JRF"s #47 - The Cup and the Glory by Greg Harris

This book wins the best book with the ugliest cover award.  This book came out of an exceptionally dark season in Dr. Harris life in which he was compelled to mine the Scriptures' teaching on suffering.  What resulted is a deeply doxological, practical, and theological work that is both challenging and encouraging to those who are suffering or trying to comfort those who are.

Harris' main discovery and thesis is that throughout Scripture the cup of suffering always precedes the experience of God's glory.  If we would seek to taste God in His glory, we must not be surprised when we first must share in His sufferings.

The strength of this book lies in the exegetical depth and excellence which Dr. Harris brings to the passages he explores, specifically the Gospel accounts of Peter's ups and downs as well as the corresponding passages in his epistles.  I also appreciated his candid accounts of his own struggles and how these truths were sowed in his soul and bore healing fruit.

The weakness of this book was that it often went simultaneously so broad and so deep that the scent of the main trail was often lost and only regained with much difficulty.  Perhaps this reflects my limited perspective and ability to make theological connections more than Dr. Harris's writing.

I would rate this book as a more theologically weighty and exegetical but not as well written version of John Piper's Spectacular Sins.

When you humble yourself, you abandon all other sources for hope except for God."

JRF's #46 - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway

I have been into Hemmingway for quite some time, but I had yet to read his most well known book until now.  The Old Man and the Sea, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, tells the story of...well...an old man and the sea.  I'm sure better students of literature can see brilliant metaphors and deep life lessons in this story, but for me it is simply a beautiful story of an old Cuban fisherman struggling for his life against the elements, his age, the great fish he has hooked, and the sharks that seek to take his prize.  This is one of those "the journey is the destination" books, where the joy in reading comes from the descriptive narration rather than the plot points.

If you haven't read any Hemmingway I would recommend this classic as a great introduction to his writing.  I hope you enjoy it.

JRF's #45 - Spectacular Sins by John Piper

 

I read this along with a couple with whom we are hoping to go on the mission field with in the future.  We are trying to feast on a steady diet of books that point us to the bigness of God and His faithfulness even in seemingly hopeless situations.  This is such a book.

I didn't know that Ron was also going to read and review this book this year, but I am glad to point you to his excellent review with which I agree wholeheartedly.  I also would recommend Beth Steward's great review.

Instead of rehashing what Ron and Beth have done a great job of saying, I will leave you with a few of my favorite quotes:

My aim is to show that sin and evil, no matter how spectacular, never nullify the decisive, Christ-exalting purposes of God.  No, my aim is more than that.  These spectacular sins do not just fail to nullify God's purpose to glorify Christ, they succeed, by God's unfathomable providence, in making his gracious purpose come to pass.  This truth is the steel God offers to put in the spine of His people as they face the worst calamities.  There will be tenderness in due time.  But if the back of our faith is broken because we think God is evil or absent, who will welcome Him when He comes with caresses?"

God's allegiance to His own name is the foundation of his faithfulness to us.  If God ever forsook His supreme allegiance to Himself, there would be no grace for us.  If He based His kindness to us on our worth, there would be no kindness to us."

Satan does not take innocent people captive.  There are no innocent people.  Satan has power where sinful passions hold sway."

If you separate God's activity from the death of Jesus, you lose the Gospel.  This was God's doing.  It is the highest and deepest point of His love for sinners.  His love for you."

JRF's #44: Marine! The Life of Chesty Puller by Burke Davis

 

Every night during Boot Camp, after everyone is snuggled into their racks, Marine Corps Recruits end their long day by uniformly saying, "Good Night Chesty, where ever you are!"  Lewis "Chesty" Puller embodies the esprit de corps of the USMC.  Any Marine worth his salt wants to be like Chesty Puller.

"They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1. They can't get away from us now!" - Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC When the Marines were cut off behind enemy lines and the Army had written the 1st Marine Division off as being lost because they were surrounded by 22 enemy divisions. The Marines made it out inflicting the highest casualty ratio on an enemy in history and destroying 7 entire enemy divisions in the process. An enemy division is 16500+ men while a Marine division is 12500 men.

As a Chaplain working with the Marines, reading this biography was insightful and inspirational.  Obviously, from a military standpoint, there is much to admire about Lt. General Puller.  Dropping out of Military College to enlist during the First World War, Puller fought his way through the conflicts in Haiti, Nicaragua, China, World War II and the Korean War to become the most decorated Marine in history.  In addition he fought his way through the ranks to retire as a three star general.  If he had not been forced to retire early (for not keeping his mouth shut about the incompetency of the Air Force during the Korean War) he undoubtedly would have earned a fourth star.

"Our Country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won't be any AMERICA because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race!" -Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC

His wartime achievements are noteworthy, however it was the intangible things that made him great.  He was a man of uncompromising character and faithfulness - remaining loyal to his wife (and her to him) through all those long years of fighting.  He had the ability to inspire men to joyfully follow him into the valley of the shadow of death, many of them never to return.  He knew that direct, firm, commanding authority did not have to be and should not be in conflict with compassionate, selfless leadership.  He sowed the seeds of honor, courage, and commitment into his character daily so that when the feces hit the oscilating ventilator he could respond wisely without hesitation.

When an Army captain asked him for the direction of the line of retreat, Col Puller called his Tank Commander, gave them the Army position, and ordered: "If they start to pull back from that line, even one foot, I want you to open fire on them." Turning to the captain, he replied "Does that answer your question? We're here to fight." At Koto-ri in Korea - Chesty Puller at Koto-ri in Korea

I'm sure there was some bias to this book, as it rarely had anything negative to say about Puller.  But if only half of it was true, Chesty would still be the fiercest warrior and combat officer our country has ever produced.  As long as the Marine Corps keeps Chesty as their measuring stick, the USMC will remain America's elite fighting force.

Oorah!

"No officer's life is worth more than that of any man in his ranks.  He may have more effect on the fighting, but if he does his duty, so far as I can see, he must be up front to see what is actually going on with his troops.  They'd find a replacement for me soon enough if I got hit.  I've never seen a Marine outfit fall apart for lack of any one man.  I don't want you to go up under the guns just for show.  It's only the idiots and the green kids who think they're bullet-proof.  But if you don't show some courage, your officers won't show it either, and the kids will hang back.  It's that kind of an outfit that always has trouble."

JRF's #43 - A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway

I bought this book at one of my favorite bookstores in the world, Shakespeare and Company, in Paris a few years ago.  It sat on my bookshelf until this year when after watching one of my favorite movies of the year, Midnight in Paris, I was inspired to pick this book back up.

In A Moveable Feast Hemingway recounts his early days as a writer in Paris.  In his unique and vivid writing style he recounts walks in the park with Getrude Stein, his faithful friend Ezra Pound, the eccentricities of well-known artists and poets, drunken road-trips with F. Scott Fitzgerald, and even taking Fitzgerald to the Louvre to look at naked statues to boost Scott's confidence in his manhood.  While much of the ancedotes Hemmingway relays are hilarious, some are also heartwrenching, such as his account of falling into an affair during his first marriage.

For a Paris-o-phile and Hemingway-o-phile such as myself, this book was a fun read.  If you liked Midnight in Paris, you will enjoy this book which must have provided much of the source material for the film.

"There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who has lived in it differs from that of any other.  We always returned to it no matter who we were or how it was changed or with what difficulties, or ease, it could be reached.  Paris was always worth it and you received return for whatever you brought to it.  But his is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy."

JRF's #42 - Revelation 20 and the Millennial Debate by Matthew Weymeyer

This little book, written by a fellow classmate at The Master's Seminary, provides a great help in breaking down and understanding the pre-millenial interpretation of Revelation 20.  It answered a lot of questions for me, sparked some new ones, and overall provided a strong case for seeing the events of Revelation 20 as still future.

The book is strongest when Weymeyer is interacting with Amillenial and Postmillenial view points, weighing them against the text of Scripture.  Unfortunately this interaction tapers out as the book goes on, giving it a less powerful conclusion than I believe could have been achieved.

Eschatology is probably the weakest area of my theology and I have been negligent in my study of this important yet difficult and divisive topic.  Hopefully, this book will serve to jumpstart my studies and wet my appetite for further digging.