Book Review - Two Views on Women in Ministry

INTRODUCTION

            In his book, Two Views on Women in Ministry, Dr. James Beck provides access to two sides of a centuries-old debate that is a hot topic in much of contemporary evangelical Christianity.  This extensive volume on the topic of women in ministry showcases, in Beck’s words, “the current state of NT scholarship” on the issue in a manner that is highly detailed and balanced in its approach.

Book Review - And He Dwelt Among Us

INTRODUCTION

And He Dwelt Among Us, by A.W. Tozer, was compiled from sermons preached on the Gospel of John. According to the compiler, James L. Snyder, it represents “a different voice” than one usually hears from Tozer.[1] The compiler suggests that the book highlights some of the mysticism in John, whose theology Tozer preferred to Paul, and provided a cure for “spiritual boredom” through a mature Christology and concept of God.[2]

Book Review - Everyday Theology

INTRODUCTION

            In his book, Everyday Theology, Dr. Kevin Vanhoozer presents an instructive manual to reading and interpreting cultural texts and trends.  Drawing together a group of very astute writers, he presents a methodology for critiquing culture, offers several examples of his principles in action, and encourages his readers to thoughtfully interact with culture with an aim toward fuller discussions of the gospel within their cultural contexts. 

Book Review - The Green Letters

INTRODUCTION

            Miles J. Stanford’s book, The Complete Green Letters, is a compilation of five smaller books, all designed to lead the reader into a deeper Christian life.  The author’s aim in the sections to be reviewed “is to carefully bring out some of the more important principles of spiritual growth, to help the reader build on a solid biblical foundation in Christ,” and to analyze the principle of position in Christ on which “all spiritual growth is built.”[1]

Book Review - Radical

INTRODUCTION

            David Platt’s book, Radical, provides valuable insight for anyone seeking to live “on mission” for God.  Asserting that “we have in many area unknowingly embraced values and ideas that are common in our culture but antithetical to the gospel [Jesus] taught,”[1] the author urges his readers to “return with urgency to a biblical gospel.”[2]  The result of this effort is an insightful, often convicting work that cuts cleanly through the patina of Americanism that covers so much of American Christianity, and reveals implicit inconsistencies that challenge the reader to live their lives in radical abandon to the tenets of the gospel of Christ.

Book Review - Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders

INTRODUCTION

            Dr. Dave Earley put his passion in print in Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders.  He set out with an aim of helping his readers to be more effective spiritual leaders, to “make a deeply positive spiritual difference in the lives of as many people as possible.”(ix)  The resulting work provides valuable insight for an often neglected but “non-negotiable tool in every high-impact leader’s toolkit – prayer.”[1]  Earley’s book is highly informative, surprisingly intimate, and a powerful primer for anyone, leaders especially, who wants to deepen their walk with the Lord. 

NO CONDEMNATION: AN EXEGETICAL ANALYSIS OF ROMANS 8:1-8

INTRODUCTION

            The book of Romans is one of the most theologically profound documents in the Bible.  In it, the apostle Paul presents the gospel as the power of God for salvation and the transformation of the life of the believer.  At the center of this treatise lies chapter eight, a bold freedom cry announcing the liberation of those once held in bondage by the flesh, a chapter hailed as “the greatest passage within what so many consider to be the greatest book of Scripture.”[1]