In today’s world, doctrine and orthodoxy get a bad rap. Many sincere Christians assume studying doctrine is primarily a waste of time. Doctrine usually leads to cold and dead religion, or else it promotes a divisive and bitter spirit that splits churches and wounds people. What really matters is one’s personal relationship with God, and his love for fellow believers.
Joshua Harris would have agreed with this basic sentiment at one time. Dug Down Deep is the story of how he came to realize how important and even life-changing the study of the Bible’s doctrine really can be. Harris invites the reader along as he explains what the basic doctrines (or teachings) of the Bible are and illustrates the impact they have had in his own spiritual walk.
Harris writes in a refreshing, open manner. He lets you into his life even sharing some of the dark secrets of his past. He shares the story of his father Gregg’s conversion to Christ, as well as his own journey from a seeker-sensitive church youth group to being pastoral intern to C.J. Mahaney.
The book’s readability helps it to communicate so effectively when Harris explains such doctrines as the sovereignty of God, sinfulness of man, substitutionary atonement, and the gospel of God’s grace. It is the books focus on grace which most dramatically stands out. This is what drew Harris to the joy of knowing Bible doctrine, and it is worth quoting him at some length on this point.
…it was this message of the gospel of grace for which C.J. Reserved his greatest passion. Most preachers and zealous Christians I knew got fired up over what we needed to do for God. But C.J.’s greatest passion was reserved for exulting in what God had done for us. He loved to preach about the Cross and how Christ died in our place, as our substitute.
For someone who had practically been born into church, I found this surprisingly new. The deeper I delved into Christian doctrine, the more I saw that the good news of salvation by grace alone in Jesus, who died for sin””the gospel””was the main message of the whole Bible.
I suppose it might seem completely obvious that this is the center of the Christian faith, and yet it felt new to me. I began to see orthodoxy as the treasuring of the truths that point to Jesus and his saving work. Doctrine was the living story of what Jesus did for us and what it means…. (pg. 27)
As you can see, Harris’ own story provides the perfect backdrop for illustrating how important it is to learn Bible doctrine. Harris argues that we need to dig down deep in order to build our lives on the rock of the solid Biblical teaching of Christ.
This book will introduce the young Christian to the glory of orthodox Christian doctrine. It will also encourage those who do know doctrine, to aim for a humble orthodoxy and see how such knowledge should fuel love and service for others. Dug Down Deep will be an easy read for anyone, but it packs a punch. It will challenge you to make sure you are building on a sure foundation. I recommend this book highly.
Joshua Harris is senior pastor of Covenant Life in Gaithersburg, Maryland, which belongs to the Sovereign Grace network of churches. A gifted speaker with a passion for making theological truth easy to understand, Joshua is perhaps best known for his runaway bestseller, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, which he wrote at the age of twenty-one. His later books include Boy Meets Girl, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is), and Stop Dating the Chruch. The founder of the NEXT conferences for young adults, Joshua is committed to seeing the gospel transferred to a new generation of Christians. He and his wife, Shannon, have three children. Disclaimer: this book was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a positive review.
Devotional books abound these days. They remain popular since Christians continue to desire books which help them connect with God. Scriptural readings followed by devotional thoughts, a prayer or a poem — this is what one expects to encounter with books in this genre. One doesn’t expect to be given penetrating and even troubling questions.
40 Loaves does just that. C.D. Baker dares to ask and discuss the questions that find their way into our heart of hearts. Why do I so easily lose self-control? Why am I so uncomfortable with doubts? Why can’t I overcome sin in my life? Why am I so discontented? These questions (and more like them) aren’t addressed easily.
I knew that this book addressed such questions. I wasn’t prepared for how relevant the treatment of them would be. Baker uses such questions to probe deeply into our souls, and to ground us firmly in the gospel of God’s free grace. Throughout his devotional readings, he displays a gift in cutting to the heart of the problem.
Each reading begins with a story or example which draws us into the problem represented by the question covered in the reading. The stories are gleaned from Baker’s ministry and life experience, and they do much to keep the book interesting. The devotional then considers the question and finds the key issue or obstacle such a question reveals. The Scripture is briefly applied to the problem at hand, and some questions for further reflection are provided. The section ends with a brief prayer pertinent to the issue.
The readings are short, 4 small pages each. Yet their message is weighty. Don’t think the book is frighteningly sober or dreadfully serious. It is, but it isn’t. Baker manages to keep the readings eminently readable, interesting and above all, helpful.
As a once-upon-a-time-legalist, I found Baker’s emphasis on grace refreshing, and his exposure of their peril of performance-based Christianity convincing. Baker also quite often gives encouragement and reminds us that we are human after all. It would be wrong to assume that Baker just offers a cheery view of the world, however. He acknowledges and addresses the grittiness of the Christian struggle. And his thoughts are grounded in Scripture. I appreciated his emphasis on the centrality of the gospel and his encouragement to focus on Jesus.
This little volume will be a blessing to you. All the more if you find yourself voicing some disturbing questions. 40 Loaves will prove to be accessible to almost any reader, and offers a high return on any investment involved in the reading. This book has made me interested in picking up some of Baker’s other devotional books. I encourage you to pick up a copy of this book, you won’t be disappointed. Also, this would make an excellent gift book, this holiday season!
C. David Baker founded an award-winning business before redirecting his career to write full-time from his small farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He is the author of eight books, including six novels, one of which was nominated for a Christy Award. He has contributed articles to the Christian History Institute’s international publication Glimpses, and to Christian Singles magazine. Baker has a Master’s degree in theological studies from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Disclaimer: this book was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a positive review.
Author: Paul Miler
Publisher: NavPress
Format: Softcover
Pages: 288
ISBN: 1600063004
Stars: 5 of 5
As a lifelong Christian, I’ve heard a great deal of teaching about prayer and read a good many books on the topic. I’ve been taught to model my prayers on The Lord’s Prayer. I’ve learned the ACTS method (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). I’ve been encouraged to trust God for impossible answers, and above all, I’ve been made very aware of my spiritual shortcomings with regard to the discipline of regular, personal prayer.
Like many, I have tended to view prayer as a spiritual discipline I need to accomplish. So I try harder to do this prayer thing — this spiritual event accompanied by certain kinds of emotions and feelings. When I fail, I am overcome with guilt. When I don’t pray, I find it hard to start praying again. It seems I just never measure up to my perfect ideal of what my personal praying should be. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed wonderful seasons of prayer. I’ve had many spiritually high moments in prayer. I’ve seen God work through my prayers. But I don’t have the level of spiritual stamina at praying that I would like.
Given this context, I jumped at the chance to receive Paul Miller’s A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World, by NavPress, for free. The specific challenge was to read the book, and post about the results of a personal 30 days of real prayer, implementing the principles from the book in my own prayer life. Thanks again, Michelle Bennett for that challenge. I’m so glad I read this book.
A Praying Life is easily the best book I’ve read in the past several years. Miller speaks with an uncommon grace, and his book plants the spiritual discipline of prayer squarely upon the truths of the Gospel. A praying life is the goal, not regular disciplined moments of spiritual ecstasy. Miller’s book is distinguished from others I’ve read in that it stresses prayer’s connection with the gospel, it explains how a lack of prayer betrays a lack of dependence on God, and it illustrates through Paul Miller’s own personal family stories, how prayer connects with all of life. In short, the book makes a praying life seem real, and possible.
I wish I could say after these 30 days, that my prayer life has been completely revolutionized. But after reading the book, I can definitely say my thinking about prayer has. I want to share a few of the principles that came home powerfully to me as I read this book.
First, I was reminded that Jesus invites us to pray. And our prayer is part of a life lived in confidence in the Gospel.
Jesus does not say, “Come to me, all you who have learned how to concentrate in prayer, whose minds no longer wander, and I will give you rest.” No, Jesus opens his arms to his needy children and says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28, NASB). The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your wandering mind. Come messy….
We know that to become a Christian we shouldn’t try to fix ourselves up, but when it comes to praying we completely forget that. We’ll sing the old gospel hymn, “Just as I Am,” but when it comes to praying, we don’t come just as we are. We try, like adults, to fix ourselves up.
Private, personal prayer is one of the last great bastions of legalism. In order to pray like a child, you might need to unlearn the nonpersonal, nonreal praying that you’ve been taught. (pg. 29-30)
Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks at the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers. (pg. 53-54)
Second, I was challenged to see that when I don’t pray, I am basically telling God I’m good enough that I don’t really need him. Ouch! This point has really revolutionized how I think about prayer. I have more of a desire to pray, even though I’m still not “good enough” at it. Although I’ll never really be good enough, still I want to show my dependence on God in praying constantly for specific help.
If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life. You’ll always be a little too tired, a little too busy. But if, like Jesus, you realize you can’t do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired you are, you will find the time to pray. Time in prayer makes you even more dependent on God because you don’t have as much time to get things done. Every minute spent in prayer is one less minute where you can be doing something “productive.” So the act of praying means that you have to rely more on God. (pg. 47)
Third, prayer really is about being helpless. We come to Christ in the gospel as a helpless sinner. We are to have faith like a helpless child. We should pray as helpless Christians. We really do need our Savior’s continual help! This last line should get the “duh!” award. But so often we live like we really don’t. The more mature we become as Christians, the more aware of our sinfulness and helplessness we should be. And thus we should pray more.
Fourth, I learned that “we don’t need self-discipline to pray continuously”. Instead “we just need to be poor in spirit”.
Poverty of spirit makes room for his Spirit. It creates a God-shaped hole in our hearts and offers us a new way to relate to others. (pg. 64)
If we think we can do life on our own, we will not take prayer seriously. Our failure to pray will always feel like something else “” a lack of discipline or too many obligations. But when something is important to us, we make room for it. Prayer is simply not important to many Christians because Jesus is already an add-on. (pg. 57)
A big theme of the book is how suffering is often the context where we learn to pray. It grows us and shows us our true need. It helps make prayer important.
Fifth, prayer is not about some special feeling or perfect spiritual experience.
Instead of hunting for the perfect spiritual state to lift you above the chaos, pray in the chaos. As your heart or your circumstances generate problems, keep generating prayer. You will find that the chaos lessens. (pg. 72)
Too often we seek the perfect spiritual state, when we really should just pray to God out of a heart full of need.
Sixth, I learned that prayer changes things. As we pray we should look for ways our prayers are having an effect. We should seek to use prayer to change the hearts of those we love. Our problems and all of life’s difficulties can be shaped and met with prayer.
When you stop trying to control your life and instead allow your anxieties and problems to bring you to God in prayer, you shift from worry to watching. You watch God weave his patterns in the story of your life. Instead of trying to be out front, designing your life, you realize you are inside God’s drama. (pg. 72)
That’s the secret of the praying life. It’s not your own story, it’s God. He becomes the One in control. By prayer we see Him working. By prayer we let Him into our lives.
Seventh, I was given a practical method of prayer which I’ve begun to adopt. He explains how to have a prayer card — a 3.5″ note-card — for each major area in life that you pray about. Have one for each of the members of your family and pray a specific verse for them. Add individual requests to the card over time. Keep track of answers to prayer. I’ve slowly begun to create cards and I find them easier to use than a prayer list. It’s more personal and focused on the subject or person at hand.
I’ve only scratched the surface of what is contained in the book. It is very readable, because Paul Miller interweaves personal stories of his children and life together with various prayers he has. He shows how prayer helped him deal with situations and persons. How prayer was answered slowly over time in the lives of his children. How prayer allowed him to parent well, and love others rather than react negatively.
I’m confident that if you pick up A Praying Life, your prayer life will improve as well. May God challenge us all to have praying lives.
Disclaimer: this book was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a positive review.
Any book entitled Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World promises not to be your average book on the shelf of today’s Christian bookstore. The subject of worldliness, or love for the values of this fallen world, is not a popular theme.
The contributors of this book, start off by asking if 1 John 2:15 [“Do not love the world or anything in the world”], is really in most Christian’s Bibles. All of us are guilty of worldliness. But how do we go about avoiding this sin? C.J. Mahaney explains:
Some people try to define worldliness as living outside a specific set of rules or conservative standards. If you listen to music with a certain beat, dress in fashionable clothes, watch movies with a certain rating…surely you must be worldly.
Others, irritated and repulsed by rules that seem arbitrary, react to definitions of worldliness, assuming it’s impossible to define. Or they think legalism will inevitably be the result, so we shouldn’t even try.
…Both views are wrong. For by focusing exclusively on externals or dismissing the importance of externals, we’ve missed the point…. the real location of worldliness is internal. It resides in our hearts. (29)
The book goes on to try to navigate between these two extremes and call today’s church to a healthy carefulness about how we interact with the world at large. With chapters on movies, music, money and modesty, the book aims to guide believers as they think critically about the myriad of choices facing us in today’s culture.
As one who came out of a very strict fundamentalist background, this book especially interested me. I was encouraged to see contemporary evangelical Christians warning about the social dangers that abound. And I noted that the book did not offer a list of rules which I should follow more closely than Scripture. Instead the authors were careful to encourage discernment and teach general guiding principles.
To some the book will seem quite strict. Think “radical”, instead. The authors aim to glorify God in everything they do. That will come across as totally radical, and will require a unique focus on the temptations and opportunities that surround us.
While the discussion on media (movies) and music was quite good, the chapter on money and modesty wasn’t quite as captivating for me. I’d heard a lot of Mahaney’s stuff on modesty before, so maybe that’s why. But any lull in those chapters was more than made up by Mahaney’s opening chapter and the closing one by Jeff Purswell.
That final chapter focused on how to love the world. We are to love God’s creation and the people He has made. We are placed within His world and called to serve for its good. Perhaps since externals were over emphasized in my fundamentalist roots, this chapter on healthy interaction with the world resonated with me so well. In any case, Purswell paints a glorious picture of God’s covenant dealings with all the earth.
Moving from God’s overarching redemption plan, he elevates our mundane day-to-day duties as part of that plan. He closes his section on work with this appeal:
So don’t just “go to work” and “do your job”–see your job as a way to imitate God, serve God, and love others. This doesn’t mean work will never be difficult or frustrating or tedious; the curse ensures that it will be at times. But God’s creational purposes and Christ’s redeeming work infuse our work with meaning, and promise God-glorifying fruit as a result. (158)
Purswell calls us to enjoy, engage and evangelize the world. “We receive God’s earthly gifts, pursue God’s purposes in earthly life, and work for the salvation of people made in God’s image. All of life lived for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31)”.
The final chapter exposes the tension once again. While we are to be in the world and working for its good, we are also not to love what it loves and prize what it prizes. Once again, the book stresses two bents which typify Christians:
Some have strictly spiritual preoccupations. For them the present is of little consequence, pleasures are perilous, spirituality means self-denial…
Others relish life in this world. Their delight in God’s temporal gifts is unrestrained, their enjoyment of their physical existence untempered, their hope in earthly endeavors absolute…. (168-169)
The answer finally is the cross of Christ. The cross tells us who we are, interprets the world we live in, transforms our view of people and gives our lives purpose. Finding our place in God’s story of redemption is the ultimate cure for a love of this world’s desires.
This book has the potential to transform your view of the Christian life. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Crossway Books. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Amazon.com or direct from Crossway.
On my recent vacation, I read an excellent book by Randy Alcorn, The Grace and Truth Paradox. It is based on John’s statement in John 1:14 that Jesus was “full of grace and truth”. Some churches (and Christians) today emphasize grace over truth while others do just the opposite. Christ did neither. He was full of grace and truth.The book is small (92 pages). It is part of Multnomah’s “Small Books, Big Change” series. Yet it has a big message. It is very easy to read, yet some of its principles are potentially life-changing, and merit thoughtful contemplation. To that end, I will finish out this “review” by providing some quotes from the book itself, and let Randy do the talking.
A grace-starved, truth-starved world needs Jesus, full of grace and truth. (p. 14)
Some churches today embrace truth but need a heavy dose of grace. Other churches talk about grace but cry out for a heavy dose of truth. (p.15)
Truth-oriented Christians love studying Scripture and theology. But sometimes they’re quick to judge and slow to forgive. They’re strong on truth, weak on grace.
Grace-oriented Christians love forgiveness and freedom. But sometimes they neglect Bible study and see moral standards as “legalism.” They’re strong on grace, weak on truth.
Countless mistakes in marriage, parenting, ministry, and other relationships are failures to balance grace and truth. Sometimes we neglect both. Often we choose one over the other. (p. 17)
Why should we have to choose between conservatism’s emphasis on truth and liberalism’s emphasis on grace? Why can’t we oppose injustice to minorities and to the unborn? Why can’t we oppose greedy ruination of the environment and anti-industry New Age environmentalism? Why can’t we affirm the biblical right to the ownership of property and emphasize God’s call to voluntarily share wealth with the needy? Why can’t we uphold God’s condemnation of sexual immorality, including homosexual practices, and reach out in love and compassion to those trapped in destructive lifestyles and dying from AIDS?
We cannot do these things if we are first and foremost either liberals or conservatives. We can do these things only if we are first and foremost followers of Christ, who is full of grace and truth. (p. 80-81)
If we minimize grace, the world sees no hope for salvation. If we minimize truth, the world sees no need for salvation. To show the world Jesus, we must offer unabridged grace and truth, emphasizing both, apologizing for neither. The Colossian church “understood God’s grace in all its truth” (Colossians 1:6)
Truth is quick to post warning signs and guardrails at the top of the cliff. Yet it fails to empower people to drive safely–and neglects to help them when they crash.
Grace is quick to post ambulances and paramedics at the bottom of the cliff. But without truth, it fails to post warning signs and build guardrails. In so doing, it encourages the very self-destruction it attempts to heal. (p. 87-88)
Grace and truth are both necessary. Neither is sufficient….We who are truth-oriented need to go out of our way to affirm grace. We who are grace-oriented need to go out of our way to affirm truth. “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.” No one did either like Jesus. Truth hates sin. Grace loves sinners. Those full of grace and truth do both. (p. 88)
In Jesus, “mercy and truth have met together” (Psalm 85:10, NKJV). Grace and truth met face to face on the Cross. (p. 92)
Author: Joshua Harris
