Don’t look now but December is right around the corner. This time of year can be as stressful and frantic as it is enjoyable and memorable. And as the pace of life quickens for everyone, the stress and panic seem to outweigh the peace and quiet.
Steven Estes has offered us a short but poignant book to help us have A Better December. He looks to the Biblical wisdom expressed by Solomon in Proverbs as a cure for the holiday woes. In just over 80 brief pages, Estes provides an extended meditation on a Christian vision for this time of year. With poetic verse (at times), and personal stories, Estes crafts a masterful tale that is disarming, fresh and inspiring. Each of the brief chapters reads like an essay or reflection and the takeaways are direct yet unscripted.
The book is short, gift-sized, you could say. It would adorn a coffee table if larger. The simple yet alluring sketches from illustrator Sarah Bland Halulko make this small book a joy to look at and page through.
It is the perfect gift book for the non-reader and reader alike. It points the interested to a few additional resources at the end, and encourages us all to find true life in Christ. The book would make for a great evangelistic aid or conversation starter and brings Solomon’s wisdom to bear on the contemporary world with unequaled ease. The writing style will make the book accessible to all and a joy to page through. For those looking for some inspirational reading this Christmas, look no further than this truly unique offering.
Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Westminster Bookstore, Amazon, ChristianBook.com, or direct from New Growth Press.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by New Growth Press. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.
My two favorite Proverbs are:
Proverbs 11:30 “He that winneth souls is wise.”
Proverbs 20:27 “The spirit of man is the candle of The Lord searching the inward parts of the belly.”
If every man is has a spirit, every man has a candle waiting to be lit. We are the light of the world. Souls can indeed be won or lost, so this Christmas, let’s remember the reason for the season. Share the light.
Merry Christmas to all
Rick Patton
Greenville, SC
Thanks Rick. Good stuff.
Hello Bob,
Do you allow non-sequiturs on your site? I noticed in “your story” that your family has a HA background and the KJV onlyism that usually goes with that. Here’s my question: did the namesake of the college himself even care at all about the issue? I have no proof of this and no way of substantiating this in the least, but I have heard others speculate that HA really took on the issue more heavily after May of 1989. In other words, they really couldn’t muster even a thimbleful’s care about the issue, but it was nothing short of a stroke of genius to use as a distraction to get everyone’s mind off of the other issues. Was this even an issue at HA in the 70’s? My guess is that no one even had HEARD of the issue, much less taken a firm stance on it. I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but I am wondering about this theory. I’ve heard a couple of people posit that this was nothing but a fraud concern used as a diversionary tactic. And now of course, it’s taken on a life of its own to the point where people think it’s a real and legitimate issue and do take it seriously and have totally forgotten that the “concern” over the issue was a fraud in the first place – perhaps. The people I’ve heard this from even can’t confirm their beliefs that this is the case, but they do actually consider this a valid theory.
Staysee,
There is a contact form, but I can reply here.
I have heard tell that Hyles was invited to be on the board of the NKJV translation and there was a lot of buzz on campus in the mid to late 70s about this, but then he backed out when Falwell was added to the advisory board too, or something like that.
I don’t know if it was a tool he used to gain influence, but I do believe there were about 3 waves of the spread of KJV Onlyism. The first being in the 70s with Ruckman and David Otis Fuller (two separate wings really). Then in the mid-to late 80s, then in the late 90s.
The fact that John R. Rice never was KJV Only should speak volumes. The KJV Only crowd would say the presence of viable English versions that competed with the KJV only happened in the late 70s/early 80s so it is natural the KJV Only movement would come after that. But I don’t think that is the whole story. I believe that as a whole, conservative fundamentalism never was KJV Only but only became so bit by bit. The problem is that those who are KJV Only pretend that they always were and that they are standing in the historic, old-fashioned paths, standing up for the truth. But in fact many of these Bible colleges did not always hold to KJV Onlyism and used to use other Bible versions and Greek texts in their colleges and seminaries, etc.
There is an interesting read on that front linked to from KJVOnlyDebate.com (my website which collects resources on this issue). It’s this article from Doug Kutilek.
Hope that helps.
Blessings,
Bob Hayton
Sorry, Bob. I realize this is totally off-topic of the current thread, but I saw a bit of your bio and just jumped right in before looking to go to the correct place. But since I already started it in this thread……..
You made good points to think about: The fact that JR was never KJV-only should tell us a lot, since he was the hero of JH. To take up an issue that your role model never expressed interest in is interesting. And KJV-onlyism isn’t only “an” issue, for many, it is the one and “only,” if you will, issue.
You might have misunderstood me here: “I don’t know if it was a tool he used to gain influence….” What I meant was that he could barely care less about this issue! It was used as a tool BECAUSE he had influence already, not to gain any. Sort of like a leader of a nation deciding to bomb another nation, not because he thinks there’s a need to do so, but simply to get everyone worked up over it and get their minds off the sex (or whatever) scandal. Again, this is only a theory, NOT a substantiated fact. Some think that HA couldn’t care one iota about the whole KJV-only issue and that they took up the issue completely as a strategy to keep everyone’s mind off of negative things (as in May of 1989). But, because HA did have so much influence, the whole issue took on a life of its own and has taken in so many people, that many people now totally forget that for decades it was never an issue and don’t realize that they are fighting an issue that was a fraud from the start……………..Again I am NOT saying this is the case, but I have heard people speculate this and was just wondering if others thought there might be truth to the speculation, or if it’s just some crazy, nutty conspiracy theory.