Faithful God: An Exposition of the Book of Ruth, by Sinclair B. Ferguson, Bryntirion Press, 2005. Paperback, 157 pp., $10.50. Reviewed by David Whitla.

Prolific pastor-theologian-author Sinclair Ferguson has again given the church a winning volume in his devotional exposition of Ruth, entitled Faithful God. In five brief but full chapters he unfolds the message of the book in his characteristically clear and engaging style. Ferguson helps the reader grasp the message of Ruth in its redemptive-historical context, drawing important observations from the Hebrew text that are easily missed in our English translations, but in such a way that technical matters are explained without technical jargon. And what a message it is! Stressing God’s providence in guiding the characters to accomplish His greater purposes, we are taught to see God’s covenantal faithfulness “as the melody line of the Book of Ruth,” and we are thus exhorted to “see God’s autograph written into our own lives.” Ferguson winsomely handles the various threads of this short story, making copious application to the Christian life on such varied topics as conversion, revival, courtship, living with in-laws, prayer, and decision making, all the while reminding us that Ruth is “a theological symphony” that points us ultimately to Christ the Redeemer. Particularly refreshing is Ferguson’s honest dealing with the tension-laden drama at the threshing floor in Ruth 3. His compelling conclusions will surprise many readers. A superb letter by John Newton on divine guidance, that cuts through much fuzzy thinking on the subject, is included in an appendix.

Ferguson remarks that the book of Ruth is multum in parvo (much in little). The same might justly be said about his commentary. It is diminutive in size yet remarkably rich in depth and expansive in content. Faithful God makes a great companion for daily devotional reading and will also be most helpful to pastors, Bible study leaders and Sabbath school teachers for lesson preparation. If you are planning to study Ruth, Faithful God is essential reading.

Impure Lust, by John Flavel (Banner of Truth), reprinted 2008 from Flavel’s The Harlot’s Face in the Scripture Glass. Reviewed by Pastor James Faris.

Puritan preachers prepared lavish feasts in their sermons, but many in our culture are not ready for such sit-down meals. The Pocket Puritans series from Banner of Truth provides a fast-food sampling to whet the appetite of modern readers by publishing bite-sized portions of the original composition. Each booklet is 3˝ x 5˝ and about 100 pages long.

American culture exalts sensuality to the extreme, and Christ’s people face sexual temptation daily. Too often, individuals are plagued by failure and guilt, and lives and families are destroyed. John Flavel directly and carefully challenges readers to consider the dangers of sexual immorality in this timeless message. Few Christians will close the book without a deep conviction of sin. He relentlessly hammers home 10 arguments against sensual lust that center on the offense it is to God’s character and on the destruction that comes to the sinner in this life and the life to come. He then applies the healing balm of the gospel as he comforts and instructs readers with 7 directions for faith and life in the battle against this consuming sin.

Nearly half of the published booklet is a biographical sketch of the author and his ministry. Readers thus receive the twofold blessing of a heart-searching message and an introduction to the man and his ministry.

CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet, by Dr. Michael R. Emlet, New Growth Press, 2009. Reviewed by Pastor James Faris.

Dr. Michael Emlet (M.Div., M.D.) demonstrates in this short book how laypeople can apply the Scriptures and the message of the cross to real people with real struggles around them. He helps us learn how to understand two things: people and passages of Scripture.

Toward this end, he provides two helpful lists of questions to ask—one about people, and the other about any given passage of Scripture. The questions guide us in understanding the brother or sister we hope to help, focusing on seeing that person as a saint, a sufferer, and a sinner in the story of his or her life. The questions keep us from oversimplifying a person’s problems and also keep us from despairing that the problems are too great for us to meet. Emlet highlights the covenantal story-nature of Scripture. He shows how we can mine the depth of God’s Word in our daily reading and apply even seemingly obscure passages to peoples’ lives in obviously relevant ways. Again this approach is designed to keep from oversimplifying the Bible as we approach people and to keep us from despair that certain passages are just too much for us to wield in our interactions with people and their problems.

Finally, Emlet pulls these two facets together—understanding people and passages—with several case studies that demonstrate how the story of a person’s life can intersect with the story of redemption in life-changing ways. Naturally, the examples are limited and the instruction cannot begin to answer all the questions that will be raised, but the book encourages us by precept and example to get started and to expand our repertoire of counseling skills in the family of God.

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, by Andy Crouch, InterVarsity, 2008. Reviewed by Pastor Jared Olivetti.

Say the word culture in a group of Christians and various things will happen: Some eyes will light up, some people will run in fear and others will think about yogurt. Certainly it is a loaded, difficult word; yet participating in it and seeking to glorify Christ by it is the absolutely inevitable calling of Christians. And so we need help. We need good books.

Andy Crouch’s Culture Making is an important and helpful book. From defining culture (“what we make of the world”) to giving tools for evaluating cultural goods to explaining the history of the modern church’s manic-depressive involvement with culture, there is something here for everyone to learn, something for everyone to take away and be richer for it. The book bears the mark of deep and wise meditation. This is a must for the church that normally chooses a single posture (condemning, critiquing, copying or simply consuming culture) rather than deciding to give our highest efforts to cultivation and creation instead (see chapters 4 and 5, the brilliant hinge of the book).

The graduate students who read this book with me were agreed that the author’s idiosyncratic approach to Scripture—enabling him to see culture as the heart of every biblical story—was the weakest link in the book. However, the first section on understanding culture and the third section on our calling to create culture more than made up for it. Culture Making isn’t the final word on the subject, nor was it intended to be. But it is vital reading for all who want to be a part of the conversation and part of moving the church forward into changing culture by creating culture.