an enjoyable book for the whole family. It's "Unveiling The Kings Of Israel" by David Down and published by Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing Group. A sharp looking hardback volume, this book, lavishly illustrated, grabbed my eye as I took it out of the package. It lived up to my first impressions. You sense a passion for Bible sites, Bible history, Bible chronology, and finally, Bible truth. The subtitle, "Revealing The Bible's Archaeological History" gives you a clue about what you are in for.

The title is slightly misleading as the scope is greater than the period involving the Kings of Israel. You will in fact pick up with Noah and go through the time of Christ with all the key historical phases of the Bible in between. I read a criticism of this book saying the telling of the Bible narrative is a waste. The truth is that the book was obviously never designed to be a comprehensive coverage of the archaeology of the Bible, but a tantalizing overview of how the study of archaeology only reinforces beautifully what Bible believers believe. As a pastor, I thoroughly enjoyed it The retelling of well known stories at once points out archaeological facts we may not know, or need reminded of, while making it a useful book to pass along to our children. The pictures of sites in Iraq and Iran, which may be hard for us to get to even if we have been privileged to go to Israel, were spectacular!

My only criticism is that the author refers to "a reduced chronology" which I believe in, but others reading the book would not know what that means. Perhaps future editions could carry a chart comparing standard historical time periods contrasted with one that fits perfectly the Biblical data.

Before I could even finish the book my 10 year old son Caleb walked up to my book-covered desk, saw this volume, and said, "Daddy, where did you get this book? It's awesome." He sat down and looked through the whole book. I'm glad to have this book and I want all my children to go through it probably in high school years. Plus, I will enjoy taking a look again. I fully recommend this book to 2 groups I am gladly part of--pastors and home school families.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Handling Criticism-- A Blog I Read

2012-02-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

I find myself reading more blogs. I've read some good things from people I know nothing about. In a 2 minute mental break from studying, I find reading a blog post refreshing. Plus, in a few paragraphs I might think about something that I wouldn't have time reading a whole book on.

Here's one worthy of sharing: http://www.dashhouse.com/blog/2012/2/1/tim-keller-on-responding-to-critiques.html Again, I know nothing about the person writing this blog. I don't know about you, but that doesn't worry me at all. We need to be careful about what I once heard called "academic inbreeding," and anyway, discernment should not be that hard to come by for the Bible student who loves Jesus Christ.

In the link above he discusses a sermon he heard about handling critiques leveled against you. It's rather convicting. We would all like to throw it out if it weren't so blatantly scriptural. I wonder what difference this biblical approach to something we all find distasteful would make. Likely, we'd have a profound impact on our churches, ministries, and, of course, our personal lives.

Forgiveness by Harold Vaughan and T.P. Johnston

2012-02-03T07:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a great book on a timely subject. It can't quite live up to its subtitle "How To Get Along With Everybody All The Time!", but then again, no book could. It does, however, thoroughly and convincingly cover Biblical teaching on the subject. Forgiveness, or the lack thereof, is one of the biggest problems today in my observation. Perhaps because its so easy to not forgive, so common, and such a habit. It is a "respectable" sin in that someone even in the best Christian circles would take much more flack for allowing a cuss word to slip, or be caught smoking, and so on, than being filled to the brim with unforgiveness. Yet if we viewed the matter in terms of what the Lord spoke the most about needing our greatest emphasis, unforgiveness would vault to the top of the list of sins we'd better take care of today.

The subject matter divides into 3 sections: a) granting forgiveness, b) seeking forgiveness, and c) enjoying forgiveness. The book begins tackling the question "Why should I forgive?" and its arguments are unanswerable.

The key argument is that being at odds with others puts me at odds with Jesus Christ. If you consider yourself a dedicated Christian, or at least desire to be one, that is catastrophic! Then there's a thorough explanation of what forgiveness actually is. It quickly dispenses with the bizarre idea that someone must ask me for my forgiveness before I can grant it. Jesus declaring from the agonies of His cross, "Father forgive them...", forever settles that question.

Think of this statement: "Unforgiveness is a two-way street. If you decide to put someone in debtor's prison, God will do the same to you!" If more people could see this truth, it would finally explain for them why their lives are so joyless despite possessing Christ's forgiveness. What we think is trials and problems weighing our lives down may need an entirely different diagnosis. Chapter 4 expertly takes us through the process of what unforgiveness does in our lives. It is a journey through bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking, and finally, malice. I wonder if this destination makes us a much more grotesque sight than the one who originally did us wrong.

The whole book gives wise counsel and is thoroughly based on Scripture. You can look at these and other materials at christlifemin.org where other books and downloadable sermons are available. I highly recommend this book, especially if you know in your heart you need it.

The Complete Biblical Library

2012-01-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

Sometimes diligent searching through used books pays off. I came into the possession of a set of books that I never thought I would have for a fraction of what they normally sell for. I got the complete set of the volumes that make up the Hebrew and Greek dictionaries of The Complete Biblical Library. They are beautiful hardback volumes of faux leather with gold gilt lettering .

There are 22 volumes of the Old Testament portion (blue volumes). Volumes 1-15 cover the books of the Old Testament while Volumes 16-22 (the part I got) is a detailed Hebrew Dictionary with its own numbering system. There is a Hebrew spelling, a phonetic spelling, a listing of the part of speech, a simple definition, a listing of cognates and synonyms, a concordance of every Old Testament usage, and then more careful explanation such as you might find in a theological dictionary. This is followed by word or page number references to several other works including Strong's.

The New Testament ( brown volumes) is similarly set up. There are 16 volumes with volumes 1-9 covering the books of the NT and Volume 10 being a Harmony of the Gospels while Volumes 10-17 (the part I got) being a Greek Dictionary and the last volume a Greek Grammar with helpful indexes for the dictionary. That last volume has an index to give Strong's numbers to correspond with their numbers. For some reason the index for Hebrew words is here instead of in the OT set. My only complaint is that the indexes would be more helpful the other way around. I use Strong's numbering system and wish I could look down a list of Strong's numbers to find this set's corresponding number. I hope I don't have to make my own!

For some reason these books published by World Library Press in Springfield, Missouri are out of print and hard to get. The idea behind this series as brought out by editor Thoralf Gilbrant is to give as in-depth a study aid as is available in the better scholarly works but set up in a way that a Bible student who doesn't read Hebrew or Greek can use to full advantage. I personally think that is as ideal an approach to further Bible study as I have heard. The Bible is made up of words and as pastors, or Bible students, we must know exactly as possible what they mean. To know less is to shoot in the dark. I look forward to using this set the rest of my life. I'm going to rearrange a shelf so they are reachable from my desk.

I don't have any insight on the volumes covering the books of each testament as I don't have them. I'd love to, but in that lightning rarely strikes in the same place twice, I doubt I will. In any event, you are reading from one grateful-to-the-Lord guy for what the Lord dropped in my life this week.

Thanks To Those Following My Blog

2012-01-23T14:37:00.000-08:00

For anyone who is either a follower of my blog or likes "Reagan Review" on Facebook, I appreciate it. For anyone who has or will do so today, I would like to send you a pdf file of a chart entitled "Money In The Gospels". It takes every type of money mentioned in the Gospels and describes their value in modern day amounts. This can make things like Judas' 30 pieces of silver or the talents in the Parable of the Talents more understandable. Alicia took my hand drawn chart and made it a sharp looking chart created on Publisher. Just email me or send a facebook message.

Thanks again.

Book Review--The Resignation of Eve

2012-01-23T12:59:00.000-08:00

"The Resignation of Eve" by Jim Henderson is presented as tackling the "sad resignation...developing among dedicated Christian women who feel overworked and undervalued in the church." I thought it might be the perfect counterpart to another book I recently read: "Why Men Hate Going To Church." I felt the victim of bait and switch as I read this book.

The real goal of this book is to promote women in the ministry. I must confess up front that women in the ministry is not a position that I find scripturally sound. He contends that many women are leaving church over this issue. Of course some women have left church if they could not have a key leadership/pastoral role in the church, but are we to believe that this is even in the top 5 reasons for women leaving church? What, then, is the reason men are leaving the church? Because leadership is open to them? He paints a dark picture of many more women leaving if they are not allowed to take any role they like.

He makes his case with case studies of individual stories of women he interviewed. Each chapter is well written and you leave the chapter feeling you really know something about the woman be describes. Still, to prove a point, he uses only anecdotal evidence. Despite trying to say he used a good variety of women to present his case, the majority of Christian ladies I know could not be described by any example he used.

The few conservative women he wrote about were not the best examples he could have used (I mean these ladies no disrespect). Even with them I felt thay were presented as naive, just not sophisticated enough to see the obvious truth that everything the Bible says about women not being pastors was culturally charged and without present bearing. Many thoughtful Bible students would disagree and to just state it as fact is weak.

As the book went along, you got the feeling that he was promoting the idea that we must structure church to give people what they want to get them to stay. There was never a discussion of what the Bible actually said about how church should be done.

He did mention a few inconsistencies among some churches that refuse women the office of a pastor. But that alone couldn't carry his premise.

The book should be advertised to the target audience of denominations that say they believe women are allowed to pastor but the numbers are out of kilter. Then the book could use arguments, as it did, that are used in the workplace. All in all, I cannot recommend this book.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Bible Atlas

2012-01-15T13:21:00.000-08:00

I love Bible maps. It goes all the way back to the maps in the back of the Bible I received when I got saved all those years ago. No one would need as many as I have, unless , of course, you have a weakness for them as I do. Every Bible student should have one good one, and Sunday School teachers and pastors would do well to have two or three.

What is the value in Bible atlases, you ask? The terrain of Bible lands is unusual to what is around us. You might have to go all the way across the United States to simulate the change experienced in 20 miles there. Plus you don't know the towns there so if a Bible character took a journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem it would be only 8 miles (like the Wise Men leaving Herod to see Jesus) while Nazareth to Bethlehem would be 80 or so miles depending the route taken (like Mary and Joseph traveled). Some routes were arduous journeys because of terrain while others would be easy walking. To go from farmland to desert, or from cool weather to hot, could in may places be done in a day on foot. A quick glance at a Bible Atlas might be the very thing that put the Bible story you read in the proper perspective.

A good Bible Atlas will have quality pictures of various Bible places (a picture is definitely worth a thousand words in that case), topographical information, plenty of maps as there are so many stories in the Bible, and good graphics. My eye for graphics might be different than yours, so previewing the maps before you purchase is a good idea. Christian Bookstores usually have only a couple choices so going to Christianbook.com and searching the Bible atlases and viewing the excerpts available would be helpful. You will want to make sure that they follow conservative scholarship in the map information provided. Comparing a few atlases will reveal that some Bible sites are less certain than others and you might have to read the evidence and make your own judgment.

The best Bible atlas for the pastor would be what is now called "The Carta Bible Atlas" which for years was called "The MacMillan Bible Atlas". I have the older edition, but the newer one is little changed and expensive. It is far superior in the OT than the NT, but even the NT maps are helpful. It is written by Aharoni and Avi-Yonah, Jewish scholars who lived in the Bible lands. I doubt they were believers, but the OT was the heritage of their people and they put together the best. The graphics are not spectacular, but the number of maps for even lesser-known events make them always my first choice.

Two good inexpensive choices are "Bible Atlas & Companion" by Barrett, Hudson, and Bolen ($8.19 CBD)and "Holman Quick Source Bible Atlas With Charts and Biblical Reconstructions" ($9.99 CBD). The maps and graphics are really good in both. The former has really nice pictures as Todd Bolen is well known for. The latter has the added benefit of the first half of the book being on the unique geography of Israel. I highly recommend these two for pastors, Sunday school teachers, or any serious Bible student.

You can also supplement your collection with older used volumes that are nicer than you might imagine. I have "The Readers Digest Atlas of the Bible" (maps good, text worthless), "Atlas of the Bible" by John Rogerson (average), "The Standard Bible Atlas" (a small student atlas using the Hammond maps that were the standard for many years), and "The Moody Guide To Bible Lands" by Tim Downey (old edition--there is a much improved edition just released that I don't have). I also have "The New Illustrated Bible Atlas" by Joseph Rhymer (decent), "The Illustrated Atlas of the Bible Lands" published by Warwick Press (below average), "An Atlas of the Life of Christ" by John Stirling (old, small, and very accurate), and "New Bible Atlas" by Wiseman, Bimson, et al (helpful). The older "Atlas of The Biblical World" by Baly and Tushingham (Graphics and pictures poor, information good) is worth having as is "Bible Mapbook" by Simon Jenkins (very good). A newer choice is "The Kregel Bible Atlas" by Tim Dowley (Concise, but good). Some of these can be found on used book sites for as little as $1. The last volume sells new for $15, but the others are out of print and I wouldn't pay over $5 for any of them.

A huge volume that could well supplement any collection is "The Harper Collins Atlas of the Bible" (one edition was called the "Time Atlas of the Bible"). It has cool maps that are sometimes reoriented with, for example, west at the top! If you are geographically challenged, this may be too much. I love some of their maps of Bible battles (hills with trees showing).

Here are a few more, but only if you are a map junkie like me. "The Holy Land Satellite Atlas" Volumes 1 and 2 published by Rohr Productions." These volumes are unique and give information that you can get no where else. When I studied for my solo trip to Israel and Jordan I used these volumes to help me transpose Bible Atlas information on modern road atlases. The pictures are extraordinary and include sites the other atlases never show, at least in up-to-date fashion because many of them are deep in the West Bank. I should mention too the "Student Map Manual: Historical Geography of the Bible Lands."

I should also tell you about the most detailed atlas I have--"The Sacred Bridge" by Rainey and Notley. I'll admit it's a luxury but it is the ultimate one available. The maps are small, but the text is detailed to almost every Bible event imaginable. It can be liberal in places, but if you want to find the archaeological site to match the Bible site in modern Israel, it is indispensable. Its comprehensiveness is unparalleled.

Before I close I should mention that there are a few very nice volumes that have been recently released that I do not yet have. Since I am a little compulsive/obsessive in this area, I'll try to get them at some point. I've only scanned them at bookstores. There's the "Crossway ESV Bible Atlas" by Currid published in 2010, the "New Moody Atlas of Bible Lands" (a vastly new and improved edition) by Beitzel from 2009, and "Zondervan Atlas of the Bible" by Rasmussen (also a new, improved 2009 edition).

I'm likely one of the few people who thinks that an hour of bible atlas viewing is an hour well spent. Still, we can all profit from a Bible atlas in our Bible studies.

Feed My Sheep

2012-01-02T13:54:00.000-08:00

"Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea For Preaching" published by Reformation Trust Publishing, which you can find at Ligonier.org, has 11 chapters by various authors calling us back to the prime importance of preaching.

Albert Mohler first discusses the primacy of preaching citing history and Scripture (e.g. Col 1: 25-29) to build his case. He shows us that preaching is not one of a pastor's important duties, but , in fact, it is the key one. We do live in an age where pastors are expected to do everything and some pastors prefer almost any administrative duty to the hard work of sermon preparation. Perhaps over time we become rather slick, but too superficial to do our people any good. I loved his analysis about "product envy" for preachers. Other professions can look at how many items sold or made but results in the task of preaching are not so easy to calculate. The lack of quantifiable results may derail us from expounding the Word of God which carries the help those we minister to really needs.

James Boice tackles the "foolishness of preaching". He argues that preaching is God's wise way to show that the world's wisdom is foolishness. He also speaks of how many Bible characters preached, and how preaching leads to conversions and church growth. Ultimately, this works because the Lord works through His Word.

Derek Thomas writes on "Expository Preaching." Really this is the type of preaching referred to in the whole book. Using the history of several great preachers, defining the terms of preaching carefully, he writes as an academician. His description of failed preaching types is really good.

Joel Beeke writes on experimental preaching, or getting beyond explanation to application as all good preaching should. R.C. Sproul discusses teaching in preaching. Since we live in a generation that prefers light preaching this is a challenge to help our people learn the Word of God. R.C. Sproul Jr. has a brilliant chapter on "Preaching To The Mind"'.

Sinclear Ferguson writes with good effect on "Preaching To The Heart." His chapter is practical. Don Kistler gives us "Preaching With Authority". He discusses how Jesus spoke with authority, an authority so obvious all noticed. He relates how Paul wrote about it, for example, Titus 2:15. He reminds us of what an awesome call we have in our call to preach. Eric Alexander writes on "Evangelistic Preaching". Some might find it lacking.

John Piper speaks on "Preaching To Suffering People." Perhaps this is an example of how productive a use this call to dedicated preaching can provide. John MacArthur writes the closing chapter as a plea to take the contents of this book and go and do what a shepherd should do.

The book is an encouragement. It runs against the tide of modern-day preaching and is what we need. You may have noticed that every writer tightly holds to reformed theology, and though I definitely do not, we must graciously admit that reformed writers are simply giving us the best writings on preaching today. This book is a clear example of that fact. I want to be the preacher the Lord wants me to be. Don't you?

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Tyndale by David Teems

2011-12-24T11:49:00.000-08:00

You always assumed, I’m sure, that William Tyndale was an important man in Christian history. This book shows just how amazingly important he was. You knew about his first English translation of the New Testament, perhaps you even knew he died as a martyr. Did you know, though, that he had a great effect on our English language? He is credited with many words in our language coming from his pen. If you are a lover of the KJV as I am, you will be shocked as I was to learn that many of the most memorable lines of the KJV came over unchanged from Tyndale. Consider:

Let not your hearts be troubled

The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be merciful unto thee.

…for whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou dwellest, there I will dwell.

There are many others that Mr. Teems shares with us. You leave this book convinced that Tyndale has had the greatest influence of all on the Word of God in English. There really is no close second.

You are impressed too as you read of Tyndale’s simple faith and dogged determination to translate the Bible into English. It was his driving passion from which he never wavered. Mr. Teems quotes Tyndale in regards to his translation work:

…that I never altered one syllable of God’s word against my conscience, nor would do this day, if all that is in the earth, whether it be honour, pleasure, or riches, might be given me.

Though Mr. Teems didn’t exactly word it this way, it is obvious that Tyndale was especially gifted by God for his great work. It was his life’s work, one that cost him greatly, living and running as a fugitive with loneliness and danger always staring him in the face.

Mr. Teems has done us great service in this volume. He is handy with a pen. His own literary skill makes him able to demonstrate how deep Tyndale’s talents really go. He holds Tyndale up beside the great literary figures and even mentions where Shakespeare used Tyndale. I finished this book thinking that more than a heroic man, Tyndale was one of the really great ones. Perhaps he hasn’t had his due, but Mr. Teems while fairly showing his faults, accurately presents us with “Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God an English Voice.”

I received this book free from the publisher. 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

Leonard Ravenhill

2011-12-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you need an author that will jolt you out of your spiritual lethargy. Leonard Ravenhill will never fail you at such a time. I'm thinking now of 2 of my favorite Ravenhill titles: "Why Revival Tarries" and "Sodom Had No Bible".

In "Why Revival Tarries" there are 20 chapters with a page of fantastic quotes at the beginning of each chapter. Imagine being a preacher as I am and being hit with:

One does not need to be spiritual to preach, that is, to make and deliver sermons of homiletical perfection and exegetical exactitude...Preaching of the type mentioned affects men: prayer affects God. Preaching affects time; prayer affects eternity.

That is paragraph two of chapter one--See what I mean! Or how about this:

No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying.

Yes he is eminently quotable, likes a rhyme, yet is never corny. I could provide many other great quotes, but I am far too slow a typist to reproduce the entire book here. It is still in print and can be picked up at christianbook.com for $8.99. The answer to the question of why revival tarries has much, I came to see, to do with me.

"Sodom Had No Bible" is, I suppose, a book of his sermons. The thought of the title sermon is that Sodom was judged, but she had no Bible. What does that obviously mean for us today? He draws a picture that we fiddle as Rome (America) burns. "Riveting" is my review in a word. It's in print with Christian Life Books for $11.99, or used for around $4 on places like addall.com

Why Men Hate Going To Church by David Murrow

2011-12-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

“Why Men Hate Going To Church”—the title says it all. It’s the question we have all had, on a subject we have all noticed, without ever asking. Perhaps you imagined that there was no answer. It is just one of the mysteries of life. Read this book by David Murrow and you will have answers that will make you wonder that you never noticed them before. He gives answers that stem from the fundamental differences of men and women. We see some of these ideas in marriage books to our advantage. I will confess to being skeptical as I began, but this book is compelling. As a pastor I found his marketing/media perspective unique and thought provoking.

He shows that we have feminized church. Our services are much more favorable to women than men both in comfort and service. He gives a fascinating history of how this developed. As I read, I thought there is little than can be done about it, but in the last half of the book he gives practical advice. A new mindset is the key one.

He is friendly to the contemporary style of worship and I am firmly of the old fashioned variety, yet where his type of worship fails men he minces no words. I appreciate that kind of candor. This work doesn’t pretend to be theological at all. If some idea he offers sounds like a marketing ploy to give them what they want with no regard to God’s glory, that is the reader’s problem. For what it is, this book could hardly be better.

I received this book free from the publisher through its 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

How To Worship Jesus Christ by Joseph Carroll

2011-11-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

Recently Ryan Brown, Jamin Boyer, and I had the privilege to visit Dr. Tim Jayne's new office. It's beautiful, roomy, and as ideal as any preacher could imagine. We talked, had a great visit, and as Dr. Jayne is known to do, he gave us each a book. In addition to teaching college students the Bible, he is well known as one who encourages preachers to read fine books. I appreciate that emphasis in his ministry. There is an obvious passion in him that I share on that subject.

While there he recommended a book that he wishes every pastor would read--"How To Worship Jesus Christ". He has given scores of this book away over the years. Strangely, I already had the book and it was laying in a pile of books that I intended to read soon. Somehow, it was never the book I selected. I think I got it in a box of books I picked up at a library sale.

Since he told us that many pastors he has introduced the book to read it every year, I read it right away. The book fully lived up to its reputation. He was a missionary for many years and the contents of this book were worked out in those days of service. His influences command respect. He called Hudson Taylor "the father of modern faith missions" (emphasis mine). A. W. Tozer, who never fails to challenge me, was clearly his greatest influence.

He effectively made the case for what our private time is all about. He says, "My quiet time then became something for Him, not something for me." The great need, he says, is to worship Christ until He becomes real to you. That grows into it being about Him, not even the people to whom you minister. Perhaps preachers talking of that concept today learned it here. In any case, I have never heard it better said.

He quotes Phil 3:8 "...that I may win Christ" and spoke of intimate fellowship with Christ being the key. He explains that people who must always be pushed to do things like witnessing or supporting missions have a serious problem. Then he continues: "What was Paul always doing? He is consistently bringing you to Christ and leaving you with Christ." To my mind, that is profound. Nuggets that really challenge you continue to the end of the book.

The book is still in print by Moody (My copy is older). Amazon.com and others have inexpensive used copies while a new copy can be gotten from CBD for $8.19 (Christianbook.com)

The Still Hour by Austin Phelps

2011-11-12T13:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a book on prayer from the 1800s. I read once sometime ago that Peter Masters recommended the book and said it was "once enormously popular." My copy includes a quote from Spurgeon saying the author "seems to truly and completely know the power of prayer." It seems this book fell off the map for decades. Used copies can be found and Solid Ground Christian Books has a beautiful paperback volume in print now for an economical price. Check solid-ground-books.com.

I have at least 20 volumes on prayer in my library and nothing quite moved me like this one. As a young Christian John R. Rice's "Prayer: Asking and Receiving" helped me as did R. A. Torrey's volume on prayer. Mrs. Rosalind Goforth's volume on "How I know God Answers Prayer" is not to be missed as well.

"The Still Hour" is a book, though, I wonder how I missed all these years. Read it at your own risk. I was greatly convicted and concluded I didn't pray at all.

Listen to these chapter titles to get an idea of what you will encounter in this volume:

Absence of God in Prayer
Unhallowed Prayer
Romance in Prayer
Idolatry in Prayer

and many more. It's only 136 pages, but a phenomenal read.

Hello

2011-11-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

As an avid book lover, particularly in Bible study, I get asked about recommendations fairly often. I am not an expert in any way, but as a pastor I spend a great deal in time in these type books.

I'd love to hear from others too. Just this week I received a recommendation that has proven to be extraordinary. I'll write about it later.

We live in a digital age, but my heart is in the past. I want to feel the book, hold it in my hands, and put in on my shelf often with scribbled notes inside.

2011-11-12T12:52:00.001-08:00