JRF's #6 - To the Glory of God by James Montgomery Boice

 

I don't think I need to tell you that Paul's letter to the Romans is an important book.  It is also very intimidating - as God's Word should be.

This 40 day devotional taken from sermons by the late James Montgomery Boice is a helpful tool to begin mining the countless jewels Romans has to offer.

We read through this together as a community group and it was exciting to see how every week our eyes were being opened to a new aspect of the amazing Good News of Christ, regardless of how familiar each person was with Paul's letter.

This collection of excerpts from Boice's sermon series, along with the acompanying Scripture passage and an application question was the perfect portion for a daily diet of meditating on God's glorious Gospel and its implications for our daily life.

This is a flyover of the mountain range that is the book of Romans.  But the view of the majestic snow cap peaks is more than enough to lure this traveller into a lifetime of exploring the valleys, ravines and cliff faces of these Himalayas of Scripture.

"A reigning monarch is a triumphant monarch.  If grace is reinging in us, grace is advancing its conquest over sin.  Christians sin. But they are not defeated by sin, and they do not continue in it...The goal of grace is to destroy and vanquish sin."

JRF's #5 - The Cross He Bore by Frederick S Leahy

One can never ponder the cross too much.  I'm always looking for books that will redirect my mind and heart back to the apex of history.  I first heard of this book when Tim Challies suggested reading it along with him in preperation for Easter.  I failed to do that but this year I finally got around to reading this excellent collection of meditations on Calvary.

Each chapter of this short classic looks at a different aspect of our Savior's suffering on our behalf.  Frederick Leahy does a magnificent job of stirring the readers affections and thoughts by weaving through the consideration of the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical sufferings of the King of Kings on that glorious, scandalous, beautifully horrific day.

I commend this book to your arsenal of Cross centered living.

 

"If we are to receive the crown of life, Christ must receive the crown of thorns."

 

"...not only did he submit to the injustice of his accusers, but also he submitted to the justice of God which he had come to satisfy."

 

 

Mark's #15 - Evangellyfish by Doug Wilson

Best known as a reformed theologian, professor, and Christian apologist (he went on tour debating Christopher Hitchens), in Evangellyfish, Doug Wilson turns his cunning insight toward contemporary American mega-church evangelicalism with witty prose and comical satire.

Evangellyfish is a story of the dysfunctional life of pastor Chad Lester in particular, and much that is wrong with evangelicalism in general - especially large, mega-church evangelicalism's emphasis on church as a production, and faith as a personal journey of discovery (without all that emphasis on sin, repentance, blood, atonement, justification, etc.).

The strengths of this novel are twofold.  First, Wilson writing is very engaging and funny.  Anyone who has spent time among us evangelical Christians will find much to laugh about.

For example:

Many Americans have complained of too many hellfire and damnation sermons in their past, but Bradford was one of the 112 individuals in our generation who had actually heard one.

Second, sadly, this book would be pure comedy if it wasn't so true to real life situations.  For each of the great dysfunctions either with Camel Creek mega-church and the scandal and sins of its pastor and staff, I could think of specific churches or pastors that fit the satire perfectly.  Don't get me wrong, I have some background in a mega-church.  I don't think it is inherently wrong to have a large flock.  I think there are some real strengths that many mega-churches contribute to the kingdom.   Nevertheless, the more the church becomes an institution that mirrors the world and it's marketing, there is a tendency for the church to become institutionalized and worldly (yes, this can happen in the smallest churches as well, it's just that the mega-churches have the budget and resources to magnify their worldliness to a much greater degree).

In conclusion, I enjoyed this book and Wilson's indirect critiques of the current state of Evangelicalism.  There were times when it was a bit hard to follow the plot, but Wilson's witticisms made for an engaging read.  Rather than focusing almost exclusively on the American mega-church, Wilson could have probably done a better job casting a broader satirical net on Evangelicalism.

JRF's #4 - A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

100 hundred years ago failed pencil sharpener salesman Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Tarzan) birthed the Science Fiction Adventure/Romance genre.  This book is the first of 11 in the Barsoom series (Barsoom apparently being the indigenous name for Mars).

This book and this series have literally inspired generations of filmmakers and storytellers.  Superman, Star Wars, Avatar, and Stargate are among the many well known stories that find their source material in this classic.  In fact the extent to which some of those stories are ripped off border on shameless at times.  For example the words Jedi, Sith and Banth all come from Burrows' tale.

The plot of A Princess of Mars centers around John Carter, a former Confederate Soldier who is mysteriously transported to Mars.  Here, thanks to his fearless courage, valor, and unearthly strength (due to the lesser gravity of Mars) he finds himself alternately getting in and out of danger.  Eventually John Carter falls in love with the the most beautiful girl on his or her planet, Dejah Thoris, princess of the martian kingdom of Helium (yes. Helium).

Though the writing and plot of this book is nothing that would make an English teacher excited, what makes this story so compelling and classic it its ability to tap into that deep desire of every boy to be a hero and every girl to be rescued by her knight in shining armor (cue feminist retort).  John Carter is not a complicated character, but it is exactly his uncompromising chivalry and uncomplicated nobility that makes him such a compelling protagonist.

100 years later the film John Carter, based on this book, made history as one of the worst flops of all time.  While this is unfortunate, as I think the film to be quite good, I do believe that if the filmmakers had stayed closer to the plot of the book, the film would have been much more successful.