Book Review: Do You Believe?

Book Tite: Do You Believe? 12 Historic Doctrines to Change Your Everyday Life

Author: Paul David Tripp

Publisher: Crossway Publishers

Overview

Paul David Tripp has done it again. Tripp has a way of writing and making even difficult or deep truths easy to take in by his readers. In Do You Believe?, Tripp has brought together some timeless truths from Scripture and presented them in a way that any reader today could understand.

This book begins with a nice foreword by David Platt. It is then broken up into two chapters devoted to each doctrine that is presented. The first chapter is supposed to be an explanation of the doctrine. The second chapter is intended to show how the doctrine could be applied to daily life by the reader.

The book ends with two indexes: a general index and a Scripture index.

My Thoughts

I am a big fan of Paul David Tripp’s writing. He has a way of coming across in a casual manner with some of the deepest topics of the Chrisitan faith. I am grateful for this book because it deals with some of the most important topics that a person can come across: the doctrines of the Christian faith.

We live in a time where just about anyone can put out information for the world to see. It is hard to find concrete answers about topics amid the many opinions that swirl around today. In this book, Tripp has taken on the task of sharing about twelve of what he feels are the most important doctrines of the Christian faith. He does a pretty good job of sharing a working definition of each doctrine. He also seeks to take a chapter to share how this doctrine could be applied to one’s life in today’s world.

The only downside that I really had with this book was in the two-chapter dealing with each doctrine. I am not against doing it that way. The issue that I had was that the definition usually did not take a full chapter to present. Tripp’s way of writing many times comes across as being application-heavy (which I believe is a really good thing). I think that this book could have easily had one chapter for each doctrine that contained both of the elements they were going for.

The content of this book is solid and trustworthy. As I stated earlier, the only thing that I didn’t really like about this book was some of the layouts. The content is something that I would use without hesitation.

My Recommendation

I would suggest that anyone that would like to know more about the Christian faith get a copy of this book and a copy of the Bible (in a translation that they can understand). This book will do a good job of pointing out doctrines, showing where they can be found in the Bible, and an easy-to-understand definition of each.

Read More

Book Review: Disciplines of a Godly Man

Title: Disciplines of a Godly Man
Author: R. Kent Hughes
Publisher: Crossway

Being a man in today’s world is not the easiest of tasks. Being a solid Christian man in today’s world is just about impossible… at least in one’s own power. I had heard about this book from R. Kent Hughes for some time now. I was glad that I finally got the opportunity to take a look at it and see what Hughes had to say about being a godly man in today’s world.

Disciplines of a Godly Man was first published in 1991. In 2019, Hughes put out an updated version which is the one that I got my hands on. I imagine that much of the material is the same, but we can agree that a lot has changed in our world since 1991. I was grateful that this work was updated to help address some topics that today’s man has to deal with.

As I sat down to read this book, I expected to find some solid wisdom for men that would backed up by the Bible. That is exactly what I found and appreciated so much about this book. This is not just some pop-psychology work to help men feel better about themselves. Hughes works to put forth what the word of God states should be a part of Christian men’s lives today.

The version of this book that I had came with a “study guide” embedded within. This was extremely helpful in working through this book. The ending of each chapter contained questions to reflect on what the chapter had covered. The ending also came with application points and resources (other books and articles) that one could go to dive further into the subject of the chapter.

I love the approach that Hughes uses in writing this book. The book was dedicated to his two sons. Hughes speaks throughout the book that his approach to writing this book was one that resembled if he was sitting down talking with his sons about these matters. This helped make this book more personal than just “education” or “instructive.”

Recommendation

I would highly recommend that every man that wants to be a strong and faithful Christian man get a copy of Disciplines of a Godly Man. This is one of the best books that I’ve read on helping men to see what the Bible calls for me of the faith to live like. I look forward to rereading this work many times to come. I’m sure that you will be blessed by it as well.

A copy of Disciplines of a Godly Man was provided by Crossway Publishers for the purpose of an honest review.

Read More

Book Review: The Insanity of Sacrifice

Book Title: The Insanity of Sacrifice: A 90-Day Devotional

Book Author: Nik Ripken

Book Publisher: B & H Publishing Group

Sacrifice is not a welcomed topic among many in our culture today. The term brings about a pattern that many do not want to be associated with. The term flies in the face of the “get everything you can while you can” mentality that is so prevalent in our world today. The truth is that if we are going to truly be followers of Jesus, then sacrifice is not an optional part of that relationship.

When addressing a topic such as sacrifice, there are not many that can speak to it with as much experience as Nik Ripken. Nik and his wife, Ruth, have served many years on the mission field within a persecution-heavy context. They have seen what it means to truly sacrifice for the Kingdom of God… even those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

It is because of this and a burden that the Body of Christ come to an understanding of the importance of sacrifice that Ripken has put forth a 90-day devotional. In this devotional, Ripken walks readers through a journey that helps them to see that sacrifice is all over the Bible.

As with most devotionals, The Insanity of Sacrifice does not intend to be an answer-all work that fully explains what sacrifice is all about. It does show that sacrifice is not optional for the follower of Jesus though. Ripken uses some 90+ verses to show that sacrifice is at the heart of God.

It would be good for every follower of Jesus to get a copy of The Insanity of Sacrifice. The passion that comes through each devotion is seasoned with the experience of someone who has walked the road of sacrifice. You can tell that it is not just casual words written to sell in the “Christian aisle” of some bookstore… it is firsthand experience that is intended to be passed on to following generations.

Read More

I Am A Church Member Giveaway

Last week, I picked up a copy of I Am A Church Member by Thom Rainer at Lifeway bookstore. I really enjoyed reading this book. I posted a blog about it here. You can check out what I thought about it.

I was contacted by the publicist for this book and was given a copy to give away. So here's the details...

Winner will receive a free copy of I Am A Church Member by Thom Rainer.

To be entered in the giveaway, leave a comment in the comment section of this blog telling what is your dream vacation location by Sunday 11:59pm CST.

Winner will be selected at random and contacted via email.

Read More

Rewind: 06.29.13

Here are some of the interesting articles that I came across this week.  (Due to my sporadic reading lately, some articles are older than this week.)

• Church Identity: How Your Church Must Be Unique - Eric Geiger


• Audio from the Christ-Centered Teaching Panel Discussion from the SBC


• Five Dangers of Unaligned Small Groups - Thom Rainer


• Don't Pack Too Much In Your Sermon - Erik Raymond


• Dr. Russell Moore on Sam-Sex Marriage - Baptist21


• When Christians Fire Christians - Thom Rainer

Read More

Debate on Homosexuality and Christianity

I came across this video through Churchleaders.com.  It was a "debate" on a radio show between Andrew Wilson and Rob Bell.  Over the next couple of days, I am going to blog a little about what I took away from this video.  I thought that I would start here by showing the video itself.  Feel free to post your comments.

*** Warning:  At about 16:46, an expletive seems to be dropped by one.  Just wanted to warn readers/viewers about this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF9uo_P0nNI

 

Read More

Rewind 11.9.12

The past two weeks have been some of those that you find yourself playing "catch-up" from. I know that have fallen behind on my "Rewinds", but now we're going try and get back on track. Here are some of the reads that I have found very helpful recently.

8 Terrible Church Visits
This was a good post from Thom Rainer, President of Lifeway Christian Resources, about some of the pitfalls that visitors to churches have to face.

How to Lead Young Men
This was a great post on giving some pointers on how to lead those who are coming behind us. We all like the idea of mentoring, but how do we do in carrying it out?

Francis Chan on Making Disciples
A short video of Francis Chan teaching in the topic of making disciples. Very practical and convicting.

Christianity Isn't Dying; Cultural Christianity Is
This article has some great insight into what the declining numbers in many churches are attributed to.

5 of the Most Difficult Challenges a Pastor Faces
Thom Rainer shares about some difficulties pastors face. This is a good read to help the average layperson in a church see what some situations come across as.

9 Signs You May Be Addicted to Social Media
Perry Noble shares some funny zingers here. Sadly, they can be very convicting also.

All the Married Ladies
My wife has done it again. Great post encouraging married ladies to be specifically thankful for their husbands. Heaven knows I didn't make this post easy to right.

3 Things the Church Can Learn From Election 2012
The People Have Spoken - What Should Christians Do Now?
Trevin Wax and Ed Stetzer have written some great articles in the wake of the recent presidential elections that have seemed to divide a country even further.

7 Things a Pastor Kid Needs From a Father
Barnabas Piper, son of the pastor, John Piper, has written a great post to pastors to remember to be the father God has called you to be even over the church position He has called you to.

Read More

The Sin of Isolationism

I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.

1 Corinthians 5:9 HCSB

As the apostle Paul is writing to this church in Corinth about some things that are going on, some churches today are taking it to heart.  Paul had written the Corinthian church previously about some of the relationships that they had.  Paul had warned them not to associate with people who were living in blatant unrepentant sin.

Before becoming a pastor, I had the privilege of serving in student ministry for many years.  During my time in student ministry and working with teenagers and their families, the issue of isolating students from "the world" came up many times.  Parents wanted to see their children not tainted by "the world".  There was even times when this verse was used to justify it.

I never wanted to see anyone get caught up in the traps of "this world".  I know that a person's environment can be a strong factor in how they will act themselves.  If a person has come to Christ and is trying to change their habits, then sometimes the best thing that they can do is put some separation between them and their former environments and friends.

A problem that I see is that when Christians isolate themselves from "the world", they lose their opportunity to accomplish the Great Commission.  Can you see a Christian come to saving faith in Christ?  They are already there!  The Gospel was given to Christians to go and share with "the world" who does not know Christ.

If you continue to read on as to what Paul was writing to the Corinthian church, you see that he was talking about not having association with those who call themselves followers of Jesus and then live in blatant unrepentant sin (1 Corinthians 5:11). Now, this is a different ballgame altogether.  For those within the church, those who name the Name of Christ and live in a way that you would never know it, then there needs to be a couple of things going on.

First, there needs to be some confrontation.  How many of our parents told us when we went out, "Remember who you belong to and the name you carry?"  We are in no place to judge a person's eternal destiny, but we can call what we see.  I heard one preacher say it like this: "God didn't make me a judge of your soul, but He did call me to be a fruit inspector!"  Christians should love one another enough to get in their face when they are clearly out of line.  I believe that many of the problems that we see in churches today would not be there if more brothers and sisters in Christ would hold their spiritual siblings to the commitment they made when they decided to become a Christian.

Second, there needs to be some room for the Holy Spirit to work.  When we do not confront our brother or sister in Christ on the blatant sin in their lives, we send the message that we approve of it.  God has called us to reflect Him and be holy (Leviticus 11:44-45; Leviticus 19:2; Leviticus 20:7; 1 Peter 1:16).  When sin is present in the life of a Christian and they are not willing to repent of it, then (after confronting in love) we should allow room for God to do a discipline work in their lives (1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20).

We cannot put a barrier between the Gospel - the message of hope placed in the hearts of Christians - and "the world" - those who do not know Christ.  Should we expect an non-Christian to act any other way than a non-Christian?  If we do not intentionally go to them with the Gospel, how will they hear?  May it not be said of Christians that we are just living in our "holy huddle".  May we intentionally build relationships with non-Christians and share with them the amazing love that Jesus has given to us.

Read More

Whole Christianity

I came across a great article on the Desiring God blog that talked about what all it means to be a Christian. You can read the entire article here.

A few mentions from the article:

that we repent of our sins

that we are sensible we have justly exposed ourselves to God's wrath

that we love him above all, and are willing for his sake to forsake all

This was such a good reminder that to be a Christian is much more than walking an aisle, saying a prayer, and filling out a card. It is a matter of full transformation 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Read More

Crossroads Update

Special Theme: Student-led worship service for the entire church.

Music: "Victory In Jesus", "You Are Holy (Prince of Peace)", "Come Thou Fount".

Special: The student praise team put together a slide show/video to go along with them singing a great song about our need of each other called "I Need You To Survive."

Message: "The Three Chairs."  Joshua 24:15-Judges 2:12.  This was a message that deals with the different spiritual conditions of people (commitment, compromise, and conflict with God).  It uses the illustration from Dr. Bruce Wilkinson's book Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs.

Overall: This night was one to remember.  I was so proud of the hard work that the students had put in to prepare to lead worship for our fellowship.  There was a great "spirit" in the building Sunday night.  I know that I spent a great deal of time in preparation on the message (more than I even usually do).  I was very proud of our students for stepping up and inviting their friends to come and see what God was doing at our fellowship.  One young lady that has been visiting our student ministry over the past month or so even brought a visitor!  I hope to have the mp3 of the message up soon.

Read More

Book Review: Christianity In Crisis 21st Century

I recently read the book "Christianity In Crisis: 21st Century" by Hank Hanegraaff.  I have read some of Hank Hanegraaff's work before and found it to be very good.  He does a great job of using the Bible in context.  That is why he has a radio program called Bible Answer Man that can be heard throughout the United States and Canada.  "Christianity In Crisis: 21st Century" was an interesting read.  It is a follow-up work to a book that Hanegraaff had written some twenty years ago that was called "Christianity In Crisis."  Both books deal with some "movements" that claim the title of Christian but have very untraditional theologies that prove them to be anything genuine Christian.

Some things that were really good about this work was that Hanegraaff gave some specific examples and didn't seem to be "attacking" a person.  He really made it a point to target the teachings and not the people themselves.  Though at times, Hanegraaff is very bold in his wording, I agree that with errant teachings, Christians do not need to be tolerant and worry about the feelings of other people.  I really think that the reason that many "teachers" of the kind of theology that Hanegraaff exposes in this work have massive followings because not many people have had the courage to stand up and call them to account.  I also really liked the fact that he cited all of his references so that someone could come behind him and check his work.  Hanegraaff is definitely not trying to hide anything.  He was rather calling some false teachings to be laid plainly on the table.

There were some things that I would have liked to seen differently.  I know that Hanegraaff was trying to give some credibility to what he was going to talk about, but the almost seventy pages of the "cast of characters" was a little long.  I know that there are many in this "word-faith" teaching, but it was just hard to get through all of the characters when they seem to be the same thing over and over.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who might be wondering about all these tv preacher guys (and ladies).  While not everyone on tv is teaching false doctrines, many are.  Sadly, many who are outside of faith in Christ base their belief of Christianity by what is readily available to them.  I think that this should encourage churches to get into their communities and be the true body of Christ and not leave it to someone who might be errantly representing Christ on tv to do so.

Read More