Christian Growth

I Will Be Your God : How God’s Covenant Enriches Our Lives, T. M. Moore, P&R, 2002. Reviewed by Ralph Joseph.

This book should be of interest to all who love the biblical concept of covenant. It is a worthy successor to The Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer Robertson. Moore’s covenant perspective begins: “Understanding and learning to live within the covenant God has entered into with us can enable us to sail above our circumstances. The sextant of our lives constantly fixed on the North Star of God’s grace and truth, our confidence and hope will rest on Him, and not in our circumstances or ourselves.” Moore reminds us that the covenant is solely a work of God, and is eternal, comprehensive, and all of grace.

Moore is clear in defining the people of the covenant and in describing the concept of the kingdom as it relates to the covenant, although Reformed Presbyterians would like more specificity here.

The chapter on “The Church, The Covenant Community” is worth the price of the book. Moore begins his discussion by noting something that has seemingly been forgotten by many in the church—that it is God’s intention that His community should contrast starkly with the surrounding world, a community of the Spirit and of wondrous diversity. Moore correctly points out the necessity of corporate prayer in the life of the covenant community, using the references to prayer in the Psalms to illustrate his point. The church should also focus on the role of Scripture as the Word of God, the need for godly leadership, and the responsibilities of its members.

Moore points out that “worship is the arena in which the glory of God is most visibly celebrated and displayed.” Worship is the context in which the covenant people most fully experience His presence, where we learn more about God’s promises and prepare ourselves for the spiritual battle that inevitably befalls us. Moore argues that the tendency of “seeker friendly” churches, or churches that focus attention on being meaningful or making worshipers feel comfortable, inevitably detract from the greatness and majesty of God. He urges the church to realize that in coming to worship we are coming into the presence of God as the highest calling we have from God.

Moore describes postmodernism as that which is marked by radical individualism, a “deconstructivist” view of truth, a pragmatic relativism toward personal and social ethics, and sensuality (or the primacy of feelings). As a consequence, Moore notes, postmodernism substitutes the ethic of values clarification for the ten commandments, debunks the authority of tradition, and relegates tradition (and therefore history) to the trash heap. It undermines notions of beauty and goodness, invites social anarchy, and opens the Pandora’s box of spirituality by “elevating every religion to the throne of heaven and making every individual a priest or priestess on his or her own terms.”

Moore concludes his discussion of the covenant with suggestions for covenant renewal.

While some areas could be stronger, the book helps us to take seriously God’s covenant statement, “I will be your God and you shall be My people.”

Don’t Waste Your Life , John Piper, Crossway, 2003. Paperback, 192 pp., $12.99. Reviewed by June Whitla.

John Piper calls readers not to waste their life but to redeem it by living only for God’s glory and boasting only in the cross of Christ.

The opening chapters of the book record Piper’s own journey to a redeemed life. Piper recalls coming from a tumultuous late-1960s culture that “breathed the air of existentialism.” Relativism excused immorality, and Scripture itself was viewed as having meaning created from it rather than found in it. Piper rightly points out that we live with the same confusion today, just with different labels.

This book offers three main admonitions to keep us from living a wasted life: 1) Don’t be paralyzed from serving Christ by a consuming desire to be kept safe from wounds and critics; 2) Don’t get caught up in the trivial pursuits of life; and 3) Use suffering as a means to be drawn closer to Christ. The book closes with a call to consider where God is calling you to serve Him in this life—whether close to home in a 9-to-5 occupation or to the other side of the globe in international missions.

Like many of his other writings, Piper works from his thesis that God “is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him” (p. 36). Some readers may not want to fully embrace this idea of “Christian hedonism.” Also, some may find this book a bit repetitious and its points too drawn out.

This book could be recommended to young adults working through the defining years of life. It addresses this audience for whom few meaty, relevant, and easy-to-read books are written.

War

WHY DOES GOD ALLOW WAR? Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Crossway, 2003. Reviewed by Ricky Kortyna.

Writing at the onset of World War II, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his typical lucid fashion, produced a monograph that is timeless. This work has been reprinted by Crossway in light of the 9/11 attack. A previous version of this book was published under the title Why Does God Allow Suffering?

Lloyd-Jones begins by considering the matter of prayer. Sinful man has forfeited the right to approach God without a mediator. We are still slaves to sin and, as slaves, do not have the right to question the King. Once we understand our position in relation to God, we then see how absurd it would be to question what God does or does not do.

Lloyd-Jones goes on to deliver three simple points: God is never capricious, He is never unjust, and He never contradicts Himself. When we approach God in our prayers, we must understand these attributes. We must also understand that our prayers are not conversations between equals, but rather between Creator and creation.

With the above foundation in place, Lloyd-Jones moves on to discuss James 4:1, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” We are reminded that the Bible does not state or imply that God would prohibit or prevent war. To ask God to prohibit war is to ask God not to punish sin.

The concluding chapter, dealing with Romans 8:28, again emphasizes doctrinal knowledge. The church exists not to comfort or enthuse us, but rather to expose us to the doctrines of the Bible. Why does God allow war? It is a punishment of man’s sin.

Because of Lloyd-Jones’ incredible ability to write simply on complex topics, this little book is ideal to give to anyone, regardless of their theological background.

WAR AND GRACE: SHORT BIOGRAPHIES FROM THE WORLD WARS, by Don Stephens, Evangelical Press, 2005. Paperback, 288 pp., $15.99. Reviewed by David Whitla.

This book of 13 gripping tales of God’s transforming work in the lives of people both ordinary and celebrated, against the backdrop of the horrors of the World Wars is hard to put down! Nominated for the United Kingdom Christian Book of the Year Award for 2006, Stephens’ work brings to light many Christian heroes whose exploits ought to be better known.

Mitsuo Fuchida was the Japanese aviator who led the attack on Pearl Harbor and was later converted through reading a tract by a survivor of the “Doolittle” reprisal raid on Japan (whose story is also covered in the book). Johanna- Ruth Dobscheiner was a German Jew who evaded the Holocaust and found Christ through the Dutch Reformed pastor who gave her refuge. Donald Caskie, the “Tartan Pimpernel,” was a Scottish missionary turned secret agent in France who helped many Allied prisoners of war escape Nazi-occupied territory. Paul Schneider was a German Reformed pastor who withstood the Nazis and was executed in Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Charles Fraser-Smith was the creator of countless secret gadgets smuggled into POW camps, who inspired the “Q” character in the James Bond stories. Henry Gerecke was the Lutheran chaplain to Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, who testified to repentance and professions of faith from some of the most notorious killers of the century.

All these and others in the book led truly remarkable, action-filled lives. There are times when their stories, packed with drama, amazing “coincidences,” narrow escapes, fearless determination, horrific torture, and dauntless faith, seem almost too incredible to be true. Yet here we see Christ in action, building His church and using the most unlikely of people at the most unlikely of times. The author does an outstanding job as historian and detective, making use of extensive source materials, including personal correspondence and interviews. The result is an engrossing, readable, and wellillustrated account of many unsung heroes. Additional information is appended to each chapter for those wanting more in-depth biographical information. That’s a good thing, since you will be left wanting more.

Commentaries

THE GUIDE: JOB, Peter Boomfield, Evangelical Press, 2003. 224 pp., $14. Reviewed by Ricky Kortyna.

This little book is one of a series published by Evangelical Press. Of particular interest is a web site link to this book and others in the series where a person may send questions to be answered by the author. To date, fewer than a dozen questions have appeared on the web site for this book. Nevertheless, this concept is a good idea if the reader has a particularly vexing question that he would like to clarify with the author.

This book is not written in chronological order; rather, the author has chosen to review several large concepts in the Book of Job. Examples include chapters on “Is God Trustworthy?” and “Who is Elihu?” The writing is clear and straightforward. Each of the 14 short chapters has at least one penetrating insight making the intellectual return on investment quite good.

The writing and interpretation are, for the most part, solid, with the exception of one odd idea that the leviathan and behemoth may have been dinosaurs. Bloomfield has put together a nice, solid book, which may best serve as an introductory text for those wishing to delve into the Book of Job in more detail. Bloomfield’s conclusion, which James 5:11 succinctly encapsulates, is that Job is not a book of woe and misery, but rather a book revealing God’s mercy and compassion.

LEVITICUS, by John Currid, Evangelical Press, 2004. Hardback, 400 pp., $26.99. Reviewed by David Whitla.

A commentary on Leviticus is not a book many of us would feel inclined to pick up and read. This is a great tragedy, since Leviticus is all about Christ. He is “the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world.” The believer who takes time to read these pages will meet Jesus at every turn. He will be reminded of Christ’s fulfillment of the law on his behalf and filled with gratitude for the liberty He has purchased from its ceremonial demands. The study of Leviticus is not an inquiry into irrelevant Old Testament legislation but is a clarion call to God’s redeemed people to pursue a life of sanctification.

The EP Study Commentary provides a most helpful introduction and summary of the six priestly manuals for wor- (Continued from preceding page) ship that comprise the Book of Leviticus. The commentary is technical in places, referring frequently to the Hebrew text, though a knowledge of the language is not necessary to benefit from the commentary. Useful to pastors and teachers, the book is certainly also accessible to the layman either as a reference or as a basis for about three months’ daily readings. Each chapter is brief and is well laid out for devotional use. The Biblical text (NASB) is interspersed with commentary, explaining its meaning in the original context; then concluding with an application section showing how it applies to Christ and the New Testament believer.

As professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss., Currid holds an orthodox position on the origins of Mosaic literature, though he interacts shrewdly with more critical contemporary scholars throughout. There may be occasional question marks about his applications (e.g., is the Church to take over the major Hebrew festivals to celebrate Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost? p. 311), but on the whole Currid’s commentary is an invaluable opportunity to read a much-neglected portion of God’s Word with a dependable guide. I recommend it.