John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock

John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock. By Iain H. Murray. Banner of Truth, 2011. 246 pages.


I'm normally not much of a reader of biography. I was given this book by Grace to You and found it to be very readable and enjoyable. I was a little hesitant to start - I honestly thought it was going to be somewhat boring and why did I even care what John MacArthur did when he was 10 or 19 or 38?

Iain Murray is a very gifted and thorough writer. After reading this book I ordered his biography of Jonathan Edwards and am looking forward to reading that.

I found Murray's treatment of John's childhood to be quite interesting, and I never knew that when MacArthur entered college he really didn't have much of an interest in books. That just goes to show you how a person can change.

There are three chapters that I really enjoyed. The first one was "Across the Pacific," which tells of his travels to East Asia. I've always appreciated hearing first hand accounts of life overseas. It really helps you to take a different perspective. The second chapter was on the ministry of Grace to You. It began as simply a tape ministry taking copies of the Sunday message to those who were not able to come, and then grew and grew. The chapter ends with the story of an elderly lady who wrote that she would not be able to support them regularly due to her financial situation, and Grace to You wrote her to tell her to still make sure she requests the free materials. I can also testify to that - some ministries drop you off their mailing lists if you don't give regularly, but not Grace to You. The most interesting chapter, I think, was the chapter concerning Grace Community Church. I wish this chapter was longer, and I would have liked to have heard more about the church and how things are done there.

On page 145 there is a very helpful list of books that MacArthur says have been very influential on his life. I love lists like this and I even ordered one from there.

I was really surprised that I would have benefited from reading the biography of a man still living. I highly recommend this book, especially for anyone going into (or already in) the ministry. It's more than just a biography.

Crazy Love

Crazy Love. By Francis Chan. 2008. 205 pages.

 

I picked up Crazy Love because a good friend kept talking about it. Sadly, this is not a book I probably would have picked up had he not kept on mentioning it. I must admit, when I first heard the title I assumed it was something similar to “The Five Love Languages” and so that would also explain my disinterest in it. (Perhaps if I had read the subtitle “Overwhelmed by a Relentless God” I would have quickly changed my mind about that!).

 

However, I ordered the book and once I began to read it I really, really liked it. This is a book that you will be underlining and highlighting throughout.

 

Crazy Love is focused on your relationship with God. He begins with how amazing God is, and the fact that God “cannot be contained in this world, explained by our vocabulary, or grasped by our understanding.” [pg. 35] I really liked his quote from A. W. Tozer: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us…”

 

Francis Chan points out that when we let our problems consume us (with worry and stress) we are in effect telling God that we don’t think He is big enough (or powerful enough, or loving enough) to take care of us. This happens when we “forget that life is all about God and not about me at all.” [pg 42] 

 

The fact that God loves us is just amazing. He is under no obligation or anything to love us – but God loves us so much that He even considers us to be His inheritance. “The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.” [pg 61] And His love is so underserved – that’s why it’s “Crazy Love”!

 

The most convicting part of the book was the chapter entitled “Profile of the Lukewarm.” He opens with a parable from Matthew 13:44, comparing the Kingdom to a treasure hidden in a field, which when a man found it, he hid it, and in joy sold all he had and bought the field. And you have to ask yourself, “Is God that important to me?”  He goes on to say that having a relationship with God will change your life.  He gives many statements such as “Lukewarm People say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but He isn’t allowed to control their lives.” [pg 72]  In the next chapter he goes on to say that following Christ cannot be done halfheartedly. It must be central. He gives a simple but very effective metaphor of the Christian life – it’s like swimming up river. If we stop then we begin right away to go in the other direction.

 

The converse of the chapter on the lukewarm is the “Profile of the Obsessed.” The statements in this chapter are very convicting and will probably make you a little uncomfortable. One of the ones that stuck out to me was “A person who is obsessed is characterized by committed, settled, passionate love for God, above and before every other thing and every other being.” [pg 143] Chan also gives a real neat illustration of his grandmother, who when at a play was asked what she thought of it. She replied that she really didn’t want to be there right now because if Jesus came back right then she would rather have had Him found her praying or helping someone, not at a theater.

 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be challenged in their relationship with God. This book will do that. There’s also a DVD series that could be done for a small group. I just started his next book – The Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.

The Normal Christian Life, by Watchman Nee

Published by Tyndale, 1977. 294 pages.

I picked this book up several months ago when a friend had me order it for her husband, and I got myself one as well. I only just recently got around to reading it.

I have to say that this book will probably end up near the top of my list of books that every Christian must read.

You could say that The Normal Christian Life is a pretty much a commentary on Romans (particularly chapters 6, 7, and 8). The exposition and application of Biblical truth in this book is amazing. Nee also includes a number of excellent illustrations.

One of the beginning chapters talk about being "in Christ" and Nee gave the perfect illustration:

"I took up a small book and put a piece of paper into it..." 'Now look carefully. I take a piece of paper. It has an identity of its own, quite separate from this book. Having no special purpose for it at the moment I put it into the book. Now I do something with the book. I mail it to Shanghai. I do not mail the paper, but the paper has been put into the book. Then where is the paper? Can the book go to Shanghai and the paper remain here? Can the paper have a separate destiny from the book? No! Where the book goes the paper goes. If I drop the book in the river the paper goes, too... Whatever experience the book goes through the paper goes through with it, for it is still in the book." (pgs. 36, 37).

He goes on to say:

We were crucified with Christ was crucified, for God put us there in him. That we died in Christ is not merely a doctrinal position, it is an eternal and indisputable fact." (pg. 37).

Near the end of the book Nee talks about "wasting" your life on God. That is based on the disciples' reaction to Mary pouring out expensive perfume to anoint Jesus Christ - they all said that she wasted it, whereas she should have sold it and given the money to the poor. But the idea was that she was giving her best to the Lord. Is it possible to give too much to God? Not possible. Nee points out that waste is giving more than necessary. If something costs $1 and you give $2, then you just wasted $1. You are giving something too much for something too little. Is it possible to give God more than necessary? Absolutely not.

I would highly recommend this book to every believer. I was able to get another 12 books that Nee has written, and with a very good discount. I look forward to diving into those soon.

Search the Scriptures

Edited by Alan M. Stibbs. IVP, 2004. 6th edition. 519 pages. Link.

Search the Scriptures is an absolute must have for every Christian's library. I have been using it for several weeks now and I have loved it. It is designed to take you through the entire Bible over the course of three years.

At first, I thought that was too long of a time frame, and that I would do 3 lessons a day in order to do it in 1 year, but I soon found out that you really need to give a 1/2 hour (or more) to each lesson to get the most out of it.


Here is a sample lesson:

STUDY 3 Isaiah 5
1. Compare Isaiah's song of the vineyard with Christ's parable of the wicked husbandmen (Mark 12:1-9) and the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9). Note the differences, and then work out the one great lesson taught in all three passages. How can it be applied to our lives today? Cf. John 15:8.

2. Make a list of the six 'Woes' in verses 8-24, finding twentieth-century words to describe each sin denounced.

Note: Verse 14. 'Grave' or 'Sheol" (Greek 'Hades') is the place where all the dead go. It is depicted as a dim and shadowry underworld.

The lessons will have you read 1-4 chapters, and then there will be 2 or 3 study questions along with some notes on the verses.

I have a notebook in which I write out the questions from the lesson and then answer them. This is the most time-consuming part of the study, but I think it's also the most profitable part. I also have found that by going at such a slow and steady pace I tend to remember a lot more of the lesson.

The book also contains a 5 page introduction entitled "Suggestions on Method of Study" that was really helpful as well, not just for using this book but for Bible study in general. The order of the studies rotate between New Testament and the Old, and larger books are broken up into smaller sections. For example, the book begins with studies on Luke 1:1-9:56, then Genesis 1-26, then Luke 9:57-19:28, then back to Genesis 27-50, and back to Luke 19:29-24:53. The idea is to get variety in there, though you can do them in the canonical order if you like (and there's a chart for that).

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to have better devotions and who wants to know their Bible better.

Terminal Freeze, by Lincoln Child

I had pre-ordered this book and forgot all about it until it showed up in my mailbox. I started it on my lunch break at work, and it was supposed to last me a whole week, but I ended up taking it home and finishing it that night :-)

The setting is a huge military facility in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. A group of scientists are doing studies on global warming when they come across a large creature frozen in ice. A large media crew (which subsidized the scientific expedition) comes to make a documentary about it. The creature thaws and is still alive, and terrorizes the base.

Terminal Freeze borrows from The Relic and Deep Storm. The creature was created supposedly for the same reason as the monster in The Relic - when a population becomes too large and it needs to be reduced. The creature is just like the creature from The Relic - very strong, intelligent, and fast. The chase at the end is similar as well (although in Terminal Freeze, the "bait" doesn't survive). On Deep Storm, the scientists were stuck in a large government facility deep under water. In Terminal Freeze, the scientists were stuck in a large government facility 1/2 under ice.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It didn't creep me out nearly as much as The Relic did, but it did keep me on edge.

Book Review: The New York Times Complete Guide to Personal Investing

By Gary L. Klott. Times Books, 1987. 612 pages. Link.

I was given this book a few weeks ago, and though I haven't read the whole thing (nor do I plan to), it does contain some interesting and helpful information. Obviously, the information about taxes and such is dated, but there is still a lot of helpful information.

He includes very brief overviews of the different kinds of standard investments - such as bonds, stocks, bank accounts, etc. But perhaps more useful is the common sense material on other "instruments" such as Antiques, Art, Baseball Cards, Coins, Gems, Stamps, Wines, etc. If you've ever considered purchasing any of those items as an investment, you will want to read about it in this book. I collected baseball cards as a kid, and wanted to strike it rich by getting some real valuable cards. The book makes me glad that this fad never lasted - "Most cards sell for less than one dollar. Only a couple of hundred cards sell for more than $10." You also need to consider the fact that the price you pay a dealer for a card is going to be much higher than what you'd be able to sell the card for. Interestingly, though you would have to pay tax on the profit if you sold a card, if you swapped cards there would be no tax.

For each of those categories he points out some of the advantages and disadvantages, gives you tips on what to watch out for, and tells you how to go about investing if you decided that's for you.

The book currently sells on Amazon.com for 1¢ used (plus $3.99 shipping), though you might just want to see if your local library has it.

The ESV Literary Study Bible

Leland Ryken & Philip Graham Ryken, General Editors. Crossway, 2007. 1913 pages. Link.

The ESV Literary Study Bible is perhaps mislabeled. It is not really a study Bible in the way that most people would think of a study Bible. There is a brief introduction to each book and a very brief introduction to each chapter. There are no other notes.

The introductions to each Biblical book contain a quick summary of the text including, which I find to be very interesting and useful:

• The book at a glance.
• Genres
• Cast of characters
• The story line
• Inferred literary intentions
• Theological themes
• [name of the book] as a chapter in the master story of the Bible

The text of the study Bible is set up to read like a book. There is only one column of text, and the only note is a brief summary before each chapter, and then the original ESV translation notes. There were a few people on Amazon.com who were expecting more detailed notes, but I guess they must not have read the description very well. Having so few notes is a good idea in my opinion (though though normal study Bibles certainly have their place). One problem I have when using a normal study Bible (I like the NASB Study Bible and MacArthur's NASB Study Bible) is that I often get of course reading the notes, and then my devotional time is up and I have read very little of the Bible. This one is formatted so that there are no distractions.

Another thing I really like is the Bible reading plan in the back. There are 4 readings for each day, divided up into the Psalms and Wisdom Literature, Pentateuch and the History of Israel, Chronicles and Prophets, and Gospels and Epistles. 4 books are included twice (Psalms, Isaiah, Luke, and Romans. This unique, as most plans I've seen would include only Psalms and Proverbs twice.

One thing I like to do is to go outside and read. Most Bible are printed on a white paper that is slightly shiny, which makes it very hard on the eyes when you read it outside in the sun. This Bible is printed on a cream-colored paper, and that eliminates that problem altogether. There is also a 1 inch margin that would allow you to take notes if you wanted, though I would be careful what you used because the paper seems to be very thin.

My only complaints would be the thin paper (though I guess if they used thicker paper it would be twice the size, weight, and price!) and that it doesn't have a ribbon marker (though I believe the leather versions do).

If you want to see some pages, check out http://www.esvliterarystudybible.org/, where you can actually download a sample of the pages. You will also want to read the preface, as that really explains the purpose behind this book. If you read the reviews on Amazon.com, you'll notice a few people gave horrible reviews because they were expecting a full blown study Bible. If they had read the preface first, they would have known what they were getting (and why they might want to get it).