Portraits of Christ

Gordon J. Keddie and David G. Whitla | Crown & Covenant Publications, 2020, 403 pp., $25 | Reviewed by Meg Spear

Portraits of Christ is a wonderfully helpful collection of meditations, nourishing the soul and enriching the mind. For many years, Keddie and Whitla served together as pastors at Southside (Indianapolis) Reformed Presbyterian Church. For a portion of that time, they preached topically during the communion services, looking specifically at various titles that Jesus uses to portray Himself in Scripture, helping us grasp more of the essence of the eternal God-man. These messages gave rise to the meditations in this book.

Each chapter of this book eluci-dates one of forty diverse titles given to Jesus Christ. Although it is not an exhaustive list, it is quite expansive, covering more obscure Old Testament references as well as more commonly known New Testament references. These titles are addressed in alphabetical order, beginning with “Alpha & Omega” and ending with “Word.” Each of these titles is examined as a portrait of our risen Savior.

Take, for example, “Jesus is our Fountain,” as seen in Zechariah 13💯 “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness,” after which the reader is encouraged to read the entire chapter of Zechariah 13. After painting a picture of a fountain as fresh, clean, and transformative, the book then leads the reader to see how the Messiah fulfills this picture and serves as a fountain both in justification and in sanctification.

This Fountain had been hidden but is now revealed, provides water for thirsty souls, is opened for the church, and provides us with the washing of regeneration. Additionally, the Fountain progressively removes sin in its recurring application of God’s grace. The chapter closes with our Lord Jesus calling to us in Isaiah 55: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters: And you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

The various portraits, as they are presented in this book, give the reader a much rounder picture of both the person and the work of Jesus Christ. It is a joy to see how His life fulfills prophecy in such detail and wrestle with the implication of His wondrous work. The continuity and consistency of Scripture is manifest, as Old and New Testament passages mesh seamlessly to portray our Lord. I highly recommend this book for personal or group study and edification.

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A Holy Fear

Christina Fox | Reformation Heritage Books, 2020, 192 pp., $12 | Reviewed by Alicia Hemphill

A Holy Fear: Trading Lesser Fears for the Fear of the Lord is a simple book about the fear of God and how it helps the believer place other fears into their proper place. The author does not try to break new ground. Instead, she rightly points us to the beautiful truths of God’s character and work, along with the sufficiency of God Himself and His Word, to address our fears.

Fox grounds her discussion in the fear of the Lord being the root resource for “trading lesser fears.” We cannot cast off our fear of death, loss, sickness, and more if we haven’t first cultivated a true and biblical fear of God Himself. She takes the reader through the implications of biblical fear and discusses how to grow in it. She writes, “The fear of the Lord must become a habit, the rhythm of our soul, one so ingrained in us that it becomes our natural response.”

The book causes us to consider what our habits are and what our primary response is when something stressful or hard comes upon us. Do we respond in terms of our relationship to God and what we know about Him, or do we respond in relation to our circumstances? Lest we leave discouraged, she later adds, “The Lord calls us to a holy fear and then gives us just what we need to live it out.”

Midway through the book, the author takes us through the means to grow in the fear of the Lord. She includes some of the basic disciplines of the Christian life. She then expounds on fruits a Christian should be able to observe as a result of growth in the fear of the Lord, including wisdom, humility, and trust. One particular delight is a chapter dedicated to the sufficiency of the Psalms to answer our fears. It lacks a strong endorsement of singing the Psalms in corporate worship, but her inclusion of a chapter on the Psalms and how they so adequately meet the heart was appreciated.

In conclusion, this book was encouraging and biblical and was not wordy or filled with fluff. It includes a discussion guide, and the book would be suitable for group discussions. Since it is a mere eight chapters long, the book could easily be discussed over the course of several weeks instead of several months.

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Cheer Up! The Life and Ministry of Jack Miller

Michael Graham | P&R Publishing, 2020, 256 pp., $24.99 | Reviewed by Pastor Harry Metzger

How does a person move from abused child to school dropout, to atheist, to born-again Christian, to an effective church planter, to an unhappy seminary professor, to a fruitful seminary professor, to well-known author, and to founder of a world mission movement? The new book, Cheer Up!, traces the life and ministry of John C. (Jack) Miller, professor at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, Pa., and founder of World Harvest Mission (now known as Serge).

The answer to the question is the revival that came to Jack’s life when he took a sabbatical in Spain and spent three months studying the promises of God. He came back to America and his positions at the church and seminary as a changed man, invigorated and empowered to minister faithfully to others in person and through his writings. Some of his more well-known books include Out-Growing the Ingrown Church; Powerful Evangelism for the Powerless; Repentance: A Daring Call to Real Surrender; Come Back, Barbara (a book about the waywardness of his daughter and her return to faith) and A Faith Worth Sharing.

This new book’s title and the chapter titles are all taken from some of Jack Miller’s favorite sayings: “Cheer Up! You are far worse than you think!” “Cheer Up! God’s grace is far greater than you ever dared hope.” “Cheer Up! God’s Spirit works in your weakness.” “Cheer Up! God’s kingdom is far more wonderful than you ever imagined.”

The book traces Jack’s troubled youth, his shift to atheism, the time when he described himself as “halfway converted,” and his conversion and involvement in Christian witness and ministry. It then follows Jack’s academic career and his founding of New Life Presbyterian Church in Jenkintown, Pa., the subsequent church plants from this church, and his professorship at Westminster. A whole chapter is dedicated to the difficult times at Westminster Seminary during the Norman Shepherd controversy over justification. The impact of Jack’s Sonship curriculum, as well as comments from some of its detractors, is also covered in the book.

Although not the best biography I have ever read, Cheer Up! gives a detailed account of the life and ministry of a man who, “warts and all,” touched, influenced, and changed the lives of many people who are almost household names in the Christian church today, including Timothy Keller, Steve Brown, Bryan Chapell, Jerry Bridges, and Joni Eareckson Tada.

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A Place to Belong: Learning to Love the Local Church

Megan Hill | Crossway, 2020, 184 pp., $15.99 | Reviewed by Sam Spear

If you enjoyed Megan Hill’s 2016 book, Praying Together (and you should have), then you will have a sense of the delights in store with her 2020 offering, A Place to Belong. In this book, Hill again relates the simple beauty and power of congregational life, this time focusing on aspects of our corporate identity as Christians. In an era when churches are seeing more attending than belonging, this reminder of our identity and calling is a current help.

The identity references set forward in the nine chapters are each drawn from Scripture. The book also includes seven pages of Scripture references and a full set of study questions, allowing groups using the book to bridge the gap between Bible study and book study.

Chapter one is a helpful meditation on the church as a gathering of those loved by God. The challenge implicit to our lukewarm hearts is this: “If God loves His church and its members, how can we view our fellow members with indifference or disdain?” Self-sacrificing, God-empowered love for one another should mark our congregational life.

The sixth chapter identifies church members as saints. Yes, we have entangling sin that remains in our individual and corporate lives, but our identity is that of saints, if we have received the new birth. Like the Corinthian church, we need correction and help; but we are together becoming holy by the transforming power of the glory of our Lord.

The final chapter highlights the relationship between congregations. We belong in the church, not just to a few saints from our zip or postal code, but to a global fellowship, a multitude of people standing before the throne of the Lamb. Hill highlights our responsibility to listen to, learn from, admonish, share with, and love the universal church.

A Place to Belong is a short, easy-to-read 140 pages, but it is filled with insights that will challenge and encourage.

There are so many isolated people in the world today, people who are digitally connected but personally alone. The church should be an antidote to this condition, and this book enables us to be ready to help.